Farewell 2014

What could have been more rewarding at the end of an year than going to a hair salon to have hair set up before a joyful gathering with golden ladies at the Second Floor Restaurant at the newly opened NangKang City Link Wednesday afternoon, December 31st.

In year 2014, I didn't have my hair trimmed short, except at Taipei Fringe Festival 2014 at Daan Forest Park, to support a new fashion of hair style--Ear of Rice. I didn't mind to have my hair cut short only on the top of my head so long as I kept the rest intact. As far as I could remember, my hair has reached a new length in 2014. When I stood up and got ready to leave, an old lady at the hair salon gave me an admiring look about my sassy silky curly long hair. It felt blissful to walk into the unknown last day of year 2014 with a humble share of pride and complacence.

It was the first time I ventured to Nangkang City Link, three huge buildings (B1, B2, C1) connected to MRT, Taiwan Rail and High Speed Rail. After taking one hour ride of MRT from Xindian to Nangkang, I was not in a hurry to find the Second Floor in the huge labyrinth decorated with many avant-garde sculptures. I looked around to take photos. I knew it would take a long time before my come back.

Be it the last day of year 2014, it was still a working day in Taipei. To my surprise, restaurants were packed with patrons.No sign what-so-ever about the economic downturn in Taiwan could be smelled simply by looking at what people ordered for their lunches. The new apprentice waiter looked at me when I ordered a Second floor burger. He warned me that it was a huge burger, double layers with hamburger and bacon. I told him that I was starved to death, I could eat a horse.

When my burger came with a side dish of French fries, I attacked the food within a second. The volume was big, my stomach was stretched at least twice bigger, if not trice, as the usual size. I even gorged down a piece of pancake from Trini's All-in-One and a piece of French toast from Michelle's All-in-One. Oh my God, what an insatiable woman on the verge of 60 years of age.

At dinner, Jimmy made a table of dishes to celebrate the New Year Eve with Ruth, my husband and me. After going home and taking a shower, I called Jimmy that I decided not to see the firework of Taipei 101 as I was so sleepy that I would hit the sack at once. In bed, I felt my stomach cramps all night. My stomach kept me awake to warn me not to do it again on the New Year Eve of 2015.

Light Cafe'

Many cozy coffee houses are at every corner of Taipei. They have mushroomed with the advent of i-phones, i-pod, i-what-so-ever. Drinking coffee has been a lifestyle for people around the globe for more than a decade. Young and old people gather at the coffee houses with WIFi to exchange information, to work as free lancers, and to experience the new chics in metropolitan Taipei.

The turnover of the coffee houses is fast, too. There are always new coffee houses waving at you and me. I am not a coffee aficionado. I can't tell the differences between a cup of coffee at the chain store or at a brand coffee specialty. But, in addition to reading and daydreaming at my veranda in the winter sun over a cup of instant coffee, I don't mind joining the crowd to explore an unexpected coffee house in the small valleys of Taipei.

When Jenny told me she would show me her favorite coffee house in Gongkuan Tuesday afternoon, I was full of expectations. After having Thai noodles for lunch, we searched for her dream coffee shop, only to find that it had moved to another place 3 months ago. Without a little disappointment, we walked into Light Cafe'. Oh my God, the place was packed with patrons. The food and drinks were appetizing. And the waiters were young and handsome. We were lucky!

While we were talking about our life plans. I decided to add another new year resolution in year 2015. I shall study Spanish again for several reasons, to learn flamenco in Andalusia in southern Spain; to learn Argentine tango in Buenos Aires; and to venture to Mexico with family and friends in LA.

When Jenny showed me the book she was reading, The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren, I told her that I also used the book for my workshop at District 76 Fall Conference 2014 in Tokyo. I talked about the 5Ps in language acquisition in Toastmasters, People, Programs, Practice, Passion, Purpose. I was grateful to Jenny that she shared her experience listening to Rick's sermon at the Saddleback Church Irvine. She was impressed and she couldn't mind going back again. I agreed with her about the power of Rick's sermons after I saw a few videoclips of Rick Warren on TED Talks. A life with a purpose is it, it's not about the affluence, not about the influence, but it is about the significance to give others what you acquire along the way.

Toastmasters Clubs in Prisons

Toastmaster Kazumasa Umemoto shared his experiences visiting 8 clubs in prisons Massachusetts, including 6 gavel clubs and 2 Toastmasters Club.

Joint District 67 & District 76 Year-end Party

It's been a tradition for some time that District 67 & District 76 holds Year-end joint meeting in Japanese in Taipei.

Six Japanese toastmasters, including Kiichiro Saito, Noriyuki Kobori, Kozue Sakai, Katsimpro Toyomichi, Mayumi Uchizawa, Kazumasa umemoto flew to Taipei to participate in the last meeting of Pacicific Toastmasters Club Saturday afternoon, December 20th.

Year 2014 was special. Toastmasters from Central Toastmasters Club in Taichung, Toastmasters from Success Toastmasters Club in Taoyuan also joined the year-end gathering.

At the dinner party at Santos Hotel, I joined a group to sing and perform a children song "The Sound of Music" in Japanese. It would be awesome if we can sing the song in three different languages (Japanese, English, Chinese) at District 67 Spring Conference 2015 in Taipei.
.
どれみの歌 　ペギー葉山版

ドはドーナツのド
レはレモンのレ 
ミはみんなの ミ
ファはファイトのファ
ソは青い空
ラはラッパのラ
シは幸せよ
さぁ歌いましょう

Doe, a deer, a female deer
Ray, a drop of golden sun
Me, a name I call myself
Far, a long long way to run
Sew, a needle pulling thread
La, a note to follow so
Tea, a drink with jam and bread
That will bring us back to Do, oh oh oh

Do 唱歌兒快樂多
Re 就忘記眼淚
Mi 你真是太甜蜜
Fa 我有個辦法
So 我有話對你說
La 把煩惱拋開啦
Si 我對你笑嘻嘻
唱起歌來快樂多


On Sunday, I joined a few Toastmasters to pray for the health of Toastmaster yoshihito Watanabe at Lungshanoon. Toastmaster Yoshihito Watanaba has visited Taipei twice a year for the past ten consecutive years. We wish Toastmaster Watanabe can get well and visit Taipei soon with his family..

CDE Toastmasters Club

CDE (Center for Drug Evaluation) Toastmasters Club (3736005) was chartered in February this year. I was honored to be the club mentor and I received a club mentor certificate from the headquarters on September 17th after the completion of six months mentoring of the club.

 CDE holds enlarged meetings every three months to accommodate all CDE colleagues (about 100+ persons). President Jean Lai took initiatives to organize a demo meeting to promote Toastmasters to more employees at CDE's year-end enlarged meeting at the Glory Church Tuesday afternoon, December 16th. The demo meeting started from 2:30PM and ended at 3:30PM.

It was a successful and joyful demo Toastmasters meeting full of excitements and laughter at CDE! I wrote Jean an congratulatory email about my observations. I have full confidence that CDE Toastmasters Club can be entrusted to organize an impressive international conference for the Ministry of Health.

Nevertheless, I suggest that 1. the poster outside the building impressed the celebrities, but it could be better with bigger poster and the photos of the celebrities; 2. The back of the meeting agenda can give credits to all who are involved in making the fun meeting possible, like the end of a movie, including venue preparation, costume design; 3. The social gathering time can be a little longer, say from 1 minute to five minutes. Consider about playing music in the background to encourage audience to walk around or giving high five to one another. A short variety session to warm up the audience at the beginning of the meeting for five minutes is recommended.

The meeting room at the Glory Church is fantastic with music instruments and spot lights on stage. I felt like a real Toastmaster celebrity, and I believe all Toastmasters in District 67 would be thrilled to be invited to CDE's year-end meeting in 2015
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Toastmasters Sisters Clubs

MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Toastmasters Club is unique in District 67. MOFA has more Toastmasters sister clubs than any other club in Taiwan. They are eager to sign sister club agreement with any club in the world.

Down the Road of Writing

Writing is indubitably a great pastime for me. Writing makes sense of my life experiences. Writing helps me figure out who I am. I've been sitting in front of my desktop since I got back from my travel in Mongolia in October and my trip in Japan in November. I had a lot to document during the wonderful two months in 2014.

I'm training myself not to censor or criticize my thoughts and ideas too much. For better writing, two indispensible books are The Elements of Style by Strunk / White / Kalman and On Writing Well by William Zinsser.

Taipei Medical University Toastmasters Club

I was invited to the 4th meeting of Taipei Medical University Toastmasters Club Wednesday evening, November 26th.

It felt soooo good to meet young and enthusiastic students at my alma mater. I graduated from Department of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical College in 1977. Time flies, 37 years ago was lik yesterday. I was impressed with many outstanding students from all departments of Taipei Medical University, both their communication skills in English and their enthusiasm in learning!

At the tabletopics session, Francesca Prophete brought a bag full of props. I was called upon to pick up a prop to sell it, and I won the best tabletopics speaker by selling a shoe polish with roll on applicator, first about the good price, buy one get one free; second about the fragrance, 12 selections; third the every lasting shoe shine, once for a month! Francesca Prophete is a new member, a senior of Department of Health. She speaks fluent English and Mandarin. She is from Haiti with her mother tongue of French.

As a Language Evaluator, I gave my comments as follows, it was a meeting of quality at the newly chartered TMU Toastmasters Club's weekly meeting, Wednesday evening, November 26th. I like the joyful atmosphere club officers nourished for members and guests. Many good phrases were used during the meeting, such as my life will be as brilliant as a home run ball; luxury is not about buying expensive products. It is about showing appreciation to our loved ones and those who love us.

The variety session of finding the missing halves of quotes was a interesting way to mingle members to know one another while learning famous quotes. Quotes are powerful to open and close speeches, both prepared speeches and tabletopics speeches. The more quotes we remember, the more effective speakers we are.

The tabletopics workshop was inspiring and useful. I learned how to think outside the box by drawing a group of matrices. The workshop was an excellent training for creative thinking to answer impromptu speeches. It's to find extraordinaries among ordinaries for copy writers and for Toastmasters.

For the better use of the language, I recommend members avoid using abbreviations about the meeting roles and club officers. Just use Toastmaster of the Evening, in stead of TME or TOE, Vice President Public Relations in stead of VPPR. For new members who are still struggling with the English language, please keep in mind to speak the language slowly and expressed sentences completely. Slow, S-L-O-W, is an acronym for Speak, Listen, Observe, Write. Learning a foreign language is life-long. It can't be done in a haste. Haste makes waste. If members want to master the English language, they must use it at least 60 minutes a day SLOWly!

I joined a few club officers and member for a late night snack at a soybean milk shop. I realized no matter when or where in the world, college students were excited about their future. It felt cool to listen to youth dreams. After the night snack, I walked without much of thinking to the school gate. The good old days flashed back. The old school buildings were in front of me. But the street was wrong. The campus must have been rearranged. I was lost in my memory and in reality. I turned around and ran back to the hospital and walked on Wu-xin Street again.

Gavel Toastmasters Clubs

Toastmaster Irene Chen from Hong Kong and I met for lunch to continue our discussions about the Toastmasters development in Asia Monday morning, November 24th.

We first met at the famous DinTaiFung steamed dumpling restaurant on Hsin-yi Road at 11:30. There was a long queue of Japanese tourists. We saw a LED light of waiting time of 120 minutes. Oh, My God. DinTaiFung must be one of the most famous restaurants in the world. Without a second thought, we decided to change a restaurant. Irene had a list of good restaurants in her pocket notebook, including 喫飯食堂, 大隱酒食, 小隱私廚, 豐盛食堂 (Fong-sheng Eatery). We settled upon the Fong-sheng, the shop name literally mens sumptuous.

It was my first time at Fong-sheng Eatery. I love their pork lard rice, I had two bowls. The dishes were of Taiwanese and Hakka styles. I love their pork rib stewed with dried cauliflower, baked pumpkin with white and black sesame balls. After lunch, Joy Chyr invited Irene and me to her newly renovated apartments for coffee. Joy talked about her business plan for a training center for young people on the 3rd floor and a recreation center for senior citizens on the 9th floor.

Irene shared with me her 12 years experience helping high school students with the youth leadership program. She has successfully connected the Toastmasters clubs on campus with gavel clubs* in high schools in Hong Kong. I admired her vision to coach communication and leadership skills in young people. I also have a strong urge to help high school students establish gavel clubs among them.

In 2014, Irene has visited Taiwan 8 times. She knows more restaurants in Taipei than I do. I hope Irene can come back to Taipei soon and share with us a few good restaurants to satisfy our taste buds.

Remarks: 
Toastmasters Gavel Clubs are not required to have a minimum number of members. The Club Counselor (person in charge) must be a Toastmaster in good standing. Counselor must have completed at least 6 speeches. The sponsoring organization preferably a Toastmasters club makes a donation to help gavel club get chartered (about $100). After the gavel club paperwork has been filled out and submitted to TMI, the club counselor will receive a new club kit, including 20 CCs and CLs, a gavel, membership cards, evaluation forms. The meeting roles of a gavel clubs are Gaveliers (members), Ringleader (Toastmaster), Coach (Evaluator), Head Coach (GE), Inquisitor (Table Topics Master), Wizard of Ahs (Ah Counter). Chartering a Gavel Club could be regarded as the High Performance Leadership Project (HPLP) for Advanced Leadership Silver (ALS).

District 67 Fall Conference 2014

District 67 Fall Conference 2014 started with the welcome dinner in honor of Keynote Speaker Barbara Khozam, AS, and Regional 13 Advisor Kazuko Kawauchi, DTM, at Hotel Nationaom Taipei to Taichung. The food was so yummy that I was really honored to join the huge table for two dozens Toastmasters hosted by Distrcit 67 Governor Eric Liang, DTM!

Saturday morning, I got on the charter bus at Red Valley station in Taichung at 8:20 to pick up Toastmasters from all over Taiwan at Wurih High Speed Rail Station at 9. Upon my invitation, Toastmaster Forever Young Mike Yang, DTM conducted a good-to-know-you session. Every member was given a chance to give a self-introduction and to promote individual club. It felt great to make acquaintance with many Toastmasters on the way to Hsiangyuan Conference Center.

In order to support the contestant from Division H, I went to the Humorous Speech Run-off Contest Group B at Room 201. Toastmaster Joseph Calpin from TGIF Toastmasters Club, Area H1, did a wonderful job and seized the seat to compete at the District final humorous speech contest.

After lunch, Toastmaster Barbara Khozam gave a 50 minutes keynote speech on "Zap Negativity and Ignite Yourself, Your Life and Your Results" at Room 101 with a consecutive interpreter. In order to take care of non-English speaking members, Fall Conference Organizer used consecutive interpretation. I didn't like the keynote speech being interrupted from time to time. Fortunately I heard Barbara speech for the second time. The first time time was at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Thursday noon, November 20th, followed by a warm gathering with a couple senior diplomats at MOFA Cafe' accompanies by MOFA Toastmasters Club's Immediate Past President Charles Teng and Incumbent President Jenny Tseng.

In her keynote speech, Barbara encouraged the audience to do whatever works for us. She showed us how to bite a pen between upper and lower teeth to exercise the smiling muscle on face. She told me to hold ten seconds when we responded to people's compliments about us. She told us that attitude can be trained if we have it done deliberately for consecutive 21 days. She also told us to how to cure the grumpy face syndrome (GFS) by wearing the imaginary happy pants.

Immediately after the Japanese humorous speech contest at Room 102, I rushed to Barbara's workshop "From Boss to Leader--Leadership Skills for Busy People" at Room 201. The room was fully packed with people. I had to stand at the back. Then I returned to Room 101 to see the English Evaluation Contest. Toastmaster Irene Chen from Hong Kong was the test speaker. Her topic is "Stand Tall". It was about her conquer of acrophobia in life. Haishuo Lee won the evaluation contest, Lester Lin the first runner-up, David Goodman the second runner-up.

After the banquet dinner party and award presentation, Grand's President Jenny Chen and I were invited to the 2nd party to celebrate Lester Lin's 58th birthday at their rented 2 stories Apartment 70. Lester was loved by TGIF Toastmasters Club, the club he chartered in October 2013. TGIF Toastmasters Club is regarded as the best Toastmasters in District 67. I was the proud Area H1 Governor when TGIF was born. Toastmaster Ching Wen Huang from TGIF took a photo of me while I introduced myself. I love the photo with vintage and aging effect with Lester and Jenny looking at me with admiration.

Sunday morning, Jenny and I attended two workshops after breakfast at a small countryside shop near Hsiangyuan Conference Center. We luckily grabbed the seats at the first row. Barbara talked about "Speaking Your Truth with Toastmasters". She introduced the equation: E (Event) + R (Response) = O (Outcome) by Jack Canfield (Co-Creator Chicken Soup for the Soul Book Series). She pointed out how to use the pause at the triggering point + to control the response in order to get the desirable outcome. It's not about the event, but about the response to affect the outcome. We need to change our thinking, the images we hold in our heads, and our behaviors, in order to achieve the outcome we want.

Kazuko talked about how to build a healthy team. Her purpose was to establish a collaborative, cohesive and comfortable (3C's team) by identifying five traits of a healthy team, including trust, healthy conflict, commit, accountability, and results. After she asked the participants to answer the DISC* personality test to identify four behavioral styles, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Compliance. She called upon five people from each behavior style to come to the stage and asked us to study the similar behavioral pattern in each group.

The DISC Personality test is based on the work of renowned psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston, and was introduced in his 1928 book "Emotions of Normal People". In 1940, Walter Clark took the theory of William Moulton Marston and developed the first DISC Assessment. And it is still the same DISC Assessment that is still in use today! The DISC assessment can be used to determine leadership. There are different leadership methods and styles that coincide with each personality type, which could help leaders be more effective.

After lunch, I went to Mandarin & Taiwanese humorous speech contests, followed by English humorous speech contest. I like the quality of Mandarin and English humorous speech contests. The language skills of Taiwanese and Japanese speakers were deteriorating. No wonder no more Hakka speech contest was held any more. Many congratulations to Haishuo Lee for winning the double championship in 2014. Haishuo has been in charge of District 67's Speakers Bureau for the past few years. He deserved a big round of applause.

Before the closing ceremony, Jenny invited Irene Chen and me to ride with Anna back to Taipei. We talked all the way from Taichung to Hsin-tien. Irene shared with us her valuable and keen observations of Taiwanese Toastmasters and Toastmasters in Hong Kong and China. Many thanks to Anna of World Mosaic Toastmasters Club for giving us a ride back to Taipei before 7 o'clock.

Remarks:
*Dominant (D) Direct, outspoken, results-oriented, a leader, problem-solver; Influencing (I) Friendly, outgoing, talkative, optimistic, the life of the party, people-oriented; Steady (S) Team player, stable, consistent, maintains the status quo, peacemaker, family-oriented, patient; Compliant (C) Logical, organized, data-driven, methodical, perfectionist, detail-oriented.

Farewell Japan

It was another sunny day. I walked Soleil along the beach with Mount Fuji and Sky Tree in the distance. Soleil was smart to know that I was leaving her. I played with her for more than one hour. I shall always remember her and the Makuhari beach.  I thank Soleil for keeping my company during my 10 days trip in Japan in 2014. Hopefully I can walk her again on Makuhari beach in the near future. I thank Emiko for providing her warm mansion. I look forward to seeing her in March in 2015.

I took the bus in front of the Apartment Patios at 13:55, got on the airport bus in front of Tully's cafe' at 14:25, and arrived at Terminal One of Narita at 15:30. Delta was delayed for 30 minutes from 6:10 to 6:40. I enjoyed two hours tour the Narita Airport, including the Origami Museum, Ukiyo Painting Alleys, Brand Boutiques. It was after 10:30 when Delta DL473 finally arrived at Taoyuan Airport. I rushed to get on the shuttle to Hsin-tien at 11:10, and arrived home before 12 midnight.

Mother Farm

Emiko took one day off to drive to the Mother Farm in the countryside in Chiba Monday, November 17th. On the way, we were worried if the farm would be closed for Mondays. To our delight, we joined hundreds of weary city dwellers and kids to enjoy a refreshing day on the farm.

The Mother Fram was founded by Mr.Hisakichi Maeda who started Sankei Shinbun Daily Newspaper and Tokyo Tower. Maeda opened the Mother Farm on a 250-hectare land at Kanozan on Chiba Prefecture's Boso Peninsula in 1962 to remember the leaner times in suburbs of Osaka where his mother had said their family would be all right as long as they had a cow.

Our first stop was the duck parade. It was fun to watch the duck march according to the bell sound of trainers. I learned how to distinguish male and female ducks. In general, females make the classic "quack" sound and their tails tilt higher. Then Emiko and I ran with Soleil for a while on the big farm. Soleil was so happy that she jumped here and there.

While I participated in sheep parade, Emiko took Soleil for a good run at the park for dog run. Soleil is a lucky dog. Emiko loves her companion so much. I was very cautious when I took Soleil for a walk when Emiko went to work. Emiko would kill me if anything happened to her beloved Soleil. Soleil is seven years old, but energetic and slim like a 3 or 4 years old puppy.

After lunch, Emiko and I saw a animal parade show of sheep, cows, alpacas, goats, pigs, ostriches, sheep-shearing show, introduction of sheep from all over the world, and the pig racing. It reminded me of the fun days in New Zealand.

At the changing of the year 2014 to 2015, parents and children waited in line to take photos with ponies (2014 Year of the Horse) and sheep (2015 Year of the Sheep). After the good year of my husband born in Year of Horse in 2015, I look forward to my good year born in Year of Sheep in 2015

After a long drive home, Emiko made the oyster shabu shabu for dinner. We had tea and pineapple cakes for desserts. What a wonderful and memorable last evening in Tokyo. I just can't thank Emiko enough for her hospitality to be able to enjoy the beach life on Tokyo Bay and farm life in the countryside to enjoy with the nature in Japan.

PS: Mother Farm is accessible via a free shuttle bus from Kimitsu Station in Chiba Prefecture.

Beautiful Sunday

District 76 Fall Conference 2014—Sunday November 16th

In order to reduce the weight of my luggage, I ate most snacks in my luggage for breakfast, packed my suitcase to check out at the Arts Building before 9 o'clock.

I was excited about the English humorous speech contest Sunday morning, because one of the six contestants, Toastmaster Keizo Matsui was representing Kyoto Toastmasters Club. He was the first speaker, and he placed the 2nd runner-up (Toastmaster Atsushi Komiyama, the first runner-up and Toastmaster Rukyle Lindsay Howser, the Champion). Many congratulations to Toastmaster Keizo Matsui, the incumbent President of Kyoto Toastmasters Club. And it's his 3rd presidency of Kyoto Toastmasters Club.

After the English humorous speech contest, Lance gave a keynote speech about "Losing My Way to the World Championship" for one hour. He talked about his story failing at the Division speech contest, district speech contest, international speech contest before he claimed the championship. Sitting at the first row, I felt the energy and enthusiasm Lance conveyed to the audience. It was a very successful and powerful keynote speech.

After the closing ceremony, Toastmaster Yada Toshio, Jogen Ikuko, Pierre Chen and his youngest son and I had okonomi yaki for a late lunch at a restaurant in Shinjuku to continue our discussion about chartering a Mandarin speaking Toastmasters Club. Hopefully there will be a prospective club registered with the Toastmasters headquarters before the end of March 2014.

It was ten five when I arrived at JR Makuhari station. Emiko was waiting for me, because I didn't take the house key with me when I left for District 76 Fall Conference 2014 Friday morning. We enjoyed a peaceful evening overlooking the Makuhari beach sitting on the candle lit veranda. I really like the quiet neighborhood in Makuhari. I wish I can visit Emiko again in 2015.

District 76 Fall Conference 2014

District 76 Fall Conference 2014—Saturday November 15th

It was my big day. I had a one hour workshop to give to fellow Toastmasters at District 76 this morning. I was so excited that I got up before seven, took a few photos of the beautiful sunrise of the Yoyogi park. Yes, I'm a lucky woman. I'm a hare (sunshine) woman. I want to shed light on men and women in Toastmasters who are interested in learning foreign languages like me!

I decided to have breakfast at Fuji Cafeteria on the second floor of Central Building. On my way to the Fuji, I saw many kids in Kudou uniforms from Ukraine. I had an urge to chat with them because I visited their country before. But I didn't take any action. Then I saw a group kids with their coaches from Kazakhstan at a small coffee shop selling sandwiches. I had the urge to chat with them, because I just came back from  Mongolia, but I didn't take any action, because I couldn't speak their language.

Finally I decided to have breakfast at Fuji, traditional Japanese canteen full of high school students. With less than 500 yen, I had a full set of breakfast, fish, miso soup, bread, rice, nado, nori, salad, vegetanle, eggs, coffee, you name it. I saw two kids from Kango and Morocco with their coach sitting at the table in front of me. I overheard their conversation in French. I speak French! When their coach turned around smiled at me, I mustered up my courage to join their table. After the coach left, I had a pleasant conversation with two kids in their teens. We talked about Manga, we talked about language acquisition, we talk about the beautiful autumn in Japan. It was stimulating for my morning workshop.

Before 9, I walked into Room 309 to support Toastmaster Masafumi Abe's workshop on Speeches and Rakugo. Toastmaster Abe invited three panelists to join his workshop to talk about the similarities between public speeches and rakugo.  Then I attended the first half of Marie Marie-Josee Brassard's workshop "Leave your Emotions at the door when Evaluating a Speech". The room was small and only 8 people participated the workshop, including Toastmaster Tomohide Oshima and me.

I didn't participated in Lancer Miller's workshop on Building a Championship Club, even though I paid for it. I needed to be ready to break my leg for my workshop immediately after his. I joked with Lancer that he warmed up the audience for my workshop the moment I saw him Thursday. But the truth was after a workshop by the champion of public speaking, who could the audience compare mine with? Of course the workshop of the champion. On top of that, my workshop was between 11 and 12. How could I hold the audience's attention and retention capabilities from thinking about what they could have for lunch, whom to eat it with, how much time for lunch. With all that in mind, I made up the mind to make the presentation an interactive workshop as people had the most adrenaline surge in their brain before lunch.

I decided not to use PowerPoint to distract the interaction between me and the audience, because the huge screen was in the center of the stage. Between the colorful pictures on powerpoint and the effectiveness of the workshop, I chose the latter. I was grateful to Kumagai-san for making copies of questionnaires for my workshop. He also made  30 copies of full text of the workshop to encourage participants to return answer sheets. We collected 32 returned questionnaires* in total. It's exciting to know how Toastmasters in Japan thought about foreign languages acquisition.

In the evening, I attended a standing up buffet dinner. I was assigned at a table R at the last row. I couldn't see anything on stage. I couldn't hear anything clearly. My feet in high-heeled killed me. I left the party venue early to take a hot shower at Room 616. Nobody knocked on my door to invite me to nomikai. It was another lonely evening by myself. I'm the queen in the kingdom of isolation! Let it go~

PS:
*Over the weekend of Taiwan local elections 2014, November 29th, I studied the 32 returned questionnaires. To my surprise, I found that more Toastmasters are interested in learning Spanish than Mandarin Chinese. One Toastmaster mentioned the interest of learning Hindi. A great number of Toastmasters wanted to learn German and French. That's a good news. In addition to English, Japanese, and French (Bonjour Toastmasters Club No. 01528251) speaking clubs in Japan, there are markets for German, Spanish, Mandarin speaking Toastmasters clubs in the future.

Many toastmasters shared their know-hows in acquiring foreign languages, including listening to i-pod, interpersonal communication with foreigners, shadowing TV anchors, reading out aloud good speeches, watching TV dramas, dictating, teaching foreign languages, translating and interpreting, talking alone in the shower, joining foreign language readers clubs, performing and acting on stage, traveling, writing letters to pen pals, not to mention, speaking and listening in Toastmasters.

As for joint activities between Toastmasters in Japan and Taiwan, 6 Toastmasters are interested in forming sisters clubs, 9 Toastmasters are interested in couch surfing, and 9 Toastmasters are interested in promoting Toastmasters in another country. One Toastmaster suggested the mentor relationship between Japan and Taiwan.

I feel grateful to those members who gave me written evaluations how to improve my workshop, including more pictures, easier questions, fewer questions, more interactions from the floor, punching the "P" repeatedly, better time management. I thought I was quite successful conveying my message to the audience through the engagement of audience friendly, intelligently and emotionally. I have more to offer about my specialty in the power of persuasion to recruit new Toastmasters members.

Language Acquisition in Toastmasters, Sherry Li, ACS, PRVP Grand Toastmasters Club (#1447-67) 2014-2015  for District 76 Fall Conference 2014 National Olympic Youth Center, November 15, 2014 Theme: All you need is laugh!

Standing here in front of you is a dream-come-true to me! Fellow Toastmasters of District 76 and distinguished guests, Good Morning! (Pose with a big smile! Take a bow!)

What a pleasure and privilege to be in the midst of men and women who seek to speak a foreign language in a fluid, fluent, and flowing manner.

Last month, Toastmasters celebrated the 90th anniversary Wednesday, October 22nd. On the same day, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a workshop at the prestigious Tsinghua University (清華大学) in Mandarin Chinese for 30 minutes. His language skills stunned the audience.

Acquiring a foreign language is fun and rewarding. It opens our eyes to other cultures, it challenges us to explore the unknown. After acquiring a foreign language, we become more confident to meet people in foreign wonderlands. We learn new ideas to enrich our lives and others.

In this room, many Toastmasters can speak one or two foreign languages. Everyone has his or her story to tell and I'm standing here to share my story about language acquisition in Toastmasters!

People often ask me where I learn my English, I answer the question “in Toastmasters” without a shadow of doubt! How many of you feel the same way?

I thought I was good at English before I went to the Graduate School of Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans in 1979. When I first walked into a big classroom full of medical students in white robes, I knew I was in trouble. Language shock, culture shock, you name it. Life was stressful. I had serious insomnia. I couldn't even afford the tiny amount of caffeine in a can of coca cola. But adversity is a means of growth. I graduated with honor!

After going back to Taiwan, I knocked on the door of Grand Toastmasters Club in 1984. Yes, time flies. I’ve been in Toastmasters for three decades. When I was EVP of Grand Toastmasters Club, I met a veteran Toastmaster, late Ray Ames, from Buffalo, New York. I learned communication and leadership skills from the role model. Ray gave me advice without reservation. He edited speeches I wrote, stood by me when I rehearsed my speeches. When I was the club president, I wrote President messages every two weeks and Ray gave many valuable suggestions. In return, my English language competency excelled.

In Toastmasters, there are people, many outstanding members, mentors, crouching tigers, hidden dragons, we can emulate! Please name two outstanding Toastmasters you want to emulate and in what way? (The first P of People 人)

Today, there are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers in Toastmasters. Many members join Toastmaster to become better speakers in English, so did I 30 years ago. China alone, there are 400 million English-language learners with the market for English-language training of $7.5 billion US dollars, not to mention India, Indonesia, Brasilia.

Toastmaster Dananjaya Hettiarachchi won 2014 champion of public speaking in Malaysia. He is from Sri Lanka. Dananjaya is not a native speaker of English. If he can be the world champion, so can we, only if someone sees something in us. And we can dream to become the world champion.

Besides English, what other languages would you like to learn? And why? Write down your dream list in Toastmasters in the next three years. CC,CL, District Champion, World Champion of public speaking.

I didn’t learn Japanese till I was in my 40s when I realized that many senior citizens in Taiwan spoke Japanese, including my parents-in-law. On top of that Japan is close. In 1998, I was invited to build the first Japanese speaking club in Taipei as a club mentor, regardless of my deficiency in Japanese language.

Learning by doing is how I acquire my Japanese language in Toastmasters. I joined Japanese speaking club meetings regularly, and I delivered prepared speeches according to Competent Communicator Manual. I acquire the Japanese language step by step. (The second P of Program 道)

In 2000, I came to Japan as an exchange Student of Ritsumeikan University. I became the Charter President of Kyoto Toastmasters Club with the support of many Japanese Toastmasters, Inatsugi Masahiko, Lublow Gibbons, Kazumi Sato, Tomohide Oshima, and Inagaki Shintaro. Kyoto Toastmasters Club gave me a new meaning in life in Toastmasters.

In April, Fall Conference Chair Toastmaster Sakai Kozue came to District 67 Spring Conference 2014 in Taipei, asked me if I would be interested in giving a workshop at D76 Fall Conference 2014 in Tokyo. I was overwhelmed and flattered, “yes, with pleasure”. Then Sakai asked, English or Japanese. I answered, “Japanese”. Ever since, I’d been cramming the Japanese language to the best of my ability.

In July, I received a confirmation email from Toastmaster Matthew Ownby that I would do a workshop in English instead of Japanese. Because a Rakugo (落語) artist had been booked to do a seminar on Humor.

Wow, what a good news! I can do a workshop in English. Both English and Japanese are not my mother tongues. But, between English and Japanese, English is friendlier for most Taiwanese. I do hope nevertheless, I could have a rain check to give a workshop in Japanese in the future, a goal for me to continue learning Japanese language diligently. What method do you use to acquire a second language?

Remember the core values of Toastmasters, “Integrity, Respect for the Individual, Service to the Member, and Dedication to excellence.” Yes, integrity, respect, service, excellence. Aristotle said, “Excellence is not an act, excellence is a habit.” Excellence is the habit that we acquire through training and habituation.

Toastmasters provides the positive environment where we can fall down and stand up in foreign language acquisition. We have chances to practice to become excellent. Practice makes perfect. (The third P of Practice 修)

Learning a foreign language takes time. It can't be done in a haste. Haste makes waste. Slow S-L-O-W is acronym for language acquisition, speak, listen, observe, and write. When we learn a foreign language, we learn it slowly. If we speak, listen, observe, and write for 60 minutes a day and we become better speakers in that foreign language. How much time do you use to study a foreign language each day?

Choose the language you love and love the language you choose. I have a passion to learn foreign languages, to chat with people from all over the world. I don’t hesitate to offer my helping hands to foreigners in Taipei. I feel excited and recharged when I apply my language skills to bridge and build people. (The fourth P of Passion 喜)

Passion is contagious. (Blow in the air!) I give my passion to you! What is your passion in life? Please stand up and follow me. (Blow in the air!) Give your passion to your neighbors. (Blow to the right and left) Give your passion to your loved ones. (Blow to the sky)

Last but not least, the purpose of our lives. What is the purpose we acquire a foreign language? What does a foreign language benefit us? Life rewards in its way. Standing here talking to you is my purpose. I want to be a motivational speaker for Toastmasters.

With the language skills, I can promote Toastmasters whenever and wherever. I visit Toastmasters clubs when I travel in foreign lands. Where there were no Toastmasters clubs, I charter a Toastmasters club! (The fifth P of Purpose功)

In summary, there are 5 Ps how I acquire foreign languages in Toastmasters, namely People 人, Program道, Practice修, Passion喜, Purpose功.

Now a short story of my childhood. You’ll understand why I deeply believe that language is the key to friendship.

Let's first have a short history lesson. Taiwan was colonized by Japan for 50 years between 1895 and 1945. The Republic of China was founded in 1911. After the second world war, Taiwan was given back to the government of Republic of China in 1945. When China, the People's Republic, became a communist country, the government of Republic of China came to Taiwan.

I was born in Chia-yi in 1955. Both of my parents moved to Taiwan from Mainland China in 1949. I grew up in a house for Japanese officials after they left Taiwan in 1945. At the elementary school, I was the only Mainlander child in my class. Being unable to speak Taiwanese dialect, I became the target of bullies. I was desperate to acquire Taiwanese.

At that time, Taiwanese dialect was forbidden at school. Students would be punished by paying a fine if they got caught. I was chosen as the model student of national language, because I was the only child who could speak Mandarin fluently. But I spoke Taiwanese all the time to win friends despite of the prohibition of Taiwanese dialect at school. Taiwanese dialect can be regarded as my mother tongue! I knew language was power when young.

Here is the demo of language varieties in China. Please listen to the differences of Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Cantonese to say “I understand, but I can't speak the language”.

Human beings are unique to use languages to communicate and to set boundaries. A new born human baby brain weighs 350 to 400 grams (a small PET bottle of water), an adult brain weighs 1300 to 1400 grams (three PET bottles). The mother tongue is embedded in baby brain where neurons form and get connected.

An acquired foreign language is different. It needs tremendous amount of time and effort to be etched in our adult brain. Use it or lose it. That's a good news for senior citizens. We have plenty of time to study a foreign language to keep our brain cells young and active.

Now let’s brainstorm what we can do to promote Japanese speaking Toastmasters club in Taiwan and Mandarin speaking Toastmasters Club in Japan. The Japanese language is dying in Taiwan. Senior citizens who speak Japanese are 80 years old. How can we provide a social and supportive environment for young Japanese speaking Toastmasters in Taiwan?

How to facilitate communication between Toastmasters in Japan and Taiwan? Please circle the one you are interested! And add your suggestions and comments if any.
1. Sisters Clubs, Bashamichi, Leadership Village, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. Couch Surfing for members to attend District Conferences and/or Local Tours
3. Social Net Work to promote Toastmasters in countries with no or few Toastmasters clubs, such as Belarus, Mongolia

In Tokyo, a few Mandarin speaking Toastmasters are taking initiatives to charter the first Mandarin speaking Toastmasters club. It is the best time to begin a Mandarin speaking club with the revitalized education program starting in 2015. Please write down names of Toastmasters who speak Mandarin!

If you are invited to District 67 Conference, what is the topic of your workshop for Japanese speaking Toastmasters in Taiwan? I can't thank enough to many Japanese Toastmasters who help the development of Japanese speaking Toastmasters Club in Taiwan. Toastmaster Watanabe Yoshihito has come to Taiwan more than 20 times!

After serving as the Charter President of Kyoto Toastmasters club in 2001, I became a traveling Toastmaster.

Japan
Awaji Reminiscence D76 Spring Conference 2004
Home Coming 2006
On the Road Again 2010

Italy
It is so easy to be with the Milan-Easy TMC March~June 2004
Arriverderci Milan-easy Toastmasters Club April 2005

New Zealand
Down Under for 50 days - Toastmastering in New Zealand December 2006~January 2007

Mongolia
Toastmasters in Mongolia August 2004
Toastmasters in Mongolia Trilogy January~February 2010
Mongols Toastmasters October 2014

I am grateful to Dr. Ralph C. Smedley who founded the Toastmasters 90 years ago. Let's join hands to accomplish our mission to empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. I welcome your feedback to make me a better motivational speaker. And I wish everybody dream come true in acquiring foreign languages in Toastmasters.

I thank Conference chair Sakai Kozue and her hardworking team and I thank you for having me here! God bless!

Half Day Edo Reminiscence Tour

Half Day Edo Reminiscence Day—Friday November 14th, 2014

The half-day Tokyo city tour organized by District 76 was full of twists and excitements. After all tour participants met at JR Yaesu Central Entrance at 12 noon, our tour leader Toastmaster Chiba announced another meeting point for the charter bus.

Without much thinking, I misled a dozen Toastmasters to wait at Yaesu Central Entrance. A group of talking toastmasters went astray at the labyrinth JR Tokyo Station. After 30 minutes of seek and hide, we finally found our lost tour leader Chiba, or our tour leader Chiba finally found his lost members. No sooner than later we got on the charter bus, Toastmaster Akiko Yoshizaki impressed us with her bus lady uniform, a navy blue hat, a pair of white gloves, and standard friendly greetings. We laughed all the time while tour group members taking turns introducing ourselves and promoting our individual Toastmasters clubs.

Tsukiji Market

Our first stop was Tsukiji Fish Market. Tour leader Chiba took us to the famous scramble egg shop run by a famous TV celebrity. While everyone wanted to savor the fresh sushi, I decided to attempt a famous noodles vendor eating standing up, as I'd already had Sushi Don at with Toastmaster Abe Masafumi at the famous Fish Four Seasons near the Sumida River.

Being alone, I could slurp noodles in a voice as loud as I could in Tokyo, a moment impossible for a gorgeous and elegant golden lady like me in Taipei. But, nobody knew me in Tokyo. A sense of freedom added extra flavor to my huge bowl of noodles with four thick slices of pork to cover the entire bowl. I loved noodles and I finished the whole bowl of noodles till the last drop of soup. A hiccup was the attestation of my satisfaction.

Edo-Tokyo Museum

After lunch, we went to Edo-Tokyo Museum.  Upon crossing a replica of the "Nihonbashi" Bridge at the Museum, I saw the Toastmaster Raoul Nivon, the fifth President of Kyoto Toastmasters Club. Raoul told me that he served as the recycled president of Kyoto Toastmasters Club last year, and he was the area governor now. Upon the request of Raoul, we took a lot of photos together and chatted during the second half of Edo tour.

Edo was built from1590 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and lasted 300 years history. The shogunate was officially established in Edo on March 24, 1603, by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration on May 3, 1868, after the fall of Edo. Edo was renamed Tokyo at meiji Era.The European and American influences first started the Meiji Era, then, the effects of WWII and the reconstruction period that occurred after the war.

Senso Temple

Senso Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is Tokyo's oldest temple. According to legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 by two fishermen brothers. The chief of their village recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in 645 in Asakusa so that the villagers could worship Kannon. During the Edo Era, Tokugawa Ieyasu designated Senso Temple as tutelary temple of the Tokugawa clan.

On our way to Senso Temple, I saw the Skytree at her foot. It was a magnificent architecture. What a contract of the a state-of-the-arts Skytree in the midst of traditional corners of the old Edo period. We had a relaxing one hour break at Senso Temple to take photos, go shopping,
fetch a cup of coffee at the 7-11 till Sunset.

During our 40 minutes journey from Senso Temple to Yoyogi Center, Raoul sat next to me. He told me that he would compose a theme song for Kyoto Toastmasters Club to celebrate her 15th anniversary in 2016. Then Raoul and I started humming "Bésame Mucho" (Kiss me a lot).

I broke the silence by going to the front of the bus to call upon Raoul to sing Kiss me a lot to entertain us on bus in the traffic jam of afterwork rush hours. Kiss me a lot is a song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. It is one of the most famous boleros, and was recognized in 1999 as the most sung and recorded Mexican and Latin American song in the world.

Besame, besame mucho, como si fuera ésta noche la última vez
Besame, besame mucho que tengo miedo a perderte perderte después

Besame, besame mucho, como si fuera ésta noche la última vez
Besame, besame mucho, que tengo miedo a perderte perderte después

Quiero tenerte muy cerca mirarme en tus ojos verte junto a mi
Piensa que tal vez mañana yo ya estaré lejos, muy lejos de ti

Raoul impressed the audience with the memorization of the lyrics and impeccable articulation of the Spanish language with a perfect Mexican accent. Raoul took a bow when he received a big round of applause. Then Raoul delivered an icebreaker speech for 10 minutes, from his childhood, his studies of theology for four years in Vatican City, his romance with his Japanese wife, his works as wedding minister and Spanish teacher at Universities. Time flew fast when we were entertained by talking Toastmasters.

Yoyogi Center

In the dark, we checked in at the International Exchange Building (Building D) of Yoyogi Youth Center. I was in Room 616. After a quick shower, I attended the educational session “Finding Your Voice” by Lance Miller*. Lance mentioned that the hardest thing about a public speech was be yourself and talk to the audience. Before we connect with the audience, we need to connect with ourselves. Lance also encouraged the audience to find the extraordinary in ordinary. He used a ballpoint pen as an example to ask the participants to find the extraordinary in an ordinary ballpoint pen. Then Lance delivered an impromptu speech with power and persuasion. Lance raised his voice volume throughout the education session. I couldn't help dozing from time to time nodding my head up and down.

At the welcome party in honor of Lance, I met with Toastmaster Jogen. She showed me the flier she designed for the first Mandarin speaking Toastmasters Club in Japan. We moved to the lobby to continue our discussion with Toastmaster Yada till 10 o'clock in the evening. I was exhausted and I knew a few Toastmasters on the same floor, but there were no nomikai (drinking parties), or I was not invited. What a pity that no party) even though I prepared the snacks and liquor just in case.

Remarks:
Lance gave away many printed cards of his speaking tips, including valuable speaking know-hows and public speeches rules.

Yokohama City Tour

Yokohama City Tour—Thursday November 13th, 2014

I joined one-day Yokohama City tour arranged by District 76 in honor of Toastmaster Lance Miller, the 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking.

Sankei Garden (三溪園)

 I arrived at JR Negishi Station before 9:30. Toastmaster Toshio Yada was already at a nearby coffee shop enjoying his breakfast. Toastmaster Miwa Imamura arrived after me. We three early birds had a pleasant talk about my workshop rehearsal at Bashamichi Toastmasters Club. Lance arrived at 10 past 10 with an entourage of Japanese Toastmasters, including Toastmaster Yumiko Shimizu, Akiko Yoshizaki, Kozue Sakai. We took two taxis to Sankei Garden, a traditional Japanese-style garden in Yokohama.

Imagine taking a promenade in a traditional Japanese garden on a Sunny Autumn day! It was in the paradise with beautiful ladies cladding in exquisite kimonos admiring chrysanthemum blossom. We followed the elegant pageant to visit the chrysanthemum exhibition.The migratory birds swimming at the main pond in the middle of the garden caught our attention. We took a rest and took many photos by the pond. Many people sat on the grassy area eating box lunches and feeding carp in the pond.

Our next stop is Sankei Memorial with a huge collection of painting and calligraphy. Inside the Memorial, we enjoyed tea ceremony* at Bototei (望塔亭). We were asked to savor two tiny red and white cakes imprinted with a three-story pagoda, the taste of bitter sweetness. In the outer garden, stood a three-story pagoda build in 1457 during Muromachi Era, and moved from Tomyoji (燈明寺) of Kyoto in 1914 during Taicho Era. On top of the landmark pagoda, currently the oldest wooden pagoda in Kanto region, we enjoyed a panoramic view of the splendid landscape of the Sankei Garden.

Sankei Garden, 175 thousand square meters of ponds, streams, and undulating paths, was designed and built by Tomitaro Hara (原富太郎) (1868–1939), known by the pseudonym Sankei Hara, who was a silk trader. Seventeen buildings in the garden are historically significant structures bought by him from all over Japan. Ten of which have been declared Important National Cultural Properties. The garden was open to the public for free by him in 1906.

Badly damaged during World War II, the garden was donated to the City of Yokohama in 1953. Sankei Garden was then restored almost to its pre-war condition. The garden is popular for its cherry blossoms, ume blossoms, and the autumn foliage.

Hotel New Grand

Yokohama City, the second largest city in Japan, lies on Tokyo Bay, approximately 30 kilometers south of Tokyo. During the American occupation period, Yokohama was a major transshipment base for American supplies and personnel, especially during the Korean War. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied powers (SCAP), played a pivotal roles in World War II and the Korean War.

On Aug. 29, 1945, just days before the formal Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, President Harry S. Truman tapped MacArthur to oversee the occupation, rebuilding and democratization of Japan. By late 1945, MacArthur's troops were across Japan, two-thirds of them flooding the Tokyo-Yokohama area. When war erupted in Korea in 1950, MacArthur flew to Taiwan to visit Chiang Kai-shek, a trip that amounted to a state visit to the Chinese Nationalist leader. Many thanks to General Douglas MacArthur, Taiwan was not taken over by Chinese Communists. My father, an aircraft engineer, was given a chance to visit US via Tokyo for two months in the 1950s.

The Hotel New Grand is a historic hotel in Yokohama, overlooking Yamashita Park. It opened in 1927, four years after the Great Kanto earthquake devastated much of the city. The hotel was used as accommodation by American troops during the Occupation of Japan following World War II. One of the hotel suites is set aside and maintained just as it was furnished when General Douglas MacArthur stayed there, his first night in Japan during the Occupation.

After a pleasant stroll at Sankei Garden, we took two taxis to Hotel New Grand. Toastmaster Matsumoto Maki was waiting for us at the boutique shop when we arrived. With the perfect luncheon arrangement by Toastmaster Imamura Miwa (an employee of Hotel New Grand), we enjoyed a gourmet dinner at the Italian Restaurant—il giardino where General Douglas MacArthur used to entertain colleagues and friends. Among 8 of us, Toastmaster Yada Toshio was the only Toastmaster who ordered a dish different from the rest 7 of us. Toshio must have studied Mandarin for too long, he has changed the thinking and behavioral pattern from a typical Japanese to follow the majority to a person of liberty and freedom.

大きな古い時計 Grandfather's Old Clock 

After lunch, we were guided to visit the 2nd floor to see the magnificent view of spectacular yellow leaves of Maidenhair trees. I couldn't help taking out Grand Toastmasters Club banner from my bag and asked the hotel staff to take a memorable photo for us in front of the old marble clock. Grand Toastmasters club was established by US Marine Corps in Taipei in 1975. Grand Toastmasters Club was renamed from Devil Dogs Toastmasters Club in 1982. Before Grand Toastmasters Club celebrated her 40th anniversary next year, it was my honor to visit Hotel New Grand with Japanese Toastmasters in 2014.

The Yokohama Bay Cruise

After lunch, we crossed the busy Japan Boulevard of maidenhair trees leaves turning golden on both sides. At the waterfront Yamashita Park Cruising Terminal, we boarded on Marine Rouge at 14:30.

The one hour cruise enabled us to savor the entire Yokohama Port. We were served a plate of assorted desserts, I was the only one who finished the entire plate of desserts at Room Cerezo (2F). I usually carried a box with me to take home the leftover, as it is my life policy to save food in my plate. But I was in Japan, I used my stomach to save the energy on earth.

While Marine Rough was cruising at Yokohama Bay, we went up to the Skydeck (3F) to take a few photos with Grand Toastmasters Club banner. A beautiful stewardess with her big smile came up to join us in the wind! I love cruising. My first cruise experience was with golden ladies Toastmasters on Sun Princess in late September this year from Kobe to Keelung via Miyasaki. Cruising is acarefree experience to enjoy the blue sky, immense sea, luxurious food, and friendly people. It possible, I don’t mind joining a cruise trip between Japan and Taiwan every year, expecially with fun Toastmasters.

We still had two scenic spots to visit, between China Town and Harbour View Park. I propose we went to China Town first, then we could see the night view of Yokohama harbor (the best three night views along with Hakotade and Nagasaki) on top of Harbour View Park. Due to the transportation conveniences, we went to Harbour View Park first.

Harbour View Park

It was just as windy on top of Harbour View Park. We took a group photo with Yokohama Bay Bridge in the backgroud, took a walk in the beautiful rose garden, took a group photo surrounding a fountain, visited Osaragi Jiro Commemorative Museum, took a walk on the Bluff, visited Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery, strolled all the way down to Yokohama China Town.

Harbour View Park, the crest of the hill overlooking the harbour, were stationed small troop garrisons built for the British and French diplomatic missions from 1863 until about 1875. Many of the original foreign houses were destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. The remaining buildings and ornamental gardens have now been opened to the public and serve as popular tourist attractions.

Yokohama Port was opened to foreigners in 1859. Settlers started at a low-lying area known as Kannai. After commercial activity rapidly took place, the elevated Yamate Bluff was construced in 1862. One of the first structures on the Bluff was the residence of the British Consul-General, Sir Rutherford Alcock.

Osaragi Jiro Commemorative Museum

We took a group photo with the Cat statue in front of Osaragi Jiro Commemorative Museum. Osaragi Jiro (大佛次郎, 4 October 1897 – 30 April 1973) was the pen-name of Nojiri Haruhiko (野尻清彦). He published his first popular historical novel in 1924 while he lived in Kamakura behind the famous Kamakura Daibutsu. The kanji for Daibutsu can also be read Osaragi which became his pen-name. Osaragi was a noted cat lover. Friends and neighbors claimed that he fed at least 500 semi-feral cats at his house in Kamakura. Osaragi's manuscripts and artifacts were donated to the city of Yokohama by his heirs, where they now form the collection of the Osaragi Jiro Commemorative Museum.

Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery

Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery, located in Yamate Naka ward, was immediatly established after the port was opened to foreigners in 1859. There are graves and memorials to many prominent members of the Bakumatsu and Meiji Period foreign community. In 1864 a memorandum for the foreign settlement at Yokohama was signed by the Bakumatsu with the legations of the main trading nations permitting the extension of the cemetery area to the top of the Bluff.

Yokohama Chinatown

The moment I walked into Yokohama Chinatown, I felt like transcending back to Tamsui Fisherman Wharf Night Market instantly, except the languages were different, Japanese, and southern Chinese dialects. There are roughly 250 Chinese shops and restaurants scattered throughout the district of 300 square meter. Yokohama Chinatown is located just south of Tokyo. It's 150 years old in history. It is the largest Chinatown not only in Japan but also in Asia.

Radika's Curry

In the evening, we were all invited to Fall Conference Chair Sakai Kozue's Indian Restaurant—Radika's Curry, managed by Sakai Kozue’s elder daughter. Three Indian chefs were busy preparing the best Indian cuision in town for a dozen Toastmasters, including new Toastmaster Keiko Omachi and Yuki Margaret Shimizu

I was hoping to see the entire family of Pierre, but Pierre was busy at work, and didn't show up when I left the restaurant. At 20:00, Lance wished to call it a day, I had a long way back to Makuhari. We took a bus to Garden City Line and changed trains to our separate destinations.

Lance fell asleep all the way. It was his second night in town, the jet lag took over him. I changed the train at Shinkiba and changed to Keiyo Line. What a long way back to Makuhari. It took me almost two hours from the tip of Yokohama to the tip of Chiba. If there was a tunnel below the sea or a ferry, I can travel between Yokohama and Chiba within 30 minutes.

Remarks:

*Tea Ceremony Harmony-Respect-purity-Tranquility 和敬清寂

How to Enjoy Japanese Tea Ceremony
1. Please don't think it so difficult; it's only a method of drinking green tea.
2. Feel harmony of all things around you.
3. Please eat the cake before drinking the green tea.
4. When a bowl of green tea is served, bow to the tea master with respect.
5. Pay attention to where the front of the tea bowl is. The front of the tea bowl is always facing you.
6. Do not drink from the front of the tea bowl. Put the bowl on your left palm. To avoid drinking from the front part of the tea bowl, turn it clockwise slowly with your right hand. And drink the green tea in three or four sips.
7. Wipe the tea bowl rim where you drank with your thumb and forefinger slightly. And wipe your fingers with your handkerchief or any purity thing you may have.
8. Turn the bowl, and put the bowl in fornt of you as it was before. While a appreciating the tea bowl consider to what the tea master treated you.
9. Turn the tea bowl clockwise or counterclockwise and put the front of the tea bowl toward the tea master, and bow to each other with deep respect.
10. Feel the tranquility in mind.

The Japanese tea ceremony reminds me of the four core values of the Toastmasters, Integrity, Respect, Service, Excellence.

Kaihin Makuhari

A Day of Leisure & Luxury—Tuesday November 11th, 2014

I stayed home all morning rewriting my workshop materials according to comments and suggestions from Bashamichi Toastmasters Club members, including the powerpoint presentation, the questionnaire, and the full text of my workshop. It was eleven o'clock when Soleil barked at me vigorously.

I took Soleil for a run at the baseball field for one hour. After a quick lunch of mutton stew leftover, I continued my rewriting work while Soleil took her sieata. I mailed workshop materials to Workshop Coordinator Toastmaster Shoji Kumugai before Emiko called me at 5:10. She told me that she was on her way to join me for dinner. We went to the Tokyo Bay Hotel, the highest building in Makuhari and enjoyed a lovely Chinese buffet dinner on the 47th floor. In order to to see the night views of Makuhari below us and the Sky Tree at far distance, we changed seats twice. Before nine o'clock, we saw the splendid firework from Disneyland at in Maihama. What a day of leisure and luxury!

A Day of Everyday Life—Wednesday November 12th, 2014

It was drizzling this morning. I had a whole day to myself. While checking my emails, Soleil barked at me. I knew it was time for her to satisfy her biological needs. After taking Soleil for a walk in the community park in front of the apartment complex I explored the neighborhood on foot. I visited a small local library, took a glance of a few magazines for ladies. It was a refreshing stroll seeing the Autumn foliage in Makuhari. Then I went home to fetch the bicycle to the supermarket to get meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, sweets for lunch.

I took a nap with Soleil in the afternoon. Before Emiko called me at 5:20. I started powdering myself and turning on the TV for the first time to wait for Emiko. Emiko was excited to take me to a friendly and popular Italian Restaurant. We ordered two glasses of sparkling wine as Apéritif. The restaurant was busy with a lot of guests waiting in line. When savoring Casar Salad, Pizza Margherita, and Seafood spaghetti, I knew why the small restaurant was popular. I particularly like the seafood spaghetti with crab meat, tuna eggs, and salted mullet roe. It was so yummy. I decide to make it a dish of my own recipe collections.

Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo City Tour—Monday November 10th, 2014

Toastmaster Lydia Huang knew that I was going to Japan. She called me before my departure and asked me if I could bring a box of pineapple cakes for Toastmaster Masafumi Abe. I was delighted to be the Santa and enjoyed a fantastic day of wonders and bewilders in Tokyo.

I left home early in order to meet Abe at 10:30 on the platform of Sobu Line at JR Akihabara Station. It was 10:00 when I arrived at the JR Tokyo station. I walked from one end till the other end of JR Tokyo Station, only to find out that Sobu Line went to the airport. There was no Sobu Line to Akihabara. I inquired the directions from passengers and railroad staff, but all to no avail. I became panic!

Time was running short. It was 10:30 I was still running back and forth in the middle of nowhere at the gargantuan JR Tokyo Station. When I saw a friendly woman with a smart phone, I approached her immediately and asked for help politely in Japanese. To my astonishment, she held both her arms up and screeched in English "Don't ask me. I don't speak Japanese". I was on the other hand thrilled to run into an English speaker, "Oh, yes, you are the one who can help me. May I borrow your phone to call my friend?" She said she only had WiFi and showed me where the information center was. The information lady told me with a stern face that no telephone service would be available to passengers and the only way to Akihabara is by Yamate Line.

It was 10:45 when I arrived at Akihabara station. I ran to Sobu line only to see a huge crowd of passengers waiting on the platform, mainly salary men in dark business suits. Oh, my God, a meeting point on the platform, what a brilliant idea! There was no way I could find Abe.

I must come up with some strategies at once. Without hesitation, I went to a kiosk on platform and pleaded young saleslady for help. I must have sounded very desperate in Japanese, she used her company phone to call Abe at the other side of the platform. Abe told me that I should have confirmed with him by phone in advance the moment he saw me. But shouldn't he verify there was no Sobu Line at Makuhari? I found it frustrating meeting somebody at the platform. There is no way to identify anybody at a train station in Tokyo with people mountain people sea.

The first thing Abe helped me was to get a Suica card. We first took the subway to Tsukiji Hongan Temple. Then we visited the famous Tsukiji Market located between the Sumida River and the upmarket Ginza shopping district. Being the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world, Tsukiji attracts both domestic and overseas visitors. The seafood is fresh and the price is reasonable. People don't mind waiting in long queues just to taste the best of the best seafood freshly from the sea. Without knowing any restrictions of Tsukiji Market, I visited the inner wholesale market. At noon, most shops were closed for the day. I got a chance to glance what it was like to be a wholesaler of tuna! Just looking at the cart full of discarded tuna heads, I wish I could use my magic hands to make the best miso soup for all my family and friends in Taiwan on my 60th birthday party.

How luck I was when Abe told me that I could see the first of two Rooster Festivals at Namiyoke Inari Shrine in November. Be it small, Namiyoke Inari Shrine has a history of 300 years. At the gate, there are two big lions, one is black, the other is red. Many colorful and auspicious Bear Hands of all sizes were displayed for sale to bring in fortunes for business people. Bear Hands are bamboo rakes decorated with all kinds of auspicious autumn harvests, including pine branches, golden coins, lucky deities. By chance, Abe and I walked pass a local eatery for business people and families. At the Fish Four Seasons, Abe ordered fried shrimp, I ordered sashimi, with a side order of grilled ray fin.
We shared a big bottle of beer to celebrate the good Monday fortune in Tokyo. After lunch, Abe and I took a walk along the Sumida River. It's a pity the Sumida River Cruise didn't run on Mondays.

We then ventured to Zojo Temple built in the year 1393 and moved to its present location in 1598. The Sangedatsumon survived many past fires, earthquakes and wars and dates from 1622. I took many photos of huge Zojo Temple with the red and white Tokyo Tower in the background. Abe took a few photos of me at the gate of Tokugawa family Mausoleum. If my memory was correct, the last time I went up the Tokyo Tower was with Toastmaster Tommy Oshima about 15 years ago. I love Tokyo Tower (333 meters) as much as Eiffel Tower (320 meters). Tokyo Tower completed in 1958 is still a tourist attraction even the Tokyo Skytree (634 meters) was opened in May 2012, the new broadcast antenna in northern Tokyo.

Now what could happen on a romantic Monday afternoon? Abe and I walked into Coffee Room Renoir Ginza since 1957. While I sipped the best coffee au lait in town, I wonder how many couples spent their first dates at Renoir and where they were now. After we left the coffee room, I realized I lost my hat. Abe ran back to the coffee room and failed to find it. I must have left my hat at the ceremonial service at Zojo Temple. Abe decided to accompany me to buy another hat at Mizukoshi Department Store Nihonbashi main branch. In the whole department store, Abe was the only gentleman who accompanied a lady to go shopping. What a scene, I just couldn't help laugh out loud!

After a joyful window shopping at the oldest and most prestigious department store, Abe and I walked to the Rakugo theater before 5:30. While Abe took care of the box office, I took the opportunity to rehearse my workshop as I was the first and only customer. An old lady in her 70's came in as the second customer. I stuck a conversation with her. She told me everything about her own company, her family, her ladies friends, and her interest in Rakugo. She laughed from the beginning till the end sitting next to me, while I fell asleep between her and Toastmaster Tommy Oshima. But I was impressed by the hand gestures and facial expressions of the senior Rakugo artists. They seemed to have power to control the likes and dislikes of the audience. I shall watch Rakugo show on Satellite TV when I go back to Taiwan.

I joined a dozen Toastmasters to have dinner after the Rakugo show. It's nice to make new Toastmasters friends, especially young Toastmasters. I noticed that there are many single Toastmasters, but they were not interested in dating, not to mention to getting married. Nowadays, young Toastmasters were busy with their life and work, no interest in romance what-so-ever. It's a pity, but it's the trend.