2021/01/09(土)SMC
Hello everyone !
Here is the summary of the first meeting of this year dated Jan. 9.
SM Yamazaki's coworker at the cram school, Kitamura Natsuha san, joined the meeting for the first time.（Regrettably, no photos were taken--- very sorry for the carelessness !）
SM Yo. Narisawa and SM Noro served as the Coordinator and the Lecturer respectively.
The President talked about some episodes with an emphasis on the importance of expansion of English vocabulary as the Presidential Remarks.
As for the Coordinator's remarks, she talked about an episode in which she was given a poem from her female friend explaining her feeling of deep love for her husband who passed away three years ago.
Lecturer
The Lecturer quoted questions of words & phrases and idioms from the site of OXFORD.
. What's the sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?
. fly by the seat of your pants
. cut it /things fine
. stake your claim
. be best hope/be somebody's last
etc.
Table Topic Speech
"What's the most valuable life lesson you learned from your parents?"（SM Kaneko）
In his speech, the speaker talked about his parents who met each other at a hospital where the husband was hospitalized. At that time, his mother served as a nurse at the hospital. He said that his father passed away seven years ago and his mother is now 88 years old. He learned modesty and hospitality from his parents as life lessons, he said.
"What is your favorite song and why?"（SM Noro）
The speaker recalled the time when he often entertained his clients through wining and dining them. Enjoying karaoke was included in these events. His favorite songs are Teresa Teng's numbers. In response, members exchanged their favorite songs. However, there seemed to be some generation gaps between SM Kitamura and the other members just only for the familiarity of the names of artists, which was interesting.
"What is your earliest childhood memory?"（SM K. Narisawa）
He talked about memories of TV programs when he was 2nd or 3rd grader of elementary school. SM Kaneko raised a question about when the earliest childhood refers to. In response, the speaker said that he wanted to avoid the memories when he was a kindergartener.
"What have you done in the last year that makes you proud?"（SM Koizumi）
Despite the pandemic with growing concerns about infections, he successfully launched a social dancing circle with eight members. He said that such an experience makes him proud in a rather modest way. In connection with issue, SM Noro said that he feels proud about an episode at his elder son's wedding ceremony.
"What are your three priorities?"（SM Kitamura）
The speaker took up three things as her three priorities, ramen noodles, animals cats in particular and sleeping. For ramen noodles, she favors oily and savory one in particular. She said sleeping is also very important for her, saying that the speaker usually gets plenty of sleep for about 10 hours !
"What makes everyone smile?"（SM Yamazaki）
The speaker said that with his personality he finds it not easy for him to make people smile. He said that SM K. Narisawa's qualities can be regarded as a role model for making everyone smile, reasoning that communications with good sense of humor leads to better communications.
Prepared Speech
"Convenient Stores' Foods Assessments"（SM Koizumi）
The speaker took up the summary of a TV drama that was broadcast during the New Year' Days. The program focused on a comparative assessment of foods and sweets provided by the major three convenience stores, he said. The assessment was made by some celebrities. He went on to say that he had actually did tasting tours at the convenience stores for foods and sweets with a full mark. Unfortunately, the products were sold out, he said. The Narisawas watched the program and K. Narisawa did the same thing.
"My interests"（SM Kitamura）
The speaker said that she used to have long hair reaching her waist. Now her hair is shorter than that length though her hair still is rather long. She said that she frequently wants to change her hairstyle to refresh herself. For her, cutting hair is suitable for relieving stress, she said. In response to a question about the source of stress, she raised some relationships with people including her family.
"Mid-life crisis"（SM K. Narisawa）
The speaker talked about the notion of mid-life crisis that has a similar meaning to depression and listless. He warned us, saying we tend to chase childhood dreams, ending up wasting precious time and energy. Looking back on his younger days with some ambitious targets such as becoming a professor and gaining a muscled body, those ended up as pipe dreams. In conclusion, he strongly urged us not to stop studying English and consistently possess feelings of enjoyment of English study.
"Does scenario exist? "（SM Kaneko）
The speaker said that he believes in a kind of predestination, believing that there some scenarios for each person. Looking back on life at various turning points, he opted for decision making with unknown reasons. He recalled that those decisions seemed to be predestined.
"Time of rest and relaxing"（SM Yamazaki）
The speaker talked about spending time listening to and watching musicians play instruments through YouTube. He said that music is good way to overcome this pandemic period for him. Regarding playing instruments, SM Kitamura said that she can play the cello. Additionally, there were some discussions about Tokyo-Hakone Collegiate "Ekiden" Road Relay that was broadcast on TV an and radio during the New Year's Days in which Komazawa University turned the race around in the last stage of the race, which was rather dramatic.
Notice:
All the community centers in Sagamihara city are closed until Feb. 7 due to expansive new cases of COVID-19.
Next meeting
Feb.13（Sat.）
Oyama Community Center （Small Room）
. Coordinator: SM Noro
. Lecturer: SM Yo. Narisawa
Feb.27（Sat.）
Oyama Community Center （Small Room）
