"I saw you on TV!"
Ok here I am writing in my house coat, and comfy pajama pants (which I got for Christmas), because I've got stomach flu, and let me tell you, it's not fun. I can't remember the last time I was sick like this, must be high school.
I went to class this morning for the first two hours but had to go home early b/c i was throwing up in the bathroom... but enough gory details, what you really want to know is how the speech competition went!
Well let's start with last week... I spent a few days racking my brain about how to fill my remaining 2 minutes, and was a little worried about remembering it all. On Friday night I was feeling like I needed one more day to prepare (last the week the competition was on Sunday morning this week, Saturday), but I had to focus on bible study. Interestingly, the topic of the class was "The Trap of Perfection" about halfway through the singing our leaders got the idea that it would be really fitting for me to give my speech then, so with about 10 minutes notice I prepared to give it... great practice, right? So I gave the speech to an audience of around 300! They were a very friendly, supportive audience, laughing at every joke and cheering every time i spoke Taiwanese! Tons of people came up to me afterward and said they'd elect me for sure!
Sunday morning I got up bright and early, and ran into a fellow competitor on the way in. We talked about how nervous we were and then I drew number 12 (there were 15 speeches total), he drew #1! He actually did a great job, but I was really really glad our positions weren't reversed! A lot of people changed their speeches from last week, most significantly adding songs and posters, though a few had friends accompany them onto the stage too! Since the event was hosted in part by a radio station, they had two DJ's acting as MC's, intereviewing each contestant after their speech. I was a little worried they'd ask me something I didn't understand!
When it was time to give my speech, I actually felt much calmer than last week, and it went really well! I didn't forget anything, only stumbled over a couple lines, and my dramatic climax went off without a hitch. I bought a fake pearl necklace from the night market, and while I was talking about how most politicians are corrupt, but I won't be, and promising not to waste Taiwan's money, I ripped the necklace off. Later the DJ's comment was: This must be our richest candidate.!
Anyways, here's the result: I received an award for most "interesting" (humorous) speech! It came with a prize of $10, 000! Also I was the only girl to get a prize. The others also did fantastic jobs! I'm really glad I did it, even though I had doubts at first. Also, I was interviewed by 2 tv stations, and got my 15 seconds of fame on the evening news! What can I say? Taiwan's a small island... but a lot of my friends and students saw me, even though i didn't have a lot of luck finding it! I caught part of it once in over an hour of flipping through news channels on Saturday night!
So yay! It's over, it was fun, and I learned a lot of political vocabulary in the process haha! Unfortunately I don't have a video recording of the second speech, because all my friends were too busy cheering for me and forgot to record! haha, but I'm so thankful for wonderful friends who got up early on a Saturday morning to support me!
I went to class this morning for the first two hours but had to go home early b/c i was throwing up in the bathroom... but enough gory details, what you really want to know is how the speech competition went!
Well let's start with last week... I spent a few days racking my brain about how to fill my remaining 2 minutes, and was a little worried about remembering it all. On Friday night I was feeling like I needed one more day to prepare (last the week the competition was on Sunday morning this week, Saturday), but I had to focus on bible study. Interestingly, the topic of the class was "The Trap of Perfection" about halfway through the singing our leaders got the idea that it would be really fitting for me to give my speech then, so with about 10 minutes notice I prepared to give it... great practice, right? So I gave the speech to an audience of around 300! They were a very friendly, supportive audience, laughing at every joke and cheering every time i spoke Taiwanese! Tons of people came up to me afterward and said they'd elect me for sure!
Sunday morning I got up bright and early, and ran into a fellow competitor on the way in. We talked about how nervous we were and then I drew number 12 (there were 15 speeches total), he drew #1! He actually did a great job, but I was really really glad our positions weren't reversed! A lot of people changed their speeches from last week, most significantly adding songs and posters, though a few had friends accompany them onto the stage too! Since the event was hosted in part by a radio station, they had two DJ's acting as MC's, intereviewing each contestant after their speech. I was a little worried they'd ask me something I didn't understand!
When it was time to give my speech, I actually felt much calmer than last week, and it went really well! I didn't forget anything, only stumbled over a couple lines, and my dramatic climax went off without a hitch. I bought a fake pearl necklace from the night market, and while I was talking about how most politicians are corrupt, but I won't be, and promising not to waste Taiwan's money, I ripped the necklace off. Later the DJ's comment was: This must be our richest candidate.!
Anyways, here's the result: I received an award for most "interesting" (humorous) speech! It came with a prize of $10, 000! Also I was the only girl to get a prize. The others also did fantastic jobs! I'm really glad I did it, even though I had doubts at first. Also, I was interviewed by 2 tv stations, and got my 15 seconds of fame on the evening news! What can I say? Taiwan's a small island... but a lot of my friends and students saw me, even though i didn't have a lot of luck finding it! I caught part of it once in over an hour of flipping through news channels on Saturday night!
So yay! It's over, it was fun, and I learned a lot of political vocabulary in the process haha! Unfortunately I don't have a video recording of the second speech, because all my friends were too busy cheering for me and forgot to record! haha, but I'm so thankful for wonderful friends who got up early on a Saturday morning to support me!
That's 10 000 NT, right?! I'm so happy for you, Charlottoe - it must feel good to know that your Chinese has progressed so much in just a few years. :)
ReplyDeleteYea!! Go Charlotte!!
ReplyDeleteI competed in a speech contest down here in the south a few years ago . . . all the winners that time were American men married to Taiwanese women. I thought there had been some great speeches by some other nationalities, but I was one of only three or four women who competed out of like 40-50.
Your Chinese is awesome--God has truly blessed your language learning efforts. What a blessing!
Glad this was a good experience for you!! And yuipee for money. :)