2021/6/14(月) ZOOM

Hi everyone!

Here are the minutes of the Zoom meeting held on June 14. The meeting was coordinated by SM Yo. Narisawa.

In the chat at the beginning of the meeting, the attendees exchanged an update of their interests.

Of them, the pet chicken topic that SM Yo. Narisawa raised was interesting. The news was brought by her friend who had been keeping a chicken named “shima-chan”. The pet died after being treated at a vet.

SM Koizumi talked about his mother, 92 years old and currently living in a nursery facility. Amazingly, she could read newspapers until the age of 88, he said. Recently he had an online meeting, showing some cards indicating words trying to reach her. What moved the attendees was a picture of a baby boy who is expected to be born in November. The facial features shown in the picture was created by AI!

SM Takahata said that her left hand hurt, attributing the pain to excessive golf swing practices. She said that she usually takes golf swing lesson at a golf range for one hour once a week and then does some swing practice after each lesson. In connection with this topic, SM K. Narisawa raised the word “dormant”, for example “ a state of dormant disease appearing”

SM K. Narisawa introduced an English sentence by explaining a grammatical issue, quoting the sentence, “They come here as much to see a friendly face as to eat the food.”

Table Topics Speech

<Which do you like better sleep on, futon or a bed? What is the merit of either one of them?> (SM Eda)

The speaker put an emphasis on the benefits of a futon, saying that it can create more space than a bed, whereas a bed is likely to gather dust beneath it. SM Takahata responded to his speech with words supporting the idea, adding that cleanliness is a good point of futons. Likewise, SM Yamazaki pointed out that beds are dangerous, saying that there are a lot of cases of people getting injured after falling on the floor from a bed.

<A country you want to visit> (SM K. Narisawa)

The speaker talked about an episode of how Americans consider a car to be indispensable, joking that it is a car-nation” He clearly remembered that at the time of going back to Japan he promised himself he would visit again. For a country he wants to visit, he raised countries like India and the Philippines because his coworkers of ALTs are from those countries. In response, SM Eda and SM Yo. Narisawa raised Egypt and Canada respectively. SM Eda gave some reasons that he would like to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Also SM Koizumi said that he would like to visit Belgium again where he stayed for three years on business.

<You're on your way to an important meeting and you get caught in the rain without an umbrella, what do you do? > (SM Takahata)

What the speaker emphasized was to try to find a convenience store. However, if there are no convenience stores available, she said she would have no choice but to walk in the rain. In this connection, SM Yamazaki raised a question of the difference of national character, exemplifying a rumor that Americans are likely to brave the rain.

<How did you meet your best friend? > (SM Koizumi)

The speaker raised an encounter with SM Yamazaki as a subordinate in business and he also said it is a wonder of life that the relationship with him still continues even after their retirement. SM Eda and SM Yamazaki agreed with him, saying that there might be invisible connections between people. Additionally, SM Yamazaki added an episode for SM Eda that SM Yo. Narisawa and SM Takahata had a quite a rare encounter, reasoning that in Yokohama SM Yo. Narisawa in her university days lived with SM Takahata’s elder sister who came all the way from Hokkaido!

<Who is the famous person you would most like to meet? > (SM Yo. Narisawa)

The speaker said that through a long running drama she became fascinated with Shibusawa Eiichi, whose portrait will be printed on a new bill.

<What was your favorite movie when you were young? >(SM Yamazaki)

Obviously the speaker struggled with making a speech about the title, just remembering the movie title “Roman holiday” With the help of SM Yo. Narisawa, he completed his rather short speech. What he wanted to convey was his feeling that his favorite film was a pure love story between the Princess and a reporter.

Next meeting:

June 21 (Mon.) ZOOM meeting

Coordinator: SM Takahata

Reported by YAMAZAKI