2020/12/12(土)SMC
Hi everyone !
Here is the summary of the meeting held on Dec. 12. The weather was cloudy but the temperature was somewhat mild and comfortable for the middle of December.
In the Presidential Remarks, the President gave an explanation about a grammatical question of "no more ~ than ~ "and "no less ~ than ~". "A whale is no more a fish than a horse is." "A whale is no less a mammal than a horse is."
SM Takahata and SM Yamazaki served as the Coordinator and the Lecturer respectively.
Lecturer
"Her Antenna is Tuned to the Quietest Voices"
The Lecturer took up the article from The New York Times that appeared the previous day. He said that at first he had planned to use another piece of material from a business English textbook, but he changed the material in the last minute because of the impact of interest.
Table Topic Speech
〝What's the next big step you need to take?〝（SM K. Narisawa）
The speaker said that at this time of the year he needs to make some decisions about work for the next year. However, anyway he said that he has a plan of writing a book about jokes. In his speech, he used phrases of "not a sport-oriented person" and "within my means" "life is very unstable with financial burdens" and "people over 65 years old are prone to get diseases". In connection with the issue, SM Noro said that at the time one year before the mandatory retirement for him he has some vague plans for the retirement, saying that he wants to continue to work and has a strong desire for something to learn about.
〝Importance of communication"（SM Kaneko）
The speaker said that he strongly supports the statement because with a lack of communication people wouldn't come to understand each other, leading to even a war. In this connection, some questions and answers about communications with his or her spouse were exchanged.
〝Everyone should be a volunteer"（SM Yo. Narisawa）
The speaker said that she praises anyone who is willing to dedicate themselves to something with no expectations of return. And she said that she personally had no particular experiences of volunteer activities. She added, however, she did a volunteer activity of cleaning the venue along with SM Noro and her husband moderately.
〝Good grades matter"（SM Koizumi）
The speaker talked about his pet issue of social dancing. He said that with the recognition of his skills, he is given greater motivation of acquiring higher skills. In this sense, good grades would create a virtuous cycle, he said.
〝Good manners matter"（SM Noro）
The speaker took up his wife's hobby of tea ceremony. Tea ceremony has a lot of sets of rules of manners to be observed, he said. Also members exchanged some social manners associated with table manners such as eating noodles and hot soup.
〝Art is essential to life"（SM Yamazaki）
The speaker talked about the question of the definition of art and within the scope of his understanding of its definition, he focused on the perception of art such as exhibitions and monuments. He also touched on the perception about nature, explaining that Japanese people are more likely to appreciate nature than western people.
Prepared Speech
"Sign Language"（SM Koizumi）
The speaker said that as a supporting staff member of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games he is given some e-learning materials from the organization. Sign language material is one of them. In response to a question from the Coordinator, he said that basically sign language is different from country to country, but as a matter of course, the organization employs a sign language that is common internationally.
"Love stories from YouTube"（SM K. Narisawa）
The speaker touched on a medical check on his throat at the beginning of the speech. And then he moved on to his main topic of some love stories from YouTube. He talked about the summary of some love stories that each of them lasts about 10 minutes and right after watching one story he searched for another story. And he ended up watching those stories far into the night, he said. He also emphasized that there must be a concoction of the factor that appeals universally as descriptions of the reason why he is drawn into YouTube.
"Christmas is just around the corner"（SM Yo. Narisawa）
At the beginning of her speech, the speaker touched on a heart-warming story with a letter exchange between the UK Prime Minister Johnson and an 8-year old boy as to whether or not Santa Claus will be able to deliver presents this year. And then, she went on to a bitter memory about Christmas presents from her father more than 50 years ago, she recalled. When she was 10 years old, she wasn't interested in reading novels. So she said that she couldn't be satisfied with books easily, complaining anything she didn't like. As a result, her father ended up exchanging books several times without complaining ! From the painful memories, she concluded her story, saying that she would like to have thanked to his father for making her realize that it's very important to be patient with others.
"Memories"（SM Kaneko）
As a big fan of the Beatles, the speaker took up the incident of the murder of John Lennon that happened in December 40 years ago. He said that he personally appreciates Paul Mccartney more than John Lennon. During his speech in response to his comments about his preference the Beatles members, SM Yo. Narisawa reacted implying her opposition to his comments.
SM K. Narisawa also added his memories of his personal attachment to the Beatles, saying that he visited Dakota House and the memories of wearing T-shirts with Beatles design.
"Preparation for the end of life"（SM Noro）
At the beginning of his speech, the speaker talked about a time when he received a letter from his elementary school teacher. He said that the teacher was a female, and she became an elementary school teacher after freshly graduating from a university. So both the teacher and students including himself had a strong attachment to each other. Along with the letter, she included some works handed in about more than 50 years ago. Mimeograph printed handwritten Japanese passage written in hiragana. The teacher said in the letter that now at the age of 75 the teacher began to make some preparations for the end of her life. Sending back works at school is one of them. The speaker actually showed one of them, representing an extremely neat handwritten passage in hiragana. After his speech, he recalled a good memory of a farewell party when she was transferred to another school. Both the teacher and the students exchanged gratitude and encouragement with all tears, he recalled after the meeting.
Next meeting
12/26（Sat.）
Oyama Community Center（Small room）
.Coordinator: SM Yamazaki
.Lecturer: SM Takahata
