Icebreakers and Introductions

By Cynthia Liao

(a big THANKS to Shu-Jon Mao for the amazing photos used in this article!)

I got to the Westin Bonaventure at around 3:30 pm, right as the NATWA II programming was scheduled to start. After getting lost a couple of times looking for the NATWA Convention in Los Angeles’s most confusing hotel, I finally had my nametag, my registration packet, and a hotel employee’s directions to the San Gabriel Room on the first floor, which would serve as NATWA II’s home base for the weekend.

There were only four or five NATWA II ladies there at first, accompanied by three first-generation women. However, as people started trickling in, I realized with pleasure that about half were familiar faces I had seen at last year’s Convention in Seattle while the other half were newcomers, some who had heard about it through email and others who had been brought in by friends and relatives. Being a student myself, I was glad to see that there were at least two other college students there, Sherry and Carolyn. And coming from both the Bay Area and Cerritos, CA, I was surprised but pleased to see that both places were well-represented.

After going around one round of introductions, Tsuann (re-)introduced us to NATWA II and asked for our input on how to get more 1.5- and 2nd-generation Taiwanese American and Canadian women involved. Afterward, we broke out the chips and drinks (water and juice for us under-21’s, of course) for happy hour and played Annie’s cartoon-character guessing game. In between asking yes-no questions to figure out what cartoon character’s name was written on a nametag that we couldn’t see, we caught up with old friends and met new people. All in all, an easy time, a relaxing hour before the first convention’s banquet and our performance at NATWA Night.