Our First Vivid Conversations session transcript

**0:46**: *Facilitator*:

Let me start. Good evening, everyone. This is the very first session of Vivid Conversations, but not much has changed.

**1:00**: *Facilitator*:

<laugh> It’s just like our boot camp. Before we start, I’d like to share two interesting news stories.

**1:12**: *Facilitator*:

Yesterday, a group of atomic bomb survivors from Japan won the Nobel Peace Prize.

**1:23**: *Participant 1*:

Another big prize, right?

**1:25**: *Facilitator*:

Yes, reminding us of the importance of peace. And today, the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 in a historic game with amazing performances by Japanese pitchers. Both Yamamoto and Darvish were excellent. It’s exciting to see such talent shine. Now, let’s enjoy our meeting tonight—Vivid Conversations!

**7:39**: *Facilitator*:

Now, back to the main announcement. I’ve prepared plenty of topics, but if I run out, we can do a round robin and ask each other questions, as usual.

**8:04**: *Facilitator*:

Let’s have a great time! Thank you. Oh, and after each round, we’ll vote to avoid forgetting who said what.

**33:03**: *Participant 2*:

Speaking of working at the bank, about 30 years ago, I had a friend who was working at Citibank in New York.

**33:17**: *Participant 3*:

Oh, Citibank in New York? Yeah.

**33:19**: *Participant 2*:

Yes, in New York. I visited her. And I visited Citibank in New York around 4:30 PM, and I waited for her to finish work. At 5 o’clock sharp, in two minutes, all the workers were gone.  Nobody stayed at the workplace. I was very surprised.

**36:33: Facilitator**

Yeah. But, you know, like someone mentioned earlier, my host family's dad was a really hard worker. Very, very hard worker. He used to leave for work at 5:30 in the morning.

**36:54: Facilitator**

He would come back home late, and sometimes he would return for dinner or a dinner party, then go back to the office again. <laugh> That happens a lot in America.

**37:14: Participant 3**

Oh, that's such a hard worker. Wow.

**37:18: Facilitator**

Yeah, and American students are hard workers too. They stay in the library until 2:00 AM.

**37:34: Participant 1**

Oh, do they really? Wow.

**37:37: Facilitator**

I was so surprised! They work so hard, and it was really inspiring to see. <laugh>.

**48:19: Facilitator**

Today is October 12th.

**48:31: Participant 1**

Yes, October 12th.

**48:33: Facilitator**

Which is an even number.

**48:36: Participant 1**

Ah, yes. An even number.

**48:38: Facilitator**

Do you prefer even or odd numbers?

**48:44: Participant 1**

Oh, I like even numbers. When I was studying science and chemistry, we did a lot of calculations, and we weren’t allowed to use calculators back then, so we had to do everything manually.

**49:25: Participant 2**

When I was doing calculations, I always liked even numbers because they’re easier to divide with no remainders. That’s the main reason I like even numbers.

When I got odd numbers, it was harder to divide, so I preferred even numbers. But there’s one exception—I do like the number seven, which is considered a lucky number in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, people believe seven is a lucky number, even though it’s an odd number. So, I like number seven, but otherwise, I’m all about even numbers.

When people buy lottery tickets, they always try to get number seven because it’s considered lucky. So, number seven is the only odd number I like. For everything else, I prefer even numbers.

Even numbers are just easier to work with in calculations.

**50:55: Facilitator**

Thank you for the relatable story.