To marry or not to marry? I would like to ask you a question first. How many of you are single now? Please raise your hands. Have you ever been in a situation that people ask you the following questions, "When do you plan to get married?" "Are you going be to single whole life?" (Pause) In that moment, you might yell silently in your mind, "What's wrong to be single? Is getting married that important?" (Pause) I was in that situation and totally understand that kind of feeling. Even I have been married for more than 4 years I am not in the position of "marriage is a must thing in our life." However, which one is better? Today I am going to provide you some information for reference.
According to 主計處, In the past ten years, the single population between 30 to 44 year-old has been increasing for more than one million person/time (人次). The ratio for male to female is about 6 to 4. Among the single females, one fourth of them do not want to get married. The main cause is that women nowadays have better education resources, fairer working environment, independent economic status and the mutual support from family and friends with open-minded attitudes.
Take my closed friends for example, 6 out of 10 are single now. All of them have at least Bachelor or Master degree and make their own living. They are talented and independent. Some of them are seeing someone but not in the rush to get married, because there are lots of thing to be communicated upfront for mutual understanding and acceptance, life style, goals, values, family relationship, housework management, kids or no kids, etc. If above stated issues are not clearly communicated, marriage would not happen easily.
On the other hand, according to 內政部統計處, in the past decade, the divorce rate increases 4% annually. Take 2007 for instance, there were 58,000 married couples decided to get divorced. 31% of the divorce rate was contributed by couples in their first 5 years of marriage, the longer the marriage the lower the divorce rate. The reasons for divorce are different from case to case but mainly echoing to what I have mentioned, whether they got married with only ideal assumptions to each other or they had clear picture of who they were married to.
There was an interesting news report that a Chinese girl looked for a "rental boyfriend" to company her home for the Chinese New Year. The reason was that she had the pressure to show her family that she was in a relationship. That was creative. I have never thought of that. On the contrary, in western society such as France, many couples have kids together without a legal marriage relationship. They want to observe and learn from a real married life to see whether they are suitable for each other in a marriage.
To marry or not to marry? If you ask for my opinions, as a satisfied married woman and used to be a delighted single, I would say that marriage is not a fantasy. It is very practical and takes a lot of compromise. Your spouse is your companion for joy and sorrow, and for better and for worse. I would like to share with you a line of the movie Bridget Jone's Diary, from Mr. Darcy to Bridget, "I like the way you are!" If you have a relationship like this, it does not matter to marry or not to marry. The bottom line is if one plus one cannot be equal to or bigger than two it might be better to maintain single. In other words, marriage or relationship should be a plus but not a minus to our life. To marry or not to marry? Hopefully, the information I provide today could help you answer the question on your own.
2009/2/11
Walk in Nara 奈良 (C6 - Vocal Variety)
It's always great to take a break after the peak season of work. The definition of a "real break" to me is visiting another country as a tourist speaking a language and staying in a place that I am not familiar with. This autumn, my colleague, Karen and I had a chance to visit Kyoto, Osaka and Nara in Japan. That was a fantastic experience and today I am going to share with you the day when we walked in Nara.
Contract to the other sunny days in our vacation, the day we visited Nara was raining. Besides, after walking in Kyoto and Osaka for 5 days, we knew that one day pass was really important for our four aching legs. Therefore, right after arriving at Nara, we went to the Tourist Center to buy one-day bus pass. However, the narrator told us the best way to experience Nara was by walking and all the scenic spots are located in walking distance. She strongly recommended us walking instead of taking bus. Otherwise we would miss the beauty of Nara. We were persuaded.
On the way to the first destination, 興福寺with a national Buddhism museum, we saw the mascot of Nara, spotted dears梅花鹿. They are one of the most important assets to Nara. We were prohibited from feeding dears with improper food or playing with baby dears or we might be attacked by mother dears. Therefore, the only thing we did was taking pictures of them. Some of them were crouching, some of them were eating the grass and some of female dears were feeding baby dears. It was really amazing to be surrounded by spotted dears.
After visiting the second scenic spot, 春日大社, although the park and temples were impressive and wonderful, we were a little bit depressed by the non-stop rains and the long distance walking. The truth of so-called walking distance is that all the scenic spots are located from each other for at least one kilometer. In other words, for one destination, we had to walk about 2 kilometers back and forth. Thus we only finished two historic places around noon time. Karen and I decided to take a rest and have our lunch, two big juicy apples, we bought in the department store the day before.
We found a pavilion far away from dears and next to the walking trail. We were happy sitting in a dry area and stretching out our sore legs. We enjoyed the moment and saw a little dear approaching us. Karen though it was a good chance to took picture of it. However, when it stood in front of us and smelled our bags, we suddenly figured out that it was looking for apples, our meals. Without a second thought, I stood up and raised my apple with my right hand and grab the bags with my left hand then shouted to Karen, "Let's get out of here."
We successfully ran away and finally finished our apples on our way to the next destination. Nevertheless, when we arrived at 東大寺, there were more than one hundred dears wandering in front of it and waiting tourists to feed them with cookies. The streets were blocked by dears and their pupu were almost everywhere. Honestly, from my opinions, it's not good for deers to have that kind of habit asking for food, but to stop that unnatural situation, tourists and shops selling deers' cookies have to take most responsibilities.
Walking in Nara is really a good idea to experience the beauty of it. However, with my previous experiences, I would recommend you to visit there with the following conditions. First, pick up a sunny day. Second, wear a pair of comfortable shoes. Third, do not walk too much before you visit there. Fourth, do not eat any delicious fruit in an open area in the park. Fourth, please stop feeding animals or they would be spoilt and do not know how to live like themselves.
Contract to the other sunny days in our vacation, the day we visited Nara was raining. Besides, after walking in Kyoto and Osaka for 5 days, we knew that one day pass was really important for our four aching legs. Therefore, right after arriving at Nara, we went to the Tourist Center to buy one-day bus pass. However, the narrator told us the best way to experience Nara was by walking and all the scenic spots are located in walking distance. She strongly recommended us walking instead of taking bus. Otherwise we would miss the beauty of Nara. We were persuaded.
On the way to the first destination, 興福寺with a national Buddhism museum, we saw the mascot of Nara, spotted dears梅花鹿. They are one of the most important assets to Nara. We were prohibited from feeding dears with improper food or playing with baby dears or we might be attacked by mother dears. Therefore, the only thing we did was taking pictures of them. Some of them were crouching, some of them were eating the grass and some of female dears were feeding baby dears. It was really amazing to be surrounded by spotted dears.
After visiting the second scenic spot, 春日大社, although the park and temples were impressive and wonderful, we were a little bit depressed by the non-stop rains and the long distance walking. The truth of so-called walking distance is that all the scenic spots are located from each other for at least one kilometer. In other words, for one destination, we had to walk about 2 kilometers back and forth. Thus we only finished two historic places around noon time. Karen and I decided to take a rest and have our lunch, two big juicy apples, we bought in the department store the day before.
We found a pavilion far away from dears and next to the walking trail. We were happy sitting in a dry area and stretching out our sore legs. We enjoyed the moment and saw a little dear approaching us. Karen though it was a good chance to took picture of it. However, when it stood in front of us and smelled our bags, we suddenly figured out that it was looking for apples, our meals. Without a second thought, I stood up and raised my apple with my right hand and grab the bags with my left hand then shouted to Karen, "Let's get out of here."
We successfully ran away and finally finished our apples on our way to the next destination. Nevertheless, when we arrived at 東大寺, there were more than one hundred dears wandering in front of it and waiting tourists to feed them with cookies. The streets were blocked by dears and their pupu were almost everywhere. Honestly, from my opinions, it's not good for deers to have that kind of habit asking for food, but to stop that unnatural situation, tourists and shops selling deers' cookies have to take most responsibilities.
Walking in Nara is really a good idea to experience the beauty of it. However, with my previous experiences, I would recommend you to visit there with the following conditions. First, pick up a sunny day. Second, wear a pair of comfortable shoes. Third, do not walk too much before you visit there. Fourth, do not eat any delicious fruit in an open area in the park. Fourth, please stop feeding animals or they would be spoilt and do not know how to live like themselves.
2009/2/4
Second Proposal (C5 - Your body speaks)
"What is second proposal?" It's not a book, not a movie but a true story took place four years ago. Right after I came back from honeymoon in Bali Island of Indonesia with my newly married husband, I got a second proposal. Until now I still couldn't forget that special moment. You may wonder "What happened? Don't you love your husband, Tina?" Yes, I love him very much because he is the one who gave me a second proposal.
Let's get back to four years ago. When I just got married, my husband was working for one of the top two advertising agencies, McCann Erickson, as an Account Coordinator. At that time, he was in charge of an important marketing event for Nestle to promote a milk powder for women. One day after the honeymoon, he called me. "Baby (That's me); would you please do my agency a favor? Pretend that we are not married yet and perform a proposal for marketing campaign. Journalist from TV station would come to interview us right after the show but they have no clue that it's fake." Since I was an active member in drama club in university, I thought it must be very interesting and said yes.
On that day, I had kept reminding myself not to laugh up my sleeve when acting. I asked my two closed colleagues to support me as passengers. Around the noon time, his colleague called and asked me to step out of my office building. They pass me a big glass of milk, made by milk powder produced for women, and asked me to drink it off. 750 cc was a lot and took me a while. When I almost finished drinking, I saw a diamond ring lying in the bottom of the glass. I was still pretending and asked his colleagues "Is it a lottery? Have I just won something?" Until the moment I saw my husband in his wedding suit with a bunch of roses appearing from the corner and walking to me with a big smile, suddenly, everything seemed so real and I just couldn't help tearing.
He took over the ring, kneeled down and asked the question, "Would you marry me?" I heard the noise from passengers, who didn't know the truth, yelling "Say yes!!" I heard my colleagues, who knew the truth, clapping their hands and shouting "Go, Tina." I heard my heart beating loudly which almost covered my voice. Surrounded by the crowds with congratulations and applause, I was so touched and said. "Yes". I forgot that it's fake. Afterwards, my husband told me when he saw me crying, he felt extremely nervous and it turned out like a real proposal to him. His colleagues did not expect that I was good in acting and the outcome was very impressive.
Now you must be very curious about my first proposal. It's another interesting story. If you are interested, I could tell you the other day. At last, I would like to share some reflections about proposal. Both of my experiences were unique to me personally. However, if you ask me whether it is necessary to prepare for proposal? I would still suggest gentlemen, who are planning to propose to your beloved, take some time to arrange that fabulous moment. You don't have to spend a lot of money but I believe she would be grateful like I am now. Maybe someday, she would also share her wonderful story with other toastmasters like I have just done.
Let's get back to four years ago. When I just got married, my husband was working for one of the top two advertising agencies, McCann Erickson, as an Account Coordinator. At that time, he was in charge of an important marketing event for Nestle to promote a milk powder for women. One day after the honeymoon, he called me. "Baby (That's me); would you please do my agency a favor? Pretend that we are not married yet and perform a proposal for marketing campaign. Journalist from TV station would come to interview us right after the show but they have no clue that it's fake." Since I was an active member in drama club in university, I thought it must be very interesting and said yes.
On that day, I had kept reminding myself not to laugh up my sleeve when acting. I asked my two closed colleagues to support me as passengers. Around the noon time, his colleague called and asked me to step out of my office building. They pass me a big glass of milk, made by milk powder produced for women, and asked me to drink it off. 750 cc was a lot and took me a while. When I almost finished drinking, I saw a diamond ring lying in the bottom of the glass. I was still pretending and asked his colleagues "Is it a lottery? Have I just won something?" Until the moment I saw my husband in his wedding suit with a bunch of roses appearing from the corner and walking to me with a big smile, suddenly, everything seemed so real and I just couldn't help tearing.
He took over the ring, kneeled down and asked the question, "Would you marry me?" I heard the noise from passengers, who didn't know the truth, yelling "Say yes!!" I heard my colleagues, who knew the truth, clapping their hands and shouting "Go, Tina." I heard my heart beating loudly which almost covered my voice. Surrounded by the crowds with congratulations and applause, I was so touched and said. "Yes". I forgot that it's fake. Afterwards, my husband told me when he saw me crying, he felt extremely nervous and it turned out like a real proposal to him. His colleagues did not expect that I was good in acting and the outcome was very impressive.
Now you must be very curious about my first proposal. It's another interesting story. If you are interested, I could tell you the other day. At last, I would like to share some reflections about proposal. Both of my experiences were unique to me personally. However, if you ask me whether it is necessary to prepare for proposal? I would still suggest gentlemen, who are planning to propose to your beloved, take some time to arrange that fabulous moment. You don't have to spend a lot of money but I believe she would be grateful like I am now. Maybe someday, she would also share her wonderful story with other toastmasters like I have just done.
Volunteer Journey in Northern Thailand (C4 - How to say it)
Have you ever heard of Golden Triangle (金三角)? Please raise your hands. Golden Triangle is the area covering national borders of Laos, Myanmar, China and Thailand. It used to be the largest poppy farm in the world. Poppy is not a "cute little dog" but the plant to produce opium (鴉片). Today I am going to tell you my story of being a volunteer teacher in Northern Thailand (泰北). The content will include the little town I visited, the school I served, the people I met and the gifts I received.
In 2005, without planning the next step of my life, I decided to resign my previous job and to be a short-term volunteer teacher. I went to a little town near Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand with my best friend and my younger sister. The little town is surrounded with tropical forests and mist in high mountains. it has a dazzling name, Pile of Stars (滿星疊). Only hundreds of people live there. Chinese, the descendants left behind the civil war in 1950s, comprise more than 60 percent of the population. The rests are refugees from Myanmar and China or the ethnic minority in Northern Thailand.
We served at Da-Tung Junior High School (大同中學). It provides Chinese learning from kindergarten to junior high. Students have to go to Thai school for obligated education in the daytime till four p.m., because they are Thai citizen. After school, they go to Da-Tung from 4 pm to 7 pm for further learning in Chinese. Da-Tung can only exist as an extension school. Students learn Chinese, Math, English and other subjects. The main purpose is to learn Chinese with the benefits of reviewing their homework. Due to the shortage of resources, some of the classrooms do not have windows and students use textbooks as their family heirloom, generation after generation.
Principal Ming-guang Chang (張明光校長) used to be a guerrilla when he was young. Now he leads about twenty teachers educating those children. During the 18 days in Pile of Stars, mostly we supported as substitute teachers. I taught English. My sister taught Chinese. Kids there are very warm and sincere. They would loudly greet us with big smiles when they see us five meters away on the streets. Even with the limited learning resources, they treasure the opportunity to learn Chinese and live in Chinese Culture. Even in a difficult living environment, they try hard to be connected with the mother country, Republic of China.
Now I would like to show you some pictures we took.
Back to the story, what are the gifts I received? First, be contented and thankful of what we have now. We are very lucky to be born in Taiwan with abundant educational and living resources. Second, try to help others in need. We can contribute one afternoon in weekends for volunteer or donate the secondhand daily supplies, such as clothes and books. At the end, I would like to conclude my volunteer journey in Northern Thailand with the following sentence, "The one who gives is the one who receives."
In 2005, without planning the next step of my life, I decided to resign my previous job and to be a short-term volunteer teacher. I went to a little town near Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand with my best friend and my younger sister. The little town is surrounded with tropical forests and mist in high mountains. it has a dazzling name, Pile of Stars (滿星疊). Only hundreds of people live there. Chinese, the descendants left behind the civil war in 1950s, comprise more than 60 percent of the population. The rests are refugees from Myanmar and China or the ethnic minority in Northern Thailand.
We served at Da-Tung Junior High School (大同中學). It provides Chinese learning from kindergarten to junior high. Students have to go to Thai school for obligated education in the daytime till four p.m., because they are Thai citizen. After school, they go to Da-Tung from 4 pm to 7 pm for further learning in Chinese. Da-Tung can only exist as an extension school. Students learn Chinese, Math, English and other subjects. The main purpose is to learn Chinese with the benefits of reviewing their homework. Due to the shortage of resources, some of the classrooms do not have windows and students use textbooks as their family heirloom, generation after generation.
Principal Ming-guang Chang (張明光校長) used to be a guerrilla when he was young. Now he leads about twenty teachers educating those children. During the 18 days in Pile of Stars, mostly we supported as substitute teachers. I taught English. My sister taught Chinese. Kids there are very warm and sincere. They would loudly greet us with big smiles when they see us five meters away on the streets. Even with the limited learning resources, they treasure the opportunity to learn Chinese and live in Chinese Culture. Even in a difficult living environment, they try hard to be connected with the mother country, Republic of China.
Now I would like to show you some pictures we took.
Back to the story, what are the gifts I received? First, be contented and thankful of what we have now. We are very lucky to be born in Taiwan with abundant educational and living resources. Second, try to help others in need. We can contribute one afternoon in weekends for volunteer or donate the secondhand daily supplies, such as clothes and books. At the end, I would like to conclude my volunteer journey in Northern Thailand with the following sentence, "The one who gives is the one who receives."
Good Listening Skills (C3 - Get to the point)
How many of you do not have to say a word in one day? Please raise your hand. Just like the answer you showed me, none. Most of us have to say something or speak everyday, with colleagues or with family members. When we talk, we want to be listened. However, when we were audience instead, we often forget this important factor, listening. We interrupt, we talk back, we don't know how to keep patience and just be a good listener. Today, my speech will cover three indices of good listening skills, facial expression, body language and verbal response.
First, facial expression. When we listen to others, our facial expression is the most obvious index showing whether we are interested or not. A good listener always looks at the speaker. Look at the triangle area between two eyes and the nose. Move back and forth from the eyes to the triangle, but not too fast (demo). Please do not look into the eyes directly and deeply (demo). He/she might think you have other intention to him or her. Properly smile is another important message from your face (demo). Keep smiling makes the speaker feel you are friendly and interested in the conversation. At last, nodding your head (demo) from time to time encourages the speaker to share more information with you.
Second, body language. First of all, pay attention to the comfortable distance. Keep about one person's space between the speaker and you (demo). It suits standing or sitting. Observe the speaker's movement and amend the comfortable distance accordingly. Besides, do not cross your arms like this (demo). It shows offensive and critical message intangibly. Consider putting your hands folded or taking notes (demo), by which shows you pay attention to the conversation. When you take notes, you take notes. Do not scrawl on your notes, the speaker can tell. Reminder, don't forget look at the person who talks. You are not talking your notebook, right?
Third, verbal response. One communication contains two persons' active participation. A good listener does not mean that you are muted. It would be really nice that provide some verbal response. You can repeat or rephrase what you heard, such as "As you just mention..." Besides, you can ask questions relative to the information the speaker sated and obtain further information from the speaker, like "Can you give me some examples?" You can also summary a little bit for a period of time, for example "I see, so the facial expression include..." Via these actions, they are sure that you are really here listening with your body and soul.
OK. Let's recap what we just learnt. What are the three indices of a good listener? (Wait for the response from audience.) They are facial Expression, body language and verbal response. Of the facial expression, we look at the person, we keep smiling and we nod our head. Of the body language, keep the comfortable distance, do not cross you arms, keep your hand folded or take notes when necessary. Of the verbal response, we repeat and rephrase as well as ask relative questions. Dear friends, please keep it in mind, when we talk, we wanted to be listened and vice versa.
First, facial expression. When we listen to others, our facial expression is the most obvious index showing whether we are interested or not. A good listener always looks at the speaker. Look at the triangle area between two eyes and the nose. Move back and forth from the eyes to the triangle, but not too fast (demo). Please do not look into the eyes directly and deeply (demo). He/she might think you have other intention to him or her. Properly smile is another important message from your face (demo). Keep smiling makes the speaker feel you are friendly and interested in the conversation. At last, nodding your head (demo) from time to time encourages the speaker to share more information with you.
Second, body language. First of all, pay attention to the comfortable distance. Keep about one person's space between the speaker and you (demo). It suits standing or sitting. Observe the speaker's movement and amend the comfortable distance accordingly. Besides, do not cross your arms like this (demo). It shows offensive and critical message intangibly. Consider putting your hands folded or taking notes (demo), by which shows you pay attention to the conversation. When you take notes, you take notes. Do not scrawl on your notes, the speaker can tell. Reminder, don't forget look at the person who talks. You are not talking your notebook, right?
Third, verbal response. One communication contains two persons' active participation. A good listener does not mean that you are muted. It would be really nice that provide some verbal response. You can repeat or rephrase what you heard, such as "As you just mention..." Besides, you can ask questions relative to the information the speaker sated and obtain further information from the speaker, like "Can you give me some examples?" You can also summary a little bit for a period of time, for example "I see, so the facial expression include..." Via these actions, they are sure that you are really here listening with your body and soul.
OK. Let's recap what we just learnt. What are the three indices of a good listener? (Wait for the response from audience.) They are facial Expression, body language and verbal response. Of the facial expression, we look at the person, we keep smiling and we nod our head. Of the body language, keep the comfortable distance, do not cross you arms, keep your hand folded or take notes when necessary. Of the verbal response, we repeat and rephrase as well as ask relative questions. Dear friends, please keep it in mind, when we talk, we wanted to be listened and vice versa.
Wedding Plan (C2 - Organize your speech)
Before I deliver my speech, I have a few questions to ask you first. How many of you are single? Please raise your hand. How many of you have a plan to get married in a near further? Do you know how long it will take to prepare a wedding? (More than six months). Yes, most people will organize a wedding for more than six months, even up to one year. The last question is do you know how long it took me to plan a wedding and get it done successfully? Six weeks.
How did we make it? According to my experience, I would like to share some ideas with you. There are mainly three parts to plan a successful wedding, wedding photos, wedding ceremony and wedding feast.
First, wedding photos, you could collect your friends' wedding cards when you attend their wedding feast from now on. You can tell from the cards if the style meets you and your honey's taste. When picking up a wedding photo shop, you also need to consider the price and location. Price. How much money you want to spend for wedding pictures? You could surf relative websites or attend the "Wedding and Jewel" exhibition in world trade center. You can find valuable information and cheaper price. Location. The wedding photo shop shall be close to the bride's home. Why? It takes a long time to put on make-ups for bride and bride's mates. It could save the traffic time if the wedding shop is close to bride's home.
Second, wedding ceremony, the most important thing is to ask both of your parents if they have any rules or taboos that you need to follow or avoid. Once you get the ground rules in advance, you can reduce the potential quarrels afterwards. Then you can look for the traditional formal wedding procedures. Use the standard format and modify the process according to you parents' advice. Once you get the procedure done, please draft it as a drama script with word or excel. Put on time, roles, the lines they have to say and the items or equipments they are in charge of. Print it out to every one who will play a role in the wedding ceremony that they can follow it. It is very useful for time management and they can remind each other without missing any important parts.
Third, wedding feast, make the guest list roughly and survey several venues in advance. If you have not decided the exact wedding date, please reserve at least two possible dates and venues for options. Parking lot is always welcomed by the guests. Review the guest list by calling them or e-mailing them to confirm their attendance. It is nice to reserve one or two tables for unexpected guests. Again, you can visit the wedding exhibition in the world trade center for a better package, such as free juice or wine.
These are my suggestions for planning a successful wedding in three perspectives, wedding photos, wedding ceremony and wedding feast. My husband and I were crazily busy at that time and we could only meet each other on weekends. We communicated by phones and e-mails. If we could make it, you can make it. One last thing to share with you, make a deal with your sweetheart. "No matter what, we shall not fight during the process of getting married." It is very impotent. At least, that was a crucial factor for my husband and me to complete our task: getting married in six weeks since the date he proposed.
How did we make it? According to my experience, I would like to share some ideas with you. There are mainly three parts to plan a successful wedding, wedding photos, wedding ceremony and wedding feast.
First, wedding photos, you could collect your friends' wedding cards when you attend their wedding feast from now on. You can tell from the cards if the style meets you and your honey's taste. When picking up a wedding photo shop, you also need to consider the price and location. Price. How much money you want to spend for wedding pictures? You could surf relative websites or attend the "Wedding and Jewel" exhibition in world trade center. You can find valuable information and cheaper price. Location. The wedding photo shop shall be close to the bride's home. Why? It takes a long time to put on make-ups for bride and bride's mates. It could save the traffic time if the wedding shop is close to bride's home.
Second, wedding ceremony, the most important thing is to ask both of your parents if they have any rules or taboos that you need to follow or avoid. Once you get the ground rules in advance, you can reduce the potential quarrels afterwards. Then you can look for the traditional formal wedding procedures. Use the standard format and modify the process according to you parents' advice. Once you get the procedure done, please draft it as a drama script with word or excel. Put on time, roles, the lines they have to say and the items or equipments they are in charge of. Print it out to every one who will play a role in the wedding ceremony that they can follow it. It is very useful for time management and they can remind each other without missing any important parts.
Third, wedding feast, make the guest list roughly and survey several venues in advance. If you have not decided the exact wedding date, please reserve at least two possible dates and venues for options. Parking lot is always welcomed by the guests. Review the guest list by calling them or e-mailing them to confirm their attendance. It is nice to reserve one or two tables for unexpected guests. Again, you can visit the wedding exhibition in the world trade center for a better package, such as free juice or wine.
These are my suggestions for planning a successful wedding in three perspectives, wedding photos, wedding ceremony and wedding feast. My husband and I were crazily busy at that time and we could only meet each other on weekends. We communicated by phones and e-mails. If we could make it, you can make it. One last thing to share with you, make a deal with your sweetheart. "No matter what, we shall not fight during the process of getting married." It is very impotent. At least, that was a crucial factor for my husband and me to complete our task: getting married in six weeks since the date he proposed.
Tina (C1 - Ice Breaker)
"Work and life balance" was my life attitude until I took the position of Learning and Development Manager in PricewaterhouseCoopers Taiwan. I am Tina Huang and I would like to introduce myself with four parts, family, education, work and life.
I was born in a middle class family. I am the eldest child with one younger sister and one little brother. My sister currently studies in Tong-Hua University for her PhD in Chinese Literature. My brother just graduated from Ching-Hua University with his Master Degree in Power Mechanical Engineering. My parents are both retired now. They put high emphasis on learning English. For example, they hired in-house English tutors for practicing English conversation every week when I was ten years old for couple of years. I guess that’s why I am not afraid of speaking English and built up the dream of studying aboard.
After graduating from Providence University with double majors of English Literature and Linguistic, and Tourism Management, I went to Hawaii for my MBA in Finance. Those two years were wonderful; I studied hard and played hard. I actively participated in activities and community service of Graduate Students' Organization and Rotary Club and graduated with GPA 3.67. Just one more A, I would have gotten the Distinguish Student. I am still a little bit sorry for that.
Right after coming back from Hawaii, I worked for two listed companies in fields of corporate finance and investment finance for three years. However, I found I didn't like to deal with figures and money, especially when I had to write a report supporting a bad merge and acquisition decision or to draw a fantasy vision for investors to buy stocks. Therefore I made an important decision of transferring my career from Finance to Education.
In my opinions, no matter who you are, once you have the opportunity to learn you have the chance to create a better life. It's been four years since when. I contributed two years for International Human Resource Development of International Cooperation and Development Fund under Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Now I am here. You might think, wao, what a big change. Weren't those three years in Finance waste? No, my experience of those three years became one essential capability to apply the job in PwC. The most important is I met my husband at my first job.
During my leisure time, I like to travel, see movies, read books, watch drama, practice yoga and meditate. Some of them are relative to my religion. I am a Chinese Buddhist, which means I believe in Buddha and Tao. I enjoy learning and experiencing the truth and the fact of life. For example, I read scripture and books discussing spirit. I visited historical scenery and temples when I traveled in Taiwan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and England. I went to Northern Thailand to be volunteer teacher after I get married. Via those experiences, I felt fulfilled and peaceful.
It takes time for retreat, for communicating with the inner me. However, it's been quite a long time that I have been too busy to have sufficient time doing so. If you ask me, what's your biggest wish now? I would say I want to have more time for myself, my family and my unborn kids, because I want to find my work-life balance back.
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