Trvelling Down the Memory Lane

Travelling down the memory lane is not all black 'n white.
Travelling down the memory lane is not all lacking light.
Travelling down the memory lane is not eye filled with tears.
Travelling down the memory lane brings fresh and soothing air.
Travelling down the memory lane is college, fun and friend.
Travelling down the memory lane is full of curves and bends.
Travelling down the memory lane is a test of time and mind
Travelling down the memory lane is a joy of it's kind.
~~Spandan Bhattacharyya~~

When Incoming Division J Governor Tu Shih-jun walked out of the famous Hot Spring House 瀧乃湯 in Beitou, I was taking photos of Mei, Monica, and Shinako. What a coincidence that a group of Japanese speaking people should meet. How happy I was to introduce Toastmaster Tu san immediately to my dear old friends of Ritsumeikan University. Toastmaster Tu, being a regular visitor of 瀧乃湯, showed us the monument of Crown Prince Hirohito's visit to the hot spring house in April 1923.

Dragon Boat Festival 2009 was indeed memorable. Monica from Hong Kong, Shinako from Tokyo, Mei from Taichung came visit me in Taipei for four days, from May 28th till May 31st. We traveled all over Taipei, chitchatted from early in the morning till late at night about love and life, to catch up what we missed in the past 8 years after we left Ristumeikan University in 2001.

Sunday morning, on my way to see Shinako off at the MRT Dapingling Station, Shinako told me how much she sensed the same chemistry among four of us. Indeed, we all had seasonal allergy during the four days holiday. We sneezed everywhere we went and asked for tissue all the time. Birds of a feature flock together. We are a flock of birds migrating between Japan and Taiwan. We chirp in Japanese, English, and Mandarin. While Mei, Monica, and Shinako are seeking for Bird Right to build the lovely nests with them, I wish them all the best.

Mei, Monica, and Shinako are three angels coming afar to inform me of their latest news. The two big nomikai dinners at my brother Jimmy's place lasted long hours. It was like the replay of good old days at I (International) House nine years ago. We might be older, but our spirits remain just as young and energetic. Now I pray we could have another big reunion at I House soon. Sayonara, Mei, Monica, and Shinako! Take care till we meet again in Kyoto for our tenth anniversary in 2011.

Just clog it—Golden Ladies Toastmasters in China

It is the first time five golden ladies venture out of Taiwan, Linda, Lydia, Pamela, Sherry, and Trini, to meet up with Toastmasters in Southern China from June 20th till June 25th. We are lucky that all four major cities we are about to visit have toastmasters clubs.

Matt Harding's cheerful dancing spirit arouses the world. He spends 14 months in the making of viral video smash in 42 countries. Golden ladies have a dream of smaller scale to put on our colorful clogging shoes to clog in Shanghai, Su-zhou, Wu-xi, and Hang-zhou. It is only the beginning, just to clog!

Day 1 June/20 (Saturday) Arrival at Shanghai at 6 PM, Meet with Toastmasters in Shanghai after dinner

Day 2 June/21 (Sunday) Visit Chien-Huan Temple after breakfast with toastmasters in Shanghai, Clog in Shanghai, Visit Su-zhou gardens with toastmasters in Su-zhou after lunch

Day 3 June/22 (Monday) Visit HanShan Temple after breakfast, Clog in Su-zhou, Meet with Toastmasters in Wu-xi after dinner

Day 4 June/23 (Tuesday) Enjoy boating on Tai Lake after breakfast, Clog in Wu-xi, Meet with Toastmasters in Hang-zhou after dinner

Day 5 June/24 (Wednesday) Enjoy boating on West Lake after breakfast, Clog in Hang-zhou, Meet with toastmasters in Shanghai after dinner

Day 6 June/25 (Thursday) Shanghai City Tour with toastmasters in Shanghai,　Departure for Taipei after lunch

After Trini and I signed up our China tour package at the travel agency this afternoon, we were so excited that we decided to drive to Lydia's lounge for afternoon tea. While waiting for Lydia to come home, Trini and I kept talking nonstop about our exciting joint adventure in China, clogging and toastmastering. Life is indeed promising for golden ladies, we are grateful!

Monument Cafe

Toastmaster Linda Tseng invited golden ladies for afternoon tea at Mr. Brown Cafe (Taipei Institute of Technology) to share her travel album in Western America Sunday afternoon, May 24th. I proposed we changed the place to the newly opened and renovated Monument Cafe near Taipei Train Station. But when I got there at 2PM, I only saw the sign, the coffee shop was closed, to my disappointment. In the end, I walked in Mr. Brown Cafe next door.

When Linda arrived, I saw her in time. Before she showed me her photo album, we couldn't help wondering why Monument Cafe was closed on holidays. If we were the owners, how we would run the coffee shop and do our best to promote it by inviting local and foreigners to come visit Monument for a cozy and relaxing afternoon coffee.

When Amy arrived, Linda saw her in time. Amy joined golden ladies a couple months ago. She was the most eager lady among us to learn and to exchange and she always puts on her best shoes along with her fancy hat to our gatherings. Amy wore a red straw hat today. She gave it to me as a gift immediately when she saw me. She complimented me that the red hat looked prettier on me. Thank you, Amy!

It was a pleasant afternoon at Mr. Brown with Linda and Amy. Linda showed us two big photo albums of her exciting trips in the US ten years apart, one was in April 2009, the other was in April 1999 (when Linda was still single and slim). The decade evolution of Linda was astonishing, Linda was still Linda alright, but with more confidence and charm in running her life as a mother of four and an owner of a big molding company. Her growth could be witnessed by how she compiled her resourceful and memorable travelogue with lots of photos and witty and amusing remarks. Thank you, Linda!

As always, our topics switched from time to time. Linda was interested in the book I brought along, "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell. I told Linda I'd been reading extensively Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese Mythology recently. I spent a lot of time memorizing the names of gods and goddesses, I found a lot of inspiration and stimulation from the stories of gods and goddesses in the east and west. When Linda told us she was reading "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy at the time, Amy started sharing her perspective about the heroine's overwhelming density and irreconcilable contradictions of existence. I think every woman is a mythology, so is a man. Piece by piece we put together the jigsaw puzzle of our ephemeral lives and blend into one story of human beings in the universe.

At 5PM, Linda needed to join her family gathering. Amy invited me to have dinner at Ogawa Japanese Cuisine where Amy proposed to have the Toastmasters Magazine reading gathering in June. Ogawa is a newly opened in Ten-mu, owned by a dear friend of Amy. Believe it or not, we even ran into a toastmaster member of China Toastmasters Club, Amy and Trini's home club, at Ogawa. What a small Toastmasters world it is in Taipei!

PS: I didn't give up, did I? I called Monument Cafe first thing Monday morning to know their open hours and invited Lydia and Sophia for afternoon tea Wednesday, May 27th. Being an early bird and the only customer on the second floor, I sat by the window, looked out at the heavy and swift traffic on the Chung-shan North Road, like a video on forward 4X speed, time flew just as fast. It's 2009 now. A century ago, women in kimono on rickshaws meandered under the same tree shades perhaps.

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in May

On this special evening in May, Incumbent D67 Governor Marian Hsiao came join the Toastmaster magazine reading gathering for the first time at a chic Shanghai restaurant in downtown Taipei. When Marian walked in the restaurant on time in her tailor-made blue chipao, how honored we felt to have such an outstanding leader to support our reading group. Marian took charge to order seven delicious Shanghai dishes without ado, presided our reading gathering cheerfully, led us to transcend to a Greek Forum to meet with Aristotle two thousand years ago.

Why did we choose a Shanghai restaurant in the first place? Simply because golden ladies plan to venture to Shanghai via the direct flight between Shanghai and Tapei in the middle of June to visit Pamela who divides her time between Shanghai and Taipei. Some golden ladies want to see the movie scenes of Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution"; some want to collect a few beautifully handmade chi-paos; some want eat the mouthwatering local delicacies; some want to visit the emerging toastmasters clubs in Shanghai to bridge the gap between Taiwan and China. No matter what kind of reasons each golden has in mind, if time and budget allows, no Chinese would want to miss Shanghai—the most extravagant city in modern Chinese society!

Irene selected three feature articles in April issue for us to read at home in advance, "The Equation for Persuasion" by John Coleman, page 8; "Disarm Them With Debate Skills" by Dave Zielinski, page 14; "Lessons from the Ancient Greeks" by Rover Oliver, page 22. To my disappointment, I didn't receive my copy till the last minute. Fortunately Irene sent me the pdf file a couple of days before and I went fetch Michelle's copy on my way to the reading gathering. It has been annoying not being able to receive my toastmaster monthly on time for the past several months. I don't know what happened to the postal services in Taiwan.

When it comes to rhetoric, we must hear what ancient Greeks had to say. Like it or not, we toastmasters must comprehend at least three words in Greek in order to master the art of persuasion, logos, pathos and ethos. They were the three great Greek words we learned this evening. We were enthusiastic to learn from the ancient Greeks how to deliver a persuasive speech with well constructed structures, isolate the problem(s), identify the cause(s)and formulate workable solutions.

But we were more enthusiastic to discuss about the essence of ideal love of Plato, the mentor of Aristotle. What is platonic love? Is there the existence of platonic love, between men and women, gays, lesbians? When we continued our discussion, we were prompted to study more Greek words about love, eros, philia, agape. With the understanding of love and rhetoric in Greek, nothing is Greek to me from this evening.

Toastmasters Service to the Community

A neighbor that is near is better than a brother far off.

Having being a full-time housewife for more than five years, I have lots of free time at home. After my husband goes to work every morning, I have at least 10 hours at my disposable. I get engaged in community affairs and I feel good greeting familiar faces and strangers in the neighborhood.

I like my community and I wish I could do something for my community to make it a better place for the residents. It is not hard to imagine how great it would be if there were a toastmasters club in my community! When friendly neighbors become supportive Toastmasters brothers and vice versa.

This morning, Mike Yang, DTM, D67LGM 08-09, came to Hsin-tien to help me realize the dream to charter a Toastmasters club in the neighborhood. Giving birth to an idea of chartering a Toastmasters Club is one thing, having it realized is another. I am grateful to Mike for spending two and half hours exploring all possibilities to make it happen—the first community toastmasters club in Hsin-tien.

Mike and I met with each other at 10, shared a big cup of latte at Starbucks Cafe to begin our investigation of the possible meeting location for the new club. Starbucks cafe offers the best convenient place, right next to Dapingling MRT Station Exit 1, but the space is less formal, and it could accommodate at most 20 people. After coffee, Mike and I continued to examine another three restaurants with the ambience and cost, then we walked to Hsin-tien Cultural Center and Ta-fong Social Welfare Center to explore the availability of public venues to give birth to a new club.

After the grand walking tour of big Dapingling area, Mike was excited to announce his moving to his new house in Hsin-tien after it is completed before the end of 2009. Mike was enthusiastic about his term as Lieutenant Governor Marketing of District 67 to charter new clubs on the island. After a light lunch, he moved on to continue his passion about toastmasters.

With the spread of the good news of a new club in Hsin-tien, more and more toastmasters in Hsin-tien area are offering their helping hands to support the new club. I say thank you to all of you. If there is anything I could to do to reciprocate what I learned from the Toastmasters International in the past two decades, is by paying forward to whose who shall grow and develop themselves like you and me in Toastmasters.

A Story of Success

The definition of success varies from person to person, but one thing is the same, i.e., success doesn't come easy. The success story of Michelle Chen is one among many in Toastmasters, but hers is unique. She won the outstanding worker award 2009 from the Taipei City government in April. On Labor Day 2009, there was a small party in honor of Michelle, a party of three generations, according to Michelle.

"Dear Sherry, thank you so much for our three generations party (I do not mean about age, I said our relationships in Toastmasters). It's such a coincidence that you are the first generation leader who recruited Erick Suen in becoming an excellent TM leader. My mentor Erick Suen recruited Michelle Chen became a Toastmasters in 1997. We three like the generation of grandma-son-granddaughter. I believe that there are many happy three generations families in the Toastmasters", Michelle sent me an email immediately after the party of three generations.

Michelle Chen was born in a conservative Taiwanese family. She is one of the eight daughters of her parents who endured the hardship not being able to give birth to sons. When Michelle was born with one arm deformed, it was not hard to imagine how difficult she and her parents went through. In her early 20's, Michelle faced another physiological challenge in life, she had the insulin dependent diabetes.

Michelle told us that she used to be shy and conservative, but she changed to a different person after she joined Innovative Toastmasters Club. She learned to step out of the comfort zone and took challenges in learning new things. She loves to travel all over the world to explore new frontiers and to meet with people from all walks of life. On the roads in Asia, Europe, America and Australia, Michelle has written her story of success in Toastmasters.

Toastmaster Jose Petrick, a senior lady at age 87, lives in Alice Spring, Australia. Michelle first met her 6 or 7 years ago. Jose is an author by profession and a pianist of her local church. She invited Michelle to visit her home and played Chopin's masterpieces for her. Jose came visit Taiwan upon Michelle's invitation. Michelle's parents treated Jose like an older sister. Because of Michelle, Toastmaster Jose Petrick and Rio Imamura became internet friends.

Toastmaster Rio Imamura, a senior gentleman, came to support District 67 conventions whenever possible. He and Toastmaster Masaki Oshiumi became friends of Michelle's parents. Whenever Michelle travels in Japan, Rio and Masaki take care of Michelle and introduce her to toastmasters in Japan. Rio postponed his trip to US until after Michelle completed her two weeks trip to visit four toastmasters clubs in District 76 in March.

Michelle was pleased to visit four toastmasters clubs in 2009, namely Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kitakyushu and Nakakyushu clubs. She was most impressed with Hiroshima Toastmasters Club, its 40 plus club members, 25-30 active members and 10-15 sleeping Members. Hiroshima club has a strong officers' team under President Setsuko Fujiyama who won D76 speech contest and competed at annual convention in Washington DC in 2006.

The happy celebration party of three generations lasted for two hours on Labor Day 2009. Erick and I were all ears to Michelle's touching stories in Japan and the rest of the world. Michelle wore big smiles when she talked about toastmasters who helped and encouraged her along the way. She was excited to tell us that more toastmasters from Japan would come visit Taiwan in the future, including President Kyoko Kawano of Nakakyshu Toastmasters Club. Read how President Kawano sees Michelle Chen in her eyes with praise and admiration!

Best Chance by President Kyoko Kawano, Nakakyushu Toastmasters Club

I was always waiting for the best chance to travel. And it seemd rather difficult. One day, our club had toastmasters delegates from Taiwan, and I guided them to tour around the Kumamoto city.

When I met Michelle and her companion Amei at their Hotel, the most eventful day started. I was soon told it was Michelle's 12th visit to Japan. She told me frankly of her difficulties in traveling with diabetes. She needed to measure her blood sugar and inject the insulin timely.

Chatting with her, I realised nothing can scare her off once she set her mind. When she was determined to walk, so she walked! She walked all the way from the Bus-center to Kumamoto Castle, up and down the main buildings, Gyoubutei, through the back-street of Shinmachi area, and finally to Hommyoji temple. They never gave up.

(walking)
How many foreign countries have you visited? I cannot count now, because I visited Korea for 2weeks, Viet-num, Laos, Thai, Indonesia, Fillipine, Mainland China, Nepal, Mongolia …to the US?, yes , many times, Name it, I was there back-packing!

(trodding)
Are you on any diet? Yes, I have to mesure what I eat everything strictly at home. But while traveling I eat whatever I could eat. And exercise a lot, instead. So, I have to walk anyway. Oh, I feel so good today!

(panting)
Why do you travel with Amei? Because Amei never complains.

Yea, this marvelous lady, Amei was running energetically with lots of luggages. She does not speak neither English nore Japanese, so our long talk must have been just boring for her. But she was always smiling and watchful for her precious friend, Michelle.

On the hill top of the grave, she shared more private stories of herself sitting on the bench. She told me she was not so outgoing in her 20's and 30's. She did not go out because there was nothing she could do to please others. A great change happened when she joined a Toastmasters Club. She realized there were many things she could do well. Speaking English, Organaizing, Marketting, Management, and especially Traveling and Making friends, she enphasized. She was very confident to say, "I always encourage others to try it themselves. Look at me, see, if I can do it, everybody can do it well enough."

Later on, I took them to the back street alleis called Kaminoura-doori for dinner. While walking, she read Chinese characters, and found a small signboard of Challigraphy class. She said she must interview this carlligraphy teacher, and before I could stop her, she rang the door-bell very quickly. Ding-ding, the bell sounded. Oh,my!! The school was just a cozy private house.

However, the teacher who opened the door was a nice elderly gentleman. When I translated that this lady from Taiwan wanted to see the classroom, and learn about the Calligraphy of Japan, he invited us to his atelier, and explained the equipments and materials. He even allowed Michelle to try the calligraphy. She got what she wanted by ringing the doorbell.

On that night, Michelle and Amei leaf Kumamoto, they invited every member of Nakakyushu TMC to visit their hometown Taipei. When Michelle asked me to visit her, well, I was hesitatant. While hesitating and murmuring, "I'll wait for the best chance…!", I realized the problem with me.

What is the best chance? Look at Michelle. Did she wait for the best chance to travel? No, she took every chance, and tried her best to make it the best one! She takes action first. She rings the doorbells herself. Look at Amei. Did she wait for something enjoyable to happen? No, she herself chose an adventurous trip with Michelle, and tried her best to make it enjoyable.

After all, the best chance never happens while I am just waiting for something good falling in my way. It is my turn to take action. So, facing Michell and Amei, I said loudly, "Thank you, I will visit you as soon as possible". Now I am looking forward to the Exchange with Taiwan. Is anybody interested in joining me?