Dear Yoyos, Here is Johnie. I’m so pleased to act the host on this Saturday afternoon.
Regarding this topic, I’d like to share one of my experiences with you.
In the rest of my life, I’ll never forget the day of the tragic accident that happened to my classmates when I studied in college. One morning, a classmate of mine and I were going to school together for the first class of the day. We saw a pool of dried blood on the road in front of the school entrance gate. My classmate and I looked at each other for a second. “Perhaps there was a terrible car accident that happened here last night,” I told him.
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Our teacher glanced around the classroom when the class was close to the end. “Aren't you aware that two of your classmates are absent today?” He held his breath and said. He spoke to us extremely slowly and unusually seriously.
“Last night, they got hit by a truck when they were riding a scooter back to their rented flat after they bought midnight snack,“ said he in a sad voice. “A lucky break out of misfortune is that they are fine and staying in Mackay Memorial Hospital right now, but one of them will suffer leg length discrepancy, and the other has to undergo skin-graft surgery in the leg,” our teacher continued. At the moment, , I was as stupefied as other classmates.
In the meantime, I was thinking about another issue: What would I do if I were their parents and how I could see my lovely kids suffer through such a tragedy. I also can’t image getting a phone call from hospital at midnight and being told that my sweet boy is involved in a serious car accident.”
Because of this reason, I took a vow secretly. “Even though I like kids so much, I wouldn’t want to have my own children in my life,” I told myself.
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Everyone in the class got a red egg from a teacher who just got his first baby a couple of days ago. I never saw such a delighted man like him. In addition, I was afraid that his jaw would drop since he kept smiling when he talked about his baby.
I told him about the car accident and my thought. “Sir, why did you choose to have a baby in this awful world?” I asked him. He looked at me curiously, which seemed to tell me that was a stupid question.
“Actually, I think that the environment is getting much worse as compared with the past. But, Johnie, have you ever thought that if your parents were too worried to have a kid, where would you have been now? Moreover, I believe that they care about you until their last days. With what is said above, why are you so selfish as not to take any responsibility for raising your children?”
I felt so ashamed at my previous thought. Therefore, I changed my thought completely after I heard his point.
Presently, one of my wishes is to play basketball with my son.
Questions for Discussion
Session I
1. Do you have any experience or reason cause that you make a decision not to have kids in your life? By contrast, you can also think about any experiences or reasons that may affect you and later hope to have your own children.
2. Do you prefer boys or girls? Why?
3. Try to list more than five advantages and disadvantages of having kids.
Session II
I am going to hold a debate in session II, but please don’t feel nervous and serious.
It doesn’t matter which side is the winner because it’s for fun only.
You may wish to refer to Question 3 in session I.
Here I can quote an argument on the opposition side: There have been too many orphans(孤兒). As we can adopt one of them as our own kid, why bother having a biological child?
Are you ready to enjoy the debate on this topic in English? Let’s go!
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Agenda
Session I:
2:15 ~ 2:30 Greeting / Ordering Beverage or Meal
2:30 ~ 2:40 Opening Remarks / New comers' Self-introduction / Grouping
2:40 ~ 3:10 First Group Discussion
3:10 ~ 3:25 First Summarization
3:25 ~ 3:30 Regrouping /Break
Session II:
3:30 ~ 3:35 Introduction
3:35 ~ 4:05 2nd Group Discussion
4:05 ~ 4:20 2nd Summarization
4:20 ~ 4:30 Concluding Remarks / Newcomers’ Feedback / Announcements
聚會時間：2008/10/18 (星期六) 請準時。聚會2:15 pm 到 ~ 約 4:30 pm 左右結束
聚會地點：合歡咖啡Acacia Cafe
地址: 台北市忠孝東路4段216巷33弄15號
電話: 02-8771-6230
捷運站: 板南線 忠孝敦化站
走法: 忠孝敦化站3號出口 -> 直走到ATT百貨 -> 右轉216巷 -> 直走到"東區粉圓"(對面為全家便利商店) -> 左轉33弄 ->直走約100公尺左手邊
低消: 90 元
給新朋友的話：
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹；討論完畢後可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想(feedback)。
2. 請事先閱讀討論主題相關內容以及host所提的問題，並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行，參加者應具備中等英語會話能力，對任一討論問題，能夠以5到10句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前（繳交可退還之保證金NT$1,000），可以先來觀摩三次。
Sunny Jr.