Session 1
Bumbler
The hottest word of the week is easily “bumbler,” after The Economist used it to describe President Ma Ying-jeou. Taiwan’s representative office in the United Kingdom even claims the London-based newspaper sent it a letter to give the proper meaning. But opposition lawmakers doubt such a letter exists.
It’s the apparent insult that won’t die. The Economist published an article titled “Ma the bumbler,” and some Taiwanese media translated “bumbler” as “stupid.” Members of the Ma administration took offense. Taiwan’s representative office to the United Kingdom even wrote a letter in protest. The office claims the newspaper’s Asia editor responded.
According to Taiwan’s representative office, Dominic Ziegler said Taiwanese media mistranslated the word “bumbler.” Apparently Ziegler said “stupid” is a major mistranslation and a better description would be akin to hesitate. But not everyone believes such a letter exists.
--quote from ftv.com.tw--
If you have time all article as follow
The Economist_Ma the bumbler
Session I Questions for Discussion:
1. No matter President, top-brass officials or the media, do you think that if there is any misconduct?
If you are the President and have been called a bumbler, what were your react? Will you ignore it or make a clarification of rebuff?
2. As a citizen of the country and our own president is depicted as in an internationally famous periodical, what do you feel?
3. Poet 余光中 interpreted "bumbler" as "拙", do you agree with him? Why and why not? Try to explain this word based on your understanding.
4. Follow your understanding, use bumbler to make a sentence
Session 2
Bimajo( Beautiful witch/hot witch/Ageless Lady/美魔女)
Masako Osako is a “bimajo” (beautiful witch), which, despite the odd ring of the phrase in English, is a compliment.
According to the monthly magazine "Bisuto" (beast), it means a woman “over 35 with a radiance that gives no suggestion of their age."
In a contest in autumn 2011, Osako was one of only 21 finalists chosen from over 2,000 entrants in a “bimajo contest” run by the magazine.
Her new witch status has got Osako invitations to launches of new cosmetic products, appearances in magazines, and helped her get back into her job in the cosmetics industry after taking time out to rear her children. She represents an ideal many middle-aged and older women are determined to emulate.
Around three years ago, Osako fell ill and put on around 10 kilograms in weight, partly because of medicine she was taking. Glancing at her reflection in a shop window, she was shocked: "I looked frumpy, the epitome of a middle-aged woman. ..."
Osako began eating more vegetables, turned down offers to eat out and quietly began attending a gym up to five times a week without telling her husband. She learned of the bimajo contest and vowed to enter the next year. When asked to write an essay for her gym, she stated: "It's all so I can become a future bimajo."
Over the course of the following year and a half, she lost 13 kilograms and shrunk from a size 13 to a seven. She hesitated to enter the contest after taking a photo as a memento of her achievement, but eventually made her submission online only 10 minutes before the deadline.
"My outer appearance has changed, and so has my inner self. My outlook has broadened too, and I feel as if I've grown stronger," she says.
The bimajo phenomenon is part of a wider trend among an aging Japanese population that is spending more than ever before on warding off the ravages of time.
The market for anti-aging skincare cosmetics such as wrinkle treatments was 313.2 billion yen ($4 billion) in 2010. That represents 150 percent growth in 10 years, according to market research company Fuji Keizai Group.
Newcomers from other industries have been entering the market, with Fujifilm's launch of its Astalift anti-aging cosmetic range in 2007 a particularly prominent example of the trend.
Supplements and other health foods with anti-aging properties are also experiencing sales growth. The market for functional foodstuffs that help improve the skin, weight loss, and strengthen bones was 648.8 billion yen in 2010, a 2 percent increase on the previous year, according to Fuji Keizai Skin-beautifying products, with key components such as collagen and hyaluronic acid enjoying 3.3 percent growth, and bone and joint-supporting products primarily featuring glucosamine and other ingredients, which became popular with middle-aged and elderly people suffering from joint pain, boosting their sales by a whopping 16.9 percent.
The book "Goju-sai o Koete mo Sanju-dai ni Mieru Ikikata" (a lifestyle that makes you look like you're in your thirties when you're in your fifties), written by Yoshinori Nagumo, 56, and published by Kodansha, was the fourth biggest seller in the first half of 2012, according to figures collated by distributor Tohan. Several similar books from rival publishing companies are understood to be on the way to the market.
National Institute of Health and Nutrition Information Center chief Keizo Umegaki points out that the actual benefits of some of the products is unproven, with purported effectiveness is not adequately backed up by scientific proof.
"Care needs to be taken to avoid excessive ingestion. It's important to have a balanced diet, moderate exercise and rest," he says.
But, for some Japanese women, the quest for eternal youth involves much more than that. More than 22,000 Japanese people received cosmetic medical treatment in South Korea in 2011, double the previous year's figure. Almost 80 percent were women.
Seoul's Gangnam district is known as a hub for cosmetic surgery. At the Arumdaun nara Dermatology & Plastic Surgery near the Gangnam subway station, one of its walls is covered in autographed photos of South Korean stars. The popularity of South Korean television dramas in Japan and government promotion of medical tourism has driven up demand, and the clinic's Japanese clientele has doubled in the last two years, with around 2,000 visiting in 2011.
It offers everything from invasive cosmetic surgery to laser treatment for liver spots and wrinkles.
"Many Japanese are still afraid of undergoing even commonplace cosmetic surgery procedures in South Korea," admits Lee Sang-jun, president of the Arumdaunnara clinic network, but that is likely to change. "I used to detect a resistance to laser surgery, but now they've come to accept it. Attitudes are changing little by little."
--quote from asahi--
Session II Questions for Discussion:
5. Is there a so-called "Bimajo" around you? What do you think of "Bimajo"?
6. Do you think who is qualified to be called Bimajo? What factors would make more and more Bimajos?
7. If creating a Bimajo requires a lot of time and money, how much are you willing to spend? (How much per month/ how much time per day)
8. Is this trend only applicable to women?
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Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期：列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間：請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點：丹堤濟南店
地址、電話：台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站：板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法：出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後，沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘，到了濟南路口，左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
最低消費： 80 元
注意事項：
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌，但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章，並仔細想過所有的問題，謝謝合作！
給新朋友的話：
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹；會議結束前可能會請你發表1~2分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題，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，可以先來觀摩三次，觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。