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Ben: Hey let's talk about some like celebrities you like, or someone you know.Hana: Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. My favorite singer is Taylor Swift.Ben: Really?Hana: Mm-hmm.Ben: Wow, why do you like Taylor Swift?Hana: First I like her songs, but mainly I like her look you know. That red lips and white skin and blonde hair. Kind of typical American.Ben: Albino, yeah.Hana: When I saw her for the first time I was like, "Wow, she's gorgeous."Ben: Wait you mean, you saw her picture on the internet or in the news or you saw her in concert?Hana: No, I think it was on YouTube. Again, YouTube.Ben: YouTube, okay.Hana: Yes she was, at that time she was still singing like country music but yeah I thought she's amazing.Ben: I have an interesting fact about her actually.Hana: What?Ben: So apparently, she is from right outside of my hometown actually.Hana: Oh wow.Ben: Yeah that's where she was born and then she was doing music around there first and she got kind of big somehow. I don't know how. I'm not really interested in her.Hana: Okay.Ben: She's cute but I don't really like her music. But yeah that's where she got started somewhereby my hometown apparently.Hana: I mean she's like the typical woman figure you know? Girly style and nice skin and her movement and her songs is like girl, all American girl.Ben: That's true.Hana: So that's why I like her. How about you?Ben: I have a lot of bands that I like but I recently saw this movie that I really like. Do you know the actor, Edward Norton.Hana: No.Ben: He's getting really popular. He's been popular for awhile. He does all different types of movies like crime dramas, like action, thrillers, science fiction. He's very, how would you say, he can do many different types of roles.Hana: Right.Ben: So I recently saw, it's an old movie of his but it's called Fight Club. It's him and Brad Pitt. Have you heard of it?Hana: Maybe.Ben: Fight Club, yeah.Hana: I think I've seen it. I don't really remember.Ben: It's old. It's from like 1998, 1999 but it's still a really good film I think. I think if I was to talk about a celebrity that I liked definitely Edward Norton. His acting is really good I think.Hana: Is he English or is he American? Where's he from?Ben: He's from the U.S. Yeah he's American for sure. Yeah what about you? Do you have any actors or actresses that you like?Hana: Yes, my favorite actor is, oh gosh, I can't remember his name. You know the guy from-Ben: Maybe I can help you.Hana: Notting Hill. The guy from the Love Actually.Ben: Oh, he's that British guy.Hana: The British guy with you know the eyes.Ben: Hugh Grant.Hana: Hugh Grant yes. That's the guy. Yeah, I like him.Ben: Why? Can I ask? He's kind of like a romantic comedy star but why do you like his acting?Hana: He looks sweet.Ben: Okay so he looks sweet.Hana: I'm like Brad Pitt or other celebrity male celebrities, he's not like super handsome. He looks kind of ordinary guy and kind of makes me feel like nice.Ben: Okay.Hana: The clothes I guess.Ben: Yeah, yeah that's true. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with him.Hana: Have you ever seen? No?Ben: No, I'm just not like a ... You said he's in Love Actually, he's like a romantic comedy guy, right?Hana: Yes, yeah. I like-Ben: Romantic comedies. Oh really? What's your favorite romantic comedy?Hana: I can't think of any now. Probably romantic, yeah, Love Actually. Okay I can't think of anything now but how about you?Ben: How about me what?Hana: Do you like romantic comedies?Ben: No, not really. But there is one I do like it's called My Best Friend's Wedding.Hana: Okay.Ben: I believe Julia Roberts is in that one.Hana: Yeah.Ben: Do you know who she is?Hana: Yeah. She is famous, yeah.Ben: Yeah that's kind of a good ... That's like a 90's classic romantic comedy I think. Have you seen it?Hana: I think I have.Ben: Okay.Hana: Yeah, yeah I think so.

Hana: Okay, so let's talk about movies.Ben: Okay.Hana: What kind of movie do you like?Ben: Well, my favorite genres are actually, let's see, science fiction, sci-fi, and horror.Hana: Horror?Ben: Yeah.Hana: What was the last movie you watched? Do you remember?Ben: The last movie I watched was a science fiction. It was called The Shape of Water.Hana: Okay. Never heard, never seen, yeah.Ben: Well, I can you a little about it, if want to hear.Hana: Yeah, yes. Please do.Ben: Okay, so it's actually a love story about a janitor and a merman.Hana: Okay. Yeah.Ben: A merman, like, you know ...Hana: Mermaid. Mermaid, yeah.Ben: Mermaid, yeah, merman. It's actually ... I don't want to give away too much of the story, but this janitor is working at this underground government facility. She cleans the floors next to this giant fish tank. She never knows actually what's inside, but one day, this merman comes up to the glass and she sees him. She instantly falls in love. The beautiful part is, is that he can't speak. He can't speak English, right? But the beautiful part is she's actually deaf. She can't hear, so this beautiful, amazing relationship kind of blossoms from them. She teaches him sign language. Oh, it's unbelievable. I recommend it.Hana: It's like a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, yeah? Kind of.Ben: Maybe. I mean, that's not like they weren't ... They weren't star-crossed lovers, per se, but, no, it was definitely an interesting love story. Yeah, that's the last movie I saw, recently.Hana: What about horror movies?Ben: I actually like this movie called It. It's based on a book written by this horror author, Stephen King. Maybe you've heard of Stephen King.Hana: Oh, yes, yes, yes. He's a famous writer, yeah?Hana: Mm-hmmBen: Yeah, this is actually a story about a .... It's kind of a sci-fi horror mix, so it's like, of course, it's one of my favorites. It's about this alien that comes to this town and takes a form as a clown, an evil clown, every 65 years. He wakes up from his deep sleep and he's hungry because he needs to eat. He takes his form as a clown and terrorizes this town every 65 years. The movie takes place in the 19, let's see, I think it's the 1970's. That's the time when the monster wakes up. This group of kids starts figuring it out, "What's happening in our town?" It's kind of a coming of age tale in a horror movie. I don't know, it's really interesting. I hope I didn't ruin it. I'm not going to tell you the ending, of course.Hana: Okay. I'm not a big fan of horror movies. It makes me kind of ... Not to go to toilets or not to go to the bathroom.Ben: Alright.

Todd: So, Meg, what do you like to do in your free time?Meg: Actually, I love cooking. I like to try new dishes and I love baking as well.Todd: Oh, nice. That's interesting. Because I hate cooking.Meg: Oh, really?Todd: Yeah. And I don't know anything about baking, but I like cleaning. Cleaning is relaxing.Meg: Really? Is that true?Todd: Yeah. Really, I like cleaning. So, my house is usually very clean.Meg: My house is usually clean also, but I don't like cleaning very much.Todd: Yeah, I think most people don't like cleaning. But some people think cleaning is relaxing. Like me.Meg: That's true. What else do you like to do?Todd: Well, I like exercising. I like going to the gym. I like listening to podcasts. So, I listen to a lot of podcasts a lot. I like surfing the internet. And sometimes, I enjoy reading books.Meg: I also enjoy reading books when I have time.Todd: But these days, I often listen to books instead. I listen to audiobooks.Meg: Oh really?Todd: Yeah, I like listening to audiobooks.Meg: Why?Todd: Because I can exercise at the same time.Meg: So, exercising and reading at the same time.Todd: Yeah, it's fun. So, I love jogging and I go jogging almost every day, usually for one hour. I listen to audiobooks when I jog.Meg: So, you can do two things at once.Todd: Very important. Multitasking. I love multitasking.Meg: Sounds like you're good at multitasking.Todd: Let's talk about outdoor activities. Do you like doing yard work?Meg: I don't especially like doing yard work. But right now, I don't have a yard. So, doing yard work isn't something I have to worry about. What about you?Todd: I like doing yard work. I think it's very relaxing. It's like cleaning. So, I enjoy it. But like you, I don't have a yard. So, now I don't do yard work very much. Or I can't do yard work.Meg: So, you like gardening if you have a yard?Todd: Yeah. I grew up on a big house. So, we have lots of yard work, lots of gardening. So, yeah.Meg: Right.Todd: But what about other things like hiking, do you like hiking?Meg: I love hiking. Anything that is in nature, I love doing. I love hiking. I love kayaking. I love canoeing. Any outdoor sports. Do you like hiking?Todd: I do. I'm with you. I love hiking. What about things like rock climbing?Meg: I have never been rock climbing. Have you gone rock climbing?Todd: No. Rock climbing looks dangerous. So, I'm still scared.Meg: Yeah,Todd: So, I've never done rock climbing either. What about things like singing and dancing? Do you enjoy singing and dancing?Meg: I enjoy singing, but I'm not very good at it. So, I like singing when I'm alone or in my car. Are you good at singing?Todd: No, I'm terrible at singing. So, I hate singing. I really, really hate singing. But I like going to karaoke and listening to people sing.Meg: Yeah, some people are really good at singing. What about dancing?Todd: I hate dancing too. Yeah, I'm not good at dancing. So, dancing is very embarrassing for me. I don't like it.Meg: I'm not good at dancing either.Todd: Are there any other activities you really dislike doing? Like for me, I hate writing letters. For example, I don't like writing thank you letters. I don't like writing anything with my hand. Typing is okay. I don't mind typing things, but I hate writing.Meg: So, using your hand to write, you hate writing?Todd: Yeah, I like typing. Fingers is okay. Thumb is okay on the phone. I don't mind texting, I don't mind typing. I just don't like physically writing with a pencil or a pen.Meg: Yeah. Pen or a pencil, like writing a letter.Todd: Right. Because my writing is really bad, and it's hard to read. So, it's embarrassing.Meg: I'm sure it's fine.Todd: Yeah. How about you? For example, do you like iron in your clothes?Meg: I don't like having my clothes, but my clothes usually don't need ironing, so I don't have to worry about it too much. I don't like doing laundry. It's related to ironing clothes. So, it takes a long time. And the clothes, I have to dry the clothes. So, doing laundry is a little bit boring for me.Todd: I don't mind doing laundry if I go to the coin laundry, but I hate hanging my laundry out. I hate hanging out my laundry. It takes forever. I don't know why, you put it out, you take it back in, it just takes so much time.Meg: That's funny. I'm kind of the opposite. I don't mind hanging out my laundry, because I like saving money, so I don't have to use money at the coin laundry.Todd: Plus, you are helping the environment.Meg: That's true. I like helping the earth.Todd: Yeah, I should change. Okay. Thanks Meg.Meg: Yeah.

Abidemi: Todd, are you good at saving money?Todd: No, I'm terrible. I waste money. I waste so much money.Abidemi: How?Todd: Well, I don't buy things on sale. I don't use coupons. I buy anything I see.Abidemi: So, when I shop, I don't look at prices. I just see the food or the thing and I get it and I buy it and I pay for it. And, then it's sometimes very expensive, so I just waste money. I don't budget. I need to budget my money but I don't budget my money.Todd: What about you? Are you good at saving money?Abidemi: I don't think I'm too bad at saving money. I look at prices a lot. I also buy a lot of things on sale, so I'm able to save some money.Todd: So, you look for discounts.Abidemi: Yes, I do.Todd: Do you use coupons or special offers?Abidemi: No, I don't, but if I see some I will use them.Todd: So, do you waste money on anything? Like, maybe eating out, buying clothes, renting movies?Abidemi: I waste money on buying clothes.Todd: Oh, okay!Abidemi: But, I save a little bit because I buy them on sale.Todd: Ah, do you buy things online?Abidemi: No, I don't. I usually go into the stores to shop.Todd: I'm good with clothes too, so I don't spend much money on clothes. I only shop maybe once a year. Or, I only shop if I need something, like it's really cold and I need a jacket.Abidemi: I see.Todd: And, I'm really bad, so I often only wear clothes people give to me.Abidemi: That's good!Todd: Yeah, so I get shirts or ties for Christmas gifts or a birthday gift, and I do that. My mom often asks ... every year, my mom asks, "What do you want for Christmas?", "What do you want for your birthday?"Todd: And I'll say, "Underwear and socks" or "Socks and T-shirts". And so, she buys them for me and then I don't have to buy them.Abidemi: Wow. Sounds like you're an easy person to give a present to.Todd: Yes, for clothes. Yes, for clothes. But, I waste money on computers and electronics and those things are expensive, so I buy a new computer every year. I have four computers now in my house.Abidemi: Wow.Todd: I have five mobile phones.Abidemi: Wow.Todd: I have an iPad. I have lots of electronic equipment. So, I spend so much money on those things.Abidemi: I waste money on traveling.Todd: Ah, yeah.Abidemi: Every year, I take about one or two trips to different countries, so that's where a lot of my money go.Todd: Yeah, traveling is expensive.Abidemi: Yes, yes.Todd: But, when you travel, do you save money? Do you stay at cheap hotels? Or, do you buy cheap plane tickets?Abidemi: I try to. I try to all the time. But, usually the plane ticket is so expensive that a lot of my savings is already gone.Todd: Yeah, I know. I buy my tickets online, usually with Expedia. And, it's cheap. It's pretty cheap. I waste money on food. I eat out almost every day.Abidemi: Wow.Todd: Or, I buy my dinner at the supermarket almost every day. Do you waste money on food?Abidemi: No, I don't. I usually get bored if I eat out too much, because even though I am not a very good cook, there are some thing that I cook that I like to eat. So, I would miss those things. So, no, I don't waste money on eating out.Todd: Ah, that's interesting. So, you save money, I waste money. You have to teach me your tricks. You have to teach me your tips on saving money.Abidemi: Please teach me how to get cheap travel tickets.Todd: It's a deal.Abidemi: Thanks.

Todd: Meg, I'm going to give you a test.Meg: Okay.Todd: It's a personality test.Meg: Uh-oh.Todd: And we want to know, are you a pack rat?Meg: Am I a pack rat?Todd: Right. Do you save things, do you keep things, or are you a minimalist? Do you have very few things in your house?Meg: Well, I think I try to be a minimalist, but I'm a little bit of a pack rat.Todd: Okay. We'll take the test, let's see. Okay, the first question is, how many books do you have in your house?Meg: Not counting Kindle?Todd: Not counting Kindle. Physical books, how many books do you have?Meg: Physical books, I think I have around 15 books.Todd: Oh. Oh.Meg: Is that a lot?Todd: That's bad.Meg: That's so many?Todd: Yeah.Meg: Really?Todd: So negative-Meg: Uh-oh.Todd: Negative ... Boo. Negative one means pack rat  positive one means minimalist. Okay. Next question. How many shoes do you have?Meg: Can I not answer that question?Todd: No. You have to say.Meg: Okay. I think I have 25 pairs of shoes.Todd: Oh my gosh. I'm giving you negative two points.Meg: No, just one.Todd: All right. Next question is, how many blankets do you have?Meg: Blankets? I think I have 10 blankets.Todd: Oh my gosh. I knew you were a pack rat. I knew it, I knew it. Now you're negative five.Meg: But you need blankets for the cold winter.Todd: You only need one blanket.Meg: But if you have friends visiting you, you need more blankets.Todd: Okay.Meg: I have a lot of friends.Todd: Wow. That's a good point. Okay, next question. How many umbrellas do you have?Meg: I think I have around five or six umbrellas.Todd: Wow. And you live alone, correct?Meg: Yes. I live alone.Todd: Okay. So a pack rat is somebody who does not get rid of things they don't need. So, do you need five umbrellas?Meg: I do need those umbrellas.Todd: Why do you need ...Meg: I'll tell you. I'll tell you why. One is a very small umbrella that's easy to carry. Another umbrella is very large for a really rainy day. A third umbrella is decorative and very pretty. The fourth umbrella is for the sun. And the fifth umbrella is clear, to use on a really windy day.Todd: That's interesting. Now, the fourth umbrella, for the sun, that's called a parasol, correct?Meg: I guess so, but that sounds a little old-fashioned.Todd: Okay. I won't consider that. I consider an umbrella for the rain only. So, we'll say four.Meg: Four.Todd: So let's just ...Meg: Do I get a point back?Todd: You do. But let's do a recap. You are single, you live alone.Meg: Yes.Todd: You have four umbrellas.Meg: Yes.Todd: You have 10 blankets.Meg: Yes.Todd: You have 25 pairs of shoes.Meg: Correct.Todd: And you have 15 books?Meg: 15 books.Todd: I'm sorry, Meg, but you qualify as a pack rat.Meg: Oh no.Todd: You are not a minimalist. We're taking away your minimalist membership.Meg: Oh. Well I guess I need to get rid of some things, huh? And what about you? Are you a pack rat or a minimalist?Todd: I'm pretty much a minimalist, I think, because I only have two bags of stuff.Meg: Only two bags?Todd: Yeah. So, you can take everything I have and put it in two big suitcases.Meg: So you don't have 15 books?Todd: No, I have maybe four books.Meg: Only four books.Todd: And they're very small paperback books.Meg: What about blankets?Todd: I have one blanket.Meg: Just one.Todd: Just one.Meg: So if visitors come to your house ...Todd: That is true.Meg: ... they're out of luck.Todd: When somebody comes to my house, I ask my neighbor to borrow a blanket. I do. Why?Meg: You borrow a blanket?Todd: ... is that funny? Yes. This is-Meg: Wow.Todd: I am such a minimalist, my friend told me, he said I am the only person that has ...Meg: One blanket.Todd: No. A spoon and a fork.Meg: A spoon and a fork?Todd: That's it. I have one.Meg: Okay. So basically, your house is not prepared for any visitors.Todd: That's true.Meg: Whereas my house is prepared for many visitors.Todd: That's true.Meg: Okay. Umbrellas?Todd: I have maybe two.Meg: Two. So why two?Todd: Because I can't remember if I have one or I will leave the house and I won't take it, and so then I need to buy one and then...Meg: And then you get rid of one?Todd: No, then I just never buy another one. I'm pretty good.Meg: Oh.Todd: Only two.Meg: Okay.Todd: But shoes?Meg: Shoes.Todd: I only have four pairs of shoes.Meg: What is the purpose of each pair of shoes?Todd: I have one pair of shoes for work. Nice dress shoes. I have two sneakers, one pair of sneakers for running, jogging, one pair of sneakers for fashion, and one pair of Futsal shoes for soccer. That's it. That's it.Meg: Wow. Well, I have to say, you really sound like a minimalist.Todd: Yeah, and you really sound like a pack rat.

Todd: So Katie, I want to go to the mall.Katie: Okay.Todd: Have you been to the new mall?Katie: Yeah, I actually went there just yesterday.Todd: Okay. So I want to buy some computer stuff. Is there a computer store?Katie: There are two computer stores.Todd: Really? Ooh, that's good.Katie: There's a computer store on the first floor, and then very close to that there's also a Mac store.Todd: Ooh, that's perfect. I want to buy a new Mac.Katie: Oh, me too.Todd: They're so expensive, though.Katie: Mm-hmm.Todd: Okay, what about books? I really like books. Is there a bookstore with English books?Katie: There's a huge bookstore on the fourth floor.Todd: Ooh, that's good.Katie: It's really big. And there are lots of English books you can read there.Todd: Oh, great. Nice. And how about the food there?Katie: The food's okay. There's a big food court on the third floor, and you can get a variety of food. You can get a Subway.Todd: Oh, that's good. I love sandwiches. Is the food good there, though?Katie: They don't have any sandwiches that I like, basically.Todd: Oh, really. Okay. So what else is there at the mall?Katie: Oh, there's so much at the mall. There's a café on the ground floor.Todd: Oh, nice.Katie: If you like drinking coffee.Todd: I do. I like to go and study and just relax.Katie: That's the perfect place for you, then.Todd: I like to people watch. Is it a good people-watching place?Katie: Oh, it's a great people-watching place.Todd: Oh, cool.Katie: The windows are really big, and you can see out onto the street.Todd: Oh, cool. What else is there? Is there a movie theater?Katie: Mm-hmm. There's a movie theater on the fourth floor.Todd: Oh, great. Now, do they have English movies?Katie: They have English and Japanese movies.Todd: Oh, that's good. I should watch some Japanese movies too.Katie: They're interesting.Todd: And how about food? I hear there's a new supermarket, a big supermarket there.Katie: It's pretty big. And you can get lots of food there. It's on the first floor.Todd: Okay. Is there anything else I should see?Katie: What about the roof garden?Todd: Oh, what is the roof garden?Katie: It's on the fifth floor, and it's, well it's on the roof, and you can see a beautiful view of the city. And there's also places for you to sit and just enjoy the view.Todd: Oh, nice. A roof garden, I like that.Katie: It's really nice.Todd: Now, do you buy clothes at the mall? Do they have nice clothing shops?Katie: Yeah, they have nice clothing shops. Some of them are a little bit expensive.Todd: Ah, yeah.Katie: And I like buying cheap clothes.Todd: Okay. When's a good time to go?Katie: I think the best time to go is probably weekdays.Todd: Okay. Why?Katie: If you go on the weekend, there are so many children there.Todd: Oh.Katie: Ugh. It's hard to walk around.Todd: Yeah, and we're teachers, we teach kids all day.Katie: Mm-hmm.Todd: Okay. I don't want to go then.Katie: No, me neither.Todd: Well, I want to go there next week, maybe Thursday night.Katie: Okay.Todd: Do you want to join me?Katie: Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe we can watch a movie.Todd: Cool. I'll buy you dinner.Katie: Sounds great.

Ben: Hana, you just told me that one way to help with listening and practicing and understanding idioms is through American television dramas. Right? So, TV shows.Hana: Yes.Ben: Yeah. While you were learning English, what are some shows you watched? Something I wanna tell my students they can watch.Hana: My favorite all time is the TV drama called Friends.Ben: Oh, yeah! Yeah.Hana: Have yous seen it before?Ben: Friends is super popular in the U.S. Yeah, yeah.Hana: It is, yes. I mean, first of all, I just love the story.Ben: Okay.Hana: Other than just learning English, it's second purpose, I guess. There was an Italian or there is a character who is playboy and he used to say like, "How you doin'?" Yeah? And, it's interesting is, first, I watched the drama with my first language subtitled.Ben: Oh, right.Hana: Yeah.Ben: So you're watching in English with your language in the subtitles?Hana: Yes.Ben: Okay.Hana: So that I can understand the main concept first.Ben: Right.Hana: And then, gradually, I changed to English subtitles.Ben: Oh, okay. That's a great idea! So, first, to understand the meaning of what's being said, subtitles. Then, to maybe watch it again a second time or even a third time to understand exactly how the English is used in context of the show.Hana: True, yeah.Ben: Okay, that's a great strategy.Hana: That way you can enjoy just watching the movies or dramas and that way you can spend a lot more time, rather than just trying to study English.Ben: Right, so it's more ... a way to enjoy learning English and studying.Hana: Yes.Ben: Actually, you know ... You said Friends, right?Hana: Yep, yep.Ben: So I think Friends is on ... It's so popular, right? And it's all over the internet. I believe it's on YouTube, you can watch it on YouTube and Netflix.Hana: Netflix, yeah.Ben: Yeah, Netflix. One thing that's great about YouTube, I think, is that they have a closed captioning or a subtitling option, so if you can't exactly catch what they're saying while you're listening the first time, you can put the subtitles on like you said.Hana: Yeah, yeah, exactly.Ben: That's a great-Hana: And there are so many websites that shows the transcripts of the ...Ben: That's true. You can read the scripts from the show to follow along, as well.Hana: Mm-hmm (affirmative).Ben: That's great. So you said you watch Friends, right?Hana: I do.Ben: Are there any others that you've heard of? Friends, I know is popular. Many people know Friends.Hana: Full House.Ben: Full House, yeah!Hana: Full House, yes.Ben: Okay, you know they recently did a revamp, a newer version it.Hana: Yeah, they did. Yeah, I haven't seen it yet but, yeah, it's good. Good, good.Ben: I haven't either. Well, you recommend either Friends or Full House.Hana: One of my friends, he liked a drama called Prison Break.Ben: Oh, that's on Netflix, as well.Hana: Have you ever heard it? Yeah.Ben: Yeah, I have.Hana: He watched like 60 hours or more than that and I asked him, "How's it going? Is it good?" He did understand without subtitles, which is good. And so, I asked him, "So you can speak English now, yeah? Can you use those phrases from the drama?" And he said, "Actually, not." I said, "Why?" It's because the words that they use from the drama. There's a bombing or escaping or something that's not daily life conversations, so that way Friends or Full House that people in daily life.Ben: That's daily English. Yeah, daily life English.Hana: Yeah, so I found it easier to use.Ben: Okay, so you recommend-Hana: Yeah, yeah.Ben: Okay, yeah. That's great. Thank you so much. I think my students would love to watch that kind of drama and learn daily-Hana: Daily, yes.Ben: ... actual phrases you can use. Thanks so much for the tips. Thanks, Hana.Hana: You're welcome.

Ben: Hana, I'm currently teaching English as a Second Language, and I love for my students to get confident in producing English or increasing their listening ability. I know that you speak English as a second language, but you do such an amazing job and it's inspiring to me, so I love my students to improve and like it, and so because you're a perfect example, what are some strategies you have for my students so I could tell them?Hana: Firstly, I worked on listening, and there are so many websites that are designed for English learners, like here you're listening to, and YouTube or any, you know, so many sites that you can check on. Yeah, like that. I'll probably start with the listening first.Ben: You said, firstly, listening. Why is listening so important?Hana: It's because when you want to communicate, of course, the English as a tool, communication tool, first, you have to understand what the speaker say, so first, I worked on listening. By listening to audio, or the sound, then you can learn vocab and also spelling, and you know the meaning, of course. Eventually, you can move on to the next English skill. That's why I start working on listening first.Ben: What about anything else that you ... have any other strategies?Hana: Personally, I found that learning vocab, and especially idioms, help me a lot.Ben: Yeah, idioms are tough.Hana: Yes, because often I found it difficult to understand what the speaker say. I could hear, I could understand what the single words they say. But sometimes it was hard to sort of grasp the meaning what they're actually saying, so learning idioms or vocab helped me a lot, yeah.Ben: When you learn the idioms, you can understand them. Did you ever use them yourself, when you, like, tried it out in the wild, so to speak, using the idioms you learned.Hana: Yes, I did it gradually. I mean, when I was in high school, I started speaking ... I started studying English when I was in high school. First thing I did was visiting those websites that, like, designed for English speakers, English learners. At the same time, I start watching like American TV dramas and, in that sense, you can sort of understand in what situation you can use those particular phrases or idioms. By learning the idioms and vocab and the settings or the environment, the situation you can use, then you can sort of actually try to use them. At the beginning I was so nervous, but ...Ben: I'm sure. Yeah. I mean it's really difficult to use idioms in any language, but English has so many, I think. Another thing I wanted to ask you about production skills in English is writing. I try to give my students opportunities to write it in class, but in order to be a proficient and excellent English speaker, you need to practice outside of class. What do you recommend to improve student's writing abilities, besides just taking it for a test or for an assignment? What do you recommend?Hana: Yes. They are difficult. I myself have trouble still writing because I'm not a good writer in my native language.Ben: Oh, no.Hana: But I guess just reading will help you, at the start. Reading something, reading text or some passages will help you.Ben: So if you know how to read, it can help you write.Hana: Yes, definitely.Ben: All right.Hana: To learn sort of the template, how will things go and how you make paragraph and stuff. Probably if you want to get better at writing, I would start reading first, reading lots of passages, different kinds of materials first.Ben: That's true, and I agree with that. One thing I wanted to have my students do is actually do like a journal, actually.Hana: Yes,.Ben: Did you ever keep an English journal to help with your writing?Hana: Yes, I did.Ben: Oh, you did?Hana: I did, yeah.Ben: How do you feel that helped you? Was that good, a good idea?Hana: Yes. Because, first, when you write, unlike speaking or talking to somebody, it gives you time to really think about what you want to do, what you want to write, and you can focus on grammar more. That helps to actually talk to somebody maybe a day, right, next day, or you have to write something else in the class, that would help you. So keeping the journal will help you definitely, I think.Ben: Okay. Thank you very much for the tips. I really appreciate it.Hana: You're welcome.

Todd: So I'm here with Olga, who's a health coach and a life coach. You've talked a lot about things we should do, but what about stopping doing things or breaking bad habits? That's the hardest thing, right? What's your advice for giving up sugar or alcohol or obsessive behavior, things like that?Olga: Well, actually, I am not suggesting that people fight with themselves, and they avoid or break anything, because that would constitute violence against yourself. I am a student of Marshall Rosenberg, who developed a nonviolent communication system. Instead of taking away the bad, you add something good. You find exciting, fun, new habits that will naturally substitute.Todd: Okay, so for example, let's say you watch too much TV, or you're addicted to your smartphone. You would try to maybe play outside or do something like that.Olga: Well, you can develop a lot of new habits and see what works for you. One of the things that I discovered for myself is that willpoweris a very finite resource. We don't have infinite amounts of willpower, so we need to use it very sparingly on short distances. It's not for marathons. What I suggest, when you're establishing a new habit that you feel that is the right habit for you, you need to use a little bit of willpower to repeat it enough times. Usually magic number is 21 days.Todd: Really? 21 days, why 21?Olga: I have no idea, but this number keeps popping up from different traditions in East and West and also psychology. I saw it in my own practice that it works.Todd: Fascinating. Let's say you want to give up sugar, or you want to give up smoking or something like that, a physical substance. Do you have any tips for that?Olga: Yes. One of their easiest things to do is incorporate fermented foods that break up chemical dependency on sugars, alcohol, and some other addictive substances. When I work with people who are recovering from any kind of addictions, they don't have to be substance addictions, fermented foods help a lot.Todd: Okay. Can you give some examples of fermented foods?Olga: Absolutely. If you just chop up any kind of vegetable, let's say it's cabbage and carrot, so you cut it up. You massage it with salt and some spices until their juice comes out. You press it down so all the vegetables are covered with its own juice. Three days later, you have perfect fermented sauerkraut.Todd: Wow, that's great. Could you just buy sauerkraut or vinegar or something like that? Would that work?Olga: Well, unfortunately, it wouldn't, because most of their krauts that you buy is pasteurized, which does not give you their probiotic activity. A lot of it is fake sauerkraut. What I mean by that, if there was no bacterial activity and their taste comes from vinegar, you do not get this benefit.Todd: Wow, that's good to know. I think though part of the problem though is even myself thinking like, "Oh, I'm not going to cut up a bunch of cabbage and carrots, and wait three days." It seems like it's too much work.Olga: Well, it might be. Maybe you can visit a friend who is doing that, or if you have access to farmer's market or some natural organic stores, they may provide something that is not pasteurized and prepared the right way.Todd: Oh, that's a good idea. Okay, well, thanks a lot. That was some really good advice.Olga: Very welcome.

Todd: So I'm here with Olga, and she's a health coach, and we were talking about the difference between modern trends in nutrition and traditional health and things like that. I thought I would throw out some idioms, and you ... age-old idioms, words of wisdom, and how they apply today.So the first one is: variety is the spice of life.Olga: I totally agree with that, and I see it in clinical practice to be true. You don't really need to be Ph.D in healing or nutrition. If you throw into your diet variety, and it would change with the season, it would change with location, it would change with your mood and how your body feels, then that's it. A variety can really give your body everything, and your body has all the knowledge, all the wisdom, and knows what to do with that.Todd: So basically when we eat we shouldn't just eat one type of food, we wanna make sure we have a very varied food supply of vegetables, fruit, even meat, things like that?Olga: That is correct, and our ancestors used to have a variety that is not two, not five, not 10, but 100 times more than what we do now. Our ancestors would have 3,000 different food items that they would rotate.Todd: Wow, that's fascinating. Okay, how about the next one, common one: an apple a day keeps the doctor away?Olga: That is actually very interesting, because the more I was looking into this particular fruit, the more respect I got for it. And when I designed liver detox systems, we have a special apple day, and we use malic acid and apples as a preparation to dissolve gallbladder and liver stones, and you can go on and on and on about all the components of an apple. It's so complicated, and yet so simple. You just grab an apple, bite, chew, swallow, done.Todd: Wow. And I think also it's kind of like basically if you just eat unprocessed foods, if you eat natural foods, right, then you will probably stay healthy and you won't need to see the doctor.Olga: Well, this is exactly what the proverb says, and it's very literal.Todd: Okay, so how about one not related to food: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, which I guess means if you just work all the time and you don't rest and relax and have fun, then you'll just be a boring person.Olga: Well, actually any kind of extreme has health consequences. We talk a little bit about toxicity and deficiency as roots of any health problems, so when you don't have enough of something, or too much of something, both cause problems.Todd: Wow, that's fascinating. Okay, so let's talk about sleep. The early bird gets the worm. So I think it means that people that go to bed early and wake up early, they're more productive? Do you think that's what it means?Olga: Well, I'm not sure. Honestly, I've seen people really individualize their life, and some people go to bed late and wake up late, and they're still productive. And in different times of our lives we have different periods when it's better to go to bed early and wake up earlier, and other times it's okay to go to bed late and wake up late. But in general, yes, Chinese medicine talks a lot about their times for the different meridians that represent organs.For example, from 11:00 in the evening until 3:00 in the morning, it's liver and gallbladder time. So if you're up during that time, these organs do not rejuvenate, they don't repair, and it's tremendous stress for them.Todd: Wow. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about medicine and seeking help. How about a stitch in time saves nine?Olga: Well, I think it's true for a lot of things in the healing world. It's much, much easier to prevent disease than to reverse it. So a lot of times if you get the disease, the best-case scenario in modern medicine is just to control the symptoms and to slow down the progression. But if you use the natural preventive medicine, it's actually much less effort, and you can enjoy life and you can enjoy that first stitch without ever thinking or needing the nine that would be needed if you didn't do something preventive.Todd: Okay, wow, fascinating. And the last one, I think this is ... you've talked about this before. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.Olga: Yes, again, I can refer to Oriental wisdom of yin and yang. If you can visualize the symbol of yin-yang, usually it's two half-circles, and there is a seed of the opposite color right in the middle of it. So in the white you would have a seed of black, and in the black a seed of white, and they constantly turn into each other. So too much of something turns into its exact opposite.Todd: Wow, fascinating. Thanks a lot.Olga: Most welcome.

Gyri: What are some talents you wish you had?Viyasan: I would say this talent spreads a long time back and it's always something I'm very envious about. I don't have the best memory and so I really wish that my talent was to remember a lot easier or even have a photographic memory. I think that would be very useful, especially as a student during exams where we're able to read quite a bit and remember all of it. I think that talent would be interesting to have because I wouldn't always be forgetting daily things, like my keys to my apartment.Gyri: Right.Viyasan: Or for example, my water bottle every single time I leave for class. I think memory is very important and it's very good to remember certain conversations with people. For example, sometimes I might have a conversation with someone and completely forget that I talked about that topic and then just be reminded of it when I talk to that person the next time.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: I think having a better memory or photographic memory would be great for those situations.Gyri: Yeah, definitely.Viyasan: And yourself? What are some talents that you wish you had?Gyri: I wish that I could dance. I have no rhythm at all.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: I feel so stupid when like if we go out or we listen to music, I just look really goofy when I try to dance, but I feel like dancing so I still try, but it just looks horrible. Yeah, I wish I had more rhythm and the ability to learn dance moves, I guess.Viyasan: Yeah, I would say that dancing is definitely a talent that some people have. Likewise, I do not have any rhythm so I'll join you on that same dance floor.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: Even though I like to dance, I don't dance very well.Gyri: Yeah. Yeah, I wish that I was better at sports as well. I really like downhill skiing, for example, but I never skied a lot, like my dad, he skied professionally when he was young, and I'm kind of bitter that he didn't take me up to the hills more than he did because if I had started at a young age I could be really good right now, but I didn't, so I'm a casual skier but I really wish that I could be like better than average in something, especially a sport.Viyasan: Got it, got it.Gyri: Do you play any sports besides basketball?Viyasan: Basketball is my main sport. I used to play a little bit of volleyball when I was in high school and so I played the position of setter and so that was very fun. It took a lot of accuracy. I think if I had to be a little bit more talented, it would be at jumping because if I was able to jump a lot more, I would be able to fake my sets and just hit the ball down on the opponent's side. That would be a cool talent to have if I was able to jump maybe five to ten more inches higher than I usually did. I still remember that my vertical was 26 inches when I was in grade nine or grade ten and so maybe if I added a couple more inches onto that I would've been able to perform in more creative ways.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: Can you dunk a basketball?Viyasan: That depends on how high the rim is. If it's five feet or six feet, definitely, but on a standard regulation net, which is probably nine or 9.5 feet, I cannot.Gyri: Okay.Viyasan: But maybe if I had the talent of jumping extremely high, I would be able to dunk a basketball but no.Gyri: Can you dribble with your left hand?Viyasan: Of course. I can dribble with my let hand, I can dribble with my right hand, I can dribble between my legs. I've done a lot of different types of basketball drills when I was on the high school team and so yeah, I'm pretty good at handling the basketball. Shooting, driving to the net, and passing it a lot quite a bit, so yeah, pretty efficient with the basketball.Gyri: Yeah, that's impressive.Viyasan: I just can't dunk.Gyri: Okay, yeah. Can you shoot with your left hand?Viyasan: Mm, no, I cannot. I can't shoot with my left hand. I can do a lay-up with my left hand, but I can't shoot the ball naturally like a free throw or three-point shot with my left hand.Gyri: Okay. What exactly is a lay-up?Viyasan: A lay-up is when you drive towards the net, you're allowed to take two steps while holding the basketball and so that's usually how people when they're very close to the net, they do a lay up or they're also able to convert a layup into a dunk so they're able to take two steps and dunk towards the basketball net.Gyri: Okay.Viyasan: Yeah, that's a little bit of basketball knowledge for you.Gyri: Yeah, got it.

Gyri: Okay. Viyasan, have you ever overcome any fears.Viyasan: Okay, that's a good question. I think there's many fears that I've overcome and I'm sure everyone has as well, but the one that sticks out to me the most was attending university after high school. I think the scariest part of that was meeting all the different types of people, different people from different cultures, from different high schools, from different areas. It was very odd to see that group all mixed together. I wasn't sure how to approach people and talk to them. Some of the classes were very tough. It was just a huge mess of interacting with people and doing well in school. But I think the best way to approach it is to find similarities that you can connect with people.For example, I really liked basketball and so I tried to hang out with other people who liked basketball and other people who enjoyed some of my similar subjects. For example, I like marketing and so I was a big fan of other students who took very similar classes and I would talk to them about my interests. And so, I think that's how I got through university, was trying to find people that made similar interests of mine ... or, sorry, or had similar interests and just grow with them, learn more, and then slowly meet new people with similar interests as well. So I think that's how I overcame the hurdle of first year university.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: And what year are you in?Viyasan: I am in my fourth year right now.Gyri: Okay, so you've been for a while.Viyasan: Just one more semester here at APU and-Gyri: This is your last semester?Viyasan: Yep, and then I'll be graduating, so it's pretty scary heading into the real world, the adult world.Gyri: Yeah, you're gonna have to find a job.Viyasan: Exactly, yeah. That's gonna be a little bit stressful as well.Gyri: Are you worried about that?Viyasan: Finding a job? Right now, I do have a job when I graduate university. I'll be working within a marketing context, luckily, it's something that I'm interested in, in a marketing context at a consulting firm. So that's solving problems for different types of businesses within a marketing context.Gyri: That sounds cool.Viyasan: Yeah, what about yourself? What are some of your interests? Are you scared about anything when you graduate?Gyri: Well, I haven't really been ... I'm trying not to think about now 'cause I still have so many years left. The degree that I'm taking, social anthropology, isn't really a degree that you get work from. Especially, only with a bachelor's degree. I'm gonna have to take more years of other stuff. I'm thinking of taking English literature and then, eventually becoming a teacher, teaching in high school. But there's a long way to go, so I'll probably not be done until I'm like 28, 29 and I'm 23 right now. I'm not really worrying about jobs yet.Viyasan: Got it. Got it. Well, that's a big relief. I know that when a lot of university students graduate, they go job hunting, or even in their third or fourth year. It's good to know that you still have lots of time before you go job hunting. You're in the clear for now.Gyri: Yeah, for now.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: I'll save the stressing for later.Viyasan: Exactly, exactly. Gyri, so how 'bout in the past? Have you ever overcome a fear?Gyri: Yeah and it's similar to what you were talking about. After high school, I went to Barcelona to study graphic design and I was supposed to be there for four years, but it was very scary and I was only 19 years old living in a foreign country. The university wasn't really good. They promised us an English class, but they didn't speak English so we were the only four people in the English class and they were only speaking Spanish to us. We couldn't understand anything, so it was a very stressful situation; being in a new country, not speaking the language, and the university not being very supportive. That was very stressful, but it was a very good experience and I learned a lot from it, but I ended up going back to Norway and going to university there instead. Yeah.Viyasan: And how'd you like the change? When you went back to Norway, did you find things a lot more easier for you to grasp? How were the courses at university in Norway?Gyri: Yeah, it was much more easier. It wasn't stressful at all really. Yeah, so it kind of made me more accustomed to university life, I guess.Viyasan: Got it.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: That's very cool.

Todd: Rachel, I thought we would talk a little bit about items and their shelf life, like how long will you keep something? For example, like a book or clothing, because yesterday I was talking to my students and they were surprised when I admitted that the shirt I was wearing, I had had for over 10 years. Now, they're young and they can't imagine that.Rachel: No, that might be a function of being young.Todd: Right, exactly.Rachel: Because their clothes of 10 years ago are obviously too small.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: It depends on the clothes.Todd: Do you like to keep your clothes a long time?Rachel: If I really like them, I might.Todd: Yeah. How often do you toss out your clothes?Rachel: I toss out clothes once or twice a year. I'll go through my wardrobe and throw out things that are too small or have started to look shabby. But there are other things that I just keep year after year after year, probably things people don't see as often like pajamas might last a little longer.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: Some people advise that if you haven't worn something for six months, you should throw it out, but that seems to me to be not logical, given that there are four seasons and they last a year. If you haven't worn something for a year, maybe you should consider throwing it out. But yeah, definitely, at the start of the season, not in the opposite season. You have to think about the weather.Todd: Yeah. What about food? We live in Japan. We're both teachers in Japan. One thing I often wonder about is the sashimi and the sushi, the raw fish. How long can you keep it before you eat it? They say you're supposed to have it that night, but I sometimes eat it the next morning or even for lunch.Rachel: With fish, as well as other meats, I think it's very easy to tell, because you can tell by the smell whether something's good or not. I actually think that rice is more dangerous.Todd: Oh really?Rachel: Yeah, because it will grow bacteria. Because it's been warm, it will grow bacteria easily at room temperature. The rice is the part you need to be careful about.Todd: Oh. Well what about other foods? Like are you somebody who's really strict about the expiration date?Rachel: I'm not. I think the expiration date on most products errs on the side of safety. And another thing is people confuse the best by date with the expiring date.Todd: Right.Rachel: The best by date is just about freshness, flavor. For example with spices ...Todd: And that's the date they put on the package in the store.Rachel: That's often the date that people go by.Todd: Sell by, yeah.Rachel: Yeah, sell by and best by. For example spices might have a best by date. After that, they might plump a little, they might lose a little flavor, but they're not dangerous.Todd: You can still eat it.Rachel: You can still use them, yeah.Todd: My rule is always three days. So, I'll eat anything if it's within ... except for meat, maybe, but anything if it's within three days of the expiration date or the sell-by date on the store's ...Rachel: Oh, I think that matters ... To me it makes an enormous difference what it is. For example, moyashi, which is bean sprouts, I'll eat them on the day or the day after, but not after that. They start getting bad really quickly. But, for example, a jar of pickles, that's going to last much longer than the three days after.Todd: Right. I think the big one, I guess, you're right about time, is dairy. Milk is obvious, because milk you can smell. But cheese ...Rachel: But on the other hand, it just turns into yogurt.Todd: Right, yes. So that's the other one is yogurt. So yogurt, I'll see it in the fridge and I'm like, "How long can I keep this?" Like sometimes it'll be past the expiration date, but it smells fine, it looks fine.Rachel: Well, yogurt is soured milk, so it's difficult to say at which point it sours, because it's already sour.Todd: Yeah, and cheese too lasts forever it seems like.Rachel: Pretty much. You can see the mold on cheese.Todd: Yeah. So what about if you see bread and there's a little mold on the bread?Rachel: No.Todd: Are you old school? Will you cut around it?Rachel: No. I used to and I used to cut the mold off cheese, but having learned more about visible mold is only a small amount of it and parts of mold you can't see are branching into the food.Todd: Oh, I see.Rachel: Yeah. So that makes it a little dodgier. So, no I probably wouldn't eat bread that had any kind of mold on it. And I'm dodgy about cheese to. That's got the wrong sort of mold on it.Todd: Right.Rachel: There's the right sort of mold like a blue cheese, and that's fine.Todd: Right. And I should clarify here, neither of us are medical professionals.Rachel: Don't take this advise.Todd: We're just talking about our own habits here, so ...Rachel: Another thing that ...Todd: What about juice? What about juice? Like how long can you keep juice? Can you smell when juice is bad?Rachel: I don't usually buy juice, so I don't really know.Todd: Oh, yea

Todd: I'm here with Rachel. We were talking about expiration dates. You were saying that you throw out your clothes regularly.Rachel: Fairly regularly.Todd: Yeah. Do you donate them or just toss them?Rachel: I put them in the recycling.Todd: There you go.Rachel: And hope they're going to be remade into something else.Todd: Yeah, I guess, yeah I always take it out on the day that they'll say that they'll pick up clothes.Rachel: Yeah. The reason for that is because I usually put, throw clothes out when they'll start to look a bit shabby, so I don't think anyone else wants to wear them.Todd: Right.Rachel: By that stage.Todd: What about furniture? How often do you try to get new furniture?Rachel: Almost never.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: That's something I don't ... Yeah, I'll put up with what I've got.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: It seems like such a waste to throw out such large things.Todd: Yeah, but you never want to replace the couch or the chair?Rachel: The couch has been replaced three or four times.Todd: Right.Rachel: That's a big one, but we've still got the same kitchen table. We had got to get some new chairs.Todd: Yeah, I've never been a big furniture guy, but I just when I see something that's really cheap ... I would never buy new furniture. I'm always amazed like who buys new furniture? Because when you walk by a store and you see the furniture, it's so expensive. I'm gonna sound really cheap, but it's like I'm like, wow, why would you pay hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars for that when you can just buy one used or whatever for ten bucks or twenty bucks?Rachel: I'm definitely a used furniture person now.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: When we moved into our house we did go to a furniture store and bought all new furniture. It's easy. It's done. Everything looks new. It's kind of nice, but I almost exclusively buy second-hand furniture now. Depending on which store you go to, you can get some really good bargains on some beautiful old antique, that look really nice in your house, and cost a fraction of something new.Todd: Yeah. That's why you like anything that's made with metal or wood because you usually think it's going to age well.Rachel: Yes.Todd: Plastic, not so much.Rachel: No, no. I've definitely sworn off plastic. I think plastic's a fill in if you need something quickly.Todd: Yeah.Rachel: And cheaply, but definitely don't like to buy plastic now.Todd: What about electronic goods, like getting a new TV, a new refrigerator, stuff like that? How often do you buy?Rachel: We just wait until that breaks down. That's a pretty easy one.Todd: What about the TV though? The TVs don't break down. They go on forever. How often do you think, oh I want a new TV, I want a new nicer TV?Rachel: Our last TV broke.Todd: It did?Rachel: Well, we had lightning hit the house, and we lost several electronic items.Todd: Wow.Rachel: We lost a keyboard and a computer. I think we lost two out of ... We had three hard disc DV players.Todd: It was an electrical surge that fried all the circuits?Rachel: It fried the house, yeah pretty much.Todd: Wow. I did not know that could happen.Rachel: Yeah.

Todd: So, I'm here with Olga who is a health coach and I thought we would talk about learning, so people have to learn all these new things to be healthy. It might be a big change in their life. What type of advice would you give people for completely adapting to new change and learning new things?Olga: Well, I discovered that the most important things that people can do to be healthy and happy is to educate themselves. So what I do, I call VITA Academy, the Academy of Life, and there are four H's that the cornerstone of this learning concept.Todd: Okay. Oh, that's great, so what are the four H's?Olga: The first H is head, so first you upload a lot of information that is maybe logical, brainy, and you get knowledge, you kind of understand things.Todd: Okay, right. So you ... Basically you take in the information and ... Okay, then the next step?Olga: The next step is to check with yourself if the message that arrived into your head resonates. Do you feel it in your heart?Todd: Wow, that's pretty good. So also you could probably use your heart to see if it's true, right? Like intuition. Is it something that's believable? If it's something that's true?Olga: Exactly. You know, you can call it gut feeling, intuition, talking to angels. I teach bioresonance, based on that it's how to raise your intuition to pretty much the brain level and understand yourself, but it's not ... Gut feeling is not an H, so I just stick with heart.Todd: I like that. Okay, so then after the heart you said it's hand?Olga: Yes. The third level of learning is experiencing it, so using your hands and bringing all this knowledge into your life and seeing how it works.Todd: Alright, so basically like put something into practice, right? Use it or lose it. If you don't do it, then you're not going to really know it.Olga: Exactly. Lose it and use it work on all levels. Is there muscles if you don't lose goes into atrophy, same goes for your memory or anything else in your life.Todd: Oh wow, that's great. Okay, so then the last one is help?Olga: Yes, so once you understand what to do, you feel that it's the right thing to do, you experience and you saw the positive results, then it's only natural to share your success story and help other people. For me, the best way to learn is by teaching, by helping.Todd: Oh wow, that's really nice. So recap, so it's head, you take in the information; heart, you know if it's true or not, like does it resonate with you?; hand, you put it into practice; and then help, you actually give.Olga: Yes, exactly.Todd: Wow, that's some really good advice. Thanks a lot.Olga: Most welcome.

Todd: Hello, I am here with Olga, she is from Russia. Olga, can you go ahead and introduce yourself?Olga: Yes, sure. I do a lot of things that concern health and happiness. I am concentrating on modalities that allow you to help yourself, so I do a lot of courses of self-healing, so I have a lot of different alphabet soup after my name. HHP, which is Holistic Health Practitioner. NC, which is Nutritional Counselor. But I like to refer to myself as health coach.Todd: Okay wow, that's cool. So, what's your advice for staying healthy?Olga: Well, I was very excited to find out that while I thought I was studying different modalities, some oriental healing systems like Chinese and Ayurvedic and Japanese. And then I thought, "Oh, I'm studying something totally different in US" when I went into American Indian healing systems. Or when I was in Russia, we have our own traditions. But then I discovered that all of them, even though they use different words, have something in common.The deeper you understand the principles, the closer they become, and in the end they converge into three points. So any successful healing system addresses three health problems and turns them into three healing opportunities.Todd: Wow, that's so interesting. What are these three principles?Olga: Sure. One of them is toxicity. So what I call toxic is anything that is too much. Even something good can turn into bad when you have too much of it. Toxicity doesn't come in the physical form only. We can have toxic food and air, but we also can have toxic thoughts or toxic emotions, so when I say toxicity, I say that it's on all levels of existence, body mind and spirit.Todd: Oh that's so fascinating. Can you expand on that a little bit more, give some examples?Olga: Absolutely. When I say that something good can turn into bad, I can give you example of water. Everybody knows that to drink water is very important, and dehydration causes a lot of diseases, especially nowadays. But if I ask you to drink 20 liters of water, what do you think will happen?Todd: You would get sick, right?Olga: You die, because the 20 liters of water rushing through your system will wash out all your electrolytes and you will not be able to sustain life.Todd: Wow, I've read of people actually dying like on marathons and stuff because they overhydrate actually. It can get risky if you drink too much.Olga: If you drink too much of the wrong stuff, because we don't need only water. If you drink distilledwater that's very risky because distilled water is extremely aggressive and acidic. Distilled water, let's reserve it for fountains and cars, it's not for human consumption.Todd: Wow, so interesting. What other tips do you have about wellness and health?Olga: We just covered one of the routes, which is too much of something what they call toxicity, but there are two others. So root number two is deficiency, which is the mirror opposite of toxicity.So what are you lacking in? Is it nutrients? What do you need to bring into your life? Maybe it's self-love, maybe there is a deficit of self-love and acceptance and respect. Or maybe it's a deficit of knowledge.Todd: Oh, that's so interesting. We're in Bangkok and that actually reminds me of a time that I was not eating that many vegetables and I felt really sick, andI was walking and in my brain I felt like my body was talking to me. It was saying, "Go eat a salad. Like you need to eat a salad immediately", and I went and ate a salad. I was 23 years old at the time, and I felt immediately better. I remember thinking, "Wow, my body literally was talking to me, telling me to go eat my vegetables."Olga: I believe that our bodies do it all the time. But if we ignore the voice, the voice becomes so low, it becomes a little whisper and then it nearly disappears. To resolve that problem of not listening to yourself, I actually teach a class on bioresonance, that brings the voice back up again.Todd: That's interesting. So what is bioresonance?Olga: Bioresonance is an umbrella term for a lot of different modalities, and how to use vibration, their resonance, their energy, to understand something about the universe or yourself.Todd: Oh, that's fascinating. So, you said that we have toxicity, and then we have deficiency. What's the third problem?Olga: The third root of pretty much any disease, physical and mental, is stagnation. So when something is stuck, like let's say water doesn't move, it becomes to stink. Yeah, so stagnation is death and movement is life. It works on cellular level, it works on planetary level, on the level of our whole organism. So everything should circulate, there should be circulation of oxygen, of blood, lymph, of thoughts, emotions. When you block the flow it usually manifests as pain. Pain is either stuck or broken flow of energy.Todd: Wow, that's so true. You know, that reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, "Variety is the spice of life."

Gyri: What are some superhero skills that you would like to have?Viyasan: There's lots of different types of skills out there that have my attention but I think the most important skill or the most useful skill for me would be to clone myself. There's an anime, Naruto, and coincidentally we're in Japan as well. In Naruto, you're able to clone yourself and when you clone yourself you're able to still retain all the knowledge that your clone is doing. For example, I could be here doing an interview and my clone could be outside swimming and practicing swimming, and then when my clone disappears, I'll still retain all the knowledge I have from swimming even though I was performing an interview here. I think that would be very useful in learning a lot of different types of things. For example, languages, practicing sports, cooking food, and it would be very efficient with my time and I'd be able to complete everything on my schedule.Gyri: Multi-tasking.Viyasan: Exactly. Multi-tasking at its finest. That's definitely a superhero power that I would love to have.Gyri: Mm-hmm.Viyasan: What about yourself? What would you like to do?Gyri: Oh, I'm not sure. When I was little I always wanted to be able to fly or breathe underwater because I really wanted to be a mermaid when I was little, but I think now maybe just teleportation would be really nice. I wouldn't have to walk everywhere. I'm a little lazy. I wouldn't have to sit on the plane for like ten hours when I visit my family in the states. I hate flying, it's just really boring.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: So yeah, definitely teleportation, I think.Viyasan: Okay, that's a very interesting superhero ability to have.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: Definitely makes life a lot quicker. You won't have to sit in rush hour either when you're driving home from work.Gyri: Yeah, and I could just teleport to all the different places and countries that I wanted to go to.Viyasan: Exactly.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: That'd be amazing as well, yeah. What else? What other types of superhero powers would you have besides teleportation?Gyri: Maybe superhuman strength.Viyasan: Mm-hmm.Gyri: That would be cool, I think. Just walking around lifting people up and stuff.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: Or lifting up buildings, like Superman.Viyasan: Yeah, like Superman.Gyri: Stopping astroids and yeah. But people would definitely notice that I had super powers and maybe that's not a good idea.Viyasan: You might want to compete in some strong man or power building competitions.Gyri: Yeah, yeah.Viyasan: Super lifting, yeah.Gyri: I would become famous.Viyasan: Exactly, yeah. That would be a good career move, eh?Gyri: Yeah, but it would be purely talent and not hard work.Viyasan: Exactly, exactly. But I guess you'd have to practice your superhero strength.Gyri: I guess.Viyasan: By picking up different things.Gyri: Yeah, and practicing not using too much strength and crushing things.Viyasan: That's true. That's true, yeah. That's very cool.Gyri: Are there any other powers that you would like to have?Viyasan: The one superhero that's my favorite is Spiderman and so I saw all of his movies as a little kid and so I think having webs coming out of your wrist, being able to fly between skyscrapers, being able to stick people onto walls, fighting crime. That would be really cool, but just mainly for the amusement aspect of flying around, slingshotting different things with your webs. That would be very cool and a very unique skill to have.Gyri: Yeah.Viyasan: That superpower would be amazing to have, yeah.Gyri: Mm-hmm. He's your favorite superhero?Viyasan: Yeah, I would say that he's the superhero that I relate to the most. Just recently Spiderman High School came out and so it depictedPeter Parker, Spiderman, in high school and so it was a very fun movie and definitely relates a lot to high school and it was very fun to watch and I really enjoyed that. Definitely, Spiderman is my favorite superhero and I really enjoyed his movie and definitely would love to have his web-shooting abilities.Gyri: Mm-hmm.Viyasan: Yeah.

Gyri: Okay. So Viyasan, what do you think is the most important, hard work or talent? Or what is more useful?Viyasan: Hm. That's an interesting question because I think they both play a role in whatever task that you're doing, but personally, I think that hard work is more important than talent. And I'll give you a couple of examples of why I feel hard work is more important.I think in order to master any skill, whether it's singing, whether it's dancing, whether it's performing well at a task, you need to stay focused on the task at hand. And some people are naturally good at that task. For example, if I'm really quick at typing on the computer, I'll be able to print out multiple spreadsheets, complete a lot of work and finish my assignments faster.However, I believe to really go above and beyond and master that skill, with that talent, hard work needs to be attributed as well. Without hard work, even if you're at typing on the computer, you might not want to feel like typing on a computer, you might be lazy and you just might not want to do that task.But hard work trains you to become good at a task, and do it very well, master it, and become efficient with your time. And so that's why I think hard work outweighs talent, because I think there's more dedication in hard work, there's regimen in the hard work, and once you've mastered hard work in a specific skill, I think you can master it a lot more easier than someone who is naturally talented at that task.Gyri: Yeah. I definitely agree. I think you pretty much summed it up though.Viyasan: Yeah.Gyri: But yeah, I agree that hard work is more important than talent, and you could be very talented, but if you don't have the work ethic, then it doesn't really matter. Or especially if we're thinking about getting jobs. So, yeah, hard work definitely is more important.Viyasan: Is there a task that you've spent a lot of time at and given that hard work to master?Gyri: I started playing guitar three years ago, and I never played an instrument before. And usually I can be very lazy when learning new things. I get unmotivated very quickly. But one day I was just like, "Okay, I have a guitar lying around. I just really want to learn how to play now."And I just put in a lot of work and hours and now I play the guitar and I am very proud of myself because I put that work into. And like maybe ... If I was born with a talent to just play guitar, that would be cool, but I wouldn't have the same satisfaction of putting my mind to it and getting good. Yeah, so ... I don't know what I was going to say.Viyasan: Yeah, well that's a good example of using hard work and something that you like to do. That's amazing, yeah. So do you think there's any exceptions where talent is more important than hard work?Gyri: I think so. Like, maybe especially in the entertainment business. You could put in a lot of hours, but if you want to be really good, like a really famous actor or a really famous singer, they'll choose the more-talented ones and often the most-talented ones are the ones with the predisposed talent. If that makes sense. Like ... Oh, I don't know what I was going to say. Sorry.Viyasan: Here's an example I have. So one of my interests is basketball and usually the highest level of basketball is, I would say, the NBA, the National Basketball Association, which is run in America and Canada. And usually, lots of basketball players are very tall.Gyri: Right, right.Viyasan: For that reason, they're able to have longer limbs, they're able to do a lot more things with the basketball. For example, jump, shoot, run with the basketball and play the sport at a more higher level than someone who didn't have those natural, physical traits.And so, I would say that, in that case, talent, if someone who's talented at basketball, would be at a slightly more advantageous position than someone who, for example, myself, I'm five, six, who puts a lot of hard work into basketball, but just can't beat someone who's six, four, and just runs extremely quick because they're talented.Gyri: Right.Viyasan: So that might be one example of where talent, in some cases, beats hard work.Gyri: Yeah. And I think the same goes for singing, for example. Like, you could practice singing, but if you're just born with a very beautiful voice, then maybe you're better off performing, for example.

Todd: So Rachel, you said that in your home country, New Zealand, there're lots of birds that don't fly?Rachel: Yes, there are a lot of birds that don't fly.Todd: Wow, so I only new of the kiwi and of course the penguin, but I didn't know of other ones. So first the kiwi. It doesn't fly, right?Rachel: That's the famous one.Todd: Right.Rachel: They don't fly but they can run very fast. I've seen them.Todd: Liike and are the kiwi all over? Like are there different types of kiwi?Rachel: Yeah, there are several different varieties. They're very rare though, and they're nocturanal.Todd: Oh, nocturnal.Rachel: I'd say most New Zealanders have never seen one in the wild. I've only seen them in Kiwi parks.Todd: Oh, really.Rachel: Yeah, you don't see them.Todd: So, I thought they'd be like kangaroos in Australia, or something like you go and there's one.Rachel: No, they're very precious and very rare. One that you see more often is the pukeko which is ... it looks a little bit like a stork I suppose except it's dark blue.Todd: What's it called?Rachel: Pukeko.Todd: Pukeko.Rachel: Ah, yeah, and they're a lot more commom. And takahe is another oneTodd: So the first one ...Rachel: You can see them along the side of the road. When you're driving through the countryside they're much more common.Todd: So this pukeko, does it fly?Rachel: No, they don't fly.Todd: Really, and it's like a stork. It has long legs?Rachel: It has quite long legs. Yeah, it a very cute little bird, but it's very dark.Todd: How tall is it? Like up to your knee? Up to your hip?Rachel: Up to your knees.Todd: Really.Rachel: Cute little bird.Todd: That's awesome. So what was the other one you mentioned?Rachel: Takahe. It's very similar looking to that one. It's a little different. It's difficult to tell apart.Todd: Really, and it's also kind of dark blueish.Rachel: Yeah, another one's a kakapo. A very famous one. It's New Zealand's flightless green parrot. It's kind of like a large fat parrot that lives on the ground.Todd: Really.Rachel: It's extremely rare. I'm not sure what the numbers are now, but around twenty years ago I think there were only 45 leftTodd: Oh, that is rare.Rachel: Extremely rare, so there's an intensive breeding program for them, and of course nobody's seen those in the wild.Todd: Yeah, you have to be careful or it'll go like the way of the Tasmanian tiger.Rachel: Yeah, they breed and they nest on the ground. They lay their eggs on the ground, so they're very vulnerable to introduced predators, to any animals.Todd: Yeah, I know that, you don't have snakes, but I know that snakes when they got into Guam they like decimated the bird population.Rachel: Yep. That's what would happen and that's why New Zealand immigration customs is very strict about what kind of animals you can bring in. We don't even have snakes in zoos.Todd: That's smart.Rachel: Michael Jackson famously came to New Zealand in the 1980's and wanted to bring his pet snake with him and he wasn't allowed to.Todd: Oh, good on you.Rachel: There were no exceptions to that rule.Todd: Are there any other birds that don't fly? For example do you have penguins?Rachel: Oh, yes, there's lots of penguins in New Zealand.Todd: In the south right?Rachel: Yeah, in the south. Oh, they come up to the north sometimes.Todd: Really, that far north?Rachel: Yeah, occasionally. The big colonies are down south.Todd: Ah, that's amazing. How cool. Any other birds that don't fly?Rachel: Not that I can think of off the top of my head. I'd have to look it up on the Internet.Todd: No, that's still though ... that's quite a few. That's so nice.Rachel: The most famous was the moa of course.Todd: The moa?Rachel: Which is an ostrich sized bird.Todd: Oh, really.Rachel: Yeah, but they were ... they were killed off before Europeans arrived in New Zealand.Todd: Oh, easy hunting.Rachel: They were easy hunting. Yeah. And a big feast.Todd: It's funny how when you go to a place, you really want to see like a local animal, so last year I went to the Middle East. I went to U.A.E and Oman, and I just wanted to see a camel. I wanted to see a camel so bad, and I thought like I'd go down the road..Rachel: Everyone drives a Mercedes these days.Todd: and there'd be a camel, and I was kind of going out in the countryside. I wasn't just in the city, and I never saw a camel, and I was asking people that work there, and they're like, "yeah, you do see them" but I was just so heartbroken that I never saw a camel.Rachel: Ooh!Todd: It's one of my favorite animals. I just think they look so cool, so when I go to New Zealand, I have to make sure I see a kiwi.Rachel: But you'll have to go to the kiwi house.Todd: The Kiwi House.Rachel: The Kiwi House it's called. Or just look up zoos.Todd: And they got 'em?Rachel: Yep, they got 'em there. But you won't just see them driving around.

Todd: So Rachel, you are from New Zealand, correct?Rachel: Yes, that's right.Todd: Now when I lived in London many years ago my roommate was from New Zealand. Really nice guy, and he had the coolest job. He would ride around motorbike in New Zealand. In the bush as he called it. The wild as we sayRachel: The bush.Todd: The bush. And his job was to just kill invasive species. That was his job. Just go out and plant traps for rabbits.Rachel: Yes, that's right. Actually, I have a friend how does that now.Todd: Really?Rachel: Yes.Todd: So it's that big of a problem? You have to like ...Rachel: It's a huge problem, yeah.Todd: Really, like so what animals are a problem?Rachel: Rabbits like you mentioned. Possums are a big problem in the bush because they eat a lot of the native plantsTodd: We have possums too in America in Northern California and they are disgusting. I love animals but they're one animal I don't like. They just ... they're nasty.Rachel: There's a big possum hunt in many areas every year and they're starting to sell the pelts as fur because they're not a protected species so there's no limits on how much you can catch and how much fur you can sell.Todd: Yeah, and they often have rabies right? At least in the states we have to be very careful.Rachel: No we don't have rabies in New Zealand.Todd: Oh, that's good to know.Rachel: So ...Todd: Yeah, we have crazy stories of possums or raccoons having rabies, so when you see one, like they tell you, do not touch it, don't go near it, because if you get bit you're ... Yeah, I got bit a dog while I was in Thailand and had to get the rabies shot and it was not fun.Rachel: Oh, that sounds awful.Todd: Yeah, and luckily for me I went in to get the shot because I didn't know about really rabies. I wasn't educated about it, and I thought well, the dog just bit me a little bit, but I better go and check and the doctor was like, "Oh, now, it can kill you" like "Yeah, you better get it checked out."Rachel: This is one of the reasons we have very strict import laws in New Zealand. We've seen the damage that can be done, and we're very strict now. Rabies is one of the diseases that we don't have and very keen not to ever have.Todd: So you have a problem with possums and with rabbits.Rachel: Rabbits on farms. There are also wild deer and boar in the forests who also do a lot of damage and stray cats and dogs as well also kill a lot of native species. There are no native animals in New Zealand. The only mammals that are native to New Zealand are dolphins and bats, so there are no natural hunters except for hawks. So the birds, a lot of the birds have lost the ability to fly and they nest on the ground, so they're enormously vulnerable to predator species like cats and dogs. They've almost completely decimated many bird species, so that's why they're hunters throughout New Zealand who are basically given free range to shoot whatever they can find because they're so destructive to the natural environment.Todd: Yeah, I think I read somewhere where you have some campaign to have like no predators by a certain year, right like a new thing in New Zealand.Rachel: I haven't heard of that but I wouldn't be surprised. I think that's always been a goal.Todd: I think it was ... it was in the news. I'll have to check so I could be wrong, but I think it was 2050 is the goal of the government to have no predators.Rachel: That would be amazing.Todd: And they said the big one is dogs and cats. That's like the sticking point.Rachel: They're starting to get much stricter about controlling cats and dogs now. Keeping cats inside and keeping dogs leashed, so that they don't run off into the bush and cause a lot of problems.Todd: But dogs I think are probably more domesticated. They're probably not as dangerous, but cats are basically ... they're not that domesticated. They're still natural hunters.Rachel: Yeah, we keep them with us to hunt, you know, pests like mice. They live with us, so yeah, they catch a lot of birds, but with the birds nesting on the ground and unable to fly, it's very easy for the dogs to kill them as well.Todd: Oh, I see. And dogs can just be naughty sometimesRachel: Heck yes. They runoff.Todd: So what do you think? Do you think your country can achieve this goal - no predators - by 2050?Rachel: It sounds very challenging. I think at present, only some of the offshore islands are completely pest free. Well, no predators yeah that's not quite the same as no pests because pests also include things like rabbits and possums and deer that don't eat the native species so just predator-free might be a bit more achievable I think.

Todd: Hey Jen, we're talking about technology. I'm curious. How many times do you check your email every day?Jen: Nowadays I check it every day because I have so many emails coming from my company so I have to be updated, but in the past, I would not check it for like, I would just check it two or three times a week. How about you?Todd: Yes, actually I brought that up because I think this is an interesting generational shift. I don't check Facebook and all that stuff that much, but my generation, we check email multiple times a day for work like you just said. But the younger generation from what I understand, you guys don't even use email.Jen: Yeah, like if you asked me the same question two months ago I would say I hardly check my emails because everything, like all the conversation I have, it's all on Facebook or some other social media, not emails. I think that's very old school.Todd: Yeah. So you do like text messaging, LINE, WhatsApp?Jen: Yeah, all of that.Todd: All of that. How many accounts do you have actively, that you actively use?Jen: Wait. Maybe ... I actively use five of them, but I have eight of them, yeah.Todd: Wow, you can manage that. The reason I don't do it, I imagine that you just must get a message like every 20 seconds.Jen: Not every 20 seconds, unless you're dating, but yeah, you get a lot of messages.Todd: Really? And that doesn't drive you crazy? That doesn't like bother you?Jen: I think in the beginning it was like too much, but now we have just gotten like used to it. It's just very normal for us. It's like you checking your mail three times a day, which is crazy for me.Todd: Yeah, but still. Here the thing is I don't like the phone. I think we've talked about this before. My generation was the fingers generation, so we used our fingers to type. And the younger generation, you use your thumb. And to me it's really slow and just painstaking to do, to communicate with your thumb on the phone.Jen: Really? Because for me I think it's faster than typing.Todd: I know. Actually, I see you guys and it's amazing. I see my students how fast they can use their phone, and it's phenomenal to me. It's like blurry, it's so fast.Jen: I think if you start using your phone more and not your PC then you would be fast at it too, because even if I were to check my mails I don't do it from my PC, I actually do reply to all my emails from my phone itself.Todd: Wow. Actually no, I think it's not true because I've tried. I think it's because I'm older. My phone gets stiff. I mean my phone ... My thumb gets stiff like arthritis or something like it literally stops moving. That's why I'm amazed.Jen: Maybe it's just in your head.Todd: I physically can't do it. No, no, I really like, and when I type I could type really fast, touch type, but I cannot move my thumb that fast. The more, the longer I try I get thumb fatigue like my thumb just stops, the joint won't work anymore.Jen: For me, it's very difficult for me to type really fast. I would rather use my thumb and text.Todd: No, that's cool. Now, these days I don't know if you've realized but you can do voice typing. Have you tried that? Google Docs for example, you don't even have to type anymore. You can just talk in a microphone and with no special software and Google Docs will type what you say.Jen: But then again you have to be very clear because it always makes a lot of mistakes.Todd: Yeah, but you know what's amazing about it, is I had, I was doing it with my students and then I was going to have my student do it and the voice recorder wouldn't take their voice, it would only take my voice.Jen: I think it's because the ...Todd: The user account name?Jen: Yeah, the user account name can only recognize your voice because that's been saved first.Todd: Right, so it saves the first voice, then another one won't work.Jen: Yeah, I guess.Todd: So that brings up the question, technology gets better and better and better. Do you think typing will be obsolete, will be gone in five, 10 years?Jen: I cannot really say but maybe no, not in 10 years. Maybe 20 to 30 years, yes, but not in 10 years, because I think still people are more comfortable writing their books and stuff like reports, just typing. Everybody doesn't like to talk a lot.Todd: True. Yeah, I think there's a different mental process when you type and it's just when you just speak it goes away.Jen: Yeah.

Todd: Okay, so, Jen, we're gonna talk about media and technology, phones and music, things like that. So the first one is, how addicted are you to your phone? How long can you go without using your phone?Jen: That's a difficult question because I'm very, I would say I'm very addicted to my phone because I keep on checking it every five minutes. I feel like without my phone my head doesn't, my brain stops working, you know?Todd: Wow.Jen: I would say the maximum I can stay without it would be one or two hours.Todd: You've got to be kidding me.Jen: I mean, if you asked me in the past, yeah, I could stay without it for awhile, but nowadays, I don't even own a watch so that would be my time as well, so, I have to keep checking it. What about you?Todd: We are polar opposites. Actually, I am so bad about not using my phone, and that's a smartphone, actually, I have two. I have an Android Galaxy and I have an iPhone. I set them down and forget where they are, and go days without actually checking them sometimes. I'll go to work and somebody will be like, are you mad at me? I've been trying to reach you and you won't ... And I'm like, no, I'm not mad at you, why? I'm like, oh, I haven't checked my phone in two days.Jen: That sounds so crazy to me because I could never go without my phone for two days.Todd: Well, one, there's a couple of things. One, it's old school, right? And two, I get all my information on the Internet on a PC. So I'm working, so I get everything on the Internet, like Facebook, news, stuff like that. The computer, like you said, tells the time. So I actually forget about my phone.Jen: I think if I have a PC then I would also forget my phone.Todd: But your generation, it's all in your hand, right?Jen: That's right because it's more convenient.Todd: Have you heard the term second brain?Jen: No.Todd: Yeah, somebody at some teacher conference was saying that phones are students' second brain, so they use it, you hold it and you have two brains, one in your hands and one in your head.Jen: I would agree.Todd: It's weird. So how about music? How addicted are you to music? Do you have to have music playing all the time?Jen: Not all the time but then I would have to listen to music at least once a day because it just refreshes your mind and you can relieve your stress through music. But it depends upon what kind of music you have. What about you? Do you like listening to music?Todd: No. I do, but I'm not a music aficionado, and I always listen to the same ten songs. I think a lot of older people, we kind of get into that rut where I listen, honestly, to music. And I'm from the 80s, so I'm 48, I'm almost 50. So I love music from the 70s and 80s and that's all I listen to.Jen: That's understandable. Actually, I also have a lot of old songs, but I just don't listen, I just, it's not like I just keep on listening to that music. I actually keep on adding more music, more songs to it so that my playlist is updated every now and then. I think, if you have good music, you will actually be addicted to it. Maybe you don't have good music.Todd: No, the music from the 80s is good. Okay, so what about TV? Do you watch TV every day?Jen: Not so much because lately, I've been so busy at school so I cannot really, yeah, I don't watch much TV. But, during weekends, yeah, I do like to watch new movies or different series.Todd: What about, are you one of those people that will stay up till 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning just watching YouTube videos?Jen: Not YouTube videos but yes, if I'm addicted to some series then I would just binge watch and watch them till 5:00 in the morning.Todd: What shows do you watch?Jen: Shows. Recently I've been watching Suits, it's like, it's a new series and it's really good. You should try it, too.Todd: Okay, I'll have to check it out. Thanks.Jen: You're welcome, Todd.

Todd: Jen, we're talking about gifts. We were talking about giving gifts before. Now let's talk about receiving gifts. What is the best and worst gift you have received?Jen: Why don't you go first.Todd: Sure. Mine is easy. My step-father made a basketball hoop for me in our driveway. He made it for my birthday. It was pretty cool because, he put it up in one day. I had a car at that time, so I would have seen him making it, but I just came home one day, and there was a big basketball hoop with a big bow around it. It was on my birthday, and it was great. I used it every day and I had nieces and nephews. They used it. I had all my friends in the neighborhood come over. We had basketball tournaments. It was a really good gift.Jen: That's really cool. It's so nice of him that he would go through all that, and give you such a special gift.Todd: Yeah. The funny thing about it is, I think he really regretted it because, he wasn't thinking how loud a basketball would be when you bounce it. So when you would bounce the basketball, it made this really loud noise, echoing sound down the street. My dad was great. He was really cool.Jen: That's really nice.Todd: Yeah. It was nice. So how about you? Do you have a really special gift?Jen: For me, my special gift would be, my mom once made a suit. A pair of socks for me. They were really cute with little flowers on the right side of the socks. I would wear them every day when I was a kid. I though that was really special. I still have them in my bag.Todd: Oh really? Wow.Jen: Yeah. Winter is coming. I'm going to use it again.Todd: Socks wear out pretty easily. You've really kept them in good condition.Jen: Yeah. She probably used really good wool because, it's still there, and I still wear it a lot.Todd: That's great. What about a bad gift? Or a gift that you were not so crazy about.Jen: I don't know if it's okay to say I have a bad gift or something. But, yeah, once I did get a very big teddy bear from a friend who loved toys, by the way. She thought that I would love it as much as she did. She gave me this big toy, and I didn't know what to do with it. I was so embarrassed by it that I would actually hide it in my closet so that other friends cannot see it. Yeah. Every time she came to my house I would take it out and put it on my bed, but I hated that teddy.Todd: Oh no. Wow.Jen: What about your worst gift?Todd: Yeah. For me, a very close person to me, a good friend, bought me a shirt. It was lime green. It was so ugly. The texture also was really kind of rough. It had this ribbed texture. I knew the minute I saw it I would never wear it, ever. I felt bad because this person would come over to my house, and you could see where I kept my clothes in my closet. It was a very small room. That lime green shirt was just always there.Jen: That's so funny. What did you do with it? Did you wear it?Todd: I was thinking of a million ways to get rid of it. I would wear it occasionally if I knew my friend was going to come around and I wasn't going outside. I knew I had to wear it one or two times. Then, I used it to mop up some coffee once, and then I threw it out.Jen: What?Todd: I know.Jen: That's so crazy.Todd: I know. But, it wasn't quite so bad because there were actually two shirts. My friend bought the shirts, two for one, I guess. I still have the white shirt. But the lime green one, I got rid of. Yeah.Jen: You know what? You could have actually worn it during winter and put on a sweater on top of it, and then a coat or something. You didn't really have to do that. That's kind of mean.Todd: It is actually. It is mean. I don't know why, but for some reason, I really did not like the color. I just don't like lime green. I don't like neon colors, and I would see that bright, neon color all the time.Jen: I understand what you feel, but I do feel bad for your friend, though.Todd: I know. So am I a bad person?Jen: I don't know.Todd: No comment?Jen: No, you're not a bad person. Everyone has some problem with colors and stuff. I guess it's fine.Todd: Have you ever had something that just rubbed you the wrong way? For some reason, you look at it and it was an eyesore. You just hated looking at it. Like a piece of clothing, or maybe something in your house.Jen: Besides that toy I got, which I actually kind of like nowadays just because, it's with me and when I own something, after some time, I end up liking them because, they're mine, you know?Todd: Yeah. It grows on you.Jen: Exactly.Todd: Actually, just thinking about that lime shirt, it is growing on me now, and now I really regret it. I wish I had kept it.Jen: Too bad. You already spilled some coffee on it.

Todd: So, Jen, the holiday season is coming up, and many cultures give gifts around the New Year's for different holidays. First of all, do you like to give people gifts?Jen: What kind of a person would I be if I said, "No, I don't like people giving people gifts?" But yeah, I'm not really good at choosing gifts for people though.Todd: Why do you think that?Jen: Because every time I go and buy something for someone, I want to buy something that I like, and I would think that it would look good on them or something. But then my friends end up being like, you know? They don't really like the gift so much because it doesn't suit them, or something?Todd: Yeah.Jen: For example, I bought this pair of earrings for this friend, and then I realized that she doesn't really like jewelry and stuff, so she never wore it.Todd: Right, yeah. It's kind of hard to know what they want. Actually, for that reason, I don't like giving gifts at all. I think it's because of my background, like studying economics. It's just, to me, it's inefficient. You're buying something, you don't know if they really want it, and they say, "Oh. It's the thought that counts." But the time that you waste finding the gift and then you give them the gift, and maybe they don't use it. So I'm not a big fan of gift-giving. Even for birthdays.Jen: I actually agree with you. And for me, if it was my birthday, I would rather have someone make a card for me. It would have more value than someone buying gifts for me anyway, you know?Todd: Yeah. I think, like in Asia, it's more common, which I like. And that's kind of the gift you give to somebody when you travel. So if I travel somewhere, I'll pick something up for my mom, from a country I went to. Or somebody ... Let's say they went to Korea or China during their break, they might bring back some special food to the office, and everybody can have a cracker or a cookie, or something like that. I like that.Jen: I'm from Nepal, and here too. In my country too, they would rather give us like, fruits and like different kind of ... Other sweets and stuff rather than clothes and jewelry, you know?Todd: So true. Yeah, actually another thing I like to do is sometimes buy a really nice gift, and then for one year, and then maybe for the next year or two, don't buy the person a gift. For example, like maybe one year, I bought my landlady, who I'm very close to, I bought her an iPad. I'm like, "She's kind of older, and she never had an iPad." So I bought her an iPad, but then the next year, I didn't buy her something really expensive. I bought her like a box of chocolates or something, you know.Jen: In that case, I think it would create a problem, because once you give someone a really special thing, then the next year, they will expect something more, you know?Todd: Yeah.Jen: So like, it'll be really disappointing if they get something that's not very valuable than it was the year before.Todd: Yeah, it's kind of hard to climb back from that, isn't it?Jen: Yeah. Off an iPad? It would be bad.Todd: Though, she's a really nice woman. She definitely ... I don't think she thinks that way at all. She's actually better at giving me gifts. She's always giving me gifts. So, have you gotten any gifts recently for anybody? Are you already planning to get your gifts for the end of the year?Jen: I actually just presented a pair of shoes for my friend, because it was her birthday. The thing is, we don't really celebrate New Year at this time of year. It's kind of different for us, because we celebrate the Lunar ...Todd: Ah right, which is in April, right?Jen: Yes.Todd: Okay, cool.Jen: So haven't really thought about like Christmas gifts or anything.Todd: So in your country, in Nepal, like when do people give gifts? On what occasions?Jen: During our New Year. We have a lot of festivals, so more than gifts, we just invite people and ... you know? Gather around and eat good food, that's it.Todd: Yeah, that's the best.Jen: Yeah, I believe so too.

Todd: So I'm here with Shantel and we're talking about stereotypes or about images people have about Americans. We're both teachers in Japan and it's interesting what people think about Americans. So I want to bring up a touchy topic, guns.Shantel: Guns in America.Todd: Yeah, so I have to admit that my students also are shocked when I tell them that pretty much everybody that I know has shot a gun.Shantel: Yes.Todd: (laughs) And every family I know has a gun and it's really shocking when people hear that, but it's kind of true, I think.Shantel: Yeah, I think especially since you and I both are from rural towns.Todd: Rural areas, yeah.Shantel: But I grew up in a household that had several guns because my father is a hunter, so I think this is a little bit rare, the hunting at least, but I grew up and learned how to hunt along with my brother, and so for me it was, it was really normal to shoot a gun, to know how to be safe with a gun, to know when you can use it, how to clean it, things like this, and I think a lot of people in my town knew, a lot of, a lot of my friends and family members knew how to do it but in Japan, it's ... I if I tell someone that I have a gun in my home in America, the, the look on their face is-Todd: Yeah.Shantel: ... like horror, scared-Todd: Yeah.Shantel: ... very confused, why would anyone have a gun? And, I think I can understand because in Japan that is just not the case, guns are not as common or as readily available to the public in general.Todd: Yeah, and I have to admit like I grew up on a farm and we had, you know, rifles and shotguns and we had them for either hunting or we actually had them for, to protect livestock like animals on the farm, but we never really used them. Well, actually I shouldn't say that we could use them for target practice and we would, if we were bored, sometimes we would go out in the field and have, you know, try to hit tin cans or something. That was kind of how we would pass the time. But I have to admit, I was always freaked out when I saw handguns. I didn't like handguns, I never did.Shantel: Oh, aha.Todd: I don't know why, it just was like, you know, you'd see somebody would have one on a shelf or something like that and I thought, "Oh, wow, that's kind of weird." But the rifles and shotguns never bothered me at all.Shantel: Yeah, no, I actually with that too I could agree because I also at home we do have a handgun and I, for me ... Well, maybe for me target practice was not so exciting for me, and so with handguns that would be typically what people would use them for is target practice. And I yeah, I don't know, I was never really drawn to them either, I typically I enjoyed using shotguns for trap shooting or clay pigeon shooting. And that, that was really fun because it's like a game, it's a sport, and it's the noise wasn't so loud, so my ears didn't hurt too much so-Todd: Okay, so another thing that you know we're both teachers in Japan, so another thing that I think is shocking for the students is I would tell them that I had a car in high school and I drove to high school starting at 16. So I was quite young and I was driving at 15, and what really shocked them ... Well, I'm a, a bit older than you ... is that I actually got my driver's license at high school, I actually had a free class I took and we had a building with like a simulator. We actually got it for free, I don't think they do it anymore. Yeah, so back in the day, and our parking lot was full of cars. I think that's very rare in most places in the world, that high school kids drive to school.Shantel: Yes, yes, I agree and I, just like you, my students too have been very surprised that when I tell them that I started driving. I started a, a little bit later at 15 and a half, 16, but still that is much younger compared to 20 or in Italy it's 18. So most students or most people have finished high school and then they start driving, it seems and at least in European countries and here in Japan, and so yeah, they're always shocked and some teachers will ask me like, "Oh, what was it like driving when you're 16? My daughter is 16, I would never let her drive." And I say, "Oh, it was okay, I practiced with my parents and I scared them half to death a few times but we, I'm still alive, they're still alive, everyone's okay (laughing)."Todd: Yeah, I know looking back, wow, especially when you're young. Um, another thing I think that's really different would be just the social relationships when you're young. So, you know, kids would hold hands, sometimes kids would kiss if you're boyfriend and girlfriend in public, at school. And I think in Japan that would be very rare.Shantel: Oh, so rare, oh so rare.Todd: That would really be risque, they would really be throwing ..., yeah, so their relationships were definitely different.

Todd: So I'm here with Shantel, and we both are from the United States. And we both are teachers in Japan. So I thought we would talk a little bit about some of the stereotypes that people might have in other countries, for example Japan, or other countries about Americans. So first, we're going to talk about hamburgers.Shantel: Okay.Todd: Okay, so hamburgers. How often do you actually eat a hamburger?Shantel: Uh, hamburgers. I would say, it's actually not that often, although I love hamburgers. I love them very much, but maybe only a couple times a month or so.Todd: Yeah, I agree. I think hamburgers is the one thing that does not meet the stereotype, that we don't eat them that often. Like, I never have hamburgers in America.Shantel: Ah, okay.Todd: Pretty much never. Like, I'll have them if somebody's barbecuing it, maybe for a picnic, or something. Um, yeah. And if I do eat fast food it's usually not a hamburger.Shantel: Oh.Todd: I eat something else. Like, I eat tacos or burritos, right.Shantel: Yeah.Todd: I don't eat hamburgers. So that's one. I think hamburgers don't really match the stereotype myth.Shantel: Yeah. I agree.Todd: Do you agree?Shantel: I agree, especially because I know many, many of my students here in Japan, they will ask me often, what I eat for lunch. And before I respond, cause they're playing a joke on me, they'll say like, "Oh, hamburger? Hamburger?"Todd: (laughs), yeah.Shantel: And I have to tell them that, you know, now I do live in Japan, but in the United States I don't typically eat hamburgers every day.Todd: Yeah.Shantel: But that is a lot of what they think. They think that I eat hamburgers regularly or, at least, fast food but their image of fast food is only hamburgers.Todd: So true. And actually,the funny side story to that, or contrary story would be you know, sushi. So we both teach in Japan, and I think most people think that you eat sushi all the time in Japan. And that's almost the equivalent of the hamburger. You don't eat it that much.Shantel: That is so true.Todd: Right?Shantel: So true. I cannot say how true that is.Todd: Or uh, another one, we're talking about um, stereotypes would be sumo. So Japanese people are not that into sumo, really, right, but it's an iconic thing. So that brings us to the point of baseball.Shantel: Ah, yes.Todd: So do you actually like baseball?Shantel: I do. I love baseball. I do, and I used to go to some games in the United States, in San Francisco. I went to several Giants games growing up, yeah. So I do enjoy baseball. Do you enjoy baseball?Todd: I do. I have to admit, like I played you know, baseball when I was younger. I loved baseball, but I do think it's not as popular as people think it is.Shantel: Ah.Todd: You know what I mean?Shantel: Yes.Todd: I think that like, a lot of people like it. You like it, I like it. But a lot of people could care less.Shantel: Yes.Todd: About baseball.Shantel: Most of the time I think I hear people say it's, it's a slow sport, it's boring. No one wants to watch it.Todd: Right.Shantel: They're much more inclined to watch basketball or football instead of baseball.Todd: So true.

Todd: Okay, so I'm here with Jen and we're talking about clothing. Now, Jen, I'm a bit older than you, so I probably don't really care about what I wear so much. I always kind of pay the same price for my clothing. So I'm wondering, what's it like for a younger person? How much are you willing to pay? What is your price range?Jen: It depends upon like what you're buying. For example, if it's a pair of jeans then I would pay around 4,000 yen, that's Japanese yen. $40?Todd: Oh really? That's still relatively cheap. Like some people pay like $100, right? Or $200.Jen: I don't think I would ever pay that much because I'm a student right now,so paying more than that would be something I wouldn't do.Todd: Well what about in your home country of Nepal? How much would people pay for pants there?Jen: In Nepal, like compared to Japan, it's really cheap there. You can actually get a really decent pant in 1,500 yen.Todd: That's like $15.Jen: Yes.Todd: Around. Oh that's good. What's the cheapest you would pay? I mean, I guess you could get stuff for free, but what's the lowest you pay for clothes? Or for pants? For pants?Jen: Okay, so sometimes when there's a sale and especially if there's shorts then you can just get it for like 500 yen.Todd: Oh wow. Five bucks.Jen: Like five bucks, yeah.Todd: That's good. Now what about shoes? Do you have a lot of shoes?Jen: Yes I do.Todd: Okay, for some people like shoes they spend a lot of money on shoes. I have a rule, unless it's dress shoes for work, I don't like to spend anything over $100. If it's athletic shoes, like sneakers, never more than $50. Ever.Jen: Okay.Todd: Like how much do you on average pay for shoes?Jen: I think it's different for girls, because our shoes range from $10 to, you know, a lot of money.Todd: What's the most you've ever paid for a pair of shoes?Jen: $100.Todd: Oh really? That's not too bad.Jen: Yeah, it's not bad at all.Todd: Yeah, no, that's good. Kind of good range. How about the cheapest? Five bucks?Jen: Not five bucks, maybe 10 bucks, yeah.Todd: 10 bucks, yeah. All right. I don't even know if I could find shoes for five dollars. They'd fall apart, right?Jen: You can, though.Todd: Oh yeah?Jen: Yeah. On sale you can even get it in like three bucks.Todd: Okay. That brings up a good question because we're talking about shoes. How important is fashion for you? Are you willing to wear uncomfortable clothing to look good?Jen: Not always, because I really like comfort. I would rather wear pajamas and go out than, like you know, wear something really uncomfortable. But it depends, like if you're going to a party then you would obviously want to look good and wouldn't really care about comfort much. But in a daily basis, I would go for comfort always.Todd: Okay. Nice. How about for example, jewelry? Do you like to wear necklaces, earrings, rings, things like that?Jen: No, I'm not much of an accessories person.Todd: Okay. Now in your home country, Nepal, is it common for people to wear a lot of jewelry?Jen: Yes, they do.Todd: Oh yeah? Oh, okay. What do people like to wear?Jen: Everyone prefers gold I guess, because it's like people think that if you wear gold then you are rich. And yeah, gold, silver, and some wear diamonds.Todd: Okay, nice. Nice. I don't have any jewelry, I don't think. Oh wow, I didn't even realize that. I don't have one piece of jewelry.Jen: Really?Todd: Yeah, I have no rings. No necklaces. I have a broken watch. But yeah.Jen: Don't you ever feel like buying one though? Don't you ever follow a trend and thought about piercing your ears or something?Todd: That would be interesting, piercing my ears. You know, when I was your age, which was about over 20 years ago, it was just starting to happen that boys or men would pierce their ears. But it was a bit controversial, it wasn't like it's common now. So yeah.Jen: What about necklaces?Todd: Yeah, I used to have a necklace, yeah. And I just stopped wearing them, it's just not a thing. Yeah. How about you? Would you like to have piercings? Like do you have, you have earrings, right?Jen: Yes, I do, but I rarely use them because at some point it's just hurts and you just feel like you don't really need it, so yeah.Todd: What about in your country, do people have piercings in different places like eyelids or lips or ... ? Like a nose ring?Jen: Yeah, they have nose ring and then they also pierce their ears, like in so many different places. But I've never really seen anyone really piercing their eyelids or stuff. I would want to pierce my-Todd: Belly button? The belly button?Jen: Yes.Todd: Oh my gosh, that looks like it would hurt.Jen: I know-Todd: So much.Jen: -but I really want to do it.Todd: Really? All right, well, just be careful.Jen: Okay, I will

Todd: Hey Jenn, how are you today?Jen: Hi Todd, I'm fine thank you. How are you?Todd: I am doing pretty good. It's kind of getting colder, so I like that, I don't like super hot weather.Jen: Really, it's kind of opposite for me because I really hate that it's getting colder day by day.Todd: Oh you don't like the cooler weather?Jen: No, my fingers start swelling and it's really tough because you cannot really go outside. You just want to stay in your bed all day, you become very unproductive I guess.Todd: Yeah, I guess I can kind of ... Yeah, I know what you mean by that. But, at least in the winter, at least in the fall you can wear warmer clothes so I enjoy that. Although I don't like having to do so much laundry because you wear so many more clothes. In summer, it's just so easy to do your laundry I think.Jen: Yeah, you're talking about warmer clothes. But the thing is, if it was summer you wouldn't really feel like wearing any warm clothes at all because that would be unnecessary. That's why I would rather go for summer than winter.Todd: Well I know, but what I'm saying is that in the summer you don't have to wear so many clothes. You just have a tee-shirt, shorts, that's about it, pants.Jen: Yeah, and your laundry problem would also not exist.Todd: Exactly. Although, I don't have that many clothes anyway. I have the same three pairs of pants that I wear, so that's the benefit of being much older. How about you, do you have lots of clothes?Jen: Yeah, but I think even if I was older I would still have a lot of clothes. Maybe it has to do with me always shopping all the time.Todd: Actually, what do you do with your clothes for the season? Do you pack away your clothes for the season? Do you pack away your winter clothes or your summer clothes?Jen: Yes, actually during winter I pack all my summer clothes and tuck it away somewhere. And during summer, I do the opposite yeah.Todd: Yeah, I now am regretting it so much because in the summer it was so hot this summer and I had these big sweatpants and sweaters and they were taking up space in my closet and I just threw them away. And I knew winter was coming and I would regret it, and now I regret it because I have to go buy all new sweatshirts.Jen: Why would you do that?Todd: I just hate clutter and yeah, it was really short-sighted wasn't it?Jen: Yeah, it was. I'm so sorry, but yeah I'm being blunt but you should have just packed it and put it somewhere you couldn't see so it didn't bother you that much.Todd: I know. About clothing, how often do you keep clothes? So, you're young but you've reached, you're not going to grow too much anymore, right? You can keep your clothes a long time. Unlike me, unless I get fatter, I'm not going to grow any taller because I'm so much older. I keep my clothes sometimes for like ten years.Jen: Ten years?Todd: Yeah. What about your parents? I bet your dad has shirts and pants that he's had for ten years.Jen: Yeah, that's true actually my dad does use old clothes. But sometimes I also use his clothes because I think it's kind of cool.Todd: It is cool.Jen: It's like recycling.Todd: That's sweet, like so what is a piece of clothing that your dad has that you wear sometimes?Jen: Actually the jacket that I was wearing yesterday, I got it from my dad and I wear it so much because I love it.Todd: But so , it's a woman's jacket?Jen: No, it's a guy's jacket but I wear it.Todd: Oh really, it was his jacket?Jen: Yes.Todd: Oh really? Okay, that is cool.Jen: And I miss him a lot so that just reminds me of him and that's why I like to wear it a lot.Todd: That's really nice. How about your mom, do you share clothes with your mother?Jen: I'm very thin and she's not so thin, so we cannot share the same clothes.Todd: Yeah. My stepfather and I used to always be the same size, and now I'm a little bit bigger than him. And he says that his pants are only 34 inches, which is quite small in America, and I'm like there's no way. It looks like we're the same size, but we're not I guess.Jen: I mean I could wear my moms clothes, like I did my dad's, because, but then you cannot really do that because if you wear your mom's clothes it will just look like you borrowed clothes from someone. But if you wear your dad's clothes it will look cooler I guess.Todd: Right, yeah. I know what you mean. That's cool, how about your friends, do you share clothes with your friends?Jen: No, not with my friends but with my cousins, sisters, yeah.Todd: Oh really, oh nice.

Todd: So what are some fun holidays you celebrate in Australia?Megen: Well, we have Australia Day. And it is a public holiday, so on that day we go to the beach, and we do various Australian kind of things. We have barbecues and picnics, and it's a day to wear the flag colors.Todd: So it's your patriotic day?Megen: Yeah, it is.Todd: Like our fourth of July.Megen: Yes, yeah, like that. We don't usually have fireworks though.Todd: Oh, because of fires?Megen: No, I don't know why we don't, but I guess fireworks are popular on the Fourth of July right?Todd: They are, although these days they don't do it so much because of fires.Megen: Oh, it's summer in July.Todd: Right, so it's dangerous. ... what about other holidays like for example Valentine's Day? Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?Megen: Yeah, we do.Todd: Is it a romantic day?Megen: Yeah, so for Valentine's Day, usually you'll go out with your partner for dinner ... usually chocolate and flowers. It's pretty extravagant actually. The flowers are becoming more and more extravagant, and people like to send bunches of flowers to their partners work, and there's decorations and a lot of the products in the store are aimed at Valentine's Day I think.Todd: What do you think of Valentine's Day?Megen: Well, I didn't want to get caught up in everything when I was in Australia. I would go out for dinner sometimes, but nothing big.Todd: Now in Japan they have two days. They have Valentine's Day and they have White Day. Can you explain that?Megen: Yeah, well, I was surprised that is the day when the girls are supposed to give something to the boys.Todd: Right, it's reversed.Megen: Yeah, because I think in Australia on Valentine's Day, it's very important for boys to give something to girls, but not necessarily as important for girls to give something for boys.Todd: So when do boys give something to girls?Megen: So that is what White Day is for. So the White Day is the day is the day for the boys to reciprocate the action of giving chocolate or something to their partner, and the students are school as well, they will exchange chocolates or candies that they've made and they will give something back on White Day.Todd: Yeah, it's kind of nice how they flip it around. I actually like that it's broken up.Megen: It gives you time to think about what to do, maybe.Todd: Right, exactly.

Todd: So Megen we are talking about Holidays and Christmas and in the last interview we talked the difference between Christmas in a cold country and a warm country, so now I thought we would talk about Christmas in countries that aren't really Christian countries. They don't really celebrate it for religious reasons. So we're in Japan and it's interesting that in Japan it's a romantic day, right?Megen: Yes. Yeah, it is.Todd: It's like Valentine's DayMegen: Yes, you have to spend Christmas with your partner.Todd: Right, and everybody looks forward to it - to go out on a date and give each other gifts, and yeah.Megen: Yeah, yeah, I think the fireworks are for the boyfriend and girlfriend and I think, and I think there are a lot of decorations that are similar to like Valentine's actually.Todd: Yeah, it's interesting because they have the Christmas decoration everywhere, but nobody gets the day off. No families celebrate it really.Megen: Yeah, it's a regular day.Todd: Except eating the chicken dinner, which we talked about -- the fried chicken dinner. Yeah, so it's kind of like one of those like I call it a soft holiday. Like in America a soft holiday would be St Patrick's Day. Like everybody has to go to work but you do something that day related to the holiday even though you have no historical connection to it at all.Megen: Ah, I see.Todd: So for example on St Patrick's Day you drink green beer and you wear green. Like, do you do that in Australia?Megen: Ah, that started to become a thing in Australia that the bars do tend to have green beer, and you have green clothing that you might wear and people go out. It's definitely a drinking holiday. Not a holiday though.Todd: Right, are there any other holidays that you've absorbed into Australia?Megen: Well, people are starting to celebrate Halloween more these days and people take their kids trick or treating.Todd: Oh, really?Megen: Yeah! Not everyone does it, though I think that some people like to put a sign on their front door to say that trick-or-treaters are welcome because generally, we don't do that kind of thing in Australia, but the departments, the department stores are having more decorations and it's definitely infiltrating from America I think.Todd: Oh, that's interesting. So, in America Halloween is a big time to have parties. Do you have parties?Megen: I think more and more people are having parties. They have their own party in their house with decorations and costumes, but it's hard to say how many people celebrate Halloween really.Todd: Well, what about costumes? Did you wear a costume?Megen: I never wore a costume in Australia. I had never celebrated Halloween, but I noticed that some of my friends, and friends with children, they are celebrating it more, and it's becoming just a chance to have a party and dress up.Todd: As an English teacher did you dress up here in Japan?Megen: Yes, I did actually. Twice.Todd: Oh, you did. Did you like it?Megen: I did. It was fun to dress up. I dressed up as a character from a Jubilee movie, and it was really good to get together with my friends and to go out. Have you ever dressed up before?Todd: Oh, countless times. Countless. Yeah, so as a kid it was a big thing definitely in America.

Todd: So Megen, we are both teachers, English teachers in Japan, and we both come from countries that have Christmas, but Christmas is so different in Japan than in our home countries, so I thought we would talk about that.Megen: Yeah, absolutely. It's particularly different to Australia because we have ... we have it in summer.Todd: Oh, that's right. So it's a beautiful summer holiday, right?Megen: It is, though when it gets hotter here in Japan, I start to feel that it's getting into the Christmas season.Todd: Oh, right! So summer is Christmas.Megen: Yes, yeah.Todd: That's so cool. Do you still do the Christmas tree and the gifts under the tree?Megen: We do and we have a lot of the same Christmas traditions, but the food is pretty different. We eat a lot of fresh fruits, and we have like fresh prawns. I guess you might call them shrimps.Todd: Right, no we call them prawns too. Prawns or shrimp. Wow! That's interesting. You know, it's cool that you brought upfood because we're both in Japan and I think it's very interesting that in Japan the Christmas dinner is fried chicken.Megen: Yeah! I can't imagineeating KFC or any kind of chicken for Christmas.Todd: Now did you know about this before you came to Japan?Megen: I didn't actually. I was shocked when I heard about it.Todd: Yeah, I didn't believe it at first, and then when I came to Japan, I saw the long lines outside KFC, and I thought, wow, this really is a thing. And now in Japan, not only do they have KFC chicken, but everywhere. So the supermarkets make fried chicken. The convenience stores have fried chicken. Other hamburger stores have fried chicken, all just for Christmas.Megen: Yeah, yes, I don't think we usually eat chicken. Maybe some families would eat roast chicken, but usually, we eat cold meats.Todd: Oh, right, so Australia is fresh fruit, shrimp, and cold meats.Megen: Yeah, we have a few Australian desserts that I haven't seen in any other countries, but I think in Australia there's a lot of variety though, so my family in particular, that's what we eat, but I think every family is different. How about in America?Todd: Ah, in America it's very close to Thanksgiving, so usually you have a big bird, so you have turkey or chicken or ham. Ham is a big one. So you might have baked ham. But you have lots of sweets, lots of cakes, Christmas cakes, pies, cookies. Things like that. So everybody gains a lot of weight. Do you eat a lot of sweets for Christmas in Australia?Megen: Well, I imagine they eat more baked goods in America, but we eat a lot of cold, like a parfait, kind of desserts. With a mix of like sponge cake and jelly and cream, and we do eat cookies and different like chocolate sweets, and yeah, I think we do some baking but, yeah, not so many pies.Todd: So in Australia, because it's so warm, do you spend the day at the beach?Megen: We do! Yeah, a lot of people have pools. Their own pools, so they will go swimming in their backyard, or they'll go to the beach, or play cricket outside.Todd: That's great! So do you barbecue? Is Barbecue a common way?Megen: Yeah! Especially for Christmas. It's really great to be outside. And there are barbecues you can use near the beach or in the parks, so a lot of people go outside and mingle with the locals. It's great.Todd: Oh, that's fantastic. So in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas is often associated with snow, so you have the snowman and things like that. Do you have those types of decorations in Australia?Megen: We do! Although we don't have any snow, we still have the snow decoration. And usually, Santa Claus still wears the long sleeve winter clothing, although we do have our own version of Santa Claus, which wears singlets and shorts.Todd: That's nice. So you've lived in a country with a warm Christmas and a country with a cold Christmas. Which do you prefer?Megen: Well, I think because I've spent so many Christmases in Australia, that I still feel like it's Christmas when it gets warmer, and when I see things like peaches and watermelon in the season I want to celebrate Christmas.Todd: That's so cool.Megen: Do you want to experience a Christmas in Australia?Todd: I do. I do! That is definitely on my bucket list now, to have a warm-weather Christmas.Megen: It would be so strange for you!

Todd: Do you feel pressure to get certain gifts for your kids?Aimee: I ... sometimes. Sometimes. Thankfully they ... it's not ... there's not too much pressure where we live right now, so I don't feel too much pressure and I also work hard to fight against it. Yeah. Every year I tell myself, "OK, they're so young. We have so much stuff already. We don't need to go crazy with gifts. Just get one or two" and we do that and then last minute is like "Oh, no! We don't have many gifts" and then we end up buying a few more, so... We're not as bad as we could be. There's not as much pressure as there could be.Todd: Yeah. I'm lucky in that I live in Japan. You know, we both teach in Japan. So my family's in America, so Christmas usually always falls like the day after we finish school, so I can't actually make it home in time for Christmas, which is awesome because then I don't have to buy gifts for everybody. And I don't mind ... its not the money. I don't mind spending the money, but I really don't like shopping, and I hate having ... I have a huge family. Huge!Aimee: Right.Todd: So the thought of having to buy 20 different gifts!Aimee: It's a lot of gifts.Todd: Oh, really it's not the cost either, it's just I'm too lazy to think of "Oh, what sweater can I buy this person or ..." it's not my thing. And I don't want gifts and I don't want to give gifts.Aimee: Well, you know that's fair.Todd: How about you? Are gifts still something special for you?Aimee: I'm not ... I'm not very good at it. I'm trying to improve cause I know a well-thought-out gift can mean the world to someone, so I'm trying to improve. Yeah, but I'm not the best. I don't mind, I'm not like. I won't fall out with someone if they don't get me a present. I'm not like that.Todd: Well, like, I like getting people birthday gifts, I have to admit that. Birthday gifts I like. It's just having to buy twenty, thirty gifts within a one-month period to me just seems obscene.Aimee: I know, and that's the pressure people are under cause that's the way it is, isn't it? And it's always ... it's always the mothers of the family that have to do it as well right? They're the ones that have to make sure they buy all the gifts for everyone, so they feel they have so much to do. That mental list of everything, and everyone they have to buy for, of course they have to organize it, so they maybe start earlier, right, and taking advantage of things like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are manageable ways to deal with that load.Todd: You've changed my mind. I was very anti-both but now that you put it that way, maybe you're right.Aimee: I don't know.Todd: Let's go!

Aimee: OK, so hey Todd, so I have a question. I've noticed recently in the U.K. that this holiday called Black Friday has appeared, and this is a new thing for us. I don't really know why it has appeared. I think it is American. Shops just give super discounts in November and people are going crazy for like TVs and stuff. Do you have experience with this?Todd: Yeah, unfortunately, I think it is one of our worst exports. Like I am not a fan of Black Friday. We've had it now probably for like ten or twenty years. I can't remember but it started where the department stores would have these massive sales on Friday which is the day after Thanksgiving, which is always on a Thursday in November.Aimee: Ah, that's the connection. OK, after Thanksgiving.Todd: Right, and I think it was called Black Friday because that was the day that the stores could show that they had a profit for the year, or something like that.Aimee: OK, so it's blatantly all about money?Todd: Oh, totally and originally, what they would do is they would entice people with really good bargains, but then they kept ratcheting upthe bargain, so now they have these really, really low teaser products, like they only offer ten TVs or something like that for like twenty bucks.Aimee: Oh, so it's like a limited, a really limited supply of really good deals?Todd: Yeah, and so then what you do is you get these huge crowds that converge on these stores, and then they open the doors and people rush in and literally it's a free-for-all. You have fights and it's so crazy.Aimee: I've seen that. I've seen videos and clips, and it started happening in the U.K. nowTodd: Oh, no!Aimee: And I can't believe it that people can be so greedy.Todd: And especially what's bothersome is that you're with your family on a holiday. You're having a good time, and then you go to war practically. You know what I mean?Aimee: Yeah, with strangersTodd: Yeah.Aimee: Or your neighbor even. It doesn't matter who it is, just fighting over a cheap TV.Todd: I mean, I'm proud to say I've never been to a Black Friday.Aimee: Me neither. Me neither.Todd: So I guess that's hypocritical for me to say that because you know, since I've never been to a Black Friday. I've only seen it, but I just don't like going to shopping malls and to, like, department stores very much - big box stores. I'm just not a shopper.Aimee: So you prefer online shopping?Todd: I just prefer not shopping at all. Like I don't care like what I dress or how I dress. So, like, I buy my clothes at a supermarket. You know. I know, I'm not the most fashionable person, but as for Black Friday, you know, I think a lot of times, parents what to get stuff for their kids, you know, they want to get that special gift. Maybe I think that's what attracts a lot of the crowds.Aimee: Yeah, it is, you know, once Thanksgiving is over then it's the build-upto Christmas, so of course there's the stress of preparing everything in time for that. It's hard to resist really good bargains, I guess if you're trying to be careful with your money. You're trying to be sensible or there's those gifts that, you know your child really wants, so I can understand people feel a lot of pressure to do that.Todd: I mean, some of the stores, look like they've been through a hurricane after the crowds go through it. It's crazy.Aimee: It does sound awful. Doesn't sound like my idea of a good time.Todd: No. Now there is one option though if you don't want to face the crowds and all the hysteria, you can do what's called Cyber Monday.Aimee: OK.Todd: Do you have Cyber Monday?Aimee: No, I'm not familiar with it.Todd: So Cyber Monday - I think it's the Monday after Black Friday - and you just get all the deals online over a 24 hour period.Aimee: OK, is like this remainder, leftover stock? Or is this like a new ...?Todd: No, this is just the online stuff, so I think it's just, you know, the Amazons and all the online stores, that they want to have their deals that people can buy.Aimee: They wanted a piece of the action, basically.Todd: Yeah, yeah. Exactly so they can make it super, super ...Aimee: It's too much!Todd: Yeah.Aimee: It is all too much.Todd: I know, we should have like a, you know, I don't know, a cut back on spending. But if you cut back on spending, then you're hurting the economy, right, so ...Aimee: I know. It's true.Todd: Yeah!

Meg: Hey Todd, so continuing talking about then and now, I was thinking we could switch to talking about just life in general.Todd: Sounds good.Meg: So my first question for you is are movies today more interesting than before?Todd: Well. I'm gonna sound like an old guy, but I would say no, movies are not more interesting today. Movies were much better, twenty, thirty years ago. The stories were better. They were more interesting. These days movies just have too many special effects, and there are too many movies about superheroes. I hate movies about superheroes. So yeah, I think movies used to be more interesting. What do you think?Meg: I have the opposite opinion of you. I think movies today are more interesting than before. Maybe I'm too used to a lot of special effects, so when I watch some older movies, the story might be interesting, but I get a little bored watching it and actually, I love superhero movies.Todd: Oh really?Meg: So I would say that yes, any superhero movies - Spiderman or Batman especially is my favorite so those movies for me are more interesting than in the past.Todd: OK, well we're talking about comparatives, so who's cooler Batman or Spiderman?Meg: Oh, Batman. Hands down.Todd: I'm sorry. I think Spiderman's really lame. I've never liked Spiderman.Meg: He kind of whines a lot.Todd: He looks like a kid in his pajamas.Meg: He is a kid in his pajamas.Todd: Maybe that's it.Meg: Whereas Batman has a lot of skills that he's developed himself, so.Todd: True, true. OK, well how about Batman, so like who is better?Meg: Who is the best Batman?Todd: Yeah, so who is better? Who was the last one? It was ...Meg: Well, the most recent Batman was Ben Affleck, but I didn't watch that oneTodd: OK.Meg: So before that, there was Christian BaleTodd: Oh, that's right.Meg: So without having seen Ben Affleck, I would still say that Christian Bale was a better Batman.Todd: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. OK, so let's talk about other things. How about the news? With news are you more knowledgeable these days than before, say five-ten years ago?Meg: Actually, I think I am less knowledgeable than before. There's a lot of news out there, and it's easy to access the news but there's so much news coming from so many sources, I'm now sure which news service is more trustworthy, so I think it's more difficult now to find the correct news. The true news. What do you think?Todd: I agree. Sadly I think I am less knowledgeable because before I would read the newspaper, or I would read magazine articles or I would listen to better news stories on the news. These days I just look at a Facebook headline and I don't even read the article, so I don't even know what's going on sometimes. Which is terrible for a man my age.Meg: Terrible for anyone I think.Todd: Yeah, I think it's because I think the news was more honest than before than now, sorry. I think the news is less honest these days. It used to be more honest. I just don't trust the news anymore.Meg: Yeah, I don't really trust it either.Todd: Yeah, less trustworthy.Meg: So along those lines, would you say social media makes like better or worse for people?Todd: I think it's both like I think it's you know, three points better, two points worse, so it's a negative. It's better because you can keep track of so many family members, especially if you're far away, so I like how it connects people, yeah, it just makes people sad sometimes or makes them frustrated about their life may be, so yeah, I don't think it makes life better. But I'm an old guy, so...Meg: Yeah, I think it's true. I think there are scientific studies to show that because of social media, people compare themselves too much so it's quite appropriate that we are talking about comparison because people will see other people's lives on social media that look quite good and they will compare themselves and feel bad about themselves, o for some people I think it has made it worse, but like you, I agree that some points are better like seeing pictures from my family.Todd: Yeah, so true.

Todd: So, Katie, you are from England, correct?Katie: Uh-hmm, that’s right.Todd: Are you from a big town?Katie: I’m from a very small town.Todd: Oh, what’s the name?Katie: It’s in the southwest. It’s called Torquay.Todd: Torquay.Katie: Uh-hmm.Todd: OK. Is it a fun place to live?Katie: I think so. It’s, it’s very famous in the UK because we lots of beautiful beaches.Todd: Oh, that’s nice.Katie: Hmm.Todd: So, in your town, where is a good place to go food shopping?Katie: There are a lot of supermarkets that you can go to. Most of them you need to go by car.Todd: Oh, that’s a problem.Katie: It’s difficult to walk to a close supermarket. But I’m lucky because there is one very close to my house that I can go to.Todd: OK. And can you recommend a good restaurant in your town? Where is a good place to eat dinner?Katie: There are lots of amazing restaurants along the sea front. So, you can sit in a restaurant and you can look at the beach at the same time.Todd: Oh, that’s nice.Katie: Uh-hmm.Todd: How romantic.Katie: It’s beautiful.Todd: Is it expensive?Katie: It depends what restaurant you go to. If you go to an Italian restaurant, that’s going to be expensive.Todd: What kind of foods do they have?Katie: They have all kinds of foods, but the most popular food in my home town is Italian food and Chinese food.Todd: OK. No British food?Katie: Not really. (laughs)Todd: OK. We don’t have American food either except hamburgers.Katie: They’re good though.Todd: In your town, where is a good place to exercise?Katie: It depends on what kind of exercise you like. But we have lots of parks and people are always playing football in the parks.Todd: So, there’s a, is there a big park in the middle of town?Katie: Uh-hmm.Todd: OK. Is it easy to get to?Katie: It’s pretty easy to get to. Most people can walk there.Todd: So, that brings us to nature. Where’s a good place to see nature?Katie: Well, you can see beautiful beaches wherever you look. There are so many beautiful beaches in Torquay. But there are also lots of beautiful gardens and you can see lots of flowers.Todd: OK. Nice.Katie: It’s very nice. Yeah.Todd: That is nice. So, are there walking trails on the beach?Katie: Uh-hmm, and in the gardens too there are walking paths that you can take. And you can go in the mountains—Todd: Oh, beautiful.Katie: —and see stuff there too.Todd: That’s lovely. So, in your town, where is a good place to meet people?Katie: Well, I keep saying the beach but lots of people from all over the UK come to Torquay to see the beach, so you can meet lots of different. People come for their holidays.Todd: OK. So, you can meet new people.Katie: Lots of new people. Yeah.Todd: That’s cool.Katie: You can make lots of new friends.Todd: Now, what about a quiet place? Where’s a good place to study or read or just relax?Katie: Well, we have lots of cafés that you can go to if you want to just have a quiet moment or just to read some books. You can go to a café.Todd: OK. And are the cafés easy to find?Katie: They’re very easy to find. And we have lots of famous café brands as well.Todd: OK. Are there cafés on the beach, too?Katie: No. They’re in the town center but the town center is very close to the beach.Todd: OK. Now, when is a good time to visit your town?Katie: Well…Todd: So, you say the beach, so summer?Katie: Yeah. I would say summer is a good time. But in England, there is not usually a good time because it’s raining almost every day. But if you want to go to the beach, probably summer is a good time.Todd: OK. What about the fall?Katie: I mean, the fall is okay. Winter is good. Lots of people go to, go swimming on Christmas Day.Todd: Well, I definitely want to go there.Katie: Yes. It’s a lovely place.

Todd: So, Katie, let's talk about family.Katie: Okay.Todd: In your family, who is nice?Katie: In my family, I think my, my mum is really nice. She's always looking out for everyone. She always makes sure everybody is happy. And she's just really nice and kind.Todd: Wow! That's great. Who is a funny person? Who is very funny?Katie: I think in my family; my dad is very funny. But I don't think he knows he's very funny.Todd: Alright. Oh, that's interesting. Now who is serious? Is anybody serious?Katie: I don't think anybody is serious in my family.Todd: No uncles or aunts?Katie: Everyone likes to have a laugh. Everyone likes to have a good time.Todd: Oh that-Katie: Everyone is always joking.Todd: Oh, what I nice family.Katie: (laughs)Todd: OK. Who is very hardworking?Katie: Ooohh. Well obviously, my mum is very hardworking. And she's always been very hardworking. She has to make sure that the whole family knows what they're doing. She has to make sure the whole family is ready for every day. Yeah, I think my mum is the hardworking one.Todd: OK. Is anybody not hardworking? Maybe a little lazy?Katie: Definitely me. (laughs) Definitely, me especially when I was younger. I would never help with any of the chores in the house. I was definitely the lazy one.Todd: Oh, I understand, I'm the same way. OK. Now in your family, who is very smart?Katie: My brother is really, really smart. He actually went to Oxford University.Todd: Whoa.Katie: Yeah, he's very smart. But I didn't get any of that. My brother has all the smart genes.Todd: Wow, that's a good school. OK. Who is very fit?Katie: Hmm... Well, my dad is a chef and-Todd: Oh, really?Katie: Yeah. My dad makes really, really good food, so no one in my family is fit. We all eat too much food.Todd: Oh, nobody exercises a lot?Katie: Not really.Todd: Oh, okay. Yeah, in my family, my dad is super fit.Katie: (laugh)Todd: OK. In your family, who is talkative?Katie: Oh, I keep saying my mum for all of these but my mum is definitely the most talkative. She talks to anybody who - even people who she doesn't know. She will talk to anybody, strangers on the street, people she meets at the bus stop. She talks to everybody.Todd: Oh, that's cool. Now, who is quiet?Katie: Hmm, I think when he's meeting people for the first time, my brother is very quiet. He's very shy. He doesn't like speaking to new people a lot.Todd: OK. Thanks a lot. Sounds like a nice family.Katie: Yeah. I think so too.

Todd: So Meg, in the last one we were talking about idioms, but we didn't cover them all. Let's go over some more idioms.Meg: OK.Todd: Alright so the first one is what activity is in your blood?Meg: Hmm, I would say anything with nature in my blood, so hiking or especially kayaking. I love going kayaking, and so it's hard for me to resist if I'm in a place with beautiful nature, I need to go outside.Todd: So what about baking? Isn't the baking sort of just natural for you. Don't you just love to bake? Isn't it in your blood?Meg: I do also love to bake. Yeah. I guess hiking and baking are both in my blood together, kind of two different activities. So baking especially when I can make very creative and decorative desserts, to share with people, so I don't like to bake for myself, but sharing with others, it's quite enjoyable for me. Do you have any activities or things that are in your blood?Todd: Well, I think one is just teaching. I love teaching. I just want to teach all the time. Even if I won the lottery, I would be a teacher. I just like thinking of lessons, thinking of new ideas for lessons, trying technology with lessons, so even on my free time, I like thinking about it. And another thing is jogging. Even though, most people are surprised because I'm a little fat. I'm about 20 pounds overweight, but I run almost every day.Meg: I think I've seen you running before.Todd: Yeah, I literally run every day. Like if I don't run, I feel terrible, like it's the most relaxing thing for me.Meg: Yeah.Todd: I can't go two or three days - two days maybe - but I can't go three or four days without running.Meg: So jogging is really in your blood?Todd: Yeah, and I started when I was a kid. You know the movie Forest Gump, where he just starts running.Meg: Right, yes, yes.Todd: That was me as a kid.Meg: Run Forest Run!Todd: I would just run out of my driveway, also in the country, and just go running for an hourMeg: Wow!Todd: Just to run, I thought it was fun.Meg: Well, that's great.Todd: Yeah, it's definitely in my blood.Todd: OK, so we'll talk a little about feelings. So when you get criticized, do you take it to heart?Meg: I think my first reaction, is to take it to heart, so sometimes I might be a little oversensitive when I first get criticized, but after some time passes and I'm able to think about it, usually I can see how that criticism can be useful, and I can try to make a change or improve something. Or I can decide that I don't care about that person's opinion. What about you? What do you do? How do you respond?Todd: Yeah, I used to take things to heart a lot, but as I've gotten older, as many people do, now a lot of it just rolls off my back, as we say, like water off a duck's back, so it doesn't bother me at allMeg: Yeah.Todd: Yeah, I just realize everybody has different opinions and don't worry about it.Meg: Yeah, I think that's a good attitude to have.Todd: Yeah, OK, so the next one also about feelings and opinions. So are you more likely to bite your lip, or speak your mind when you disagree with somebody?Meg: I think it depends on the situation, so if I feel like someone else is being treated unfairly or there are some rules that are there for a reason that should be followed, I am more likely to speak my mind, but if it's something personal, or just related to me I might bite my lip to try to keep the peace. What would you do, bite your lip or speak your mind?Todd: Well, I have a big mouth, so no, I always speak my mind. So I have a really big mouth. I just never keep it inside. Yeah, it's really hard for me to bite my lip.Meg: Hmm.Todd: Yeah, so. That can be a bad thing.Meg: But sometimes good.Todd: Yeah, say it like it is, as they say.

Todd: OK, Meg, let's talk about idioms related to the body.Meg: Ooh!Todd: So we have lots of idioms in English that we use for specific meanings, so to learn these idioms, we'll just talk about them by asking each other questions.Meg: OK.Todd: OK, the first one is about dating, so should a man always foot the bill on a date?Meg: Well, I think I'm a little bit of a traditionalist in that maybe at the beginning or the first date the man should foot the bill, but after that, if you're in a relationship, it doesn't really seem fair for the man to pay all the time. Do you agree?Todd: Yeah, I agree, I mean on a date I feel awkward if I don't pay the bill, so yeah. The man should foot the bill on the first date.Meg: Hmm!Todd: So the next one related to feet is when you dance, do you have two left feet?Meg: Yes, I definitely have two left feet. I'm not a good dancer by any means and I don't really enjoy it so I think I look a little awkward when I'm dancing. What about you?Todd: Yeah, I definitely have two left feet. Yeah, I just look like a mess on the dance floor, so and I don't enjoy it, and I think because I'm nervous I want to get out of there, so yeah.Meg: Right. I understand your feeling.Todd: Not my ... Alright so also related to feet is the leg, so in your city, what costs an arm and a leg?Meg: In my city where I live right now, I feel like fruit costs an arm and a leg. It can be quite expensive, especially if you want fruit that's out of season, but in my hometown, in America, you can usually get fruit very cheap, so it feels like it costs an arm and a leg here. What about for you?Todd: Yeah, the city I live in now is in Japan, and it's also very expensive. Taxis cost an arm and a leg, so to take a taxi ride is so expensive. In America where I'm from, I would say healthcare costs an arm and a leg. It's so expensive - crazy expensive.Meg: Right, much more ...Todd: You never want to get sick.Meg: Yes.Todd: Even health insurance costs an arm and a leg. It's very, very costly.Meg: I agree with that.Todd: Alright, let's now talk about feelings. So, is it OK to give people the cold shoulder sometimes?Meg: Hmm, well ...Todd: Nobody likes the cold shoulder.Meg: Right, nobody likes the cold shoulder. I don't think we should give people the cold shoulder, however, I have to admit that I have sometimes given a friend or a family member the cold shoulder when I've been upset about something.Todd: Yeah, the whole thing about the cold shoulder, is actually you do want them to talk to you. You just want them to feel bad.Meg: Right. Yes.Todd: Right?Meg: Yeah, it's kind of passive-aggressive.Todd: Exactly, like I'm mad at you, but I really just want you to see that I'm mad at you and give me attention and I'm happy.Meg: Right, yes, you want to make it clear that you're mad ...Todd: Yeah, exactlyMeg: by giving the cold shoulder.Todd: Right.Meg: Have you ever given someone the cold shoulder?Todd: Oh, yeah, I can be very moody, so I've definitely given people the cold shoulder. And then I'm embarrassed sometimes afterward, like why did I do that? That's so bad.Meg: Yeah, you feel a little guilty later.Todd: Yeah, so we're both teachers. Do you ever give students the cold shoulder?Meg: No, I don't think I would ever give a student the cold shoulder because if they have questions or need help, I want to be able to assist them, so that's a little different I think. What about you?Todd: Yeah, no totally. Like the students give me the cold shoulder, right?Meg: Ah, yes.Todd: So you know that something's wrong, but yeah teachers can't give students the cold shoulder.Meg: No, you can't.Todd: It's impossible. Or it shouldn't be done.Meg: Mmm.Todd: Alright, those were some interesting points.

Todd: So after Laos, where did you go?Abidemi: After Laos, I flew to Vietnam. And actually, I took the bus into Vietnam.Todd: OK.Abidemi: Yes. And in Vietnam, I traveled from the north, from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. But because my time was so short, I could only spend one or two days in each city.Todd: Ah! What city did you like the most?Abidemi: I think I prefer Hanoi the most. The food, the street food is amazing. It’s a very lively city, lots of motorcycles and traffic so it reminded me of Nigeria where I was born a little bit.Todd: Oh cool!Abidemi: Yes.Todd: And what did you do in Vietnam?Abidemi: I spent time in Hanoi. I also went to visit Sapa, which has a lot of rice terraces. So these are mountains where they’ve planted rice fields. So the scenery, the view is really beautiful. And you also get to meet the native people, the local people there. So I enjoyed it.And then from there, I went to Hoi An, which is a very historic city, very beautiful night scenery by the river. And then I went to Ho Chi Minh City but I could only spend one night there before leaving for Myanmar.Todd: OK. And then, how was Myanmar? What did you do there?Abidemi: Myanmar was my last stop. And I didn’t have so much time there but I managed to go—but I managed to visit some of the places I really wanted to see like Yangon, Bagan, and Mandalay.I would say that Bagan was the highlight. They had many temples from the past and just seeing that many of them, it was very impressive.Todd: That’s fantastic.Abidemi: Yes.Todd: So what country was your favorite?Abidemi: It’s hard to say. They each have their own good points but I think I would definitely like to visit Thailand again.Todd: Oh OK. Thailand is such a great place. Anyway, thanks Abidemi.Abidemi: Thank you, Todd.

Adam: Alright, hi Jin!Jin: Hi, Adam.Adam: How are you doing?Jin: I'm doing good.Adam: Ah, you're from Nepal right?Jin: Yes, I am.Adam: I was thinking about going there. Could you tell me some good places to visit while I'm in Nepal?Jin: Yeah, sure. It's really nice a nice place. I mean, you should totally come to my country. I would recommend that you should go to a place called Pokhara because that's the most famous tourist site in Nepal. There's a really beautiful lake there, and then I know that you like sports, so then there are so many different kinds of activities like bungee jumping, rafting, kayaking... I don't know. What is it?Adam: Kayaking?Jin: Kayaking, yeah! So yeah, I think you'll love it there. That's the best place I would say.Adam: Oh, cool! How far is that from the capital?Jim: Ah, you have to take a mini-bus, and it will take you around six hours and you'll be there.Adam: OK, cool! When's the best time to go there?Jin: I think during spring would be better.Adam: Yeah?Jin: Yeah. It's really nice there, like, and the people are really nice. The food is amazing, and there's a really good nightlife there because people ... like there's ... what do you call it ... pubs, and like live music, so yeah, it's a really fun place to be at night and in the daytime.Adam: That's great. I love live music. Do you have any like events or festivals that I should go to when I'm in NepalJin: Actually, in Nepal there's a lot of festivals, but I would recommend you to go there when there's a festival called Holi. It's around February ... March. (Laughter) So yeah, the festival is around March and what we do is we play with colors. We throw colors at each other, and then even throw water ballons. It's really fun, like the whole environment is really colorful, bright and everyone is very happy.Adam: Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. I think I've seen pictures of that before. How many days is that celebration?Jin: It's actually only one day.Adam: Oh, really?Jim: Yeah.Adam: Cool, I really want to go. Anything else you can tell us about Nepal?Jin: If you like hiking, then Nepal has a lot of mountains. Actually, Mt. Everest is in Nepal so you can even try going there.Adam: Wow, that would be amazing. I really look forward to going there. Thank you so much for your time today.Jin: Sure anytime!

Adam: Alright, hi! I'm Adam, and I'm with Jin today, and we're talking about your home country, Nepal.Jin: Yes, that's right.Adam: Very cool. I know that the Himalayas and even Mt. Everest is in Nepal, which is amazing. What else can you tell us about the geography of your country?Jin: Yeah, well actually, when people think about Nepal, they just talk about the mountains, but then there are actually three regions. There is the mountain region, and then there is another hilly region, and then the Terai region, so then in the Terai region, the earth, like the surface is really flat, and that's where people grow crops. That's where like we get all the grains from, and then there is the hilly region, which is in the middle part Nepal, and that's where I am from, the capital, Kathmandu, and it's like, the temperature is really good there because it's not really hot, not really cold. Ah, in the Terai region it's really hot, but in the hilly region, like it's perfect, and then there's the Himalayas, where it's super cold, and that's where there are like a lot of mountains, which divides us from China.Adam: So in the south it's kind of the farming area?Jin: Yeah, in the south, yeah, like everyone's ... the main job is farming.Adam: That's next to India?Jin: India, yeah.Adam: What kind of farming do they do in Nepal in the south?Jin: They usually grow rice there, and since the land is so fertile, there a like a lot of vegetables, rice, and like a lot of fruits. Everything that grows in hot temperatures.Adam: Oh, so you have a lot of fruits in Nepal?Jin: Yeah, we do. We have a lot of fruits, like of different kinds, like I told you, since it's cold, hot and moderate as well, so like we get fruits from all different places and it's amazing.Adam: Yeah, that's really cool. I didn't know Nepal had so many different climates in one country.Jin: Yeah, for a small country, it's a lot, I know.Adam: Well, thank you so much for telling us about Nepal today.Jin: You're welcome. You can ask me anytime.

Katie: Hey Todd, can I ask you a favor?Todd: Sure, anytime.Katie: Um, I really need a place to stay, and I heard that your place is on AirBNB.Todd: It is on AirBNB. I do rent my house, but for you it's free.Katie: OH, amazing. Can I stay there then?Todd: You can. How long?Katie: Maybe a week or two weeks.Todd: OK, when?Katie: From next Monday.Todd: Yeah, actually, you can do that. That works.Katie: Excellent. Thank you so much! How about a car? Can I park my car?Todd: Ah, that's a problem. You can't park your car because there's no space, but there's a cheap parking lot about maybe two blocks away.Katie: OK.Todd: So, it's only a couple dollars a day.Katie: OK, I guess I can park my car there. How about cooking there? Can I cook?Todd: Of course, you can cook. I have a stove, a refrigerator. You can bring your own food. You can do whatever you want.Katie: Excellent. Thank you. Can I use the Internet?Todd: You can use the Internet. There's a password. I will write down the password before I leave, and I will write down the password before you get there.Katie: Excellent. Thank you so much! I was thinking about asking my friend if he can stay. Can my friend stay over?Todd: Yeah, sure, so your friend can stay. Not a problem I don't think.Katie: He has a dog? Can he bring his dog?Todd: Oh, that is a problem. Does the dog have a cage?Katie: Ah, no, but we can get a cage.Todd: I'm not sure about the dog. If the dog is in a cage, it's OK in the house but I think you can't have the dog in the house.Katie: OK, how about smoking? My friend is a very heavy smoker. Can he smoke outside?Todd: Yeah, he can smoke outside, just please pick up cigarette butts, but of course, he can't smoke inside.Katie: OK, he can't smoke inside.Todd: No.Katie: OK, how about if we want to have a party? Can we have a party?Todd: Yeah, you can have a party. That's OK, but please be quiet. Don't be too loud. The neighbors live very close to my house.Katie: Alright, that sounds good. Thanks. And I have one more question. Can I use the washing machine?Todd: Yeah, of course. You can use anything. You use the washing machine. You can use the Internet. You can use the TV. You can use anything you like.Katie: Wow, excellent. That sounds great. Thank you so much.Todd: Yeah, I will write down directions for my house, and I will send you a map, and you can check it out and get all the information, and just I will leave the key for you with my neighbor.Katie: Excellent. Thank you very much!Todd: Sure, no problem.

Todd: So Meg, are you busy this weekend?Meg: Yes, I'm so busy because I'm moving.Todd: Oh, no.Meg: Yeah, there's a lot of work to do.Todd: What do you have to do?Meg: First, I have to prepare my apartment, so I need to pack all of my things.Todd: That's not fun.Meg: No, it takes a long time.Todd: Do you need help?Meg: Yeah, do you have time to help me?Todd: I can help you on Sunday.Meg: Ooh, are you busy on Saturday?Todd: Yeah, on Saturday I have to work. I have to teach two classes, and then after I teach, I have to grade papers. Oh, it sounds like you're really busy too. Plus, I have to meet my friends that evening.Meg: Oh, what will you do with your friends?Todd: I'm helping my friend also. My friend has car problems, so I have to take him to the mechanic, but on Sunday I can help you.Meg: OK, that would be great because on Sunday I have to take some trash to the dump, and I have to finish some paperwork at city hall to prepare for moving to a new countryTodd: Now, because you're moving, do you have to go to the post office?Meg: I do have to go to the post office. I almost forgot. At the post office, I have to submit a form to say my new address.Todd: Ah, that's good because I have to go to the post office, too.Meg: Oh, really.Todd: I have to send my mom's birthday gift to her.Meg: When is your mom's birthday?Todd: It was one month ago.Meg: Ah, so you have to send it quickly.Todd: Yes, I have to get on it.Meg: OK, well, let's go together.Todd: So, I'll see you Sunday. What time should I be here?Meg: I have to go to city hall by three p.m., so can you come at two?Todd: OK, but if you want to go to the dump, the dump closes at noon, so we have to leave early.Meg: Ah, OK. Can you come at eleven?Todd: Yes. OK, so I will see you at eleven o'clock.Meg: Great, see you then.Todd: Bye.Meg: Bye.

Todd: OK, we'll talk about movies.Katie: OK.Todd: Have you ever seen a German movie?Katie: I haven't seen a German movie. I haven't seen very many movies.Todd: Oh, OK.Katie: Even in English movies, I haven't seen very many.Todd: Well, have you seen a Canadian movie?Katie: Uh, I don't know. Have I?Todd: Well, the thing is, in Hollywood in America, all the famous actors are Canadian, so I think everybody's seen a Canadian movie.Katie: I've definitely seen a Canadian actor.Todd: Yeah, all actors in America are Canadian it seems like.Katie: I think so.Todd: OK, have you ever bought something from Italy?Katie: From Italy. I have. I have bought - not for me - but I bought my mother a bag from Italy one time.Todd: OK, what was the brand?Katie: I have no idea. She asked me to buy a brand and I bought it, but I don't know which one it was.Todd: OK, have you bought something from Japan?Katie: I've bought lots of things from Japan. I've lived in Japan for a few years, so I've bought all kinds of things from Japan.Todd: OK, and now we'll move on to countries.Katie: OK.Todd: Have you ever been to France?Katie: I have. Actually, I have been to France a couple of times. My high school has a house in France, so for our school trips we would go to France every year.Todd: Ooh, how nice.Katie: Yeah, how about you? Have you been to France?Todd: You know, I haven't really. I took a bus from England to Prague, so the bus drove through France, but it never stopped.Katie: I see.Todd: What other countries have you been to?Katie: I've been to Germany, I've been to Hong Kong, I've been to South Korea, and I've been to China.Todd: Wow, you've been to a lot of places.Katie: Yeah. How about you? What countries have you been to?Todd: Ah, I've been to countries in Europe. I've been to Israel. I've been to Cambodia and Laos. I worked in Thailand, and I've been to Taiwan and Korea.Katie: Wow. Which country did you like the best?Todd: Oh boy! That's impossible. I will say this, I love ... I love Seoul. I love Seoul, Korea. It's a great city. OK, anyway, thanks, Katie.Katie: Thank you.

Todd: OK, Katie.Katie: Yeah.Todd: Let's take an international test.Katie: Oh, OK.Todd: How international are you? Let's find out.Katie: Let's find out.Todd: First, have you ever eaten Greek food?Katie: Greek food? Ah, I've eaten, how do you say it, falafel.Todd: Oh, is that Greek?Katie: I think so. I've had that, but apart from that, I've never eaten Greek food. How about you?Todd: Ah, I think I have. Like, I've eaten Greek yogurt. Does that count?Katie: That counts.Todd: That counts?Katie: That counts.Todd: OK, have you ever eaten Russian food?Katie: What's Russian food?Todd: I think, Russian food, is it borscht? Borscht is like a cabbage soup.Katie: Hmm, I've never eaten Russian food.Todd: Yeah, maybe I haven't eaten Russian food either. OK, last one, have you ever eaten Vietnamese food?Katie: Ah, I see it written down. Is it pho?Todd: Pho, the noodles?Katie: Yeah, I've eaten pho before.Todd: Yeah, I've been to Vietnam so I've eaten Vietnamese food a lot. And pho the noodles is really good.Katie: Yeah, it's delicious.Todd: I've had that too.Katie: OK, now let's talk about languages.Todd: Oh, OK. Have you ever studied French?Katie: I have. I studied French for five years.Todd: Oh, can you still speak French?Katie: Nope. Not at all.Todd: Yeah, me too. I once studied French years ago, but I haven't spoken French in so long I can't remember anything.Katie: I can't remember anything either.Todd: Have you ever studied an Asian Language?Katie: I've studied Japanese. I can still speak it a little bit now, and I studied a little bit of Korean, but I don't speak Korean.Todd: Oh, really. OK. Wow, like I've studied Thai because I lived in Thailand for five years, and like you I've studied Japanese, but my Japanese is terrible.Katie: How about your Thai?Todd: My Thai is OK. It's OK. I can talk a little bit. OK, so have you ever met a Spanish person?Katie: A Spanish person? Actually, I don't think I have.Todd: Really?Katie: I don't think I have met a Spanish person.Todd: Oh, interesting. I've been to Spain so, I've met a few and we have a Spanish teacher at our school.Katie: Oh, maybe I have met a Spanish person then. Maybe, I've met a secret Spanish person.Todd: OK, have you met a Chinese person?Katie: Oh, yes, I've met lots of Chinese people.Todd: OK, and have you met a Brazilian person?Katie: I feel like if I say no, then I have. Probably. Probably, I've met a Brazilian person.Todd: Yeah, I've met a few people from Brazil, so they're always very nice. Very friendly people.

Doron: In England, I don't think we have much of a problem with brain drain, but I think we have, like an internal problemmaybe, like all of the best jobs, or at least the best-paying jobs, seem to be in London. So like, a lot of people have to move to London if they want to do the job they're interested in, and it just makes London really crowded and expensive because everybody has to live there, it seems.Pernais: Sounds like Kingston.Doron: Really?Pernais: Yes.Doron: Everybody moves to Kingston?Pernais: Everybody's moving from rural areas to Kingston.Doron: What's the population of Kingston now, do you know?Pernais: I think it's about half a million.Doron: Half a million. And was it much smaller before?Pernais: I think it was because a lot of people lived out in the countryside, because farming was very profitable, maybe, some decades ago. But now that, you know, technology is changing everything, people want, like, office jobs and they want to earn more, so lots of people actually move into the city areas now.Doron: Yeah, I think technology in the near future might actually help to stop that because you can pretty much do most jobs online from anywhere. It's like, personally, I wouldn't want to live in London. I'd rather live somewhere a little more rural, more peaceful, cheaper, and be able to do my job online. So maybe that's something that'll change in the near future.Pernais: Hopefully.Doron: Are you from Kingston?Pernais: I am.Doron: Are you actually from the middle of Kingston? I remember you have a town with a really cool name, right?Pernais: I'm not from the middle of Kingston. I'm from... just outside city center.Doron: How far outside city center?Pernais: 8 miles from Kingston.Doron: And what's the name of your hometown.Pernais: My hometown is called Bull Bay.Doron: Bull Bay?Pernais: Yes.Doron: I thought it was called "8 miles from Kingston"Pernais: Sometimes they call it that.Doron: Were you kidding me when you said that?Pernais: No, the bigger part of it is called Bull Bay and then that's subdivided into 8 miles, 9 miles, 7 miles.Doron: So place names outside of Kingston are actually named after how far they are from Kingston.Pernais: Yes.Doron: That's one of the coolest things I've ever heard. I live 8 miles from Kingston. Where do you live? I live in 12 miles from London. That's a great name.Pernais: Or sometimes it's shortened to 8 miles.Doron: Wow. Like in Detroit. Maybe that's what it means, in the movie.

Todd: So, Abidemi, you were talking about living with the Inuits in Northern Canada. What were some things that they do differently, like for example food or games or traditions?Abidemi: Food was a big thing that was different there. They eat a lot of meat, I could say, if I can say that from the sea, so because they're surrounded by the sea, they have access to a lot of food from there. They eat beluga, seal, whales. Anything that's found in the sea I think they basically eat it, and they eat just about all the parts of the animal, so that was quite interesting.Todd: That's so interesting. What does it taste like, seal and whale?Abidemi: Very ...?Todd: Is it cooked?Abidemi: Sometimes they cook it, yeah. They also freeze it. They have different ways of preparing it. Sometimes to do eat it raw. They say that is the best way to eat it to get the most amount of energy from it, and sometimes they freeze it, and they eat it frozen. They eat a lot of fish, frozen fish like that. Attic char - delicious, and sometimes they boil it, but I don't think that's their preferred method of eating it. One thing to note is that the younger generation, they seem to prefer more the meat - beef - and the meat that more of everybody eats now, whereas the older generation, of course, they still prefer their traditional way of cooking and eating. Also, they eat caribou, like land animals, caribou, rabbit and one or two other animals that I can't remember.Todd: Now did you try all these foods?Abidemi: I tried as many as I could. I love eating, and if everyone else is eating it, I'll eat it too, so I try them all. I have my, the ones I like more, but I didn't find anything disgusting. I enjoyed it.Todd: That's so cool. Did you learn how to prepare it or cook some of it?Abidemi: No. I'm laughing because I'm not a huge cook anywhere, so I just do the eating and cleaning up.Todd: Yeah, OK cool. You mentioned that they played some games. They have their own style of games. Do you remember any games that they play?Abidemi: They have games, where one was like wrestling. They have a lot of body contact games where they would wrestle on the ground, or you had to hold up your leg a certain way for how many minutes, just really games that had to deal with strength and endurance is what I would say, and then they played a lot of games using dice where you would win prizes. I think a lot of these things were designed for the long winter months, so they could stay indoors and still keep themselves entertained, and because in those days, in the past they didn't have TV or have the kind of entertainment, Internet, which they do have there now, so they have a lot of games that they still try to play sometimes to keep them entertained.And music is a large part of their life too. A lot of people play different instruments and they square dance. They're really good dancers. They can dance all night, so that was fun as well.Todd: Oh wow, sounds like a great place.Abidemi: Yes, it was.Todd: So do they have their own type of instruments? Their own traditional instruments?Abidemi: I would say no. The instruments that I saw were more things that had been brought up to them, for example, the fiddle, guitar, stuff like that. Thinking back on it now, maybe there were one or two things that they had made, but I didn't feel like, I can't really remember the name. I didn't really remember the names, so.Todd: Nice, anyway, thanks for sharing.Abidemi: My pleasure.

Doron: So Pernais, Jamaica's quite a small country, right?Pernais: It is.Doron: What's the population? Not exactly, just more or less.Pernais: 2.7 millionDoron: Okay, that's pretty small. Do you have a problem with people leaving, like for university or of to get better jobs going to other countries?Pernais: Yes, a lot of people leave, but I don't know if it's so much a problem because Jamaicans have been migrating for decades now. A lot of people don't know that half of the Jamaican population actually lives outside of Jamaica.Doron: Half?Pernais: Yes.Doron: So that means there's like 5.4 million Jamaicans?Pernais: Yes.Doron: And only half of them live in Jamaica?Pernais: Yes. Possibly.Doron: Where do they usually go?Pernais: Most Jamaicans that migrate go to America.Doron: 'Cause it's so close.Pernais: Yes. And because they have family members there. Maybe. And other people go to Canada and the U.K., for example.Doron: Do you get a lot of immigration? Do you get many people moving to Jamaica to live from other places?Pernais: Recently, there has been an increase in that. People coming from other Caribbean islands, especially with the situation, the economic situation in Haiti these days. A lot of Haitians actually come over to Jamaica to find work, and, you know, to... just to, just for a better life, really.Doron: Is it very close?Pernais: It is very close. It is quite close.Doron: How do they usually get to Jamaica?Pernais: By boat.Doron: So...Pernais: Which is quite dangerous, but...Doron: Yeah, I hear a lot of it in history the last couple of decades of boat people, right? But you don't often hear about Haitian boat people. Usually, people getting in boats and trying to get to the States, right?Pernais: Yes. But I guess Jamaica's closer, so they go for Jamaica.Doron: Yeah. What kind of jobs do people go for when they get to Jamaica?Pernais: Well, a lot of them end up working in bars and restaurants, and... yeah, just jobs like that.Doron: I guess there's a lot of tourists in Jamaica?Pernais: There are quite a lot of tourists.Doron: So there must be a lot of jobs in the tourism industry.Pernais: Yes. Always.

Todd: So Abidemi, you were a teacher in Canada. correct?Abidemi: That's true Todd.Todd: Now, where did you teach?Abidemi: I taught in Northern Canada in a province called Nunavut.Todd: Nunavut.Abidemi: Nunavut.Todd: Nunavut. Wow is it like a native American type ..?Abidemi: Yeah, and except we call them Inuits.Todd: Inuits?Abidemi: Aboriginals and First Nations.Todd: So what was it like?Abidemi: I really liked it. It was great. Very different from other parts of Canada. Very cold obviously because it's in the far north, and the communities are very isolated. Very few people live there. In the particular community where I lived, there were about a thousand people, maybe less living there. So everything has to be shipped in , or flown in by ship that comes in the summer when the oceans melt, and then in the winter, they usually fly them in, so food was quite expensive, housing expensive. Yeah, it was a different experience for me.Todd: Wow, what's life like that far north?Abidemi: Life happens, and it's interesting how similar it is to what we have down south in Southern Canada, the other parts of Canada. Like they have TVs and similar housing, but you do have to be careful when using water because the infrastructure is a little different. The ground is frozen, so they don't have indoor plumbing. They have plumbing but they don't have running water. The water has to be brought to each house almost every day and sewage also has to be taken away, so you have to be careful how you use water. That's one part. Also, you don't get access to all the things that you want to buy. Sometimes you go to the supermarket, and maybe all the bread is gone, or the milk has not been flown in yet, so you have to be patient with that as well, and you don't get the same variety of products as you would get in larger places, so yeah, and as winter ... As you get more and more into the winter months, it gets darker earlier, so maybe around four o'clock in the afternoon it's already dark outside, and by the time you go to work in the mornings too, when you're going around seven, eight o'clock, it's dark outside, so you're like ... it's dark a lot.Todd: Wow, what was it like being in an environment where you had so little sunlight?Abidemi: It was hard, but I kind of feel like, I'm used to it. I took vitamin D tablets to help with that. So, yeah, but because I was working for the most part, I didn't feel like it was too hard, and then during the holidays, I would come back down south to my family, so I wasn't there too much during downtimes. I did spend part of Christmas vacation there, and that was nice. They had a lot of activities outside for community members: ice sculpturing, winter games on the ice, Inuit games, different things like that. So it was fun. It was really an experience that was culturally enlightening. If I could say that for me. I really enjoyed it. I really, really enjoyed it, though there were challenges as well. The isolation and the fact that if you wanted to go to other places that weren't in the community, you had to fly out, so it's very expensive to go there.Todd: Oh, what an experience. Sounds cool.Abidemi: Yes, I loved it and I would like to do it again someday.

Todd: So Aimee, let's talk about routines?Aimee: OK.Todd: What time do you get up most days?Aimee: I get up ... I get up about six.Todd: Oh, wow! That's early. I'm about the same. I get up at 7ish, usually.Aimee: OK, and what do you eat for breakfast?Todd: I usually have toast. I'm lazy. I don't cook in the mornings, so toast, but I always have coffeeAimee: Right. Yeah, that sounds good.Todd: Yeah, I love coffee. Do you have coffee every morning?Aimee: I have coffee every morning. I also have hot water and fresh lemon juice, every morning.Todd: Why?Aimee: Because it is good for your body, and I enjoy it.Todd: OK. Good. So when do you leave the house most days?Aimee: I leave the house about seven o'clock.Todd: Wow, that's early.Aimee: It is. Maybe between seven and seven-thirty. Yeah. How about you Todd?Todd: A little later, usually around 8.Aimee: OK.Todd: And where do you eat lunch every day?Aimee: Every day? I eat lunch at work every day, so I will buy something from the cafeteria at my work, or I will bring somethingTodd: Most days, what do you have for lunch?Aimee: I have a sandwich and a smoothie.Todd: Mm, that's healthy.Aimee: Yeah.Todd: You're healthy.Aimee: No, not really. (laughter) Yeah, sandwich and a smoothie and probably a chocolate biscuit.Todd: Ooh, OK. That's not healthy.Aimee: It's not. And you?Todd: I eat at the cafeteria every day at my school and I always have salad every day. I love salad, yeah! I usually have a very healthy lunch. I have lean meat. Chicken usually and a salad and tea.Aimee: That does sound healthy.Todd: It is, kind of. A healthy meal of the day.So, every day, who do you talk to?Aimee: I talk to my children every day. Yes, we talk a lot.Todd: What do you talk about?Aimee: We talk about our everyday routine. I remind them to do their tasks, and I remind them to get on with ...Todd: the chores?Aimee: Yes. Chores and their routine.Todd: What do they do? What chores do they do?Aimee: Well, they're still young, so my two-year old doesn't do anything. She brings her plate to the kitchen when she's finished. She's good at that actually. My eight-year old, she folds her clean laundry and puts it awayTodd: Oh, that's good.Aimee: Yes.Todd: Nice. Very responsible. So when do you get home most days?Aimee: I get home around six o'clock. How about you Todd?Todd: Oh, I get home late. I get home around ten o'clock.Aimee: Oh, that is late.Todd: Yeah, very late. So I work late. I live alone so, I work late and I go to the gym and sometimes I go eat at a restaurant.Aimee: Nice.Todd: I never cook.Aimee: I never go to the gym.Todd: (Laughter)Aimee: (Laughter) What time do you go to bed then?Todd: I go to bed early actually. I get home at nine or ten and I go to bed by eleven usually. And you?Aimee: Eleven's early.Todd: It is early.Aimee: OK, I think I'm probably about the same. Eleven o'clock. Yeah, I go to bed about eleven o'clock.Todd: OK, so how many hours do you sleep most nights?Aimee: I guess I get about seven. Six or seven hours.Todd: Yeah, I get eight. I love sleeping.Aimee: You sleep more at the weekend?Todd: Hmm! You sleep in Saturday and Sunday?Aimee: I try if I can.Todd: Sunday is easier to sleep in.Aimee: OK, thanks Aimee.