Bring People Together

Virginia and I left Lady Lydia's Karaoke Lounge at the same time. It was ten o'clock in the evening, still quite early for a social gathering in a metropolitan city like Taipei. But it was Sunday and it was after the District 67 Spring Convention 2008. Every participant seemed a little eager to call it a night after District 67 Governor, Japanese delegates, and American keynote speaker left at nine. Golden ladies hung around for another hour or so to drink, to karaoke, to dance, and to chat.

On our way up to the grand hall from the lounge, Virginia asked me what I enjoyed the most in my life at the moment. I looked up at the huge crystal chandelier high above the marble ceiling, "bring people together," I said, without a second thought. If time can be regarded as a raw material, and bring people together can be regarded as the finished product, golden ladies toastmasters were very productive last night. All seven golden ladies toastmasters showed their support to bring people around the world together to showcase the toastmasters activities in Taiwan both in public and in private.

District 67 Governor Jack Tsai brought his family to the party yesterday evening. It was the second time in a row he attended the joint D67 & D76 Toastmasters party after D67 conventions. Three years ago, we worked together to welcome 11 Japanese delegates from D76 at Cafe' Astoria after D67 Fall Convention 2005 in Taipei. Time flies. I've witnessed how much Jack has grown in toastmasters in the past three years. I was so happy that Jack brought his lovely wife and cute daughter to the joint party.

President Kazue Fujino of Fukuoka Toastmasters Club and EVP Hiromi Takigawa of Dazaifu Toastmasters Club were our guests of honor. Both of them were great karaoke singers. In fact, most Japanese toastmasters I know are excellent karaoke singers. I am convinced that Japanese are born musicians and vocal singers. That's why karaoke was created in Japan. But Taiwanese are no second. We are good at karaoke, too. So when Japanese and Taiwanese meet, karaoke is the medium of voice to bring people together.

Of course, our honor of the honors was Rory Vaden, the first runner up of public speaking 2007. He is a great speaker no doubt. On top of that, he is tall, he is handsome, and he is young. He is 25 years old. He can be a son for any golden ladies toastmasters. Rory played ping pong with me in kimono. I must say it was funny that I didn't catch the ping pong well, but my long sleeves (振り袖 furisode) did. Now I know why young Japanese women wear long sleeves kimono (to catch balls from the young and handsome).

I like toastmasters very much. I've enjoyed being among toastmasters since the day I joined the great non-profit organization 22 years ago. The Toastmasters International is a powerhouse where I exchange energy with members and recharge myself on a constant basis. From reading the toastmaster monthly, attending regular meetings and district conventions, enjoying camaraderie of golden ladies toastmasters, I am fortunate to be in a big happy-go-lucky school full of enthusiastic and passionate students and teachers.

I thank all participants who came to the Joint D67 & D76 Toastmasters Party yesterday evening. It has been more than another successful "bring people together" party. The Taiwan, Japan, US Toastmasters Party after D67 Spring Convention 2008 is one of the most memorable parties for golden ladies toastmasters.

Love Life

The stage is getting bigger and bigger, golden ladies cloggers are becoming more and more professional. That's what I concluded about our clogging performance at Cultural Theatre in Hsin-tien Saturday morning, April the 19th.

When the master of ceremonies announced the belly dance from the Middle East, all eyes from the floor were wide open to see Trini, Michelle and I move our bodies gracefully on stage in colorful bling bling belly dance costumes.Eyes Like Yours is golden ladies' favorite clogging dance. The audience held their breath from the beginning to the end and watched us dance at a super tempo under the chiffon veils. It must have been the first time for residents in Hsin-tien to see a powerful percussive belly dance without hand drums in hand but with clogging shoes on foot.

I invited golden ladies cloggers to dance with me as soon as I learned that Hsin-tien Volunteers were invited to perform a show at the big Culture Fair in Hsin-tien. As a member of the Hsin-tien Volunteers, I took the opportunity to coach the volunteers the clogging dance twice a week from March. Two volunteers decided to take the challenge to perform the Carpenters' "Sweet Sweet Smile" with Trini, Michelle and me.

Being the second show at the very beginning of the three hours entertaining program, Hsin-tien Volunteers won a huge round of applause from the audience. With the joyful and cheerful clogging dance music, I believe it is not a dream to organize a club of Hsin-tien Cloggers to invite more volunteers to enjoy the agile clogging dance and to build stronger and healthier bodies and minds.

The Culture Fair is sponsored by Kuang-ming Buddhist Temple is Hsin-tien every April. Many people come to the great annual event to spend a whole day eating, drinking, shopping and seeing the entertaining program. "Love Life" is the theme of this year's Culture Fair. I am glad that golden ladies had the chance to show our support to Love Life and demonstrated our Love Life spirit of Golden Ladies Toastmasters.

Calla Lily of Yangmingshan National Park

Virginia and I were born on the same date (Virginia is much younger and more talented). Coincidentally she and I are volunteer interpreters of Yangmingshan National Park. We know the best seasons to go to the park to see her beauty, and we don't hesitate to invite family and friends to join us. A joy shared is a joy doubled.

Besides the Cherry blossom, Calla-Lily Festival is one of the best reasons in Yangminghsn people can't miss in April. Upon Virginia's suggestion, Lydia, Kate and I took an early morning ride to the park to unveil the beauty of Calla-Lily in the mist Thursday morning, the 17th of April.

Being the early birds at the Calla-Lily field of Chu-tzu Lake, we were able to purchase bunches of Calla-Lily at a more reasonable price. We took it easy to play and stroll in the Calla-Lily field. Virginia took many beautiful coverpage photos of us. Before we left the flower garden, we ran into Kevin, a young and handsome movie director. Kevin was there to borrow the Calla-Lily field for his next film. We took the opportunity to discuss with him about the possibility to shot us in his film in the future. Who knows, maybe one day golden ladies will apprear at a bigger screen all over the world. On our way back to the parking lot, we ran into a golden award winning photographer who took many award winning photos of four beauties.

Virginia then took us to her secret garden for lunch. The hostess of the restaurant in the mountains is also a volunteer interpreter of Yangmingshan National Park. Golden ladies were received like Queens of England at the extravagant luncheon for three hours. From the appetizers, soups, red wine, main courses, digestives, desserts, fresh organge sherbets, cappuccino, we were pampered to the best of our capacities.

It was so memorable that we ran into seven diamond ladies in their 80's. They went to the same high school in the 30's and they spoke Japanese fluently. They come to Yangmingshan regularly for the mouthwatering food and breathtaking view at their monthly gathering. What could be a better conclusion to golden ladies' Calla-Lily Excursion than meeting with our future counterparts?

Fight for Election

England people stand for election. People in the United States run for election. In Taiwan, people fight for election, that's golden ladies' conclusion after reading "A Primer of Political Words" by Dr. Richard Lederer Friday evening, the 11th of April.

Dr. Lederer mentioned that Americans are in the grip of a feverish, frenetic, fervent, frantic and frenzied presidential campaign. I shall say people in Taiwan are indulged in a crazy, mad, fanatical, if not schizophrenic and hallucinating presidential campaign.

Taiwan is a small island of 23 millions people, but no country in the world has as many elections as Taiwan. The elections take place so often that people in Taiwan are fond of, if not addicted to, elections. People, regardless of the age, gender, religion, sit in front of television before and after elections for long hours. The power, engery and passion of Taiwanese people are also rooted in elections. It is not unusual that the campaign parade can call upon one million torch carriers for the candidate.

It was an unusual gathering this evening, all seven golden ladies showed up at Mr. Brown Cafe' before seven o'clock. As usual, we spent the a good time exchanging the recent events in toastmasters at the beginning of our gathering, who is getting engaged, who is meeting someone, who might claim the championship of D67 speech contest 2008.

I was flattered when golden lady kept looking at my face and complimented my stylish makeup. I spent one afternoon at M·A·C Cosmetics flagship store on Chung-shan North Road. The young and sexy makeup artist with a Barbie Girl style from head to toe introduced me the latest technique to apply the cosmetics with patience. It was like a glamorous and glistering afternoon party before a big runway show in the evening.

Kate was the first to arrive at the reading gathering, followed by me, Michelle, Lydia, Irene, Trini and Linda. While discussing "Speaking About the Unspeakable" by Linda McGurk, we talked about the experience of a toastmaster who lost her better half, how she overcame the difficulties and stood up again in Toastmasters. It was sensitive to discuss about the death matter, but Kate and I decided to donate our beautiful bodies to medical schools for students to study the human anatomy. We all loved "From Hello to Goodbye" by Sally Paige Kahle. It is a lovely piece full of useful information that we can apply the tips to begin with a mouth watering appetizer and end with a satifying dessert in our future speeches.

Irene proposed brown the theme color of the evening, because she just bought a pair of beautiful brown high-heeled summer shoes. Golden ladies tried to dress in brown to echo her suggestion. Coincidentally the reading gathering took place at Mr. Brown Cafe'. When the "Good Night" song played at a quarter to ten, we rushed to have a photo of brown ladies of brown eyes with Mr. Brown.

At golden ladies' monthly gathering, we read the current issue of Toastmaster Magazine, we also plan together many activities in the coming month. What could be a better gathering than an educational, entertaining, and inspirational reading gathering to build the solidarity among golden ladies toastmasters.

Rule of Three

If I can take the initiative to launch a third reading group, I shall be able to cover each edition of Toastmaster magazine from cover to cover. Take the monthly March 2008 for example, we read three articles among Grand members last Sunday morning, the 6th. And golden ladies are going to read three articles this coming Friday evening, the 11th.

Yvan, Carrie and I had a great reading gathering over brunch Sunday. We studied three articles, 1. Remedy for a Lifeless Speech by Bill Hennefrund, Page 12; 2. How to Ask for Money by Katherine Wertheim, CTM, Page 19; and 3. From Hello to Goodbye by Sally Paige Kahle, Page 23. With a magnifier in hand, we talked about the good usage of the English language in Toastmasters and we discussed about the possibility to apply the remedy in our speeches. It was the first time I discovered the talent of Yvan, Grand's incumbent Secretary, to absorb the essence of all three articles. She even came up with three better topics for each article, simply amazing! Carrie, Grand's incumbent MVP, and I nodded our heads to echo with Yvan all the time. All three of us felt fulfilled to spend two precious hours on Sunday morning enriching our toastmasters vocabulary and fostering our team spirit at Grand.

The three articles Golden ladies are about to read are, 1. Speaking About the Unspeakable by Linda McGurke, Page 8; 2. A Primer of Political Words by Bill Hennefrund, Page 14; and 3. From Hello to Goodbye by Sally Paige Kahle, Page 23. I was very happy when I received Michelle's email announcing the reading gathering this Friday. Firstly, it has been a while since golden ladies had the last reading gathering in January. Secondly, two of three articles are different from the ones I chose for Grand's reading gathering. That means I can read more articles of Toastmaster Magazine in depth and I can make better use of the Toastmaster monthlies.

So what's on my mind now? Yes, it is to make my toastmaster membership fee worth every penny. Just think about a third reading group of toastmaster magazine in a row, we can cover the rest three articles, 1. Oscar Sound Bites: The Sour, the Sweet and the Salty by Patrick Mott, Page 24; 2. Recruiting via E-mail by Gwen Whipple, Page 28; and 3. At Microsoft, Toastmasters Clubs are PC by Paul Sterman, Page 16. In this way, I should be able to digest the March 2008 to the best of my ability. How wonderful it would be and how powerful I could be!