10/8 Topic: Travel

Kelly mentioned a book named "不去會死" last week. The author of "不去會死" said that he chose to travel around the world by bike because it made him feel irreplaceable to arrive at the destination by bike rather than by train or by bus. Plus it enables him to contact with local people and nature better.




And it gave me an idea of talking about traveling experience with you. Everyone has his definition of an enjoyable trip, let's share it!




http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/business/14alumni.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Expatriates&st=cse




This is an article I read on New York Times. Traveling is an exciting thing, but it can also be troublesome since we always want to obtain the most in many ways while spending least money. To start a trip, you should make a plan first which can include every details from the budget to the transportation and housing.




Let's discuss the following questions:




1. Have you ever been abroad? Where have you been?
   
   
2. What was the most interesting place you've every visited? Tell us your experienc.
   
   
3. What is your favorite country or city? Or what countries would you most like to visit?
   
   
4. Which do you prefer, to travel by joining a tour group or to travel independently? (or semi-independent travel 自由行(The agency only help you book the tickets and hotel, and you plan the rest.)Why?
   
   
5. Do you prefer to live in a hotel, a hostel or a B&B(bed and breakfast) ?
   
   
6. Do you travel with a lot of baggage or do you like to travel light
   
   
7. Are you afraid to travel alone? Do you have the experience?
   
   
8. If you're traveling in a city, and you don't have enough time to visit every site in your plan, will you choose to slow down and make the most of what you can reach, or make up your mind to visit every site even if you can merely take a picture of them?

Notification

Hey guys,
Because too many of you were absent so we had a chat instead of discussion this week.
The topic will be postponed to our next discussion and I'll be the host.

Wish you have a wonderful weekend!

Kelly

9/24 topic: buying a home

Hi guys,
Buying a home is a must to many people in our society; however, with the house price soaring, it is quite difficult to get an perfect sweet home nowaday. Let's share our ideas on this issue this week.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson8/index.htm

1. Regardless of the reality, what does your “dream house” look like?
2. Are you satisfied with your neighborhood right now?
    Talk about the ideal neighborhood in your mind.
3. Do you want to own a house currently? Why or why not?
4. What is your biggest concern when it comes to buying a house?
5. Do you believe in “feng shui”? If there’s a house which is exactly what you want but you are told its feng   shui is bad, will you give up the house? 
6. What will you choose, living in a regular apartment without worrying about mortgage or having a big house on your own and pay mortgage for 20 years?

The host will change this week.

Hello everyone,

I'm afraid I can't attend the discussion this week due to work,

so Kelly kindly exchanged with me.

Hope you enjoy your week.

Cindy

9/17 Personal genetic-testing industry

Let's talk about gene business. Medical research often creats new treatment to improve people's welfare. However, it seems moral standard becomes more ambiguous. Scientists tried to complete the DNA sequence in order to find out some specific hereditary disease. But is it a possible source of discrimination in the future?


http://www.economist.com/node/16791936

Questions:
1. To what extend can you accept genetic experiment?

2. Will you take the test in order to gain the early possible warning of "high risk of cancer"?

3. Do you agree that employers should ask employees to conduct Physical Examination or health examination? What if they ask you to conduct genetic examination?

4. Do you trust the business module that sends the genetic sample to the lab which you can download the result from?

5. Are you persuaded of DNA test or genetic test that demonstrates your expertise of every aspect? Is it more persuasive than fortunetelling?

Notification

Dear all:
Amy postponed the meeting yesterday since many of you were absent.
Therefore, Amy will be hosting the meeting with the same topic next Friday.
See ya! ^^

9/3 Topic gender discrimination

Hello guys,

Let discuss something relates to “differences” between male & female.
Basically, discrimination based on gender is defined as adverse action against another person that would not have occurred had the person been of another sex. This is considered a form of prejudice and is illegal in certain enumerated circumstances in most countries.

Here are some questions that I would like to discuss with you.
1.How do you feel about gender discrimination? Did you ever see any phenomenon about gender
discrimination in Taiwan or other countries? (In educational settings, employee, interviews
or any behavior…)
2.If you could choose, which gender you want to be? If you could choose, you want to have a
girl baby or a boy baby?
3.Let’s list some advantages and disadvantages of being female and male. What do you think?
Please at least list one item for each question.(good point and bad point of being male and
female)
4.Do you think female/male should wear more conservative at night for safety? Who should be
responsible for the safety of female/male at night?
5.Some (maybe lots of) females don’t feel well when they have a period. During the time, they
may not have good performance as usually due to physical situation. For female, how do you
overcome this problem? If you don’t feel well but there are a pile of work on your desk, how
to handle this? And your boss is a male.