It is always a pleasure to participate in a Toastmaster meeting in a different country. All thanks to technology. I had the pleasure to participate in the weekly meeting of the Young Spirit Toastmasters Club in Seoul on 15.09.2022.
We introduced ourselves by answering the question on the theme “What are your best Chuseok or thanksgiving memories of your life?”.
Boram, the toastmaster of the evening, shared his experience of October Fest, Germany. As such I have no memory of either Chuseok or Thanksgiving festivals, as I don’t celebrate either of them. Based on my understanding this festival is all about family gatherings. I linked it with the Indian festival Diwali where the entire family comes together. Amalie talked about Chuseok being a harvesting festival in South Korea. She highlighted the delicious food being prepared on this occasion. To me, it looked very similar to Lohdi, Makar Sankranti festivals in India.
Table topic was always a great addition to any meeting. Amelie (Table topic master) used quotes from Queen Elizabeth II as a prompt to know our thoughts. Boram talked about diversity with 1 Indian, 3 Korean, and 1 Filipino participating in the current meeting. Haekyong highlighted the positive impacts of small steps. I highlighted that in the age of social media, it is very easy to hate someone than to build a good rapport. Sia highlighted the importance of monotonous life. Amelie highlighted how each day is a new beginning with the possibility to start fresh.
In the prepared speech section, Sia gave a wonderful speech on the different types of coffee beans, their origin, and how to process them. Hopefully, every listener will be able to find out the type of coffee suitable to them. It can be from Africa, Asia, or from South America.
The evaluation session went well as usual.
Overall, a wonderful meeting. Thanks, Dasha Burak for the invitation. You can also join the meetings and find more information from the facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/YSTMSeoul
(Based on my personal experiences)
Ankit Khandelwal 