Cultivate the Friendship

It's sunny and freezing cold outside, twenty degrees Centigrade below zero. It's tempting to adventure in the cold, it's tempting to stay warm at home.

I woke up in the sun streaming through the window of the bedroom, thinking what I could do on my last beautiful Sunday in UB. I attempted a pot of beef stew for two hours while watching TV with 63 channels. The Taiwanese style beef noodles didn't taste as good as they were at home, but it was a new recipe for lunch.

Let's Party!

The Last Full Moon of MOUSE

The Eco Policy in Toastmasters

I don't know how many Toastmasters books, CDs, DVDs I collect from the past D67 conferences. Every year I attend the semi-annual district conference, I'm eager to purchase the training materials from the keynote speaker. I have a wishful thinking. After I have the training materials in hand, I should be able to do as well as the keynote speaker one day. But, after the conference, I often shelf the books and DVDs for future reference.

Finally, I've got a chance to make the good use of my collections. I brought along 2 books (Laugh & Get Rich--How to Profit from Humor in any Business by Rick Segel & Darren LaCroix and Master Presenters--Seven Presentation Strategies by David Brooks, 8 CDs, 7 DVDs (Magic Moments 1 and 2, D67 Fallcon 2005) with me to Mongolia. I wish I leave behind for Toastmaters friends in Mongolia.

It's a Sunny Thursday in UB. It's a day free of demo meetings and trainings. I enjoyed every minute of the day reading in the sun at Enkh's warm kitchen. Enkh played the classic music to fill her house with serenity and tranquility. I became a fast reader to absorb as much as I can to get myself prepared for the coming two presentations Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

Spring Festival for the First Graders

Children win hearts of adults. When Children smile, adults melt. I was invited to the annual Spring Festival at Village Partizan today. Enke's family had been planning for the event for the past week, designing children games, purchasing gifts for kids, decorating event venue, family party after the event. I was obviously one of the most excited participants. I loved group activities for young and old. It was fun to learn from kids and to see the world from their eyes.

At half past eight, we ventured out to the west of UB. In less than 30 minutes, we were in a desolte icefield with with no paved roads, let alone road signs. Even it is said all roads lead to Rome, in the case of Mongolia, all roads lead to UB, just follow the power line, and you get to UB eventually. But I can't help admire our driver's nagivation skills. He seemed to know where he was, where to turn, and where to move forward!

As soon as we arrived at the elementary school, we started converting the stadium into a party room. I was assigned as a photographer of the day, I decoated my corner with a lot of colorful posters to allow the kids to draw their thoguhts while the kids waited for their photos to be taken. I prepared three caps for kids to choose for themselves. I put on my long hair wig for fun!

At ten thirty, the director of the school opened the spring festival and I was honored to start a group game with 50 first graders. I played a role of a big bird chasing five groups of children protected by their adult guardians. The kids ran merrily on the basketball court. I became exhausted after five minutes.

From Taipei to Ulaanbaatar

Wow, in ten days, I shall ride on Korean Air to go home in Taipei. I can start counting the days before my departure with my ten fingers. Time flies. Two weeks ago, I knew noththing about life 30 below, when I set my foot on Chengiskhan Airport. Now I'm used to living in the big natural freezer full of steam from people, cars, and power stations. And I'm loving it.

Life resumes its pace in Ulaanbaatar like it was in Taipei. I read and write in the morning. I contemplate over afternoon coffee at a cafe' in town to wrap up my thought in the afternoon. I'm grateful to Enkh for providing a warm bed for three weeks. I don't know how to pay back for her hospitality and friendship.

Ms. Brigitte Cummings I met at BayanZurkh Rotary Club last Friday invited me for coffee at her bakery Helmut Sachers Kaffee this afternoon. I heard her sweets won the hearts of people in UB, I couldn't wait to savor her masterpieces, I couldn't wait to listen to many funny stories from the Joke Master. Brigittee is probably one the best joke tellers in Ulaanbaatar, if not the world. She can tell jokes non-stop once she opens her mouth.

At 12 noon, I took my first siesta since I checked in UB. No sooner than later I hit the sack, Tobi jumped into my bed. He slept in my arms, against my head, he licked my toes. If Tobi is not a poodle, but a Mongolian rikishi, would I be on cloud nine? I fell asleep immediately, had a daydream, I walked into a meeting room full of people debating on Taiwan issue. I was the only person in favor of Taiwan's unification with China.

I hitchhiked a taxi at 1:30PM, showed him the English map of UB where Bakery Helmut Sachers Kaffee was. The poor old taxi driver probably faced the first difficult task in his life interpreting the map. While we were circling around downtown UB, Enke called me and asked me where I was. I told her I was touring UB and I passed the mobile phone to the driver for directions from Enkh.

Pay It Forward

I saw the movie "Pay It Forward" ten years ago. I still can remember the face of the young school boy vividly and how much he changed the world. Given an intriguing assignment "think of something to change the world and put it into action" from his new social studies teacher, the young boy decided to do three good deeds for someone and they in turn can "pay it forward" and so forth. This idea brought a revolution not only in young boy's life, but also in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.

It was a sunny Monday. My spirit was lifted up to accomplish all the tasks in the itinerary for today. At noon, I had an television interview in front of State Department. The young and pretty English speaking interviewer asked me about Mongolian women. I told her that Mongolian women were beautiful inside out. They work hard to win the bread and they take care of family chores at the same time. It would be nice if Mongolian women and men can join hands to build happy families together. I didn't forget to encourage Mongolian women to be more independent to voice out their opinions and to participate actively in building a modern Mongolia.

I love the Mongolian souvenir shop on the 6th floor of State Department. Five and half years ago, I bought a leather jacket with Mongolian motif. Today, I brought three funny and colorful Mongolian woolen caps for the kids to wear at the annaul Winter Festisval on Rabbit Farm Wednesday, February 27th. I am assigned to take photos of 50 six years old kids. I can't wait to play games with them and I can't wait to see them make faces in front of the camera.

I arrived at Taiwan Cultural Center at a quarter to two. Mr. Yu-ping Su of Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office greeted me and invited me to the meeting room for tea. I told Mr. Su that I was in Mongolia to promote Toastmasters. Mr. Su was surprised to see a middle-aged Taiwanese woman ventured to Ulaanbaatar in Winter. Upon my request, Mr. Su gave me a dozen handbooks about Taiwan to give away to my Mongolian friends.

When I asked Mr. Su if I could take photos with him in front of the portraits of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and President Ma Ying-jeon. Mr. Su said he had never seen a woman like me before. Most women don't like to have photos taken in public. I told him that I had bad memories, I needed to document my life with digital camera. Mr. Su gave a friendly gesture to join us in the photos. I took the chance to invite Mr. Su to join Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Toastmasters Club when he returns to Taipei in two years.

Upon Enkh invitation, I went to her son's school to give a workshop about how to movivate the students to achieve their goals and how to develop students at school from 3:30PM to 4:30PM. Enkh and I were one hour ahead of time. The Principal of Ulaanbaatar Seconday School invited us to her office immediatly. She was curious about my mission in Ulaanbaatar. I told her that I was not a religious person, but I believed in people. From a quarter to 3, we exchanged many ideas about teaching and coaching at school. The more we talked, the more possibilities we explored for her students to achieve.

The workshop ran very smoothly with the teachers. In the beginning, the conference room of 30 was quiet. When I asked if there was any bully problem at school, I was told none. I asked if there was any problem with students, the answer was none. I decided to switch my direction from teamwork problem solving to games of stand up and speak up. It was a success. The conference was full of laughter and teachers were eager to talk. At the end, I encouraged the teachers to help their students to build the blogs to expression their opinions to students in Mongolia and other countries. I suggest the school organize annual speech contest to build the self- confidence in students and to encourage students to aim at personal growth.

At 5:30PM, I arrived at the Imperial Hotel where the opening of Ulaanbaatar Toastmasters Club took place. Enkh and I were one and half hours ahead of time. We made good use of the time, slot to discuss the various children activities at the Cafe' on the first floor. While Enke was taking notes and planned the details of the winter festival on Rabbit Farm diligently, I was thinking har of more exciting games for children to unleash their potentials and to have the best childhood memories.

At twenty to seven, Enkh and I were the first two toastmasters arriving at the meeting venue. Without wasting time, we took turns telling jokes to make the audience laugh. Enkh's nephew, a 20 year-old architecture student in Russia helped me interprete my jokes in English. I was very much impressed by his language proficiency.

The opening was 15 minutes late. Having the traffic jam on the strees of UB in mind, it was magical. The opening was a small-scale demo meeting to showcase the learning by doing spirit in Toastmasters. At the end of the opening, more than 40 participants had a toast. I was honored to say that I wish there would soon be a toastmasters club chartered officially with the headquarters. My best wishes Mongolia joined the big Toastmasters family. I was thrilled to see Mongolia on Toastmasters World Map soon in the future.

Rainbows in the Freezer

It’s my second Sunday in town. I’m still in the labyrinth of the huge freezer of Ulaanbaatar. I can’t read the street signs, I can’t walk on the streets for more than ten minutes. I can’t speak the language. But I can hitchhike, there are taxies (no license plates) running everywhere, just raise the frozen hands and they will come to your rescue in a second.

Geser Temple sits at the busy crossroads of west UB. The small temple provided me with an instant warm shelter in the cold. More than a dozen monks were at work chanting and/or healing the believers. I felt the energy and power filled in the small room of spirituality and wellness. After ten minutes warm up, I walked around the backyard of Geser Temple and managed to take a few photos. It took longer time to warm up the camera than to press the shutter in the cold. In less than five minutes, my fingers were frozen painfully.

A Taxi came in time and took us to Torgo where I could find fashionable and stylish Mongolian costumes. Torgo was 200 meters from Gester Temple. It took us 15 minutes to get there in the 24-7 traffic jam just to know that the store was closed for Sunday. A model I made acquaintance with at the JCI Chapter's January meeting walked down in time to the lady's room on the first floor. We had the chance to take a photo together. I was told that there was a fashion show on the second floor, but I couldn't see it in person.

Just think about my desperate situation, I knew I would spend a fortune at the next stop. No sooner than later I walked in the department store, I browsed the entire department store swiftly. My Toastmasters nerves were tickled when a sales lady apporached me with a super big friendly smile. I was determined to buy to hone my negotiation skills and/or to boost the economy in UB. From 20%, down to 30%, further down to 40%, I took out my credit card without reservation. Shopping was fun and I became a different person in a different outfit, much happier and much warmer in heart. I had my own fashion show in UB.

With the new clothes on, I was in a brand new mood to walk tall again. I rushed to Mart Hanaru 50 meters away on foot. It was the first time I walked into a Korean market in UB. I picked up whatever I knew on the dark shelves, tofu, a huge bottle of soysause, three packs of different rice crackers, a bag of dried noodles, a box of miso paste. Everything here was expensive, about twice higher than in Taipei. But it was still much cheaper than eating out at a Korean restaurant.

After shopping of clothes and grocery, we had an easy afternoon tea at Enke's mother's place. We discussed about various children games for the Annual Winter Festival at the Rabbit Farm the coming Wednesday, January 27th. Enke's father was a famous theater actor. After he passed away, his family set up a foundation in his honor to sponor the winter festival for children in the countryside. As I love parties, I am no stranger to childen games. I volunteered to design a few group activities for children.

Enke's brother decided to buy more gifts at Sunday Plaza and Nomin for the kids. We ventured out in UB in his jeep. On our way to Sunday Plaza, I saw three rainbows in the freezing sky. I couldn't remember what was the last time I saw rainbows. But I do remember I saw a big rainbow arch when I was in Mongolia in summer in 2004.

Sunday Plaza is right across from Ulaanbaatar University Korean school. It is a five stories building packed with many small vendor stands of different merchandises, from TV, mobile phones to accessories. I browsed the second and third floors just to find prices too high, even the toilette was not for free. In order not to get lost in the crowd, I decided to settle for a quiet corner. The moment I saw a cafe' displayed with all sorts of sweets, I gave up shopping around. Two waitresses took turns helping me take photos. I shared a table of four with two students, one was a high school student, the other was a college student. Most of them spoke English.

It was a Korean Sunday evening. I made a big hot pot of miso soup with tofu, golden needles mushrooms, ribs for Enke and her son. After dinner, Enke and I toasted the beautiful Sunday with a glass of red wine.

Taiwanese Day on TV 9

Toastmasters in Mongolia

A Canine Company in Mongolia

Home away from Home

Communicating on Radio

Wow, look at me! I am a star!

Academy of Management

JCI Ikh Khuree Chapter Installation Ceremony

JCI & Mobi Com

It was the Big day today. I needed to exert my best effort to excel at my debut presentation at JCI Chairman Chapter's first gathering in 2010. If in front of me, there were Challenges and Opportunities, this was it today.

After the mass media day yesterday, I was desperate to burn the midnight oil to prepare the handout and powerpoint presentation for two groups of business elite, JCI Chaiman Chapter members in the morning and Mobi Com employees in the afternoon. It was a challenge for me, not about the presentation, but about getting used to the Microsoft system.

At home, I worked mainly with Microsoft 97, but in UB Window XP was the mainstream. While working into the wee hours of the morning preparing for workshops on presentation and leadership skills, I learnt to contain my anxiety working on Window XP patiently. I even wrote an biref introduction of me for Dembee to have a good opening of the workshop.

Dear JCI Chairman Chapter Members and Friends, Good morning! Happy New Year! Welcome to the Presentation Skills Training this morning. I am happy to see you here with a dream to become an effective speaker. Please give yourself a big applause. Please also shake hands with your neighbors to wish them all the best with their success in developing public speaking skills in the future. It is the first step toward your success today. Congratulations!

Our presentation skills trainer is Sherry Li from Taiwan. Sherry joined the Toastmasters in Taipei in 1986 and learned communication and leadership skills from this famous non-profit organization devoted in human development. She is the President of Grand Toastmasters Club 1993-1994, the Charter President of Kyoto Toastmasters Club 2000-2001. She came to Mongolia for the first time in August 2004 for ten days sight seeing. She came back to Mongolia in January for three weeks to help Mongolians develop Toastmasters clubs.

Our interpreter is Enkhtsetseg. She is a psychologist and has experience of working with human development for more than 10 years. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please join me in welcoming Sherry Li, presentation skills Trainer from the Toastmasters in Taiwan.

Both workshops were one and half hours long. I conducted the workshops into three sessions. At first, I used the Microsoft word handout to briefly talked about public speaking (speak to inform, speak to entertain, speak to inspire, speak to persuade) and explained why presentations skills were important to the progress of organization and to the careers of individuals who gave them.

I didn't forget to apply the multiple dialogue technique by involving participants to ask and answer questions. I asked them to name their idol presenters and I encouraged them to learn from the master presenters. After talking about the important aspects of speech content and delivery, all participants got the chance to experience Learning by Doing.

Participants were broken into different groups (according to horoscopes or last names) to learn the first two projects of CC manual (1. the icebreaker; 2. organize your speech). Volunteers were encouraged to represent their groups to speak up in front of the audience to apply the presentation skills. All volunteers were given small souvenir as tokens of appreciation.

In the second part, I used the powerpoint presentation to show the presentation skills and to wrap up the important messages in the first part. At last, I played the DVD of Magic Moment by David Brooks of World Champions of Public Speaking from 1990 to 2001. Both workshops were successful, we recruited a few potential members on the spot.

Mass Media Day

I woke up early in a row this morning to make Chinese fried rice for Tsenguun at six thirty. After breakfast, Enkhee and I watched the second DVD of champion speakers from 2001 to 2003 for an hour. I was glad that Enkhee had a clear picture about the Toastmasters. By now, Enkhee was more confident and ready to work with me as my interpreter at the Toastmasters gatherings.

At nine thirty, when Enkhee told me that I was about to meet with the mass media people for lunch Friday noon, January 15th, I was so excited to put on the most formal Chinese dress. This was the moment I had been waiting for to promote the Toastmasters program to the general public.

Dembee first took me to visit the Daily Post. The General Manage of Daily Post was a young and handsome gentleman. After we exchanged information about the newspapers business in Taiwan and in Mongolia, he showed me his publishing company, then we set out for lunch at the luxurious Saffron Bistro. After lunch, I had two consecutive interviews, one with a reporter from TV station and the other with a reporter from Daily Post.

Before my arrival in UB, I knew I would be meeting with the mass media people in UB. Being a veteran Toastmaster, I enjoyed talking to the mass media, in fact, my first advanced manual was Communicating on Television. So I looked forward to visiting Television and Radio stations for interviews on the air. I even brought along my wig and false eyelashes just in case I would get the spotlight.

After two pleasant interviews in the afternoon, Deggi took me to her office for tea break. At six o'clock, Dembee, Bat, Deggi and I had dinner at Bayangal Hotel to discuss the upcoming two workshops the following day. I was so excited to know that many Mongolians were interested in public speaking. Dembee and his group must have worked very hard to promote Toastmasters program before my arrival. I was grateful that I could hone my communication and leadership skills in UB.

A Free Day in Ulaanbaatar

I woke up before six o'clock this morning. I told Tsenguun that I would make him all kinds of breakfast while I was in UB and I attempted French Toast to start a bright new day. Tsenguun liked the variety on the morning menu and I was contented to bring new recipe to incite the taste buds of my young Mongol friend. Enkhee joked that Tsenguun had two moms now. Why not? I found another holy mission for me to visit Ulaanbaatar, to satisfy Tsenguun's stomach every morning, in addition to promote toastmasters in Mongolia.

After Tsenguun left for school at 7:30, I invited Enkhee to watch the DVD of Magic Moment by David Brooks of World Champions of Public Speaking. After watching the first DVD of champion speakers from 1990 to 2001 for an hour, Enkhee liked it! She was excited to know about the Toastmasters.

At ten o'clcok, Enhkee and I got dressed and brought a thermo of hot tea with some desserts for her mother-in-law staying overnight at the hospital for a health check-up. The hospital looked very bright and tranquil regardless of the huge influx of patients and visitors. The huge mirror at the exit proved my words. In Mongolia, there is a spacious cloakroom at the entrance along with many mirrors on the wall, theater, government office, library, and school.

In the middle August of 2004, I bought a fox cap from a peddler at the Suhbaatar Square. Today, in the middle of January of 2010, I put on the fox cap standing at the same corner, but I couldn't see the sight of the old gentleman. In stead, a young camera man was kind to take a photo of Enkhee and me. Suhbaatar Statue now and then was the same. Tourists were out of sight on the huge square. The fox cap was warm on the freezing cold Suhbaatar Square, but I needed to find a shelter urgently in the coldness. My feet got frozen and my hands felt painful!

The first shelter we sought was Mongolian Theater Museum. Many costumes were displayed in the glass cabinets. Many photos were hung on the walls. Like I had expected, Enkhee was excited to find her father's performing photos. As the only two customers in the museum, Enkhee and I took it easy to tour around, sat and chatted in an old fashion living room at the far end of the exhibition hall. A crazy idea suddenly flashed over my mind. Why not I also dedicated a piece of Chinese opera for the spirits of the great Mongolian performers here like what I did at the Walhalla where housed the laudable and distinguished Germans in 1997?

I told the lady guard on duty that I was a famous Chinese opera singer from Taipei and I asked her if I could sing a popular Chinese opera song there. "Yes, all ears," she gave me a yes with a shy smile on her face. Without any warming up, I sang "Susan Under Arrest" for one minute. The lady guard at age of 60 plus was so touched to hear my voice from Taiwan. "Most people just came and went without leaving any acoustic footprint," she said, "thank you so much for making my day". Upon my request, we have a group photo together.

The second shelter was the Internom Bookstore right around the corner. A huge sign of Mongolia: Nomad Empire of Eternal Blue Sky by Carl Robinson was erected at the entrance. It's a newly published book about Mongolia in English! What a serendipity, I purchased a copy right away with a hope that I could donate the book after reading it. The information about Mongolia was scarce in Taipei City Library. I wish I could make Mongolia more accessible to the general public in Taipei.

Internom Bookstore is a modern general bookstore, with English textbooks on the second floor plus an in-house coffee shop. Even though I failed to find Baabar's "From World Power to Soviet Satellite", I was happy to buy a songbook of piano notes, three small Mongolian flags on the first floor; a Mongolian map and Robinson's Mongolia on the second floor. I kept a big shopping bag at the cashier counter before seeking the third shelter in a row.

It was 12:30 noon. Enkhee and I decided to skip lunch as we just had a late breakfast this morning. Enkhee proposed we visited Mongol Costume where I could find traditional Mongolian costumes. My interests were aroused immediately, I got excited about what I was about to see. On our way to Mongol Costume, we passed a beautiful park adorned with many sculptures. I took a photo of Enkhee with a Mongolian wolf and a photo of her with a turtle. When I saw a black marble sculpture of the universe, I asked Enkhee to warm the camera with her body, while I took off my overcoat, fox cap, and gloves, climbed on the marble as quickly as possible. Within a snapshot, my teeth started chattering and my body shivering.

Please don't ask me why women like shopping! Please don't ask me why women have many clothes! Women were born with shopping genes and women were brought up wearing different clothes everyday. That makes what women are today! The moment I walked into Mongol Costume, the gorgeous ethnic clothes on mannequins triggered my feminine gene expression at once. Without a second thought, I decided to have myself transformed into a Mongol princess.

Being the only customer during the lunch hour, I was dressed from head to toe by two assistants. It's like being transcended to another world, an old Qing Dynasty and I turned into Empress Dowager Cixi. It took a while to put on a bright and lavish jewelry decorated wig resembling two wings of a bird protecting the hearth, a head dress embroidered with corals and pearls, a cup shaped hat decorated with a red ball from which a long lace hang, and matching long earrings of pearls.

In ten minutes, I couldn't believe what I saw in a big mirror on the wall. I became an authentic Mongolian woman as long as I didn't open my mouth. If I stepped on a weight scale, I would weigh more than 70 kilograms by now. Chinese women have tiny and delicate bound feet so that they couldn't run away, Mongolian counterparts have huge and heavy bound heads so that they couldn't run away. After getting dressed all up, I couldn't wait to stand up, to take a catwalk on the runway like a supermodel from Paris. Enkhee took more than five dozens of photos of me in every possible posture for 30 minutes.

After a long and happy stay at the Mongol Costume, Enkhee and I went back to pick up the books we borrowed at Internom, and wandered on the street for a few minutes before we sought the fourth shelter—National Modern Art Gallery. Being the only two visitors at the gallery, Enkhee and I took it easy to walk around the three stories building to select one painting we liked the most among all. Enkhee picked up a painting of angels in blue by a cubist painting, I picked up a painting of Mongolian horses running on the plain.

The National Modern Gallery was not modern in terms of equipment and facilities, many plastic basin filled with water were placed at corners to keep the humility of the gallery. At the far end of the second floor, a session was closed due to the big fire of the adjacent newly constructed Communist Headquaters. It's a pity to know that many paintings were burned into ashes.

Mongolia is known for ballet dancers and opera singers. On our way back to Suhbaatar Square, we passed the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, I bought three tickets to see Madame Butterfly of Puccini (the best seats are 8,000 tugrugs for adults and 4,000 tugrugs for children) Saturday evening, January 23rd.

It was a fruitful and meaningful day touring Ulaanbaatar and I was grateful to Enkhee for the orientation of the city I was about to stay for three weeks. We got home before 4:30PM. Enkhee make Mongolian tea for both of us. When Tsenguun came home, we ordered a delivery of a jumbo pizza from Mr. Pizza. What an Italian night to conclude a free day in Ulaanbaatar with pizza and coke! I wished my Italian friends were with us!