Toast Master

Has anyone heard of this organization before? Apparently Toast Masters is an international organization that aims to "provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth."

Each meeting is composed of a Toastmaster, Table Topics Master, General Evaluator, evaluator for each person speaking, Book and/or Movie Reviewer, Ah Counter, Grammarian, Timer, and various speakers. There is a manual that explains how this meeting should be conducted, how long it should last, how long each type of speech should be, how the roles are undertaken, and who can participate in which role based on their level of manual mastery. Interesting, yeah? I thought so.

I have been a guest in Busan Toast Master meetings on both Wednesday and this morning. I will also attend on Friday as well. As a guest, I have the opportunity to give a movie/book review or participate in the table topic for that day. The roles are decided at the end of each meeting and presented at the next. I gave a table topic "speech" this morning. Its an impromptu discussion of whatever the Table Topic Master decides. This morning was about taking a month's summer vacation and how we would spend it. I obviously talked about traveling and experiences different foods and cultures.

Hyeji introduced me to this club which was held at her university, Busan National University. I met this guy named Bob who lives in Hywha-dong in Seoul, near Uijeongbu. He was taking a motorcycle ride around Korea, and decided to stop in for a visit. Bob says there are eight ToastMaster clubs in Seoul, but I'm not sure which one he is apart of. Something to look into I suppose. There is also this girl named Monica that, for whatever reason, found herself without a job, and recently got a new one due to her Toastmaster experience. She will be speaking on the radio. The club is mostly Koreans that wish to improve their English, but also some Westerners that want to improve their public speaking skills.