第412回例会レポート/ Meeting report #412
It was the once-a-year Halloween meeting, and some members were dressed in their Halloween costumes!
TMOE: TM K.K
Guest: Ms. H
[English session]
■Word of the evening: brilliant (chosen by TM H.A)
■1st speech “Preparation for my future” by TM K.K
TM K.K was severely ill last September, and she spent a lot of time in bed, watching TV, or using the iPad. Then she found she wasted much of her precious time and money. She warned that we could easily waste our time and money on 3 things which are; (1) TV (passive watching may cause Alzheimer’s disease!), (2) iPad (we can easily purchase unnecessary things only with a click without thinking) and, (3) napping (sleeping on noon may obstacle regular sleep on the night). She swore that she would stop wasting her time on those things and have better habits to prepare for her fruitful life after retirement.
3 evaluators delivered their evaluation speeches at this night’s meeting.
■Evaluation by TM K.K
He evaluated that (1) the structure of TM K.K’s speech was clear and (2) the selection of the topic was appropriate because it was easy to understand for everyone. He added that it would be even better if she could mention what she’s working on now to prepare for her brilliant future as a conclusion of her speech.
■Evaluation by TM M.A
She pointed out 2 good points which was; (1) the structure was easy to understand, and (2) TM K.K kept her positive attitude during her speech even thought she experienced hard time when she was ill. For the suggestion, she could have worked a bit more on her speech title to hint the audience what her story would be.
■Evaluation by TM N.K
Since the previous 2 evaluators mentioned the good points of TM K.K’s speech, TM N.K focused on the room of improvement, which was; (1) the 3 stories she told should be interconnected and be connected to her conclusion, (2) show a bit more emotion during the speech and, (3) show the vision of her future.
■Table Topics by TM H.A
Q1. What we should do to prepare for the future pandemics? (TM A.O)
Many people felt down during the COVID crisis and some even committed suicide. As the survivor of the pandemic, we should send the message of “never give up and look at the bright side” to the future generation.
Q2. What kind of volunteer we should bring to Japan? (TM F.G)
Recently the Indian descendant became the Prime Minister of UK for the first time. Looking at Japan, we can still feel some kind of closeness in the society, so we need some volunteer to try to connect with other cultures and bring openness into Japanese society.
Q3. Why Japanese society is not globalized enough? (TM M.A)
Because of the language education. Many Japanese have difficulties in speaking in English. I personally started studying English at the age of 47. However, the younger generation are different from us, so we can expect they will bring more globalization into Japanese society.
Q4. What book or article inspired you recently? (Guest H)
A book on Israeli women. When I read the book, I was shocked to learn that the average Israeli women give birth to 2 or 3 kids while they are working, and some of them think that they want to be a man. I leaned the harsh situation Israeli women are facing now.
[日本語の部]
ダブルロールとハロウィンの魔物のせいで（!?）その夜は少し慌ただしい雰囲気の中、日本語の部を迎えました。
■今夜の言葉：心躍る（TM H.A）
■ハロウィン例会スペシャルスピーチ「映画ハロウィンについて」 TM A.O
TM A.Oによると、ホラー映画のシリーズものの中で最も制作本数が多いのは、スラッシャー映画「ハロウィン」シリーズだそう（なんでもあの「13日の金曜日」や「エルム街の悪夢」シリーズよりも多いのだとか）。この「ハロウィン」という映画、1978年のハロウィンに米国で第１作が公開され、米国では３年連続で劇場公開されるほどの大ヒット！（因みに当時の日本ではまだハロウィンの文化も知られておらず全くヒットせず。以降しばらく公開されなくなったのだとか…。）その後、第1作の成功に味を占めた制作会社が手を変え品を変え「ハロウィン」シリーズを連発していった経緯と、その評判・興行成績の浮き沈みをTM A.Oが軽やかかつ鮮やかに解説していきます。1990年代後半には日本でもハロウィン文化が流行し始めたことで再び「ハロウィン」シリーズが劇場公開されるようになり、2018年の「ハロウィン」はシリーズ最大のヒット作となったそうです。そして今年2022年も「ハロウィン ENDS」という新作が公表され、ネットで賛否両論大炎上しているのだとか。さて、当たりはずれと浮き沈みの激しい「ハロウィン」シリーズは、今後も制作され続けるのでしょうか…！？
■総合論評 TM N.H
・TM A.Oのスピーチに対する論評：ハロウィン例会にぴったりなトピック。ユーモラスな語り口調で、聴衆を惹きつけていた。映画「ハロウィン」は日本ではあまり知られていないので、冒頭にもう少し映画自体の説明（どんな殺人鬼が出てくるのか等）があると、より聴衆がイメージしやすかったと思う。
・例会全体に対する論評：ダブルロールも多い中、慌ただしい印象の例会だったが、皆が自分の役割をしっかりこなしていた。こういう日は、あえてゆっくり喋ってみるなどすると、全体がリラックスした雰囲気になっていくのではないか。
ベスト論評者はTM K.K、ベストテーブルトピックはTM F.Gでした。おめでとうございます！
■総合論評 TM N.H