2008/11/20

The American Dream

"Yes, we can!" Barack Obama mesmerized the American public, young and old, black and white, rich and poor on his winning day as President-elect of the US. His charisma won cover hearts of American people. His whirlwind did not only sweep Europe, Africa, Middle East, but it also brought a momentum to Grand Toastmasters Club members this evening.

In stead of following the old tradition to celebrate the Beaujolais evening on the third Thursday of November, Grand gave up drinking this evening and chose the meeting theme "I have a Dream" to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to celebrate the victory of Barack Obama--a milestone of humanity. Human beings are free at last. Thank God Almighty, human beings are free at last from prejudice and discrimination.

Toastmaster Eric Chou was the one who proposed and made this special meeting possible. He invited Helen Lin to recite "I Have A Dream" of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 at the variety session at the beginning of the meeting. He invited me to talk about the rhetoric, structure, sentence patterns, metaphors, wordings of the inspiring speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the language evaluation session at the end of the meeting. Both Helen and I dressed up like African Americans to play our roles in a theatrical effect. We won a big round of applause from the audience.

Americans have something to be proud of in pursuing their dreams. From signing the Emancipation Proclamation on the 1st of January 1863 to the birth of their first black president Barack Obama on the 5th of November, 2008, the USA has come a long way. It is not an easy journey, but with the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King and the collective efforts of American people, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, Americans have realized their big dream of their forefathers to guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all American people.

Congratulations to all American people and thank you for setting up an example for us in the rest of the world to follow, to have a dream, and to make the dream come true.

2008/11/19

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in November

On a chilly Wednesday evening at Baba Kebaba, Trini, Linda and I recruited three young and promising toastmasters. We were three patrons and they were three waitresses. While we discussed the Toastmaster Magazine October issue, Peggy, Ellen and Boom provided the best afterdinner services and entertainment. A joy shared is a joy doubled. What a serendipity that six of us sat down together to have a rectangular table discussion about American Presidential Election November 2008.

After serving as the master of ceremonies at the 14th International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment at GIS Conference Center, I received an unexpected gift of a Jazz CD from Professor Ellen Silbergeld of Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins Universary. Ellen and I met with each other Monday morning and we both loved tap dancing. After the closing ceremony, I invited Ellen for coffee at Starbucks. Ellen told me that she organized Samba party for her students every year. She picked up Portuguese and Samba when she taught and did researches in Amazon in Brazil for three years. Ellen also told me her researches in mining areas in different parts of the wrold. Being a polyglot American, Ellen also speaks Russian to my surprise. One of her dreams is to provide knowledge to people in Mongolia where houses vast amount of natural resources in the world. From heavy metals, dances, languages, politics, we had a joyful chitchat for one and a half hours.

I arrived at Baba Kebaba at 6PM and told the owner that I arrived early. He thought I said I found the restaurant at last (Mandarin pronunciation of "arrive early" is the same as that of "find the place"), we broke the ice instantly in a humorous way. After being sit at the best table, Linda walked in. She also "found the place". Trini arrived on time at 6:30PM. Maybe because the business was slow, maybe because we ordered the full course, from appetizers, main dishes, to desserts, we received an excellent service from Baba Kebaba. Dinner was superb, assorted Turkish cold plate of stuffed rice, olives and pickles, Moroccan stewed chicken and beef, assorted Lebanon shish kebabs along with Pita bread, couscous and saffron rice. Baba Kebaba means dad's skewer literally, their authentic Lebanon skewer was yummy.

After dinner, golden ladies discussed how to invite more toastmasters to join the reading gathering in the future. Trini, Linda and I felt that it would be nice if we invited toastmasters from all walks of life to join our reading gathering and to have fun. Chances are the name of the blog will be changed accordingly next year. After a short reading time, we started walking, dancing, having photos taken with the dazzling costumes and accessories provided by Baba Kebaba.

Golden Ladies took the opportunity to organize an impromptu tabletopics session to showcase the toastmasters meeting. We invited Peggy, Ellen and Boom to take turns serving as the timer. It was a great moment for three young nontoastmasters and three veteran toastmasters to sit together. Without any generation gap, we shared about our believes and doubts. We learned so much from one another how to excel in communication and leadership skills. It was a special and meaningful evening to us. Before we called it a night, Ellen played "The Manhattan Transfer", the Jazz CD from Professor Ellen Silbergeld, and Peggy gave us three 40 percent discout coupons for our future patronage at Baba Kebaba. And we shall return!

Minutes of Tabletopics Session by Trini Ding, DTM

Unexpectedly our reading turned into a table topics session. There was no other but Sherry could think of that idea and tried it out on those restaurant girls. I was afraid that it would embarrass them and might not work well. To my surprise, those girls played along without hesitation.

While doing the table topics session, Toastmasters value was spread out to these three lovely dream girls. I can't tell exactly the reasons that made Sherry come up with this idea, yet must say I was impressed by these girls' frank and open attitude, they all spoke with sincerity and enthusiasm. Linda did most in providing them with excellent sharing and advice. It showed her passion and earnestness. Also I got the chance to understand and study them. The questions raised covered articles in Toastmaster Magazine October 2008 and everyday life issues. Time flies especially when we were having fun. Each of us only got one chance to express their opinion.

In conclusion I must say our daring Sherry once again brought variety and novelty to our monthly reading gathering.

PS: Six tabletopics are as follows,
1. a comparison between Barack Obama and John McCain asked by Linda and answered by Trini;
2. leading without Authority asked by Trini and answered by Ellen;
3. the most regretful thing in your life asked by Peggy and answered by Sherry;
4. talk about dreams and how to get them accomplished asked by Sherry and answered by Peggy;
5. why is life full of worries and problems asked by Boom and answered by Linda;
6. what's there in Toastmasters that attract you to stay asked by Ellen and answered by Trini.

2008/11/13

Nature or Nurture

Chinese men are susceptible to nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, especially those who live in the south, including Taiwanese. The two dreadful cancers are due to the viral infection, by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) respectively. They take the toll upon many famous Chinese elite, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our National Father. But why southern Chinese? Is it because of the genes or is it because of their living habit?

Irene, Trini, Lydia and I had lunch at noon. Our topic was about life and death. It was a serious topic, but by our age, we can talk about anything without reservations. Being a microbiology and immunology major, I know EBV and HBV. I studied Herpes Virus for my master degree in the US, that's why I know EBV. I worked on Hepatitis B Vaccination program at Department of Health, that's why I know HBV. I don't usually discuss with golden ladies about infections and diseases, we often talk about fashion, love, and toastmasters.

Among seven golden ladies, we all wish to look younger and more beautiful. To be exact, we wish to have fewer wrinkles on our faces and less fat deposit on our tummies. We exchange the information about cosmetic surgery and the latest fashion designs. Life and death had never been a topic among us till today. What if we were sick? Would we have different expectations of existing life? Some golden ladies like to be surrounded by family members, other prefer to be solitary to finish their last journey. I am the latter, I like to be alone, so that I could have the opportunity to make friends with strangers along the way. It is my way of life.

In the future, in addition to the vanity fair, I think I might talk more about health issues so that golden ladies can be informed of the potential health threats, especially those among Chinese men. I wish golden ladies know more about nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, the two dreadful diseases in Chinese men.

Both nature and nurture shape what we are. We inherit genes from our parents. We are brought up by our parents. Our feature, our personality, our likes and dislikes are influenced by our genes as well as the environment we live in. I am thankful to my parents for their genes, I am obliged to make a better environment for us all.

Nature or Nurture

Chinese men are susceptible to nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, especially those who live in the south, including Taiwanese. The two dreadful cancers are due to the viral infection, by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) respectively. They take the toll upon many famous Chinese elite, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our National Father. But why southern Chinese? Is it because of the genes or is it because of their living habits?

Linda, Lydia and I met at MRT Chung-shen Station at 10 this morning. We practiced three Xmas clogging dances at MRT's Jazz Stage Area for a couple of hours. The huge open area was covered with many big mirrors on the marble walls with a stage in the center. It was the first time golden ladies practiced dancing on a weekday morning without having to compete with youngsters. It simply felt great to have such a popular dancing spot to our own.

Lydia and I stayed for lunch with Irene. Trini rushed to join us after her school. Be it a random gathering without prior notice, we had a great time chatting and eating. The topic was about life and death. It was a serious topic, but by our age, we can talk about anything without reservations. Only when it is a matter of life and death, that's when friends are for. Friends in need are friends indeed.

Being a microbiology and immunology major, I know EBV and HBV by chance. I studied Herpes Virus for my master degree in the US, that's why I know a little about EBV. I worked on Hepatitis B Vaccination program at Department of Health, that's why I know a little about HBV. I don't usually discuss with golden ladies about infections and diseases, we often talk about fashion, love, and toastmasters.

Among seven golden ladies, we all wish to look younger and more beautiful. To be exact, we wish to have fewer wrinkles on our faces and less fat deposit on our tummies. We exchange the information about cosmetic surgery and the latest fashion designs. Life and death had never been a topic among us till today. What if we were sick? Would we have different expectations of remaining days, months, or years? Some golden ladies would like to be surrounded by family members, others prefer to be solitary to finish their last journey. I'm among the latter, I like to be alone, so that I could have the opportunity to make friends with strangers along the way. It's my way of living, my life journey. And I'm loving it!

In the future, in addition to the vanity fair, I think I might talk more about health issues so that golden ladies can be informed of the potential health threats, especially those among Chinese men. I wish golden ladies know more about nasopharyngeal carcinoma and hepatoma, the two dreadful diseases in Chinese men.

Both nature and nurture shape what we are. We inherit genes from our parents. We are brought up by our parents. Our features, our personalities, our likes and dislikes are influenced by our genes as well as the environment we live in. I'm thankful to my parents for their genes, their tender love and my siblings. My husband and I don't left behind any of our genes, but we are obliged to join hands with others to make a better environment for us all.

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