University of Michigan

Fall 2008 Tea Party

The Beginning…

• It is the beginning of another academic year. The UMTC planning team had been planning for Tea Party cum Mass Meeting for the past 4 months. As it was the Summer Break, we were all in different parts of the world. Some of us went home for vacation and some were doing internships. Therefore, we had our meetings online bi weekly either on Skype or MSN.

Setting Up.. Arrivals..

• Before the Tea Party started, the Planning Team members were busy setting up the place, and also catching up with some last minute practice of sign language. Most of the Shr Gu and Shr Bo also arrived earlier with their tasty dishes. Yuan Shr Gu also brought the environmental utensils from Detroit Office so that we can avoid using disposable utensils.

Ice Breaking Game

• The Tea Party officially began with an Ice Breaker game called “Picnic” and it was conducted by Hui Ying Chin, our webmaster. The game was a name-remembering game; adapted from the ice-breaker game we had during 2008 USA Tzu Ching 10th Anniversary and Spiritual Retreat at San Dimas, CA.

From the left: Hui Ying, Huey Shann and Szu Ling

Ice Breaking Game

Introduction

• The Tea Party was then followed by a short presentation by Huey Shann and Szu Ling. They introduced Tzu Chi and Tzu Ching so that new members have an idea of what Tzu Ching does in University of Michigan.

Szu Ling and Huey Shann

Introduction

Life Wisdom

• Next was watching Life Wisdom session. We watched one of the Master’s Life Wisdom that was chosen by Edward. Shortly before that, we had Hui Ying and Karen who introduced Life Wisdom to all and explained the reason we watch it.

Karen

Life Wisdom

Karen, HuiYing

Environmental Protection

• After that, we had Environmental Protection Presentation by Edward. Edward gave us a very convincing presentation on the Earth Crisis that we are facing now. Our hope was that the audience will love our earth and be a more responsible citizen

Edward

Disaster Relief Sharing• This was then followed by sharing from Beth about her experience

on Flood Relief and also what other Tzu Chings did in Flood Relief last summer.

Beth

Sign Language Performance

• Next, we had the sign language performance presented by the Planning Team. The song that we presented was “Gratitude, Respect and Love”.

Sign Language Performance

Praying Session• The following session was a short praying session hosted by You Ning Lee.

We prayed sincerely and faithfully, hoping that there will be less disasters and sufferings and that everyone can live peacefully, happily and healthily.

You Ning

Thank You, Wu Shr Gu• Towards the end, we presented an appreciation card to Wu Shr Gu, who

had been our advisor for years. Thank you, Wu Shr Gu, for your guidance, advice, and company all these while! We will keep up our good work and we will miss you always.

Wei Hua Wu Shr Gu and Huey Shann

Souvenirs Giving Ceremony

• We also presented small Jing Si Bookmarks to our audience as souvenirs.

Dinner

• It’s dinner time! Sincere and earnest gratitude to all Shr Gu’s and Shr Bo’s for preparing the delicious food. Thank you Shr Gu’s and Shr Bo’s for your love and support! Special thanks too to Sheau Wen, for preparing the drinks. All of us felt so homely with all sorts of home cooked dishes and handmade pastries.

Gratitude

• Finally, thank you everyone for coming. Thank you very much to each and every one of us for making this Tea Party a success. Thank you for all the hard work, patience, cooperation and perseverance. We are very happy to see so many new members signed up this year. We hope to see you again in future activities. Let’s learn from each other and work hand in hand, together we spread the seed of love around and make a difference to our world. Once again, Gan En to Shr Gu’s and Shr Bo’s, Beth and Edward and also to all the Planning Team members!

Planning Team, Shr Gu’s & Shr Bo’s

We are a great team!

UMTC Planning Team

Reported by,You Ning LeeUMTC Historian

Edited by, Huey Shann SueUMTC President

Special Thanks to Jethro Lai Shr Bo for sendingthose really nice photos! Gan en, Shr Bo!