April Blog Entries

04/26/06

OK, ok, so not everyone is a great speaker - but we always hope that our elected officials are better than average. Not this week, they're not!  At an Austin Chamber of Commerce event last night two city council members tried to talk the crowd out of voting for Proposition 1 & 2, which the Chamber feels is too restrictive and costly.  Instead of acknowledging the emotion behind the signatures that got the props ON the ballot - they just blackmailed the audience with "if you pass this we won't fund THAT park or THAT library or this road or this....employee".  We can only hope that the constituents (the microscopic amount that actually DO vote) will be smart enough to see that the wording in the Props is a tad harsh, and vote accordingly.  But really, guys. Don't threaten us - we won't fall for it; or at the least, it will just make the ones on the fence mad enough to vote....YES.

04/24/06

All across the United States and the rest of the world, committed individuals are working hard, composing 5 to 7 minute speeches that will entertain their audience, include a powerful message, show off their own particular skills in the best light, and most importantly, will get them enough points to go to the next level of competition.

Yes indeed, it is time for the Toastmasters' International Speech Contest!!  First at Club level, friend competes against friend to be chosen "best speaker" at their own Toastmasters Club. Then, a few weeks later, 5 or 6 clubs will send their best to compete against others and see who is "best" in the Area.  Then Division, then District, Region and then -- ta da! -- the International Speech Contest in Washington, D.C., in August. 

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to watch some contests and participate in another.  my thoughts on that are probably not what you expect!  The winner of one of the contests strode to the front of the room, grabbed her trophy with gusto, and proclaimed "I won! I am in Toastmasters now and will continue to be in Toastmasters in the future until I stand on that stage and WIN the International Speech Contest!!  Whoopee!!" -- it was shocking, and pretty disgusting as well.  Talk about an ungracious winner, she was totally offensive.

Toastmasters is about getting better at speaking and leadership. Toastmasters is about sharing your knowledge with others who need to improve. Toastmasters is about COMMUNITY.  Not in that room, that day. 

The worst part is, the speaker is talented, motivated and just plain good -- maybe one day (soon?) she might be humble and gracious, as well. We can only hope.

04/18/06

My friend Shuji recently moved back to Japan, as he got a "full professorship - an offer he could not refuse".  He sent me an email that included this newsletter article about his adjustment -- it's fun to read.  SWET = society for writers, editors, and translators: most are not Japanese...

Susan

Popeye Defeats Jimmy the Bartender

 By Shuji Yoshida

Hello! I joined SWET last December. I teach earth science at Chiba University.  The New Year’s party at Popeye Beer Club, on the evening of January 29, was the first time for me to meet other SWET members.

The venue was easy to find, only 5 minute walk from JR Ryougoku Station. I arrived on time at 6:00 pm, and was greeted first by Bryan Harrell, the party manager.  A total of eight members joined the party. Nina Raj and the others around me were so friendly, and so my fears of meeting new people disappeared. Across the table was Fred Uleman and Naomi Otani erasing my shyness immediately. I felt fortunate because they answered all the questions I had.  I learnt a lot from this party alone, not only about SWET but also about the writer’s community in Japan, names of freelance editors, behind the scene stories, etc.

To me, the most rewarding thing about joining this party was its healing effect on me  I certainly got the best advice to alleviate my culture-shock as well as great beers. After living in the UK, Canada and the US for 14 years, I recently moved back to Japan. I’ve been struggling to communicate with people in Japanese academia within and out of our university who appear to lack skills of logical thinking as reflected in their writing both in Japanese and English. By talking with other SWET members, I was convinced that I was not the only one who has confronted this problem, and it was nice to discuss various issues of cross-cultural communications with others. The advice I received throughout the evening was the most inspiring and informative, and I was surprised that my agony and solitude over the past few months was solved by their advice within a matter of a few minutes! I strongly recommend other members to come to the social events of SWET.

Let’s talk about beer! Popeye boasts 40 different kinds of barrel delivered from Japanese micro-breweries (webpage at www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~ppy/ ).  On the evening, 49 domestic and foreign beers, including 29 kinds of kegs delivered from Japanese micro-breweries, were on the menu. As a liquor journalist, Bryan-san helped us choose our micro-brew beers.  I tried Swan Lake Amber Ale from Niigata. It was light and smooth, and had a fruity taste like Fat Tire, Colorado’s favorite bottled beer, with a bit of sweet aromatic fragrance and delicate taste, with which factory made beer cannot compete. Though this ale was served chilled, I noticed that some real ales from England, which other members (Hugh Ashton or Andrew Edsall) ordered, were served at room temperature as Europeans do. The other beer I tried was Oyster Stout from Iwate.  It had a full body and tasted similar to Guinness, but had a hint of more complex, vigorous ingredients like a mixture of several secret  herbs. We had healthy dishes with chicken, a variety of fish including smoked salmon and haddock-like white fish in a creamy sauce, raw ham, salad, a rice dish and pasta. With beer, it was certainly filling. We paid 2800 yen (1 US dollars = 100 yen. 2,500 yen for party menu  2 pints of beer and meal, plus 300 yen for cover charge). This was a great value; I have never enjoyed beer like this before in Japan. At 8:40 pm we left the venue as a happy but sober-looking group. But within the next 3 days, I could not forget about Popeye’s beer, and on the next day I took five of my students all the way from Chiba to Popeye.  My students and I enjoyed, and are still addicted to Popeye!
*****
If you want to know more about Tokyo's hip culture, visit the following webpage:
http://metropolis.japantoday.com/default.asp

All you Yankees and others that can get local MLB: know that in the South, someone envies you!
 
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