June 2013 – TAKE FIVE — English Language Club

This Thursday we had the great honor to welcome Krisztina Szalay, our beloved literature teacher from ELTE. She mingled with the youth so perfectly that if we posted a transcript of the session using first names, nobody would believe that she has gray hair. Upon being asked how she liked the club, she kept answering: ‘Very pleasant.’

group_corrected — The Take Five Court – Front row, right: Chief Justice Fanni Petrák

Our topic was meant be thought-provoking, and it may have fulfilled that goal. However, we agreed on almost every point, so this time no heated debate could take place.

Weeks ago the media was overwhelmed with articles on the unfortunate case of Zsolt Erőss and Péter Kiss – two climbers who disappeared on their way to the summit of Mount Everest. This is not at all unusual. Climbers are ceaselessly exposed to accidents. What possibly drew the Hungarian people’s attention to this particular event is the raw fact that Zsolt Erőss, a highly experienced climber, lost no fewer than six of his companions throughout his trips. The very last one, Péter Kiss, actually left his master to return to the ground, but finally turned back to help him.

Erőss left two little kids behind who will grow up without a father because he felt he needed to go on an “ego trip” instead of settling down at the age of 45.

Two serious moral questions arise in light of his past:

As an experienced climber, do I have the right to drag along people who trust me blindly?
Do I have the right to choose the mountain over my family after a series of misfortunes? Isn’t it a dumb way of pushing my luck?

Our opinions were unanimous. Professor Szalay even pointed out how “banal and boring” the nature of this issue is.

For an elegant ending we went around the room and each person shared one story with him being in danger or having a near-death experience. We had everything from getting stuck in the center of Lake Balaton to jumping off the balcony. Not to mention climbing a fence with barbed wires to a “maximum security” property with gigantic oil silos – under the favor of the night, in a high school camp.

We took out the good old Taboo game to have some fun near the end. Join us next week when we are going to bring up an extremely controversial topic. The time has come for an overheated debate!

We exactly know how you feel, my friend. As we announced earlier, the entire crew were going to disappear due to the forthcoming exam period. We have immaculately fulfilled this promise. We nonetheless forgot to inform you about the future. ‘Cause we do know the future.

On the last Thursday of June, the mighty organizers of the club will emerge from the depths of the red haze and regain their human shapes. Thereafter, you will be able to enjoy FOUR sessions in a row before Take Five goes on vacation. There will probably be some changes from the next season. Stay up-to-date!

Here’s a brief recap of the last two meetings:

May 9th: The Hipster Paradox

We talked about a proliferating subculture that has recently arisen from its ashes: the hipsters. Who are they? A community whose goal is to stay away from everything that is considered to be mainstream. They aim to avoid being under the influence of popular culture. However, they seem to overlook a teeny-tiny detail that immediately defies the whole concept: they desperately fight against everything that is popular, which ironically results in being under control of the society. This phenomenon has been wisely named the hipster paradox. We made an attempt to figure out its underlying social aspect.

We discussed the questions of fashion, and finally talked in groups of two about our clothing habits.

May 16th: The Myth of Multitasking

We listened to an 18-minute long NPR interview. “How long can you go without checking email, or glancing at your smartphone? Clifford Nass, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says today’s nonstop multitasking actually wastes more time than it saves—and he says there’s evidence it may be killing our concentration and creativity too.”

Many people claim that they are capable of multitasking, but is it really multitasking? We shared our experiences with each other, and concluded that real multitasking is quite rare. Our minds are basically adjusted to deal with one thing at a time.

We would gladly take your comments on both topics.

Month: June 2013

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