2022/1/8 (土)SMC

Here is the summary of the meeting.

Word of the Day_SM Takahata

The presenter introduced the word of "impressive" that is often used to make comments for good performance.

Table Topic Speeches (omitted)

Prepared Speeches

<Family gathering>_SM Eda

(Here is the quoted passage of the speech.)

My family consists of my wife, a daughter and her husband, and a son.

My daughter got married in 2020 and lives 20 minutes away from us. My son graduated from college and recently moved out on his own.

Before Covid 19 spread all over the world, my family got together with my brother and his family at a restaurant located nearby. For some reason, my brother insisted that our family gathering not be held annually any more. He is an older brother, so I had to accept his request. However, I had one additional request for him. I thought I have to tell him my daughter got married, and she and her husband need to meet him. My family also met my parents and brother-in-law, and we stayed at Mikazuki Hotel in Chiba.

This year, because of the rise of the pandemic we couldn't meet. So, my wife and I visited my parents. My wife and I decided to meet our daughter and her spouse, my son, and my brother-in-law, who lives in Niigata. He loves living in the countryside. All our guests, my wife and I enjoyed the gathering, feeling great because that is the start of our family tradition. We all, except my son, got fully vaccinated, so we had to have him take an antigen test. We were relieved to find that he tested negative.

I do hope we will have a bright future with great family gatherings and without any further worries about Covid 19.

<Hibernation>_SM Kaneko

(Here is the quoted passage of the speech.)

In winter, it seems we sleep better than in summer when hot temperature prevents us from doing so. In winter, I sleep more than usual comfortably in futon or bed. While doing so, I sometimes practice English by thinking or do some physical exercises. Tightening your body while taking some poses will strengthen your muscles, bones, etc. I also massage my body parts like internal organs by hands or fingers in my own way. I also sing and do some toning, which means vibration of vocal chords. I might look lazy or unhealthy , but I believe it is not always the case. Winter is the season of hibernation for some animals. No wonder we sleep well in winter.

<Heartwarming stories>_SM Yo. Narisawa

(Here is the quoted passage of the speech.)

The first one is a story about a little girl and her father. The little girl decorated a box with expensive gold wrapping paper in order to give it to her father. Money was tight, so her father scolded her for wasting that expensive paper. But the next morning she brought the gift to her father. He opened the box and found it empty, so he became angry again. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes, saying that this is not empty and I filled it with my kisses, all for you. He felt so embarrassed that he could just put his arms around his little daughter and beg for her forgiveness.

The second one is a story about an elderly man and his wife. It was a busy morning in a hospital, when an elderly man came in to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said that he was in a hurry and he had an appointment in 30 minutes. While taking care of his wound, a nurse asked him, " Where do you have to be 30 minutes from now?" The elderly man told her that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and she hadn't recognized me for the last five years. Surprised, the nurse asked him," Are you still going every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled and said, " She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

From these two stories, I learned that love is what is truly important to us.

<Nomura Katsuya>_SM K. Narisawa

The speaker talked about a famous baseball player, Nomura Katsuya. He can rank with Nagasima or Harimoto, but somehow he projects the image of a loser. It may be because he looked as if he had lost energy or enthusiasm toward the end of his life. Especially after his wife died, he seemed not to expect anything from life. He seemed to just wait for his own demise. I hope we will not lose interest in life up until the end of life.

<Project X>_SM Yamazaki

The speaker talked about TV program Project X that is one of the household TV programs in his age range.

Next meeting at Oyama Community Center

Jan. 22 (Sat.)

Coordinator: SM Takahata

Word of the Day: SM Eda

Lecturer: SM Yu. Narisawa

Reported by YAMAZAKI