It was a chilly and rainy evening. I put on my raincoat, rode my frayed scooter in the mist of dim street light, meandered through small slippery alleys, asked a trembling food vendor for directions, saw the road sign of Wu-Xin Street, parked my scooter in front of a dental clinic, walked through Taipei Medical University Hospital, got lost on campus, asked for directions from a security guard, eventually I made it through the labyrinth, reached Room 8004, Teaching Building, Taipei Medical University, just on time for social gathering session, 15 minutes before the regular weekly meeting.
The warm-up variety session was entertaining. Toastmaster Anas Khalil from Jordan, a PhD student at Department of Pharmacy, hosted the session. Anas must have prepared a lot of time collecting celebrity photos of past and present. We were requested to find missing halves in a group of 30 Toastmasters members and guests. I was given the present photo of Nicolas Cage and Toastmaster Andrew Lee had the young Nicolas.
At the first sight of Nicolas, I thought he was Oscar Wilde, the author of the Picture of Dorian Gray. Gradually, Nicolas came to my mind. Nicolas played in many movies, the most impressive one that flashed over my mind was Face Off. I saw that movie by myself at Plum Blossom Theater near the Mall on Dun-hua South Road many years ago. Half way through the movie, I had an urge to leave, because it was so horrifying. But I stayed, finished the movie, and liked it. And I remember it.
Andrew and I volunteered to share our story about Nicolas Cage. Anas gave us beautiful souvenirs of fridge magnet from Dubai as tokens of apprencitation for our active participation. Being a movie fan myself, I need to know more about the past of celebrities and their endeavours to become who they are today.I might've stayed at home watching DVDs from Taipei City Library, if I was not invited to TMU TMC TMC. I was glad I accepted the invitation to get another chance to rehearse my international speech. Luckily Former District 67 Governor Mike Yang was my individual evaluator. He gave a lot of feedback for my improvement, such as facial expression, body movement, blocking, I really appreciated it.
Professor Vallaurie Crawford was the language evaluator. She listened carefully to my speech and gave comments about the wording of my speech. Being a native speaker of the English language and professor of English, she stressed the correct usage of words with right connotations.
In my speech, I mentioned when I was young and “insatiable”. The reason I used "insatiable" is to stress the over-supply and insatiable demand in the market. I had no idea what-so-ever, “insatiable” has sexual connotation, especially for a woman. Who knows, maybe it was sheer luck, a dead rat fell into a blind cat's clutches, I was young and "insatiable" after all.
Dr. Val also commented about my use of "causes" in the sentence, "I found the value of my life when I offer my helping hands for free for bigger and more meaning causes". She suggested that I use purposes. And I took her advice accordingly.
I was lucky to rehearse my international speech in cold early spring rain Wednesday evening for three reasons. Firstly, I had a seasoned Toastmaster Mike Yang to evaluate my speech; secondly, I had an English professor to check my vocabulary; thirdly, I had the chance to speak in front of a group of energetic and enthusiastic students of alma mater. What a fruitful evening to feel thankful and grateful!
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