Division C and H Leaders Joint Meeting

Hooray, it's Friday! The joint Division C and H Leaders Meeting took place at Taipei CKS Community Center near Shan-dao Temple Friday evening, June 28th. Before the joint meeting, I spent a quiet afternoon at Taiwan Music Institute in the neighborhood, listening to the newly published CDs of singing bowls by Hans de Back!

Being an early bird (30 minutes in advance as usual), I received the pizza and barbecue chicken dinner delivered by a part-time working college student from PizzaHut. I ate a barbecue chicken leg while it was hot! Yummy~

When Division C Governor Sterling Hsiao and Division H Governor Lawrence Huang arrived together, we took a few photos with aliens on exhibition with the special permission from the community center volunteer lady who opened the door for me and ate a barbecue chicken with me! A joy shared is a joy doubled!

The joint meeting started at 7:10, ten minutes behind the schedule. Before dinner, Sterling organized three group games to mingle the leaders, Save Your Friend, Cat Chases Mouse, Fall Back on Your Partner. After the warm up exercise for 30 minutes, everyone was so hungry that nobody complained about the cold pizza and barbecue chicken!

After 30 minutes dinner gathering, Lawrence went over main points from District Leader Training in Taichung Sunday, June 23rd, followed by a joint discussion among Division C and H leaders about the collaborative work in coming fiscal year, including communication platform and judges database.

It was ten minutes to nine when Division C and H Leaders were grouped separately. Everyone was eager to know what to do and how to do well. And we had to call it a night after the fire alarm rang for 10 minutes non-stop. The biggest challenge I face now is to charter a new Toastmasters club in Area H1 in 2013-2014, as I wish to get President Distinguished Area Governor the sooner the better.

What Gets Measured Gets Done

Time Wasted is Existence. Time Used is Life. ~Edward Young

Hooray, I'm one step closer to become a DTM! Many thanks to Division H Governor Lawrence Huang for inviting me to be his Area H1 Governor and giving me the challenging role in district leadership.

To my surprise, I received an email from Lawrence after Grand TMC's last regular meeting 2012-2013, Wednesday evening, June 19th, asking me to join his Division H team and to shoulder responsibilities of Area H1: for Grand and for MOFA, and to start a new club in Area H1.

Lawrence has a Toastmasters road map in hands. He wants not only to cultivate his own leadership skills but also to be in a position to discover, nurture, and foster new leaders with values of integrity, honesty, and strength. These leaders can speak eloquently from their hearts in intelligent pursuit of the best interest of those around them. Lawrence thinks of possibilities to pursue and options to expand in Area H1.

First and foremost is to expand membership for MOFA and Grand. At MOFA, there are lots of good people and strong talents that deserve to be publicized. MOFA plans to go into colleges to look for new members who major in international relations, diplomacy, to enhance the membership. College and graduate students will meet Taiwanese diplomats, like a mini-internship.

Lawrence plans to create a stronger Division H identity by strengthening inter-club and inter-area relationships. In this network, we connect anyone or everyone to make friends with one another. Through personal networks and information channels, division leaders gain more membership that strengthens the foundation of the Division.

I attended 2013-2014 District Officers Training from 10am till 2pm at Star Era Banquet Hall in Taichung, Sunday, June 23rd. As I was probably the last district officer to join the team, my name was not printed on District Offers Roster 2013-2014. I saw many DTMs, ACSs, ALSs, CCs, CLs, mine is still ATM-B which I achieved on the 4th of April 2001. Obviously, I'm a decade behind my fellow Toastmasters. I'm desperate to speed up to catch up urgently!

The Area Governor package includes a congratulation letter from Kristen Rolapp, District Services Manger, two handbooks (District Recognition Program and District Leadership Handbook—A Guide to Effective District Management), and Speech Contest Rulebook 2013. In addition to reports to Toastmasters members, I can get access to reports exclusive to district officers. I'm feeling excited to run my share of the  world biggest non-profit educational organization.

Now, I look forward to an exciting year to work with Toastmasters members in Area H1 and to work with Division H Governor Lawrence Huang to make Division H the best division in District 67.

AFA's Fourth Cooking Class

I'm a follower of Anatolia Formosa Association (AFA)'s events. I want to know more about Turkey! Why?

It began with a cup of Turkish coffee at AFA on the first Saturday in January 2013 with the invitation of Toastmasters LJ Lamb, followed by a scrumptious Turkish breakfast in on the third Sunday in January. Ever since, I've read books about Turkey. I've watch films about Turkey. And it's the third time I visited AFA today, Saturday, June 22, to learn "Lahmacun" so called Turkish Pizza and yogurt drink "Ayran" with young and pretty Toastmaster Kelly Hsu.

There are reasons why I love to visit AFA. Among them, I think to be with the sweet Turkish women is the main reason. Whenever I am at AFA, I feel warmly surrounded by friendly Turkish ladies with sweet smiles on their faces. I feel at home instantly. Not to mention, the free Turkish Food and drinks at AFA on the 21st floor overlooking the beautiful Taipei!

I don't have any Turkish gentlemen friends. I assume Turkish men are handsome. Take a recent breaking news for instance. Yamur Kursat Ersagun, a Turkish student at Tamkang University, claims he has had hundreds of affairs with Taiwanese ladies since he came to Taiwan five years ago. Ersagun's case brought up a heated table topic about the Cross Cultural Romance (CCR) in Taiwan .

At AFA, there was not a Turkish gentlemen Saturday afternoon. It was a full house of young people interested in Turkish culture, Turkish food and drinks. Lahmacuns are easy to make and are super delicious. Every participant was given a chance to work with the dough and to make a piece of lahmacun. We all enjoyed AFA's 4th cooking class. Now, I can't wait to give a lahmacun party for Toastmasters friends in the near future.

Lahmacun Recipe Yield: 10-12 Lahmacuns Prep. time and baking duration: about 2 hours

Ingredients for the dough:
1 tsp dry active yeast
0,5 tsp sugar
1+1/2 cup of warm water
4,5 cups of flour
little oil to brush the dough

Ingredients for the topping:
12 oz of minced beef
1 big onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp of butter
1 medium tomato
1 tsp of chili pepper
salt according to your own taste

Innovative TMC's 25th Anniversary

Joint D67 & D76 Dinner Party

Bashamichi Advanced TMC & Leadership Village Joint Meeting

Taipei YMCA Oratorio Choir's Verdi Requiem 2013

Many thanks to Toastmaster Lydia Lin for inviting us to a splendid performance of Verdi Requiem by Taipei YMCA Oratorio Choir at National Concert Hall Monday evening, June 10th!

It was a joyful evening to be surrounded by Toastmasters, including International President Elect George Yen and his lovely wife Jorie Wu. I was thrilled to have a group photo with 指揮/孫愛光、女高音/林欣欣、次女高音/翁若珮、男高音/楊磊、男低音/林中光. I had their signatures in my Verdi Requiem 2013 Program in hand!