Returning member, John Kjarsgaard, was our host this meeting.  As a toastmaster, he shared his story of resiliency with his past employment.  Despite of going through a series of unfortunate layoffs and events, John accepted his situation and bounced back again and again. Clearly, an excellent example of resiliency!

We had two speakers: Lydia and John Kjarsgaard.  Lydia got us thinking out about our consumption of genetically modified organism (GMO).  Some studies suggest that GMO can be harmful but actual scientific research is lacking.  For this reason, Lydia encouraged us to advocate for more research to be done so we as citizens can make informed decision with GMO before it is too late.

Speaker John Kjarsgaard spoke about his first date with the lady of his life.  Like a prince in the 21st century, he had to go through several obstacles before meeting his princess.  This included travelling 12,558km, dealing with customs and luggage issues, boating over the typhoon, confronting obnoxious taxi drivers and finally overcoming his skeptical thoughts.  Was it all worth it? Certainly he would say, as he is now happily married.

Then, we had Stanley, leading the tabletopics session, where he gave everyone a chance to share their stories about various topics.    Wes got our vote with his ‘almost third place’ experience.  Another demonstration of resiliency!   Congrats Wes!

Next meeting, Be will be our toastmasters with three speakers: Jose, Louise Guo and Wes.