Regular meeting #497 was held on December 8,2018 at Mina Park Fujisawa.
Twenty-one members attended.
                                               　　　
“Awesome” was the word of the day, and it was a good choice because Americans often use it and we should get used to using it. Many members successfully used it during the meeting.
 <Joke Session>                               
Joke master TM K. T. introduced us several jokes from lovely ones to highly scary ones. For example: There was a man who suffered venereal disease and all doctors said, “There is no other way to cut your penis off.” So, he desperately tried to find an oriental doctor who said, “You don’t have to cut it.” The guy was so relieved, but the doctor was meant to say, “It will fall off in the course of time.” Anyway, it was a nightmare.

<Prepared Speech Session>
The 1st  speaker TM T. U.               Title ”My favorite time”      Time :4-6 minutes
Even though it was his first Ice Breaker speech, his self-introduction was highly organized.
Members understood his love of movies, jogging and love for his cutie dog.
His message “Calendars and clocks exist to measure time only, but that signifies little.” quoted from MOMO by Ende was very convincing.
                                
The 2nd  speaker TM Y. W.            TITLE::TOLERANCE         Time: 5-7 minutes.
Through  our childhood education, we learn not to bother others, and try to be harmonious. His Analysis was so to the point. Rice crop culture and natural disasters in Japan must be the reason for this.
He appealed this Japanese culture is not always good and we might change somehow to break through our club’s present situation.

The 3rd speaker TM A. K.          His Speech title was” Learning a lot from Indian guys and then moving forward to the next step.”           Time :5-7 minutes.
He introduced Indian way of English, as India used to be a colony of England. He respects their priority: education. Parents respect their children’s interest first and try to help their motivation flourish.
                                                           
The 4th speaker TM T. K.
Despite his sufferings from cancer, his speech was cheerful enough and touching. Title:” Sumptuous and Luxury things.”              Time:5-7minutes.
He talked about his ex-boss, living in a huge house with a maid, chauffeur and cook, and his experience at the very sumptuous places, like cote d’azur. His conclusion was touching.  After his various sumptuous experiences, he realized that to live a normal life is more valuable than anything else.

<Table Topics Session>
TM H. S. asked seasonal questions to 6 members, drawing wonderful answers.
What was interesting was that we tend to be indifferent to Christmas event after children’s leaving the nest.
                                                
<Evaluation Session>
We call feedback “evaluation” and this is the core for learning speech skills in Toastmasters Club.
Evaluators, namely TM M. H., TM T. I., TM L. C. and TM M. I., gave helpful and constructive advices to each assigned speaker from the viewpoint of each project purposes.

<Grammarian’s Report>
Grammarian TM N. N. gave various advices to improve our accents of the words and grammatical mistakes. He also found wonderful usage of words; instead of weakness, TM M. H. said, “things you could do better.”  He was an awesome grammarian today. 
                                                  
<Award Presentation>
TMOD Award:                       TM T. K. for her dedication to prepare for Year End Party.
Best Table Topics Speaker:  TM Y. U.
Best Evaluator:                      TM M. I.
Best Prepared Speaker:        TM T. K.
                                       
After adjournment we had Year-end Party to celebrate happy Christmas and welcome new members and a returnee member-to-be.

                                                 By M. I.       Photos by M. I. and T. I.