Rotaract Activities
Over the past couple of months I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the Taipei City Rotaract Club and got to experience some of what they do.
The Rotaract Club held its 12th Anniversary back in late December, an event that was overshadowed by my Christmas Coverage here on the blog, and it was an entertaining experience. I had to opportunity to meet some individuals integral in the development of the Rotaract Club here in Taipei, as well as key members in some of the Rotary Clubs as well. Through touching videos about their work and those that sponsor them, the Rotaract Anniversary was quite a big deal. Of course, the standards of all Rotaract meetings took place: The recital of the goals and purpose of Rotaract, the commencement of the meeting, all relevant discussion points regarding future endeavors and activities, and of course the the singing of the club song “It’s a Small World.” While this song is still engraved in my nightmares from my time in Disneyland (I still wake up in a cold sweat every so often), I did find it to be appropriate for the club and its goals.
As is standard toward the end of each and every meeting, the President of the Club, currently Lorraine, walked around and requested some special guests to give a few words about their experiences with Rotaract and how they perceive the group. They seem to enjoy showing me off, much like the Rotary Elite Club (my host club), as they always ask me to say a few words. Thankfully, they speak English, so my limited eloquence is not further degraded in my fumbling attempts to create coherent and purposeful Chinese sentences. Regardless, the rest of the meeting went well and culminated in the most sacred of all Rotary events here, the group photo.
The next Rotaract Event I had the pleasure of attending was one featuring a special speaker. This event hosted a NASA communicator for the Kennedy Space Center, Mr. John Dankowski (nothing reminds me of home as much as names like Dankowski). This gentleman had lived in Taiwan for better than 30 years, during which time he taught English in several prominent schools. As he is fluent in Chinese, I was fortunate that the club requested he present in English. (My Chinese is not so poor that I would be completely lost, but in a field of such interesting and technical information, I would probably get pretty confused)
Mr. Dankowski gave a historic rundown of NASA and the development of space travel from the Cold War and Sputnik to the next phases of space exploration, which will probably not be headed by the United States. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and of course, culminated in a group photo.
Finally was the International Cook-Off held just yesterday. I attended despite a head full of who-knows-what and a great desire to rest. Nonetheless, I got to enjoy five different dishes made by Rotarians and one Ambassadorial Scholar (Laura Moore). The purpose of this meeting was the enjoy foods from different parts of the world as well as to go over upcoming Rotaract business. The menu was varied, starting us off with a Caesar Salad (made by Aunt Athena), Yarisushi (made by Uncle Story), a Shepard’s Pie (made by Uncle Eggus), a form of Malaysian boxed dinner (the name to which escapes me at the moment) (made by Auntie Liz), and Louisiana Gumbo (made by Laura Moore). Everything was terrific. Laura, who was approached out of the blue by the club (as she is hosted by the Rotaract club’s Rotary Club) to make something she knew. Despite being from Florida, she still did a Gumbo rather well. As seems to be standard, they asked me to speak again, wondering what I thought of the club since I first met them. I, of course, told them I loved their hospitality, their good work for others, and their dedication towards betterment. I also told them that I would be coming back sometime in the near future, and if they would have me, I would like to join up with them. At the very least, I added, I could try my hand at making some Halupki next year around.
So I guess we shall see what the next year brings. Who knows, I may be back in Taiwan before I initially reckoned.
In any case, I owe my thanks to the Rotaract Club for letting me join them and experience their meetings. It was truly a wonderful experience; one I hope to take part in again.
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, there has been no photographs uploaded for the Cook-off. I will be sure to post more as it becomes relevant.
Thanks again and lets move on to the next post,
Alex
