weather	:		raining
outside	:		8.4°C
mood	:		nostalgic

On the evening that my Husband's cousin Vivian got married in South Africa, I was appointed, right then and there, to make a toast for our side of the family. Somebody neglected to explain to my Husband's Mother and Aunts that if I wanted to have speech jobbies like that sprung on me, I'd have my Able Toastmaster accreditation by now. =}

As quickly as I could, I pulled together stuff off the top of my head:

A marriage, which is the union of the dragon and the pheonix, in Chinese is called "Double Happiness". We're very happy to be invited to attend this double-happiness occasion. On behalf of the Chung family, thank you to Auntie Janet and Uncle Attie and all of the M-------- family for welcoming us into your home on our first trip to South Africa. We give our most heartfelt thanks to you all. And Auntie Yue-Hsiao [Vivian's Mom] also wanted especially to express how happy and honoured she is to see that her daughter will be accepted and loved in her new family. To Vivian and Stephen, 表姐 (biǎo jiě) and 表姐夫 (biǎo jiě fū): here's wishing you both all the best in the journey of your new life together.

I guess it was okay for zero preparation at all. I wanted to be sure to refer to Vivian and Stephen by the proper titles to symbolize acceptance into the family.

I want this written down so I can reuse it if I have to. =} I'm really upset at myself for losing the little note pad that I wrote down almost everything in on our November 2005 trip... which, BTW, is why I don't have more written about my vacation. But that's what I could remember of my blurb that evening.