Golden Cougars

Believe it or not, I am LKK, an old fashion woman. I don't use MSN. I don't use Skype. I don't do on-line shopping. And I don't make friends on the net. Gosh, I must have missed many interesting things in modern society. It is time I opened my mind to embrace the new world of true women.

At dinner with the Kondo's at Shin Yeh Restaurant this evening, Lydia and I saw Wells Chin, a famous TV variety show host, walk in and sit at a big table right next to us. While they sang "Happy Birthday" to a young woman in chorus, I turned back and joined them. In return, Wells brought four pieces of cheesecake to our table to break the ice. And Lydia and I got the chance to have a photo taken with him by Toastmaster Harry Fong, DTM, Lydia's significant other. Somehow it prompted me to reflect upon the heated topic of cougar relationships among golden ladies recently.

Cougar Relationship, simply speaking, is a relationship between an older woman and a younger man. There has been an increase in this type of relationship in the last few years. Surprisingly, it was the first time I heard of this type of relationship at our Toastmaster magazine reading gathering in April ten days ago. And it happened to be on 7 o'clock tv news yesterday evening. The traditional norm of an older man with a younger woman, usually not more than a few years between them, is facing an inevitable anthropological paradigm shift.

No matter what reasons cougar ladies have in mind, I'm still interested in men of my age. Simply because it is easier to get along with someone of my generation, men or women. It is easier to relate to our separate worlds and it is easier to get connected with people of the same generation. Take my husband for example, he is one and a half years older than I am. On top of that, we went to the same junior high school. He and I share the same background and we feel at ease meeting each other's expectations.

Seeing a man younger than me is like going out with someone to my junior. At work, I don't mind being bossy, but off work, I don't like to mother a partner, to shoulder the responsibilities, to pay the bill. In my dictionary, men should take care of women and vice versa. Yes, I might be LKK now, but who knows when I shall change my perspective! Imagine 20 years from now on, when I am in my 70's, will I be interested in meeting with a man in his 40's?

Gastronomic Lunch Hours

Gina Cheng of Grand Toastmasters Club called me yesterday evening to my surprise when I was busy preparing dinner for my husband. She told me with full excitement that she made chicken risotto and she wished to invite me to her office for lunch today.

At 12 noon, I arrived at Gina's office to see two plates of chicken risotto and two bowls of pumpkin soup on a small round table. It was the first time I had such an intimate gastronomic lunch with a toastmaster friend in an office. I just loved it!

Gina's chicken risotto, or chicken paella or chicken jambalaya, so to speak, looked very rich and colorful. She cooked white rice with green, red, and yellow bell peppers, onions, chopped chicken breast, fresh mushrooms, saffron, garlic, olive oil and other Italian seasoning.

We started our lunch with the pumpkin soup, but I couldn't wait to have my first bite of chicken risotto half way of our soup ritual. Yummy as it tasted, I was at once reminded of the most delicious seafood paella I had in Casablanca ten years ago with my business associate. I was invited to his friend's mansion for dinner, sit on the floor covered with Persian carpet, surrounded by a big crowd of Arab gentlemen.

While savoring Gina's proud homemade paella, we exchanged our traveling plans in 2009. Gina plans to visit Germany and France for 18 days in late May. I plan to visit Italy and Senegal for two months in July and August. The coming adventures of us were the main themes of our lunch rendezvous. We were excited to explore various local delicacies soon in Europe and Africa.

Gina's eyes opened wide when I told her that my parents-in-law grew rosemary in their front yard in Pu-tzu. I made many bottles of freshly dried rosemary in virgin olive oil last summer. Gina was happy when I told her that I would give a bottle for her rib and lamb chop.

After lunch, I served caramel almond flakes and mulberry jam I brought along for desserts. While I helped Gina prepare coffee, her colleague helped her fetch a bottle of fresh milk. While sipping the delicious coffee, I proposed to Gina that we could meet with each other once a month for gastronomic lunch hours. We can take turns showcasing our newly developed recipes to satisfy our taste buds as well as to provide each other with constructive evaluations for improvements in our kitchens.

At one o'clock, our lunch gathering came to a perfect end when Gina presented a bag of frozen chicken risotto for my husband. And I didn't forget to ask for Gina's signature on my cookbook 2009 to mark the beginning of our culinary journey in front of us.

Three Generations in Toastmasters

Olivier Kondo is the youngest toastmaster friend of mine. He is 4 months old. We had a crush upon each other at our first sight. When I held Olivier in my arms, he stopped crying and gazed at me with a big charming smile. He was an irresistible angel to me!

Toastmaster Sophia Chen and her husband invited me for lunch at Le Bistro de L'Olivier, a prestigious French restaurant in Taipei, this afternoon, to thank me for being Sophia's mentor for one year in Grand Toastmasters Club.

After lunch, Lydia picked me up to meet with Annie for afternoon tea at her home. Lydia is the godmother of Annie. Annie just arrived in Taipei from France for two weeks business trip with her husband in Taiwan. When I mentioned about the delicious Foie gras at Le Bistro de L'Olivier. Annie introduced to me her proud son Olivier born in Paris four months ago. What a coincidence, the same name!

The afternoon tea party of three generations was pleasant. We talked about toastmasters. Lydia and I were happy that we might convert four non-toastmasters to toastmasters this afternoon, including Annie, Olivier, Kathryn, and Vincent. Annie knows about Toastmasters because her husband Derrick was recommended to join a Toastmasters club before he got his Ph.D. degree.

Kathryn, Lydia's college classmate, just arrived in Taipei for a week vacation from the US with her son Vincent. Kathryn and Vincent were interested in how Lydia and I became close friends. In the end, we talked long hours about how golden ladies grew and developed ourselves in Toastmasters. Olivier's eyes sparkled at me when he was not asleep.

I would be in my 70's when Olivier turns 18. It would be awesome if I could listen to his icebreaking speech no matter where it might be. And I look forward to seeing the cute little boy once in my arms stand tall and speak up one day in Toastmasters!

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in April

On Easter Sunday, perfect ten golden ladies met for Toastmaster Magazine reading gathering in April at Elite Riverside Cafe' in Hsin-tien. It was the biggest reading gathering since we launched our first three years ago. It feels good to see our reading group is getting bigger. It feels great to see our reading group members excel themselves in their professions.

Michelle Liu passed the final examination and claimed her CCIM designated by CCIM Institute in Chicago Friday evening after a year of intensive training in commercial real estate. She sent us a notice to share her happiness as soon as she received the certificate at the pinning ceremony in Taipei. "After a long journey, I finally made it", wrote Michelle, "but it is not an ending but a beginning to scale a new heights to my life." Dear Michelle, congratulations! You made us your proud golden ladies Toastmasters friends. Don't forget to jot down your joy in the traveling diary in your good hands now.

At eight o'clock this morning, Amy Chen woke me up in bed. She asked me about the assigned three articles of Toastmaster Magazine March issue we were about to read. Amy's call was like a morning call from a guardian angel. I was so much uplifted instantly by her cheerful voice. I was cured from the total exhaustion of a translation and interpretation project in the past two weeks. Amy gave me a good dose of a blissful morning injection. I was ready for our reading gathering in April on Easter Sunday.

With Linda Tseng's arrangement, we had our most luxurious luncheon on Easter Sunday. The kaiseki Japanese cuisine included two starters, three main dishes, along with a big hot pot, desserts and coffee. After we satisfied our stomachs, we began our reading of three feature articles as planned, 1. Thinking Like a Loser--How to Conquer the Psychology of the Contest by John Kinde, DTM, Accredited Speaker; 2. Crucial Conversations--Tips on Talking to the Key People in Your Life by Barbara Neal Varma; 3. Walking a Fine Line--How Much Personal Information Should Speakers Share? by Judith Tingley, DTM, Ph.D.

Reading Toastmaster magazine aside, golden ladies were more interested in the gossip and tabloid as usual. For 4 hours straight luncheon, we spent less than one hour on reading the magazine, but we felt contented just the same. After reading thinking like a loser, Trini and I decided on the spot to join 2009 humorous speech contest in November. Trophies collect dust alright, nevertheless we shall aim at collecting trophies in Toastmasters, to grow, to master the art of communication in public.

Follow Amy Chen's steps, I turned into an angel after our reading gathering. I delivered Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth, a wish book to a young man who suffered bipolar disorder and hospitalized in the psychiatric ward 9A at Cardinal Tien Hospital in Hsin-tien. On Easter Sunday 2009, I was surrounded by many beautiful angels and I became one of them. I'm grateful and thankful!

Traveling Diary

The traveling diary of golden ladies embarked upon her journey this afternoon. I gave it to Trini at our lunch gathering at Milano Cafe' with the witness of Pamela, Lydia, Cecilia and Sophia. The diary will be traveling from now on with one of us to an unknown part of the world for a period of time until she is passed down to another succeeding golden lady. Why a traveling diary in the first place?

No doubt, blogging on the internet has been an efficient and successful way to connect golden ladies so far. We have been brought together to read Toastmaster magazine on monthly basis and to share our thoughts on daily basis in the cyber world for the past three years. We chitchat, we laugh, we cry, we document our happy and sad moments.

From "Sex and the City", "Cashmere Mafia", "Lipstick Jungle", I don't seem to get bored watching the TV series about the stories among women friends. And I went beyond to see "The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants" I & II early this year, even I'm not a teenage girl and I don't have one in my life. The story was inspiring. It was about four young girls who acquired a pair of magical jeans that fit all four of them perfectly. And the magic traveling pants took turns traveling with one of foursome to all parts of the world.

The advent of telecommunication is certainly one of the greatest achievements of human beings to shorten the distance between people. But what if we could travel back to the old times, we could receive something tangible in our hands, something to place on our desks, something to kiss and to shed tears! So I got the idea that golden ladies could share something substantial like the magic jeans in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Without any ado, I asked Sophia Chen to design a traveling diary for golden ladies last week.

Sophia has been scrapbooking for a long time. In addition to her makeup artist and stylist career, she also designs taylor made cards for important occasions. She enjoys particularly designing photo albums for family and friends. When I told her about the idea of a traveling diary for golden ladies, Sophia jumped at the chance to offer her helping hands immediately. Within two days, Sophia designed an A-4 traveling diary, with the theme of "QUEENS of the COURT" and lots of colorful adornments from page to page. As soon as I received the beautiful and cheerful traveling diary, on the first page I jotted down what happened to me the emotional roller coaster day of 24 hours in my life last Thursday.

The traveling diary is a collective letter per se. I am curious how it evolves during the time we grow old and how it weaves our lives and add colors to family and friends around us. Like the traveling pants of the sisterhood, I believe the traveling diary will let golden ladies learn to become individuals whilst maintaining our friendship that makes us whole.

Luncheon Chez Gina

In order to welcome Pamela Yang back to Taipei, seven golden ladies enjoyed the second reading gathering in March this afternoon. In stead of reading three articles of Toastmaster Monthly as usual, we read three books, "Eat with(in) Nature" by Huei-wen Chen; "Identical Strangers" by Elyse Schein + Paula Berstein; "Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel" by Heather McElhatton.

The hostess of our reading gathering is Toastmaster Gina Cheng from Grand Toastmasters Club. Gina is an old friend of mine, six years younger than I am. We both went to the same college, majored in Pharmacy, studied French in France, joined Grand Toastmasters Club long time ago. Gina enjoys cooking and inviting friends to her lovely and cozy place to savor her newly developed recipes, from starter to desserts.

Pamela didn't arrive with empty hands. She brought a dozen of colorful cashmere scarves for each one of us as a gift from Shanghai. She also brought grapes and ice coffee freshly dripped by a famous cafe' in her neighborhood. I was touched by her warm and kind heart, even she just joined golden ladies a few months ago.

Irene arrived with a big bowl of egg salad. She steamed potato and carrot first and boiled them at last, added chopped apples to make the egg salad a special sweet and crunchy flavor and taste. Amy brought a huge bag of guavas and wax apples. Kate and Gina Fu brought desserts. My green salad with bean burd was unique with mountain celery freshly picked up from the hills along Hsin-tien River this morning.

After sumptuous luncheon, we began our reading. Eat with(in) Nature by Huei-wen Chen was recommended by Pamela. Pamela didn't only give each golden lady a copy as a gift with the author's signature, but she is also working on the project to take golden ladies to meet with the author on her organic farm in San-chi. "Identical Strangers" by Elyse Schein + Paula Berstein and "Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel" by Heather McElhatton were recommended by my humble self.

Identical Strangers is about the issue of nature and nurture. I chose the book, because of my brother. He is hospitalized at the moment with his schizophrenia, a genetic disorder. After I shared my brother's story in tears, every golden lady took turns sharing their touching stories with eyes flooded with tears. Finally Amy woke us up and asked us to look at the bright side of life. We broke into laughter together and acknowledged how fortunate we were to be able to read, to write, and to share with good toastmasters friends!

Pretty Little Mistakes is a fun book to play with. Remember "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost? But, this novel by Heather McElhatton is different, it is a surreal life game you can "Do-Over" again and again. The book opens with a female second person's high school graduation, which leads "you" to two possible choices: travel or college. Each succeeding section similarly offers two options for proceeding, leading to an array of developments, and ending with 150 sorts of death and reincarnation.

Six of seven golden ladies played the game, with seven different endings (Gina Cheng did over her life once). Amy Chen of China Toastmasters Club refused to play the absurd life game. At last, Pamela threw an intriguing question, "what would you choose, to live in a confined happy space or an open troublesome space?" Most ladies didn't hesitate to take the challenges in the big wild world, except Kate and I settled for our happy love nests.

Before 1PM, we arrived at Gina's place, we didn't leave until after 6PM. It was a fruitful, entertaining, educational luncheon chez Gina. Thanks Gina, for your hospitality and mouth-watering dishes. Best wishes with your success in publishing your recipes soon in the future.

Murphy's Law

I never had a slice of bread,
Particularly large and wide,
That did not fall upon the floor,
And always on the buttered side.

At Area H1 Speech Contest this afternoon, I became the victim of Murphy's Law, "anything that could go wrong went wrong"!

Being one of the four prepared speech contestants, luckily I was the only contestant without the speech title on the contest agenda. Why me? I sent the speech title timely and accordingly. I thought it was extremely important to print down my speech title to let the Chinese audience know two foreign names "Don Quixote" and "Sancho Panza"! And, there was Murphy's law, anything that could go wrong went wrong! I didn't have a speech title!

At a quarter to 2PM, I was informed to be the first contestant to deliver my speech after the draw of orders. Yes, please call me No. 1, because I was eager to deliver my best ever speech to the audience with audiovisual effects, powerpoint presentation and music arrangement; I was eager to tell a story with a dynamic show in five to seven minutes to inspire the audience; and I believed that everything would be in place, exactly like the good rundown rehearsal two days ago.

But, the sound track helper didn't show up when the speech contest was about to be called to order and the powerpoint presentation helper forgot the rundown sheet in her office! Why me? I spent so many hours working on the contents, delivery, and costume. A speech was more than a speech after I put my life in it! Voila, there was Murphy's law, anything that could go wrong went wrong! No audiovisual effects!

I gave up delivering my speech at the last minute of the Area H1 speech contest to many people's surprise. Many toastmasters thought I might as well deliver an impromptu speech without the visual aids. I should take the challenge no matter what happened! Yes, everyone was right! What could I say? Everybody would still be interested in 2009 spring fashion show without the music and images, except the supermodel who was the only person to be responsible for not bewaring of the Murphy's law.

Even if everything went wrong to my disadvantage, it would not be the end of the world. At the most, it was but an impossible dream. If I could think positively, I would say I was happy that I got the chance to reflect upon the cause and effect and learned a good lesson. After joining toastmasters for 23 years, it was the first time I gave up a speech at a speech contest at the last minute. I'm sure it would not happen again! If it was not a good lesson, then what it would be?

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

PS: In the past month, Sophia Chen mentioned that I reminded her of Orlando every time she helped me rehearse my speech. After I changed my hairstyle, from womanly long hair to super short punky hair, I became reincarnated Orlando of Virginia Woolf to her. This evening I felt "Don Quixote de la Mancha" transcending the borders of time and space to comfort me and told me his chivalric dream in person. I was moved in tears!

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in March

March is a busy month for most golden ladies, with a lot of sightseeing, examination, and business activities. Only three golden ladies, Irene, Linda and I, showed up in green (the dress code of the month) for Toastmaster magazine reading gathering in March this afternoon, along with three lovely guests, Amy Chen from China Toastmaster Club, Sophia Chen from Grand Toastmaster Club and Sophia's elder sister Belinda.

Amy Chen is an old friend of mine in Toastmasters. She called me two weeks ago that she would give away one of her beloved fashion hats to me. She said the hat would look better on me. When I proposed that she came join our Toastmaster gathering with the sweet gift, Amy gave her consent cheerfully. I've been wondering what kind of hat I would inherit from the hat queen with excitement and anticipation since.

Amy arrived at the lunch gathering at twelve o'clock with a sexy black hat adorned with many dazzling Swarovski crystals on top. The moment I put the hat on, I could see the big shining and admiring eyes of Linda, Irene and Amy. Wow, Linda grabbed the camera on the table and took a snapshot of me and the bling bling hat at once!

Sophia and Belinda joined us at 12:30. They just finished their morning makeup assignment at a photo studio for an online clothes company. Sophia looked extremely excited because she just got a second-handed Canon digital single-lens reflex camera from the owner of the photo studio. She was pleased with the price and quality of the newly acquired gadget in hand, and was eager to document every minute of golden ladies Toastmaster magazine reading gathering in March.

From 12:30 till 2:30, we kept exchanges opinions for two hours non-stop about three articles Linda assigned, including,
1. "Give the Gift of Listening—Hear the story of a lifetime" by Patrick Mott, Page 14;
2. "Leading by a Tale—How to put storytelling to work in your organization" by Caren Neile, Ph.D, ATMS/CL, Page 16;
3. "All in the Name—safeguarding the Toastmasters Brand", by Tammy A. Miller, DTM, PID.

In addition, we also touched upon two additional articles,
1. "The Art of Bragging" by John Spaith, ACS;
2. "Speak Up!—A hearing-impaired Toastmaster offers practicle advice" by Rick Moore, ATMB.

Many thanks go to Amy, Sophia, Belinda for their active participation in the March reading gathering this afternoon. As much as golden ladies inspired our lovely guests (as they said), the visitors also contributed many insightful perspectives and valuable experiences to golden ladies reciprocally.

Together we make effective communication a worldwide reality (a former Toastmasters tag line).

Don Quixote & Sancho Panza

I did not only read Toastmaster Magazine February 2009 from cover to cover, but I also internalized the whole magazine as if I would be given a chance to lecture on each article at the most prestigious university in Taiwan.

Every month I look forward to receiving the toastmaster magazine in my mail box. Everytime, I open the magazine, I feel much inspired by the authors. It is like that the magazine is edited and pusblished for my eyes and it arrives at my desk just-in-time. What a serendipity it is!

Take the February issue for example, after reading "Give the Gift of Listening" by Patrick Mott and "Leading by a Tale" by Caren Neile, I rewrote my prepared speech for the upcoming Area H1 Speech Contest. My speech is about the story of the impossible dream of Don Quixote. I'm thinking twice how to create more indelible images in the hearts and minds of the audience and how to do it better.

Don Quixote & Sancho Panza ~~to tell a story with visual aids~~ 5-7 minutes

Act I (0'0"-2'30") Opening
Slide 1 (30 seconds), once upon a time, 500 years ago, to be exact, there lived Don Quixote in a small village in Spain. He was a retired country gentleman in his fifties. ** He became obsessed with books of chivalric romance, and decided to become a knight. Everybody in the world now, young or old, knows the story about the fight between Don Quixote and the windmill.

Slide 2 (30 seconds), many young and pretty girls have a dream, to become a supermodel. I'm in my 50's, 55 to be exact. **I became obsessed with books of fashion after I became a full-time housewife. I believe I can also become a supermodel, despite the fact that it is to many a dream clearly impossible. Young, me? No more! Pretty, me? Not really, in the eyes of the beholders!

Slide 3 (30 seconds), ** Don Quixote was lucky to have a good neighbor Sancho Panza as his friend who stood by him and gave him the courage and confidence to move on with his impossible dream *** to fight the foe, to protect the weak.

Theme music on, "The Impossible Dream From Man of LaMancha", Lyrics by Joe Darionde

Slide 4 (30 seconds), sing with action, "to dream the impossible dream; to fight the unbeatable foe; **to bear with unbearable sorrow; to reach the unreachable star!"

Act II (2'30"-5'30") Body
Slide 5 (one minute), **I was lucky to have a good toastmaster member Sophia Chen to give me the courage and confidence to dream as a supermodel. Last March Sophia Chen joined Grand Toastmasters Club as a new member. She was a well-known makeup artist in the fashion field. When I told Sophia about my supermodel dream, she looked at me with a smile. "Yes, Sherry you can make it. You shine and beam like a supermodel."

Slide 6 (one minute), Last Christmas, Sophia invited me to be her model for her designer's hats for United Daily News. I was so thrilled that I wore a facial mask overnight on Christmas Eve, hoping I would look 20 year younger on Christmas morning. But the moment the editor-in-chief saw me, she ruthlessly challenged Sophia about bringing a housewife to ruin her editor's career. She needed a supermodel, not a supermother from the supermarket. But I didn't want to give up and Sophia made magic. **The supermother was on the newspapers with Sophia's hats, covering one quarter of the full page.

Slide 7 & 8 (one minute), Sophia didn't stop there, she arranged her photographer partner to take **calendar girl photos of me on December 31st, 2008. We carried 20 outfits in 4 huge suitcases to the photo studio. Sophia made me one step closer to a supermodel on the catwalk in Paris.

Act III (5'30"-7'00") Conclusion
Slide 9 (30 seconds), **Actions speak louder than words. *** Now I shall bring the catwalk in Paris to the speech contest venue. Open your eyes to 2009 spring fashion show.

Runway music on, "You're my Flower" by Wubai

Slide 10 (30 seconds), without Sancho Panza, there would not have been Don Quixote. I'm grateful for Sophia Chen for her encouragement and investment in me to help me realize my ** supermodel dream. Do you have Sancho Panza around you? Fellow Toastmasters, look at people around us, let's thank them for supporting us, encouraging us, investing in us and being part of our impossible dreams!

Remarks:
** signs to show the slide.
*** signs to play the music.

First Runner-up

At five o'clock in the afternoon, I was still working on my prepared speech. It's a monologue featuring Don Quixote with his impossible dream 500 years ago and me with my impossible dream at present. It is about my dream of being a supermodel dressing in bikinis on the catwalk in Paris at the end of 2009.

Before seven in the morning, my husband woke me up and I jumped out of bed instantly. It was the first time for me to see the cherry blossom of Yoshinozakura at Ten-yuan Taoist Temple in Tamsui. I was excited! Trini Ding from China Toastmasters Club drove us me from Shilin to Tenyuan Temple. It was nine thirty when we saw the huge five stories tower surrounded with big cheery trees in full bloom.

Trini brought a huge box of fresh fruits and Sophia Chen from Grand Toastmasters Club brought the black tea, we were lucky to find a pleasant place eating, chatting, laughing and taking photos under the cherry treeson on such a great sunny morning. I forgot about my speech, I forgot about Don Quixote!

I was the second to arrive at Grand Toastmasters Club's meeting venue, five forty-five to be exact. Sophia arrived earlier to help me rehearse my monologue with the set, prop, and lighting at the lobby. I tried on three wigs to choose the best one for the first act. There are three acts in the monologue of seven minutes. First Act, I daydreamt about being a supermodel; Second Act, I fought in the field to become a supermodel; Third Act, I attempted to reach the unreachable star with my last ounce of courage.

I'm grateful to many members who helped me upon my last minute request. Helen Lin helped me with the powerpoint & music; Sophia Chen with costume, hair, and stage; Oscar Lien with the lighting. Thank you all for helping me place the 1st runner-up at Grand's in-house speech contest.

And now I'm all ready to compete at Area H1 speech contest Saturday, March 21st. It'll be another magnificent interpretation of the impossible dream of Don Quixohe de la Mancha of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Come see me in my supermodel spring fashion of 2009!

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...

Like a Champion

I enjoy reading. And I have a dream that all golden ladies toastmasters enjoy reading as much as I do. Among us, reading monthly Toastmaster magazine in English is a pleasant pass time for all, but writing a feedback in English is another story.

Being senior toastmasters, some golden ladies take writing in English a threat. Maybe they have high expectations of themselves. They wish they could write like Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, JK Rowling. Me, on the contrary, I don't mind making mistakes, I don't mind writing in Chinglish. I'm not a native speaker of English, anyway. But the more I attemp writing in English, the more I enjoy writing, reading, thinking, speaking, acting in my acquired language--English.

Our mind is a fountain of thoughts. As soon as we turn on the faucet, the water flows in the pipeline and produces beautiful splash in the air. In the sun, we see our thoughts turn into colorful rainbow droplets. At night, our thoughts dance with neon lights. While our thoughts transform into love stories on papers, they touch upon others. We write, therefore our thoughts perpetuate.

District 67 tabletopics and speech contests 2009 will soon be held in Kao-hsiung in April. As usual, I jump at every chance to hone my communication skills in English in public. Hopefully I can excel at the Grand Toastmasters Club's in-house speech contest tomorrow evening, succeed at the following area and division speech contests, and make it to the district level eventually. I'd love to have golden ladies as rivals as well as my cheerleaders.

It's been full of excitements for me to prepare for district 67 speech contest for the past few months, finding the right speech topic, designing the proper costume and stage, selecting the impressive music and props. Now I'm all ready to share the fruit of my thoughts in the most theatrical way like a champion of my own.