2020/01/25(土)SMC

Hello everyone!

Here is the summary of the meeting held on Jan. 25. (2nd meeting of the year) Happily all the regular members attended the meeting, including SM Narisawa, SM Yo. Narisawa, SM Kaneko, SM Koizumi, SM Takahata, SM Noro, SM Yu. Narisawa, and SM Yamazaki. (Eight members in total)

The meeting started with the opening remarks from the President of SM K. Narisawa. He quoted a conversation with his coworker (a native English speaker), saying "Why do you bother me by using such a difficult word? " My question is how strong is his vocabulary? How about each of you - How is both active and passive vocabulary?

The Coordinator and Lecturer were SM K. Narisawa and SM Yu. Narisawa respectively.

Lecture

. From an entrance exam questions from Todai (The University of Tokyo) were given. The Lecturer added an explanation of the passage with a keyword of "Criticism of a past event based on the result".

Table Topic Speech

-Why do you prefer dogs to cats? (SM Yu. Narisawa)

With his experience of having a pet pug dog, the speaker talked about some affectionate behaviors of his pet.

The coordinator added some words and expressions such as "Cats seem aloof and detached" and "a stray cat"

-What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning? (SM Takahata)

The speaker talked about her routine in the morning, presenting three habits: "give massage for 5 min", "go upstairs and open the door for fresh air" and " drink a cup of water". And speaker added that it has been two years since she started the routine.

The coordinator added a word - "lukewarm water".

-If you had a genie what would you wish for? (Yo. Narisawa)

In her speech she presented three great wishes of "having a huge amount of money and free time and health that enable her to travel around the world with a luxury cruiser".

-What's the best decision you've ever made? (SM Koizumi)

The speaker mentioned the suggestion from his elder sister that encouraged him to take up his lifetime hobby of dancing. He concluded that his decision making at that time was the best ever in his life.

-If your life was a novel how would the story end? (SM Noro)

The speaker quoted his teacher's motto, saying he wished to live as a farmer and a philosopher. The speaker wishes to live likewise, going along with a river, not against the stream.

-If you could take 2 items with you to a deserted island, what would they be? (SM Kaneko)

The speaker presented the idea of taking a smartphone with him to kill time and keep up with the time. There were some exchanges of opinions among the members such as a power generator for a smartphone that has limitations of the functions of the current technology.

-What's the best way to relieve stress?(SM Yamazaki)

The speaker presented some ways relieving stress including some jokes.

Prepared Speech

"Scolisos"(SM Noro)

The speaker talked about a visit to a hot spring facility. During the stay he was given a foot massage from a therapist at the facility. With the advice from the therapist, he said he makes a habit of using his left hand first rather than his normal initial use of right hand.

"Is Japan a safe country or not? (SM Yo. Narisawa)

The speaker presented two true stories from a family and her friend with totally different endings, posing a question of whether or not Japan is a safe country.

Her speech concluded with the hope that Japan will win admiration from the world for its impressive level of safety. Let me quote a useful expression from her speach with "A train pulled into the station".

"This year's Osechi" (SM Takahata)

The speaker talked about her this New Year Days spending delightful time with her family including her two granddaughters. She said that the highlight of the events was her experience of making Osechi from the scratch for the first time, by scrictly following a recipe in a cookbook. She added that her motto for this year is to put everything into some of her high priority things such as consistently learning English through NHK radio English programs and sparing no effort.

"Present for My Mother"(SM Koizumi)

The speaker's speach started with a line of sentence of "Today, my mother has reached 96 years and 365 days old." He talked about a special present for his mother's birthday the next day with his initiative of giving a special album displaying her life from the Taisho era. The speech was brimmed with SM Koizumi's deep love and affection toward his mother. From his descriptions in his speech text about his mother, I feel SM Koizumi takes after his mother for his bright and optimistic character.

"Health"(SM Kaneko)

The speaker talked about issues ranging widely from health issues to sumo.

Looking back the time of the summer time last year, he emphasized that he really has become aware of the preciousness of health. And his speech moved on to some of topics such as unusually warmer temperatures with little snowfall even in snowy regions at the time of the year. For sumo, he mentioned the sumo wrestler with a name of 正代(Shodai). Today I learned from a TV news program that 正代's grandmother's name is 正代(Shodai)正代(Masayo). It's a coincidental combination, isn't it ?

"My recent routine"(SM Yamazaki)

The speaker talked about the things he's made into habits ecently. A morning information program that is broadcast from 8 am is his favorite. He said he feels attracted to straightforward comments from the commentators in the program.

Next meeting:

Feb. 8(Sat.) at Seishin(清新)Community Center

Coordinator: Yu. Narisawa

Lecturer: K. Narisawa

Reported by Yamazaki