Voice Out in Harmony

D67 Toastmasters Chorus was successfully chartered by fourteen toastmasters at the voice parts audition Tuesday evening, August 25th. I shouldered the responsibility to arrange the training sessions with Chorus Conductor 洪綺玲. Kate Hsu offered her helping hands as Chorus Secretary; Lydia Lin, Chorus Treasurer; and Gina Fu, Sergeant-at-Arms. International Director George Yen gave his consent to name the first Toastmasters Chorus in Taiwan with honor and pride.

Conductor Hung and I met for brunch this morning to discuss the recital repertoire of D67 Toastmasters Chorus. The moment I saw Ms. Hung, I was excited to tell her my proposal of four songs, "Amazing Grace" in English; "丟丟銅仔" in Taiwanese; "赤蜻蛉" in Japanese; "Ode to Joy" in Mandarin. To my surprise, Ms. Hung gave me a more comprehensive counter proposal of five songs immediately, "火金姑 firebugs" in Taiwanese, "Do you hear me?" in English & sign language, "赤蜻蛉 red dragonflies" in Japanese, "Ode to Joy" in Mandarin, and "O Sole Mio" in Italian.

I am grateful that Ms. Hung works out her tight schedule to lead toastmasters in District 67 to a new frontier in music. She plans the recital program for two parts female and male vocals to sing five harmonic songs, from the first song we sing "Firebugs" with flashlights, to the last song of "O Sole Mio" sung by all participants, if we are given the chance to perform at D67 Fall Convention 2009 in November. Of course, we shall need at least two wide-range microphones and a piano on stage.

Many thanks go to two dozens of toastmasters who sign up without hesitation to support the ambitious initiative of D67 Toastmasters Chorus. Many thanks also go to Toastmasters friends Masaki Oshiumi and Rio Imamura of District 76 for their support of D67 Toastmasters Chorus in Taiwan.

Last October, Masaki came attend Joint Anniversary of Success and Kumamoto Toastmasters Clubs in Tao-yuan. Masaki san arrived one week in advance just to practice "Ode to Joy" with Lydia and I and we won a big round of applause at the dinner party of the joint anniversary. D76 Speech Champion Azuma Kiminari was so impressed that he encouraged Masaki-san to go on stage at district conferences in Japan immediately after our performance.

"Stage time, Stage time, Stage time," the words of Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking echoed in my ears. How exhilarating it would be if D67 Toastmasters Chorus members could be given the stage time at D67 Fall Convention 2009 with toastmasters singers from Japan. If we could be a little more optimistic and ambitious, let's hope we can perform at D76 Spring Conference in Japan in 2010.

Ten sessions (each session of one and a half hours) of chorus training from Wednesday evening, September 23rd, till the end of November, cost NT$2,000 a person. If you are interested in developing your vocal skills in width and depth, please come join D67 Toastmasters Chorus now. You will be surprised how much fun you shall experience with singing toastmasters. For more information about this once-in-a-lifetime event, please contact Sherry Li, D67 Toastmasters Chorus Coordinator.

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in August

Michelle was in charge of Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in August. Upon Trini's request, Michelle advanced the reading gathering to this evening. Michelle also advanced the gathering to 5PM, so that golden ladies could go to voice audition for D67 Toastmasters Chorus at 7:30PM.

Many thanks went to Michelle for choosing the secluded Mr. Brown Cafe on the first floor of brand new Aegon building, selecting three articles in July issue, and naming the dress code of STRIPES, even though Michelle didn't make it to our gathering afterall, because she just helped her real-estate developing company close a big deal of 10 million US dollars in Viet-nam. Good for you, Michelle! Go, go, go!

Pamela, Trini, Marian, Linda, and I arrived early. While waiting for others to join us, we couldn't contain our desires to enjoy a summer splash in the a array of fountains in front of the building. What would be a more exciting way to welcome Immediate Past District Governor Marian Hsiao back from her trip to Toastmasters Annual Convention 2009 by getting wet in the sunset with her?

Among three articles to be read, Effective Solutions for Team Conflict by Renee Evenson, page 19; Cultivating Hope by Victor Parachin, page 24; In Times Like These by John Cadley, page 30, we only finished the first, the Rx for productive relationships, especially at the aftermath of the unprecedented 88 flood in southern Taiwan early this month. The one-hour reading gathering was effective and efficient as usual with Marian's valuable experience at International Convention and Trini's exciting tour in Italy.

It's a big evening in District 67, the birth of D67 Toastmasters Chorus. Fourteen toastmasters came to voice parts audition this evening. It is our sincere hope we can organize a singing troupe of 30+ toastmasters from all over Taiwan to excel our vocal skills at the opening ceremony of D67 Fall Convention 2009 at the historic Chungsan Building in National Yangmingshan National Park Saturday afternoon, November 28th, 2009.


What an ambition we embrace, from clogging toastmasters to SINGING toastmasters!

A Surprise Birthday Party for Gina

I looked at myself in the mirror wearing a low-cut one-piece silk dress I bought on the Fifth Avenue in New York 25 years ago. It was the first time I wore it in public. Does aging make me more daring? Or it is because women are more dauntless universally regardless of the age and nationality. No matter what the reason might be, I intent to flaunt what I had at the surprise birthday party for Gina this evening.

Kate began planning the surprise party for Gina two months ago. She brought three groups of people together to this special occasion, golden ladies, toastmasters, and Peking Opera instructors and lovers. As an early bird at the party, I got the chance to mingle with young Peking Opera instructors. It's nice to pick up Peking Opera I used to learn diligently two decades ago. Time flies for me, from a care-free lass to a fashionable golden lady, only in a blink of an eye.

Linda wowed everybody when she walked into the restaurant in a baby doll top and a pair of black satin leggings. From the size of Oprah Winfrey to that of Sarah Jessica Parker, Linda lost TWENTY-FIVE pounds in the last few moths. Linda gained the immediate attention from the floor, nobody was interested any more in peeking in my low-cut dress.

At six o'clock sharp, Kate gave us the instructions what to do before Gina's arrival. When Irene, the elder daughter, called Gina at home and asked her out, we were thrilled in the exciting conspiracy. Upon Kate's request, we acted as if we were obsessing with the delicious spaghetti at a cozy Italian restaurant when Gina arrived.

I won't forget Gina's facial expressions when we roared out Surprise! Happy Birthday, Gina! in unison. The unexpected tears in her eyes sparkled and she was speechless. Looking at her family and friends in fancy dresses, Gina asked if she could go home to change. Yi-hsin offered her helping hands in time to remodel Gina on the spot. Gina changed to a different person instantly to everybody's surprise.

In the middle of the birthday party, the lights were off all of a sudden. A big birthday cake decorated with 16 candles was brought in front of Gina to her surprise. It was the climax for Gina to celebrate her 16th birthday surrounded by two of her sweet daughters and many close friends. Gina made three wishes upon request, but she didn't disclose any of them.

Who doesn't like surprise parties, both the giver and the receiver? It is fun to play jokes on someone out of the goodwill to make him or her stunned out of balance and words. It is fun to be played jokes upon to add thrills in life. Who knows, maybe somebody would throw a surprise birthday on me someday. Oh, yes, I'm ready, please!

La Mode Toastmasters Club's 2nd Demo Meeting

Due to Typhoon Morakot, La Mode Toastmasters Club's 2nd Demo Meeting was postponed from the first Friday to this evening, August 14th. I made sure to switch on my mobile phone during meeting, just in case any visitors would like to contact me. Good news is that, we didn't get disturbance during the entire meeting. Bad news is that, nobody was curious about our demo meeting on D67 website. Let's hope for the best at our third demo meeting if any.

The 2nd demo meeting was successful. Six veteran toastmasters and one toastmaster-to-be Steven Chen made the evening. All seven participants were familiar with Toastmasters meeting rules. As the humble Toastmaster of the Evening, I could spend less time briefing our wonderful organization devoted to developing communication and leadership skills in people.

Kate Hsu from Prestige Toastmasters Club, Jude Wei from Excellence Toastmasters Club, Yvan Chu, Sally Wang, Gina Cheng from Grand Toastmasters Club came support La Mode's 2nd demo meeting at Imperial Kitchen near Exit 1 of Dapingling MRT Station in Hsin-tien. Many thanks must go to them for making the 2nd demo meeting happen!

Tabletopics Master Yvan (President of Grand Toastmasters Club) asked four questions related to Typhoon Morakot. Toastmaster-to-be Steven delivered his ice breaker speech, connecting the dots in his life. Toastmaster Gina delivered an after-dinner entertaining speech for 15 minutes about her solo trip in England and her encounter with Toastmasters members in Great Britain.

General Evaluator Jude complimented every member in the meeting and advised us to add Joke session to lift up the spirit of the members and guests in our future meetings. To set the good example, Jude told two jokes to conclude his evaluation. In return, we sang Beatles' Hey Jude in unison.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song, and make it better
Remember, to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin, to make it better better better

Naaa, Na Na NaNa Naaa, NaNa Naaa.

District 67 Toastmasters Chorus

Kate and Lydia have been talking about organizing District 67 Toastmasters chorus for a year. The idea was born at Toastmaster David Chen's funeral. A group of two dozen toastmasters members gathered to sing two songs "Amazing Grace" and "If I have You in my Life" to express their love for David for the last time Sunday, July 31st, 2008. Music healed!

Who would know that I would ask my old chorus instructor to guide District 67 Toastmasters Chorus on her daughter's funeral Wednesday, August 12th? It has been more than a decade since I last sang with Chinese Women Chorus conducted by Ms. Hung. It was a big surprised to see her and her daughter Yu-ting at my friend's wedding on July 4th this year. A week later, I was informed by my friend that Yu-ting passed away and there would be a funeral concert on August 12th. What a shock news it was!

At Yu-ting's funeral, I listened to many beautiful healing and comforting songs from various chorus groups in Taiwan. Four old members from the Madrigal Singers of the University of the Philippines came to the funeral. When Chris called me before the concert, I could hardly recognize him. Then Oscar, Mark, Jojo waved at me to whisper hello. Likewise, it has been more than a decade since I last saw them.

After the funeral concert, we went to Barista Cafe' for brunch. It was the first time I could have another good look at the four handsome guys. So much has changed in the last 15 years, Mark is the master of Madrigal Singers now, Chris is still in Madrigal Singers, but from the youngest member to the oldest member of the group. Jojo and Oscar left Madrigal Singers and became famous conductors in the Philippines.

Life is an array of serendipity. Hopefully we seize the celestial messages from God and our friends in the heaven to give birth of District 67 Toastmasters Chorus and excel ourselves at the debut performance at D67 Fall Convention 2009 at the historical Chung-sun building in Yangmingshan National Park in November 2009.

Two in One

It is a small two-in-one lunch gathering for Trini. Pam, Lydia and me met with Trini at Ikari Cafe' across the street from Pam's office to welcome Trini back from her first solo trip to China and to wish Trini bon voyage to her second solo trip in a row—a trip of art, culture and religion from Rome to Milan.

Trini was of course the center of the gathering. She couldn't help chirpping non-stop about her virgin solo trip, how she got lost in a huge hillside park, worried sick the entire tour group for two hours, how she became the talk of the tour group during the entire journey. Two handsome men came to her rescue, became her body guards and camera men. The Three's Company became inseparable. How lucky Trini was! It paid to get lost in a foreign land. Thanks, Trini, for the valuable and practical lesson. I should apply the trick to play hide and seek to find myself a couple of free body guards in the future.

Trini brought three big boxes of cookies from China for Pam, Lydia and me to take home to share with our beloved ones. We decided to donate them to Gina's surpise birthday party to share with all golden ladies and friends. A joy shared is a joy multipled!

Before we said goodbye to Trini, Lydia took out a crimson evening gown from her bag as a bon voyage gift to wish Trini a lot of luck in romance with notorious Italian lads. We look forward to what is about to happen to Trini and we are all ears when she is back from grand trip in Italy.

Who could afford two vacations in one summer? After all it is not bad to be a teacher to have a long summer vacation even the teaching is exhausting and tiring. Shouldn't all teachers be traveling during the summer and winter vacations to get themselves uplifted to be back to school anew with their students?

88 Flood in Southern Taiwan

When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a great man, it always first frustrates his spirit and will, exhausts his muscles and bones, exposes him to starvation and poverty, harasses him by troubles and setbacks so as to stimulate his spirit, toughen his nature and enhance his abilities. ~~Mencius

It's Father's Day in Taiwan, August 8th. Who would have known that Typhoon Morakot should bring torrential rain, seriously hit southern Taiwan, leave thousands of people (mainly aboriginal) homeless on Father's Day?

Just one day ago, we looked forward to Morako's coming to quench the thirst of water at the major Taiwanese reservoirs. But Morakot turned to be an ugly guest in-deed, buried a whole village in the mudslide, washed off bridges and building in the river, made Taiwan headline news internationally.

I paid attention to television to see if I could find any search-and-rescue (SAR) dogs and their trainers (Caroline Hebard and colleagues) to the search and rescue of the unprecedented natural disaster—88 Flood in Southern Taiwan, but I failed to find them to assist in the location of lost persons and disaster victims. Maybe we don't have SAR in Taiwan. But, what about foreign SARs? Where are they?

Taiwan was seriously wounded by 88 Flood in the south in 2009 financially, politically, geographically. Less than a decade ago, Taiwan was seriously wounded by 921 earthquake in the center in 1999 financially, politically, geographically. Who knows, maybe in less than a decade in the future, Taiwan will be seriously wounded by whatever disaster in the north in 2019 financially, politically, geographically if not sooner. It is time we took action to get prepared!

While everybody is busy donating money to help reconstruct the devastated southern Taiwan, it is more urgent we plan for the future. Prevention is the Cure. In case of earthquake, in case of flood, in case of endemic H1N1 avian flu, what should be aware of to avoid detrimental and harmful consequences?

Taiwan may be wounded by natural diasters one after another. But Taiwanese won't be discouraged by a little bad luck from time to time. On the contrary, we cherish every new challenge in front of us, so that we can grow stronger and wiser.

Typhoon Morakot

The 2nd demo meeting of La Mode Toastmasters Club has to be postponed till next Friday evening due to Typhoon Morakot. Thanks God, Typhoon Morakot comes in time to enfold all of Taiwan in intense rain and sturdy winds this long weekend to end recent fears of deficiency and water rationing of Taiwanese water reserves.

Since childhood, I like typhoon holidays. Out of the blue, one or two extra days are granted to enjoy with family and friends unexpectedly. Today no exception, we had a buffet lunch at Pizza Hut in the neighborhood, enjoying the holiday meal with the weekday price. My husband and my brother went home immediately after lunch, I hung around at the Hut for the whole afternoon, reading "So That Others May Live--Caroline Hebard & Her search-and-rescue dogs".

Caroline's stories about her search-and-rescue work with her faithful canine companions touched upon my heart. I was amazed at her drive to train her dogs, herself, and others to assist in the location of lost persons and disaster victims as a volunteer. Her spirit inspired me and her multilingual talent impressed me. At 5PM, I put on my raincoat to walk home. The winds blew in the streets, on contrary to the boisterous restaurant, pedestrians were out of sight.

Surfing the internet to follow the course of typhoon is another hobby of mine on typhoon holidays. I can never feel more connected to the world when I watch the most recent uploaded videoclips on YouTube about the same tropical cyclone on its course from the Philippines to Taiwan.

It is my hope that with an extra week gain, there will be more toastmasters and guests to the 2nd demo meeting. In the meantime, I have a long weekend to work on my prepared speech about "A Decade after 921 Earthquake" to express my gratitude to 43 rescue units, totaling 728 workers and 103 rescue dogs from 21 countries to the rescue work.

Am I too old to train a German Shepherd and/or myself to form a volunteer team of Sherry Li and Her Search-and-Rescue Dogs? I don't even know how to use a compass in the wilderness! But I can learn, and I learn fast. I shall remember the day of Typhoon Marakot with the interesing numbers of 2009/08/07 that I'm committed to search-and-rescue in whatever way I can in the future.