(Noted down by Andy)

Weekly gathering on December 21, 2015

Tom briefed the outing on Jan-4 and encouraged members to register as early as possible.  In addition, there will be a tour guide for Wu San-Lian foundation on Jan-22-2016.  Rosie and Heaven will lead the tour.

Today’s gathering is much more like a Christmas party than a regular one.

First, thanks to Sonia, Jenny Zheng, Bruce, and Shirley, they brought lots of snacks including chocolate, toffee, sesame cake, nougat, and peanuts, etc. Among these candies, the most special one to me was the cake offered by Jenny Zheng.  It was a very traditional Chinese cake but with a Santa Claus pattern on its surface.  My daughter loved this cake very much.

Then it’s the show time.

Michelle led all members to sing 3 Christmas carols: Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. She was an excellent leader with wonderful voice to make the chorus so well.

Jenny Zheng sang “Last Christmas.”  She said it’s the fourth time for her to sing this song because it was assigned by Tom. I believed it was her sweet voice that made this.

Heaven introduced the song “Do they Know it’s Christmas Lyrics.” This song aimed to help West Africa last year due to the Ebola virus spread. And its goal is to free the world.

Performances from Shirley, Henry and Bruce:

        “You Raise Me Up” trio

         “When the Child Was Born” duetted by Shirley and Henry, accompanied by Bruce’s violin     

        “Scarborough Fair, soloed by Henry, accompanied by Bruce’s guitar

Dancing from Jenny Chou, Tammy, Henry, and Bob along the song “Sugar” Jenny Chou and Tammy dressed up to make this dance much more attracting. At first, it was performed by them. Then Jenny Zheng and Olga joined the last session.  Finally, all the members danced together.

Tom led all members to sing Edelweiss and Bruce played the violin. Then Tom soloed the theme song of “The Sound of Music” (真善美).

Robert talked about the article “Winter Workout Tips.”

First, he pointed out 3 pairs of synonyms that are difficult to distinguish the little differences: healthy vs. fit, exercise (noun) vs. sport, and work out (verb) vs. exercise.

And here were the helpful tips to stay healthy and fit during those cold winter months.

Stayed hydrated          He mentioned he always brought a bottle of warm water when going swimming.

Dress smart                  A good combination would be a windproof outer layer with cotton layers underneath.

Warm up                       Avoid the risk of sprains.

Assess the weather    Pay attention to the changes of temperatures.

He said the winter blues did not really apply to Taiwan because we were at subtropical area.  The winter blues happened to the high latitude countries like Canada, UK, Germany, and Finland, etc. due to no enough sunshine in winter time. So bundling up was not an issue in Taiwan.