Toastmaster Azuma won the championship of D76 Speech Contest 2008 in Hiroshima today, Sunday, May 18th. I knew the news from James as soon as we saw him waiting for us at Beppu JR Station. I was happy for Kiminari, I was happy for Kiminari's mother.
Before the contest, I received an email from Kiminari to my surprise. He told me how much he rehearsed for the speech contest during the golden week and he asked for my advice about his speech draft. I couldn't offer anything but my best wishes. I told him that Toastmaster Sammy Su won the championship of D67 Speech Contest 2008 in Taipei. Sammy is a powerful communicator and leader among toastmasters in Taiwan. I hope both of them can excel at the interdistrict speech contests and appear on stage at Toastmaster International Convention 2008 in Calgary, Canada, to claim the Championship of Public Speaking 2008. I'm sure that either Kiminari or Sammy will place at International Speech Contest 2008, if not both of them. I pray for them and I wish them luck.
A Clan of Four
Give Me Five Taiwan became a clan of four this morning. James Hwang stayed in Hiroshima to attend the D76 Speech Contest in English. The clan of four began our trip in Kyuchu early this morning. We ran into Incumbent President Nivon of Kyoto Toastmasters Club at Hiroshima JR Station by accident. He was on his way back to Kyoto to conduct a wedding ceremony before noon. How nice it was that we could say good bye to toastmasters in Japan before we left Hiroshima. We got on Hikari at Hiroshima at 7:39, arrived at Hakata at 8:54, changed to Yufuin No Mori at Hakata at 9:16, and arrived at Yufuin at 11:28.
The Electric Bicycles
I fell in love with the electric bicycle immediately when I got on one. We rented electric bikes at Yufuin Station for two hours at a rate of 300 yens with our JR passes. When we arrived at the picturesque Lake Kinrin-ko, we were astounded by the secluded tranquil garden of verdure with traditional Japanese teahouses and western style restaurants along the river where the yellow irises are in full bloom.After a splendid bike trip around Yufuin--the Karuizawa in Kyushu, we thought about taking the Toroko train round trip to see the beautiful scenery between Yufuin to Minamiyufu, but we were afraid that we might miss our train from Yufuin to Beppu. After a quick lunch, when we saw the Torokko arriving at the station in time for Yufu 3 departure at Yufuin at 2:41. We realized how efficient the JR was to connect people. We arrived at Beppu at 3:42PM. Surprisingly, James was already waiting for us at the Beppu train station. He told us that Toastmaster Azuma won the champion of D76 Speech Contest 2008. Gina and Emily were in tears when James talked about Azuma san's moving speech.
The Spirit of Cameraderie
Even though golden ladies couldn't come along with me in Kyushu this time, I enjoyed the opportunity to make friends with members from Japanese speaking toastmasters clubs in Taiwan. Honestly speaking, it was super convenient to travel with Japanese speakers, because we could achieve things collectively, such as booking the hotels, reserving the train tickets. All can be taken care of simultanousely by our team members. I treasured the spirit of Toastmasters cameraderie, our kizuna, during the trip in Kyushu. Have a look at photos of Day 3 in Yufuin and Beppu.
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