2022/8/27(土)SMC

Hello everyone! We had a productive meeting as usual.

Word of the day: SM Eda

We picked up the words of a song, "I can't help falling in love with you" sung by Elvis Presley, and examined the meaning.

"I can't help falling in love with you"

Wise men say only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?

If I can't help falling love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea

Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be

Take my hand, take my whole life, too

For I can't help falling love with you

(the rest omitted)

Then, SM Eda designated "～can't help (but) ～ing" as today's word of the day.

Lecture: SM K. Narisawa

The lecturer took up three sentences that the lecturer thinks are important. They are No.1 What are you to ....? , No. 2. It defeats the purpose of.... and No. 3. You may want to ....

1. Who are you to ....? = In what position are you to ....?

Or it means ‘What kind of right do you have to ...’. This English expression is often followed by ‘say’. Like ‘who are you to say such a thing’. An example sentence that doesn’t include the word ‘say’, though, is ‘Who are you to involve yourself in my family matter?’. In other words, you are saying, ‘who do you think you are to interfere in my family business?’.

2. It defeats the purpose of going together.

=to fail to achieve the result you want

*Anxiety will cause tension, which defeats the purpose of the exercise (=the activity or plan).

3. You might like(want) to do,,,,

= You might as well do.../ You might be well advised to...

*You might want to grab hold of something when there is still time.

‘might want’ is an often used expression in guide books. This is a kind of polite way to advise someone to do something. You may be wondering what’s the difference between ‘might as well do’ and ‘might want to do’. They are about the same but the former one is a little stronger advice than the other. This is my interpretation. Go ahead and use it to your friends and acquaintances.

Table Topic Speech

(1) Crazy things to do in teh supermarket

(2) How to make fun every day in life

(3) How teachers spend thier time when they are not teaching

(4) Why I don't want to be a millionaire

(5) My most profitable mistake

Prepared Speech

1. New taxiation: SM Yu. Narisawa

Have you ever heard that Kyoto Prefectural Govenment might cause a finacial crunch within 5 to 10 years?

You see, there are so many shrines and temples in Kyoto and also their congregations but they pay no tax because they are allowed to by law.

The financial crunch of the government mainly comes from the huge expenses of building the subway and its yearly management deficit.

The improvement plan may be important, but still more important is, some sweeping measures should be taken.

I mean the national government should impose new taxes on all of the religious corporations.

You might say that it violates the article 20 of the Constitution, but if the new taxation is fair among religious corporations, it will be constitutional becuse the constitution prohibits the government from unfair treatments among religious corporations only.

Don’t you feel the police and the tax office don’t begin to investigate them openly? Maybe it’s because of the article 20 of the Constitution.

As you might remember, the Aum was a religious corporation, so it took the police long to go into investigation of the Aum. It was difficult for them to draw a line between a religious corporation and a business corporation. That’s why the new taxation is necessary.

LDP legislators are reported to say they are going to cut their connection with the Moonies definitely.

Don’t you think it’s strange?

If Legislators regard the Moonies as an antisocial group like a gang group, they should help the police detect them.

If the government imposed tax on religious corporations, the police and the tax office could begin to investigate the Moonies easily.

However, Komeito, which remains silent so far, would be opposed to the new tax law.

2. Receiving message from my parents on their deathbed : SM Yoshikawa

I am afraid I was somewhat emotional while writing this essay. This is a memoir of my parents.

I lost my father to cancer. Technically, he died of organ failure caused by brain damage he suffered after surgery, which changed him like a senile dementia patient. He was unable to understand us and lived in another world. The last time I saw him, I visited him in a hospital with my mother. She cleaned his body and changed his pajamas. She talked to him, but he didn’t respond. She went to see his doctor and he and I were left alone in the hospital room.

He was staring at me. He looked into my eyes, and I found his eyes were filled with emotions. Suddenly, it occurred to me that we would never see each other again. The strange feeling was getting overwhelming that I was speechless. When my mother came back and said we should leave, I was almost crying.

I really wanted to stay there, but I couldn’t explain why. I could not say, “I want to stay here because this will be the last time to see him.” I dragged my heels and left the room.

I had the same experience eight years later. I lost my mother also to cancer. She was hospitalized for several months but her condition was stable. One day, she held my hand tightly and looked into my eyes directly, like my father

What I felt in my father’s hospital room was not a premonition. I just wanted it to be. I determined that the sensation was a groundless, unreasonable and unconvincing thought. Now I believe he was sending a message. I received and then, denied it. He meant, “I will not make it next time.”

My mother sent out a clear signal, and I could answer her this time.

It is said that animals know when their time will come. This may be applied to some of us. Those dying may try to let their loved ones know that. However, the receivers of this signal are confused and cannot digest or embrace what it means. The predicted future is too distressing to accept. We ignore or dismiss that as nonsense.

I still wonder if I could have said I’m sorry to my father then. I do not think I was a good daughter. However, at that moment, we shared the same feeling. We were missing each other.

Meeting schedule

In-person: 9:30 AM on Sep. 10 at Oyama Community Center

Zoom: 7:30 PM on Aug. 29, Sep. 5