FMEC トピック・ディスカッションコース掲示板

4/3(金)及び4/10(金)も中止、次回予定は4/17(金)です。／ April 3rd & 10th Cancelled, Next Meeting Scheduled for April 17th

（日本語／English）
公民館の臨時休館が4/12(日)まで延長されることになりました。
よって、FMECは4/3(金)及び4/10(金)も中止となります。
現時点での次回学習会は4/17(金)です。
4/17(金)の開催も状況を注視しながらの判断となりますので、改めて皆様へご連絡致します。

また、今週末日曜日(29日)に予定されていたフレディさん主催のお花見も、船橋市からのお花見自粛要請を受けて中止が決定しています。

度々の中止となり心苦しい限りですが、何卒ご理解頂けましたら幸いです。

Today, I was informed that the temporary closure of all community centers in the City of Funabashi will be extended to April 12th, meaning our meeting will be cancelled on April 3rd and 10th.
As a result, our next meeting is provisionally scheduled for April 17th.
I’ll keep you updated as to whether or not FMEC meetings will be held on April 17th and onwards.

In addition, the Cherry Blossom Viewing Party, which was organised by Freddie and scheduled for the coming Sunday, will also be cancelled due to the official request by the City of Funabashi that the residents refrain from hosting and participating in HANAMI events in this season.

I would appreciate your understanding, and thank you for your cooperation.

3/27(金)も中止、次回予定は4/3(金)です。／ March 27th Cancelled, Next Meeting Scheduled for April 3rd

（日本語／English）
公民館の臨時休館が3/31まで延長されることになりました。
よって、3/27(金)も中止となります。
現時点での次回学習会は4/3(金)です。

4/3(金)の開催も状況を注視しながらの判断となりますので、改めて皆様へご連絡致します。
度々の中止となり心苦しい限りですが、何卒ご理解頂けましたら幸いです。

暗い話ばかりでしたので、明るいニュースを一つ！
次回の学習会より、ビギナーコースとトピックディスカッションコースの内容を刷新します。
皆さんのご要望により近いものになっていると思いますので、お楽しみに！
…本当は3/6(金)から予定していたんですけどね笑

I’ve been informed that all the community centers in the City of Funabashi are temporarily closed by March 31st, meaning our meeting will be cancelled on Friday, March 27th.
As a result, our next meeting is provisionally scheduled on Friday, April 3rd.

I’ll keep you updated as to whether or not FMEC meetings will be held on April 3rd and onwards.
I would appreciate your understanding.

Meanwhile, I have good news for you and the course contents of Beginner Course and Topic Discussion Course will be renovated from the next meeting, which was originally scheduled on Friday, March 6th.
The purpose of the change is to meet expectations from attendees, so please look forward to this.
Thank you for your continued support!!

3/13(金)も中止、次回予定は3/27(金)です。／March 13th Cancelled, Next Meeting Scheduled for March 27th

（日本語／English）
船橋市内の全公民館が明日から3/15(日)まで臨時休館となりました。
よって、3/13(金)も中止となります。
3/20(金)は祝日で、もともと公民館の休館日ですので、現時点での次回FMEC学習会は3/27(金)となります。

3/27(金)の開催も状況を注視しながらの判断となりますので、改めて皆様へご連絡致します。
楽しみにして下さっていた皆さんには本当に申し訳ありませんが、何卒ご理解頂けましたら幸いです。

Today, it was announced that all the community centers in the City of Funabashi are temporarily closed from tomorrow to March 15th, meaning our meeting will be cancelled on Friday, March 13th.
March 20th is a national holiday, when community centers are normally unavailable.
As a result, our next meeting is provisionally scheduled on Friday, March 27th.

I’ll keep you updated as to whether or not FMEC meetings will be held on March 27th and onwards.
I would appreciate your understanding, and thank you for your cooperation.

2/28及び3/6の学習会と食事会を中止します。／Cancellation on February 28th and March 6th

（日本語／English）
昨日発表された国によるイベントの自粛要請を考慮し、今週2/28と次週3/6の学習会及び食事会を中止とさせて頂くことと致しました。
3/13以降の開催については、状況を注視しながら判断し、改めて皆様へご連絡致します。
楽しみにして下さっていた皆さんには本当に申し訳ありませんが、何卒ご理解頂けましたら幸いです。

I regret to say that the meetings and dinner parties scheduled on February 28th and March 6th will be cancelled due to the official request by the national government that the nation refrain from hosting big events during these 2 weeks.
I’ll keep you updated as to whether or not FMEC meetings will be held on March 13th and onwards.
I would appreciate your understanding, and thank you for your cooperation.

February 21 Topic - School Rules?

Hello everyone. Today's topic touches upon an older topic from 2017 that is affecting parts of Japan today! I'm talking about the changes that people believe should be implemented in the school system.

This week all you have to do is: watch this video- https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20200218212741399/


Discussion questions:

1. Do you agree with the interviewee's statement "if there are no rules, there are no rules to break" and this statement is the right way to fix rigid school systems.


2. What were some school rules you hated? Also, were there some school rules that you liked and you want school's to keep.


3. Do you believe a students decision to drop out of school due to the strict school rules is justifiable or should the students learn to just accept the rules?

4. Do you think this movement will gain momentum in Japan and make a difference in the school system or will it all blow over and just be news of the past?

Feb. 14th, 2020 - Valentine's Day and the Coronavirus Outbreak on the Diamond Princess

Hello everyone!
Since the day of the meetup will be on Valentine's Day, I thought that it was fitting to make this week's topic about Valentine's Day.

First let's have a look at the origins of the holiday (just have a brief look through it unless you really want to read through all of it):
https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2

How Valentine's Day is celebrated in America:
https://christinarebuffet.com/blog/valentines-day-in-the-usa/

Discussion Questions:

1. How have you celebrated the holiday in the past? Are you celebrating today? What do you think about this holiday?
2. Did you know about the history behind Valentine's Day? Did any of it surprise you?
3. In Japan, there are both Valentine's Day and White Day, but in western countries, White day doesn't exist. After reading how Valentine's Day is celebrated in America, Do you prefer the Japanese Valentine's Day and White Day or do you prefer how Americans celebrate it?
4. Why do you think that Valentine's Day is different between Japan and western countries?

Just in case we have some time left over, I've prepared a second topic this week.
It will be about the current coronavirus outbreak in the Diamond Princess, a cruise ship docked at Yokohama.

News article: https://japantoday.com/category/national/focus-japan-torn-over-whether-to-test-all-on-cruise-ship-for-coronavirus

Discussion Questions:

1. As the article states, there are many elderly people on the cruise ship and that their health problems that are not related to the coronavirus may exacerbate while being confined to the cruise ship. What do you think should be done about this situation?
2. According to the article, most of the passengers aboard the Diamond Princess have not been screened for coronavirus. Screening all passengers would deplete these resources for the next possible epidemic of coronavirus. Do you think that the government should jsut test everyone on board or save the tests for the future? Please share your reasoning.

February 7 Topic - Hard Work vs Smart Work and McDonald's Vs Burger King

Hard Work vs. Smart Work Q's and Link

NO READING

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think is hard work vs smart work
2. What are some examples of hard work and smart work
3. Would you consider yourself more of a smart worker or a hard worker?

McDonald's Vs Burger King Q's and Link

Link:
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-mcdonalds-burger-king-hnk-scli-intl/index.html

1. Was Burger King being sneaky here or were they a bit disrespectful?
2. Have you ever been to this specific McDonald's and had any fond memories?
3. Which restaurant do you prefer and why?

Jan. 31, 2020 – Personal Hygiene

As you may know, currently, a new outbreak of a novel coronavirus has taken place. There have been many reported cases of casualties. Not only that, but the flu season is upon us as well. We need to be careful about our personal hygiene especially around this time of the year.

Today’s topic is about personal hygiene. As a Canadian, I have found it extremely bizarre that many washrooms in Japan do not have any hand soaps. I want to discuss about cultural differences in personal hygiene and what you think should be done so that we won’t catch the flu, or the coronavirus.

A cute infographic about showering/taking baths around the world: https://www.dailyinfographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/When-the-World-Washes.jpg

CDC’s (Centre for Disease Control) recommendations for preventing flu: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/preventing.htm

CDC’s Coughing & Sneezing etiquette: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/etiquette/coughing_sneezing.html

These are all very short! Please have a look through these 

Discussion Questions:

1. After seeing the infographic, what differences have you noticed between Japanese habits and habits of people from the 5 countries in the infographic? Do you think these habits are reasonable? Would you be able to live with the showering and bathing habits of the people from those countries?

2. Do you follow CDC’s guidelines for preventing flu and coughing/sneezing etiquette? How many of the recommendations do you follow?

3. Do you think CDC’s guidelines are culturally different in any way? For example, Japanese people often use flu masks, but that is not listed in the guidelines at all.

4. Do you think these guidelines are reasonable and do you think that you should follow them? Would you make any changes to it for yourself or for Japanese people?

Bonus question: In Vancouver, we have both paper towels and hand soap in every washroom. So to me, it is very strange to encounter washrooms without these toiletries in Japan. Are people expected to wash their hands with soap after using the washrooms in Japan? Are people expected to bring their own handkerchiefs to dry their hands in Japan?

January 24th, 2020 - Infidelity

Hello everyone, this week's topic is a rather risque topic, but one that is very interesting.
Link (DON'T HAVE TO READ. However if you do, thank you :) <3)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/infidelity

Infidelity is more commonly known as cheating, but what counts as counts as cheating? Let's talk about it.

Discussion questions:
1. What counts as cheating (married, dating, freind)?
2. What would you do if one of your close freinds was cheating, but you are also close friends to their partner?
3. Do you believe is it common and can it be fixed?

Jan. 17th, 2020 – Corporal Punishment

Happy new year everyone!
This week’s topic is about corporal punishment on children.

Corporal punishment is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as the following:
“the physical punishment of people, especially of children, by hitting them”

There are no required readings this week, but I did read a recent news article about opinions of Japanese people on corporal punishment.

(optional) https://japantoday.com/category/national/survey-reveals-70-of-japanese-adults-believe-corporal-punishment-is-necessary

This opinion would be disagreed by the general consensus of the West, where corporal punishments are heavily discouraged, especially in many parts of Europe, where there are laws against corporal punishment of any form in any circumstance. Again the page is optional, but please have a brief look at the map.

(optional) https://endcorporalpunishment.org/global-progress/

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you believe that corporal punishment is necessary for children? Why or why not?

2. What kind of punishments have your own parents given you? Do you think they were effective? Are there any long term effects that you’re aware of?

3. Do you have any children?
If so, have you given corporal punishment to your children? Was it effective? If you haven’t given corporal punishment, what was the alternative?
If not, would you give corporal punishment to your children?

4. Why do you think that so many parts of Europe and South America have completely banned any form of corporal punishment while most parts of Asia have not? Why is there a difference in opinion on this?