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.
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