Weekly gathering on December 12, 2016

Shirley hosted the gathering. First, we sang the song “You Raise Me Up.” Then, we studied the 2 articles from December Studio Classroom. Last, Yvonne presented her story “an aged backpacker in Taiwan.”

Re the Jan-16 outing, the destination was changed to不動明王寺and Yvonne will guide the tour.

All the members reviewed the articles of incorporation of our club and found some minor mistakes. The major revision was to change the chairperson election to November.

The new team for next semester was announced as follows:

Education vice-chairperson: Heaven

PR vice-chairperson: Jenny Chou

Activities coordinator: Yvonne

Treasurer: Jenny Cheng

Amer: Great Gifts on page 44

She shared her 3 stories to highlight the key points of this article. Here are some useful tips. Often it’s wise to provide a receipt in case the person needs to exchange the gift. The best gifts are personal. It’s even better if the gift is a high-quality homemade one. Last, she displayed many small delicate homemade Christmas socks. And each member used a special fishing rod to “fish” it as their own gifts.

Miriam: The Christmas Poinsettia on page 26

Native to southern Mexico, the plant was associated with purity. Now poinsettias are known as “Flowers of the Holy Night.” And its star-shaped leaf is often a symbol for the Star of Bethlehem.

She took 8 different species of poinsettias and taught us how to choose good ones. She also provided some tips to keep them healthy. And all of them were taken by some members.

Yvonne first introduced the six characters of backpackers such as adventure-taking, flexibility and budget-control. Then she shared her 3-day trip with Pamela, a backpacker from Hong Kong. Within limited budget, they stayed in a hostel, rented scooter, and took bus to visit many tourist attractions like Taroko Gorge, Seven-Star Lake, etc. She displayed many photos re the WOW hostel and recommended it.