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Todd: Hey Aimee, how are you today?Aimee: I'm good, thanks Todd. And you?Todd: I'm good. Pretty good. Let's talk about your favorite things.Aimee: OK.Todd: What is your favorite food?Aimee: Ooh! My favorite food is avocado.Todd: Avocado?Aimee: Honestly.Todd: Wow!Aimee: How about you?Todd: My favorite food is pizza, I think. I love pizza.Aimee: Oh, me too!Todd: It's so good.Aimee: It's so delicious.Todd: Yeah.Aimee: And what is your favorite movie?Todd: Well, my favorite movie is Star Wars.Aimee: Classic!Todd: I know. And you? What is your favorite movie?Aimee: Well, I do love Star Wars too, but my favorite movie Ferris Beuller's Day Off.Todd: Ooh! I like that movie a lot. Very good. Very good. So I was in high school the same time as the movieAimee: Were you?Todd: Yeah!Aimee: Great!Todd: So cool. Who is your favorite actor?Aimee: My favorite actor is Jean Reno.Todd: Hmm, the Frenchmen.Aimee: Yes. Yes, he's French, but he's been in a lot of American movies too.Todd: Yeah, I like the movie Leon.Aimee: Love it!Todd: It's very cool.Aimee: Yes, I agree. How about you?Todd: My favorite actor is Brad Pitt, so I like Brad Pitt a lot.Aimee: He's great.Todd: Yeah, he is good.Aimee: Very talented.Todd: Ah, who ... I'm sorry ... what is your favorite season?Aimee: My favorite season is probably Spring. I think. It's ... the cool of winter has passed and it's not too hot yet, so I think Spring. How about you? What's your favorite season?Todd: Oh, my favorite season is the Fall or Autumn. I love the Fall. I love the colors. It is not hot. It is not cold, and they are many holidays, and my birthday is in the Fall.Aimee: They are great reasons to love Autumn.Todd: So, when is your birthday?Aimee: Actually, my birthday is also in Autumn. My birthday is in October.Todd: Oh, wow! Me too. My birthday is also in October. What day?Aimee: 14th!Todd: 14th!Aimee: And you?Todd: The second. Cool! So next year let's have a birthday party together.Aimee: OK.Todd: October birthday party.Aimee: Good idea.Todd: So what is your favorite city?Aimee: My favorite city is probably Osaka.Todd: Oh, in Japan.Aimee: Yes, yes. So far. Yes, Osaka is very noisy and colorful and the people are very open and talkative, so I really enjoy Osaka.Todd:Nice.Aimee: How about you? What's your favorite city?Todd: I think my favorite city is Barcelona.Aimee: Ooh, in Spain.Todd: Yeah, it's very nice.Aimee: It is.Todd: It's warm. It's beautiful. The food is delicious.Aimee: Yes.Todd: People are nice.Aimee: Yes.Todd: But it's expensive.Aimee: Right.Todd: A little bit.Aimee: Yeah.Todd: But Osaka is expensive.Aimee: That's true.Todd: Very expensive.Aimee: Yeah.Todd: OK, thanks.Aimee: Thanks, Todd.Todd: Bye.Aimee: Bye.

Daniel: So Hana, tell me, do you cook much?Hana: Yes, I always cook. I often cook with my roommate, and we always make Chinese or Japanese food. How about you?Daniel: Well, I don’t really cook that often. I’m really busy during the week. So, I always just get something at the shop and get that. But, during the weekends, I always cook during the weekends because I really like making food. That’s what I do.Hana: So, do you ever eat out?Daniel: Only occasionally, because I’m really busy during the week, and I prefer cooking, so not really often. I don’t go out really often to eat. Whenever I’m tired, and I don’t have time to cook during the week, I go and eat out with a friend, so! How about you?Hana: Well, I always , so I normally go and eat out during the weekend with my friends or family.Daniel: So do you ever buy take-away?Hana: No, I never. Normally when I go out to eat, I like to sit and enjoy my food. How about you?Daniel: Well, that's really nice. Of course, I do like to sit and enjoy my food, but I have to admit that occasionally I have to buy take-away, especially when I'm coming late from work, and I'm driving. I'm so hungry that, most of the time, I don't really make it home, so I have to buy something on my way, and that's a shame, so that's the way it is.And do you usually have people over for dinner?Hana: Yes, I sometimes do. I really like cooking so occasionally I invite my friends over and cook for them or we all cook together. How about you?Daniel: Not really. I do love cooking, but the problem is my place is really small, so even though I want to invite my friends. I never do it, because my place would only fit one or two people. So, unfortunately, I never have my friends over for dinner.

Katie: So what do you think is a good age for girls to start wearing?Aimee: I think it depends on the kind of that they're wearing and the purpose, you know, because to me, it seems like there are two different kinds. You know, there are young children, young girls, young children, who wear play, you know.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: It's a toy. It washes off easily, garish colors, very mild on the skin, and you know, it's literally just coloring in their face. It's not, you know, enhancing their features or trying to look as society thinks beautiful, you know. They're not covering up any pimples or spots, you know. It's not like that. It's just coloring in their face, trying to look more like a princess.And I have a six-year old daughter and she loves. She has her own, like, young like toyand she asks permission to wear it, and I let her wear it. I bought some for her. I make sure that she can only do it if she has a clean face and clean hands and that she washes off properly at the end. And that she tidides it away afterwards.Katie: That's good.Aimee: She's actually on her final warning because she used to leave it out – and I've warned her I will throw it in the bin. Because I have a toddler and she wants to see what her big sister is doing and she wants to play with it, so she grabs it and makes a mess everywhere. So yeah, six-year old is on her final warning.So I guess to answer your question, my six-year old is wearing her play make-up already. So it doesn't, yeah, it doesn't bother me. Young is –Katie: How old were you when you started wearing?Aimee: Well, I love, and that's probably where my daughter got it from. I wanted to wear from a young age, the way my daughter does. I wasn't allowed. It was forbidden. And I first actually managed to buy a secret when I was about 9 or 10.Katie: Secret.Aimee: Yeah. I had to hide it from my mom, and she would only let me wear lip gloss when I was that age, and I wasn't allowed to wear any lip sticks, soI had to buy a secret one. And I was always so interested in my grandmother's and my mom's as well. But she never really wore much. She has a very simple sort of beauty routine.I'm much more interested in it than she is – she ever was. So I don't know where I inherited that from, but my daughter has definitely inherited that from me. So maybe because it was forbidden for me that's why I was drawn to it more.Katie: Makes it more tantalizing.Aimee: I think so. That could be it, but yeah, it's a real hobby for me. I really, really love it. I wish I had more money to purchase more. You can never have enough.Katie: You can never have too many.Aimee: I know. It's true.Katie: What do you think about boys wearing?Aimee: If they want to wear, then they should. Like it annoys me this horrible idea and concept of like men and boys have to be manly, like what is manly?For me, is an art. It really is. It's artistry. And, you know, if they want it, if they're feeling bad about their skin the way I feel bad about my skin, right. If I have pimples or spots, I'm lucky. I get to just cover up with like foundation and concealer, a bit of blusher. It makes me feel better.But, you know, if there's like a boy who has, you know, going through teenage years and he's got bad skin and he wants to cover up, and his macho friends catch him wearing it or whatever people in school catch him wearing it and it can be a really bad situation for him. And I think that is awful. It is really, really terrible. I think boys should wear as they like.I actually follow quite a lot of artists on social media. And I look at many, many pictures of different products and the art that they produce, and I follow male artists as well. And the skills they have are unbelievable, honestly. The blending skills.Katie: Their contouring.Aimee: Yeah.Katie: Oh my goodness.Aimee: The blending skills and like covering up, you know, basically just like covering up their whole face and putting a new face on top of it.Katie: It's pretty impressive.Aimee: It's really impressive. It's so amazing. I would really enjoy a lesson from some of the artists that I follow on different sites.Katie: Absolutely.

Meg: Hey, Todd. Are you healthy? Do you eat lots of fruits and vegetables?Todd: I guess I am healthy. I do eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but I also eat junk food, sadly. But I try to eat lots of fruits especially to stay healthy.Meg: What kind of fruits do you like to eat?Todd: Well, I like all fruits. I love all fruits except pineapple. I hate pineapple. I don't know why. I just don't like pineapple. I don't like the taste. I don't like to chew it. It just feels funny. But I love apples, I love bananas, I love oranges. I usually have an apple every morning for breakfast. It's very easy to eat. And I just love apples because you can take them to school. You can eat them quickly. They're very easy to eat.I also like oranges, and I love orange juice. So sometimes, I make fresh orange juice in my kitchen. So oranges are great. But my favorite fruits are bananas and strawberries. I love bananas and strawberries. And I love to eat bananas and strawberries together, so my favorite snack is to cut up some banana and then cut up some strawberries and mix them together, and then eat them.Meg: Well, it sounds like you really a lot of fruits.Todd: Oh yeah, I do.Meg: What about vegetables? Do you eat vegetables everyday?Todd: I do. I try to have a salad everyday, and I have a special salad I make and I call it my chunky, crunchy salad. And it's carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes, and I cut the carrots and cucumbers into small little squares. And then I cut up the tomatoes and I mix together. And the carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers mixed together, the colors are really pretty. And when you eat the salad, it's very crunchy and it's very chunky because it's all little squares. So I call it my crunchy, chunky salad.Meg: That sounds delicious. Do you ever share it with someone else?Todd: No, I don't but I want to because I really, I like it so much and I can't cook. So when I go to somebody's house and I need to bring food, I think, "Oh, I should bring chunky, crunchy salad."Meg: Hmm, that's a good idea. Another idea is to cook some vegetables. Do you cook vegetables?Todd: Not too much. I do cook asparagus. Asparagus is probably my favorite vegetable, and it's very easy to cook because asparagus, you just have to cut up into small pieces. And then you can put the asparagus in a bowl with some water in the microwave, and you can cook asparagus in about 30 seconds. So I eat asparagus a lot.Also, I eat broccoli. I love broccoli. Sometimes I have broccoli and lettuce together for my salad. And then sometimes, I cook eggplant. I like to cook eggplant because I like the taste and it's easy to cook.Meg: I don't really like eggplant.Todd: Really?Meg: I don't.Todd: Oh no. Why not?Meg: It has a strange flavor to me, so I prefer not to eat eggplant.Todd: Well, as long as you eat your veggies.Meg: Yes.

Todd: So Meg, you look like a healthy person. Do you eat lots of fruits and vegetables?Meg: I do eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially fruit. I love to eat fruit because it's so sweet.Todd: Yeah? What fruits do you like?Meg: I love bananas because they're so healthy for you. And so usually, in the morning for breakfast, I'll have a banana. I also love blueberries. Blueberries are my favorite fruit. But sometimes, they're expensive so I can't often eat blueberries.Todd: Oh, I agree. Blueberries are so good. I love blueberries in oatmeal.Meg: That's a good idea. I love to have blueberries in muffins.Todd: Oh, that's nice. Well, you bake. Do you bake blueberry muffins?Meg: I do bake blueberry muffins, and also blueberry bread, blueberry pancakes, many blueberry things.Todd: Wow. That's great. So are there any fruits you don't like?Meg: I don't like kiwi actually because the flavor is okay but the fruits is too soft. So usually, I don't want to eat kiwi.Todd: Oh well, I love kiwi. I love kiwi and bananas. It's very good.Meg: Hmm, sounds okay but maybe I'll just have the banana.Todd: So what about vegetables? Are you a person who eats lots of salad?Meg: I don't eat a lot of salad but I do like to eat vegetables with my meals, usually lunch and dinner.Todd: So you cook vegetables.Meg: I cook vegetables or I eat vegetables fresh. For example, usually with my lunch, I'll cut up a cucumber, and put some salt or pepper on the cucumber and eat with my lunch.Todd: Oh great. I love vegetable sticks, so I love carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, radish sticks. It's very good.Meg: Do you like to dip vegetable sticks into any dressing?Todd: I do but it's not healthy, right?Meg: No.Todd: But yeah, I love the dressing like the ranch dressing with carrot sticks or the ranch dressing with cucumber sticks. It's very nice.Meg: Yeah. It's pretty delicious. But you're right. Not so healthy.Todd: No. So what vegetables do you cook?Meg: Sometimes I cook broccoli. I actually like to roast broccoli, which is when you put broccoli into the oven and cook it a few minutes. So it's really delicious. You can add some salt or seasonings and it's easy to make. You can cook some meat or rice while the broccoli is in the oven and then it's ready for your dinner.Todd: That's great. Yeah. You see some vegetables like on a kebab that are roasted. I guess onions are roasted, peppers are roasted.Meg: Right, right.Todd: Do you roast other vegetables besides broccoli?Meg: Sometimes tomatoes, and sometimes potatoes although, it's that a vegetable.Todd: It is but it's not a very healthy vegetable.Meg: So maybe I shouldn't eat potatoes.Todd: I love potatoes though. So you roast vegetables, do you cook vegetables any other way? Do you boil vegetables or fry vegetables?Meg: Sometimes I boil vegetables. For example, I like to boil carrots because they're soft and you can add some spices again to have some flavor when you eat carrots with your meal.Todd: Yeah. Actually, I love carrots but I only like raw carrots.Meg: Oh really?Todd: And I hate cooked carrots.Meg: Oh well, I'll try to remember that if ever you come over for dinner.Todd: Yeah. Carrots sticks please.Meg: Okay.

Aimee: So your favorite age group is the junior high school age.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: Do you have much experience teaching younger children?Katie: Younger children like toddler age?Aimee: Well, how about elementary school?Katie: Yeah, elementary school. I've been teaching for about five years, five or six years. They're fine. You just have to be a bit silly with those kids.Aimee: Yes.Katie: Have a good time. Can't really be too serious when you're teaching young kids because they're still kids.Aimee: That's true. So how about younger than that? How about the kindergarten age? How are they for you?Katie: They're probably my archilles heel. I'm not great with kindergarten students or younger than that because they don't respond to reason.Aimee: Right.Katie: Yeah. So they – I mean, yeah. They're difficult for me to teach. I prefer teaching older students.How about you? What kind of age range do you like teaching?Aimee: I think I appreciate all parts of all age groups. Every group has its pros and cons. Recently, I've been teaching university students, and I think I'm remembering how much I enjoy it because, you know, they are adults and you can teach them like adults. And you can still have a bit of silly, fun with them, too.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: So these days, I think I prefer teaching the older students, university age students. You can, you know, you can really go into topics quite deeply.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: And you can get some interesting answers from some students. Other students, of course, you can't.Katie: Everyone is different, right?Aimee: Yes. You just have to find a way of teasing, teasing their potential, of all of them, I think.Katie: Is there a group that you don't like teaching?Aimee: I'm not used to junior high school children, junior high school students. I don't have any experience with them. So that would make me nervous, I think.Katie: How do you think they would be different to university students?Aimee: I think, from what I mentioned before, the teenagers, the hormones. I think that would be different. There's, you know, it's bubbling inside them, all of these changes of feelings and emotions. And they have so many things to deal with; pressure of growing up. And I think that can be more challenging.But I think it's important as a teacher to try to remember what it was like when you were that age.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: I think that's the biggest thing that will help you.Katie: Absolutely. So what do you think about teaching younger children like babies? How are you with that?Aimee: I do really enjoy that. Babies are awesome. They have their own set of needs. But usually, the very young classes come with, you know, the parents are there, too. So it's kind of a group-led situation, teacher-led group. And yeah, it's good fun for me. They're very cute and squishy. And very – not uncontrollable – what's the word?Katie: Unpredictable?Aimee: That's it. Completely unpredictable. You know, one day they can be in the best mood ever, and then the next day, they're just a nightmare.Katie: I think that's why I'm terrified of them, because they're so unpredictable. I don't like it.Aimee: Yeah. That's true. And the bodily functions too, you know.Katie: Yeah, no thanks.Aimee: There's all of that.Katie: Yeah. I'm not prepared to deal with that. No, thank you. No, thank you. No bodily functions.

Aimee: So Katie, you're a teacher.Katie: Yes.Aimee: What is your favorite age group of students?Katie: Probably my favorite age group is around the junior high school age. So from about 11 to 15.Aimee: Okay.Katie: I think they're the most interesting to teach.Aimee: What makes them so interesting?Katie: Well, they already have personalities. And they're like almost adults but not quite adults. So it's interesting to see like – I think that it's just really interesting to teach them and see how they respond to stuff. It's very different from adults and it's very different from children but it's kind of almost there but not quite.Aimee: Yeah. That sort of bridging, bridging age group, I guess.Katie: Yeah. So they're still like, they're still young kids. I can still teach them stuff but they're old enough to also do stuff by themselves.Aimee: Yes.Katie: So it's like the perfect age group to teach, I think.Aimee: Yeah. Independence.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: That's right. What about things like behavior and attitude? I just imagine that age group to be quite challenging. I mean, there's a lot of hormones going on and, you know, personalities are forming, so.Katie: Usually when in their first year of junior high school, they're fine because they're all still like, they're still babies. They've gone from being the oldest kids in elementary school to like the babies at junior high school.But when they get to second year, that's when they start getting like a bit moody, a bit hormonal, a bit grumpy in class. But then when they go to third grade, that's when they start becoming normal people again, I think.Aimee: So the second year is the challenging year.Katie: Yeah. Yeah. The terrible twos.Aimee: Yeah.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: Well that works in both ways, huh?Katie: Yeah, it does.Aimee: So do you have any particular strategies or tips for dealing with that difficult age?Katie: I think why they're so moody is because they're – again, they're almost adults. They're becoming adults. So if you stop treating them like kids and start treating them like adults, talking to them like adults, treating them like you treat an adult, then they respond better to that than if you like to shout at them like you would a kid or if you discipline them like you would a kid.Aimee: Yeah.Katie: Yeah. Just treat them more like adults and they respond to it really well, I think.Aimee: So you find they step up to the – they meet the expectations.Katie: Most of the time. Most of the time.Aimee: Have you ever had any particularly challenging moments in the classroom?Katie: Yeah. Yeah.Aimee: Silly question really, isn't it?Katie: Of course. Yeah. I mean, I've had kids like throw textbooks out the window.Aimee: Oh really?Katie: I've had kids like punch their fists through walls like just – yeah, I've had lots of angry kids. But they're very rare.Aimee: Wow.Katie: I've had lots of them but they're rare.Aimee: Yeah, that's an interesting…Katie: Interesting, yeah.Aimee: Yeah.Katie: In terms of like overall in a class, there's usually only one in each class that's a troubled student. But I mean, that's anywhere. That happens anywhere.Aimee: That's true. So how do you deal with troubled students?Katie: I think that's a very difficult question. There's no like textbook way of dealing with troubled students in general because every kid is different. Every kid has a different problem. Every kid is acting out for different reasons. So you have to find out why they're troubled, why they're acting out and try and deal with it in the best way you can.Aimee: Uh-hmm.Katie: Yeah. Don't get angry. It was probably my best advice even though you feel like strangling them sometimes. But just try and be patient, try and figure out why they're acting out and just deal with it from there.Aimee: Yeah. Nine times out of ten, staying calm is probably the best option, isn't it?Katie: Hmm. And the one time out of ten, is when you really need to get really angry. That's the scary time.Aimee: Yeah. Sometimes, they just need to know because there may be children with, you know, just personalities, strong personalities and they just are maybe showing off to the class, being a clown. And they just need that one moment where you show them, "You have to listen to me. I am the boss" kind of thing.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: Just get your power back perhaps?

John: So Sarah, do you play any musical instruments?Sarah: Yeah. I play two. I love to play the guitar. I started playing in college, and I like to play the piano, too. I started learning the piano when I was really young. How about you?John: Oh that's interesting. For me, I started playing the trumpet when I was really young, and I don't play it much anymore. But I started playing the piano when I finished high school, and I still play it now.Sarah: Oh wow. So you started learning the piano when you were older.John: Yes.Sarah: Do you think people can start to learn an instrument at any age?John: Yes, I think so. Do you have a theory about that?Sarah: Yeah. I think that if people start to play an instrument when they're older, I think they enjoy it more because they chose to learn it. And I think they're going to play it longer. But if you have to learn an instrument when you're younger, I think you won't continue playing it.John: Oh, because you have to practice for homework or something like that.Sarah: Yeah. I have five brothers. And we all learned how to play the piano, but as soon as my brothers graduated from high school and went away, they stopped playing the piano. And they don't play it now. In fact, they forgot everything.John: Oh, wow.Sarah: Yeah.John: Well, I do think that music education is very important for children because reading sheet music is like reading a language. And children can learn it much easier than adults learn. So no matter what instrument you play, if you're a child you learn how to read music.Sarah: And I think too, it's really important for kids to be a part of a group like that. For example, singing in the choir or playing music in the orchestra, I think it's really good for kids to learn to work together and make music as a team. I have some really good memories about being a young kid in the orchestra.John: Me too. I was also in choir and orchestra and marching band. So I don't play the orchestra instruments anymore and I don't play the marching band instruments anymore but I'm very glad that I had the experience of learning to read music and learning to work together as a team.Sarah: That's true. Me too. Okay. I changed my mind. Even little kids, they should learn how to play a musical instrument.

Widuri: Now, can you tell me more about another famous place in Sri Lanka?Danu: Sure. As I mentioned before, Sri Lanka is a beautiful island.Widuri: Yes.Danu: So Tooth Relic and the city of Kandy is right in the middle of Sri Lanka.Widuri: Oh, I see.Danu: If you go to the coastal area, there are so many beautiful beaches.Widuri: Wow.Danu: And I will talk about the place called Marble Beach.Widuri: Marble Beach.Danu: Why do you think we call it the Marble Beach?Widuri: Marble Beach. Maybe because the sands look like marble?Danu: Exactly. When you get in the sea, the sea bed looks like exactly like marble.Widuri: Wow.Danu: It's so blue, it shines when the sun is bright. You can see even from far away the blue sea bed of Marble Beach.Widuri: Wow.Danu: And the best thing about the Marble Beach is for about 1 kilometer, the depth of water is the same. It's really, really shallow.Widuri: Oh yeah?Danu: So nobody drowns if you swim in Marble Beach. You can swim even if you cannot swim.Widuri: Oh really?Danu: Yes. And since Sri Lanka is a tropical country, if it is not the rainy season, Marble Beach will be filled with people from outside Sri Lanka as well as with the people from Sri Lanka, local people and foreign people because tourists, they love to do sun bathing.Widuri: Yeah, they are. Have you visited that Marble Beach?Danu: Yes, so many times. Usually, my friends and we do road trips to this place because the road to Marble Beach is very beautiful and especially, there is no police in this area so you can drive freely.Widuri: Oh I see. So you mentioned that Kandy is in the middle of Sri Lanka and this one is in the southern part.Danu: No. Kandy is in the central part of Sri Lanka and Marble Beach in northeastern part of Sri Lanka.Widuri: Is it far?Danu: It is roughly 170 kilometers from my city.Widuri: Oh, not so far. Interesting. Any other famous place near those two places?Danu: Oh yes, sure. Near Marble Beach, there's another Hindu temple.Widuri: Okay.Danu: And the landscape of this temple is very interesting because in Sri Lanka, usually, around the beach, around the coastal area, there are no highlands or mountains. But this exact Hindu temple is situated on a little mountain right next to Marble Beach. And if you look down from the Hindu temple, it's like a cliff. It's like a straight fall into the water.Widuri: Wow.Danu: So there had been people jumping off from here and trying to suicide as well.Widuri: Oh really?Danu: As an offering to the god.Widuri: Wow.Danu: Yeah.Widuri: That's a bit scary. But it's so interesting. So near that Marble Beach, we have the beautiful cliff plus the Hindu temple.Danu: That's true.Widuri: Very interesting. Wow, I definitely want to go there. I will stay at your house and then we go to both…Danu: Temple of the Tooth Relic…Widuri: Yes, and then…Danu: And the Marble Beach.Widuri: The Marble Beach and then to the Hindu temple.Danu: Definitely, I'll be your guide.Widuri: Oh thank you, Danu.Danu: Thank you, Widuri.

Widuri: Okay, Danu. So I heard that Sri Lanka has a lot of beautiful places. Can you mention some famous one?Danu: Yes. Sure, Widuri. Sri Lanka is a beautiful island in South Asia. So I will talk about this famous temple known as the Temple of the Tooth Relic.Widuri: Tooth Relic?Danu: Yes.Widuri: Okay. Tooth Relic. What is it?Danu: Tooth Relic. Tooth Relic is the tooth of Lord Buddha.Widuri: Tooth?Danu: Yes, tooth.Widuri: Okay.Danu: Yes. And this Temple of the Tooth Relic is situatedin the city called Kandy.Widuri: Kandy.Danu: Yes. And I'm from Kandy as well.Widuri: Oh yeah?Danu: Yes.Widuri: So it's close to your house?Danu: My house is right next to the Temple of the Tooth Relic.Widuri: Wow.Danu: Yes.Widuri: Okay. So tell me more about it.Danu: Sure. So Temple of the Tooth Relic was a castle before.Widuri: Castle.Danu: Yes. There was a king ruling Sri Lanka. He's known as the last king of Sri Lanka. So in Sri Lanka, to become the king, you should possess the Temple of the – oh I'm sorry. You should, you must possess the tooth relic.Widuri: Okay.Danu: So if you want to become the king or if you want to overthrow the current king, you just have to go and get the tooth relic.Widuri: Wow, interesting.Danu: Yes.Widuri: Okay.Danu: But since Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, the people respect and worship the tooth relic. So there are like proper offerings and proper people assigned to take care of the tooth relic in this temple.So it's a very famous place in Sri Lanka as well as around the world. So for example, in August, there is the biggest festival in Sri Lanka, the display of the tooth relic.Widuri: Okay.Danu: So there are so many elephants walking in the street in colorful dresses illuminated, and so many traditional dances.Widuri: Okay.Danu: And there is this special tusker. You know tusker, right?Widuri: Tusker?Danu: Yes. The elephant right tusk.Widuri: Okay.Danu: So this tusker will carry the tooth relic.Widuri: Oh.Danu: Yes. The tooth relic is in a special cashket.Widuri: Okay.Danu: A golden casket. And they will display the golden casket around the streets of my city.Widuri: I see.Danu: So during that season, which is in August, the streets will be filled with people, local people and foreign people. So many tourists coming for Sri Lanka just to witness this colorful festival, which is known as the Kandy Perahera.Widuri: Kandy Perahera.Danu: Do you know what does perahera means?Widuri: Is it parade?Danu: Exactly.Widuri: Wow.Danu: Perahera means parade.Widuri: Parade.Danu: Kandy is my city so Kandy Perahera. So if I talk more about this temple, it has very old drawings by a famous Sri Lankan artist who used to live in Sri Lanka in the past, for example, maybe 500 years ago. And there is the king's throne, king's crown and the clothes which the king used to wear. So it's a temple and a museum where you can learn a lot about Sri Lanka's history is you can visit there.Widuri: Wow, for interesting. I bet you never miss this Kandy Perahera every year.Danu: I have watched so many times and as well as I have done volunteer service for the organizing as well.Widuri: Wow. You can be a king, you can stole it.Danu: But it's really, really bad to steal.Widuri: I see.

Katie: So, we're talking about going local as we're in a different country. How much of the local culture do you absorb? How much, like local ... cause we both live in Japan right? How much in percentage for example? How much Japanese food would you say you eat?Gilda: Oh, I would say probably like 80% of my food is Japanese food. Yeah, I like it because most of it is healthy and it's actually like what I can get in the cafeteria at work so ...Katie: That's convenient.Gilda: It's convenient. What about you?Katie: I mostly make my own food, and Japanese food is really difficult to make I think. I'm really challenged when it comes to cooking anyway. I'm really bad a cooking. And to have to try to learn a new style of cooking is just too much for me. I'm really lazy. So I would probably say if I'm cooking food myself, I never cook Japanese food. Zero percent of the time. I never, but if I go to a restaurant then sure, I can eat Japanese food sometimes.Gilda: I sometimes watch the TV and learn how to cook Japanese food. There's some easy recipes. Do you ever watch that - Japanese television?Katie: I try, but like you said there's a lot of cooking programsGilda: That's what I was about to say, there's tons of cooking TV shows, programs.Katie: And I watch cooking programs and I just get angry that I can't cook! I can't do it like that so I get frustrated, so I stop watching.Gilda: Yeah, I see.Katie: What about other kinds of shows? Like, not just cooking shows?Gilda: Well, they have, I guess they have pretty funny shows, but I don't understand what they're saying, but I try to follow them, and yeah, sometimes they are very interesting. They also talk about the clothing season, what's trending in Japan. What young would people would do, and they have some interviews sometimes, and they're always teaching you something, so that's something I like about Japanese TV, you always learn something, from other countries as well. That's true.Katie: That's true. So how about your friendship circle? How much percent of your friends would you say are Japanese versus International?Gilda: Oh, I would say probably 40% are Japanese. Yeah, the rest of them are international people cause I work with intenational people, so I spend most of the time with them.Katie: And when you're with your Japanese friends, so you speak mostly in English, or mostly in Japanese?Gilda: Oh, I would say like probably 70% Japanese and the rest would be English because normally when they know a second language, it's English not Spanish, so I like zero percent Spanish, a lot of Japanese, but yeah like I would say 70% of the conversation is in Japanese also because I want to practice my Japanese.Katie: Right.Gilda: What about you?Katie: Well, I would say out of my friends, recently, I've had like no time to socialize, so probably like 30% of my friends are Japanese, but when I speak with them it's mostly in Japanese. I don't like speaking in English. For me, for the same reasons as you, like, I want to practice my JapaneseGilda: But I would say that from my Japanese friends, like most of them, probably like 80% of them always want to speak in English because they want to practice English too, so it's like a give-and-take, like we speak a little bit in Japanese, but sometimes we speak more in English. It depends also the topic and what you're talking about.Katie: If it's a topic you can talk about, then, yeah, go for it in Japanese, but if it's a difficult topic ...Gilda: Yes, exactly, yeah!

Aimee: So Gilda, we're both teachers, and we both live and work abroad, right, from our home countries.Gilda: Yes.Aimee: I'm from Scotland and you're from Venezuela. So, I'm sure we both have to deal with homesickness because we're so far from our home. How do you deal with homesickness?Gilda: It's very difficult because as you said I'm so far from my country.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: And like special seasons like Christmas or during the Holy Week – it is something that we celebrate a lot, I feel really homesick especially because of the food we have.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: Yeah, a particular food and also meeting with your friends, hanging out with them, going to the beach. So all those things that I don't have here is, – yeah, it really makes feel homesick. But one thing I do is I always try to go for things in the country where I'm living. So what do the locals do? Is there any interesting – and it's a sort of like an adventure because you're doing something new so you're kind of replacing something that you used to do by something new. So in a way, it's nice dealing with homesickness.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: What about you?Aimee: Well, that's kind of what I was going to say. You said replacing, I was going to say just distract yourself with other activities. Obviously, we've met new people living here and, you know, I've made some new and wonderful friends. And it's not the same as your life back home but it's a good distraction, I think. You mentioned activities, so yeah, just exploring the new culture that we're in.And if feeling homesickness in regards to food, you know, there's a lot of delicious foods here in Japan. Delicious foods, so we can distract our needs, I guess.Gilda: Yeah. That's one of the good things of being in Japan is the fact that you get to know people from all over the world and try so many different things. So yeah, it's a distraction. It's a good distraction. Yeah.Aimee: One, I guess, one strategy I have as well for homesickness is whenever someone comes to visit, which is very rare but it does happen, I send them a list of things that they can fill their suitcase with to bring over for me. Foods from home and just tea bags from the local supermarket and, you know, some cosmetics or toiletries that I cannot buy here, particular brands that I like. And it's little things like that that help me, I think, deal with not having them. Basically, having them helps me deal with not having them.Gilda: I also do that sometimes like my family try to visit me once a year so their suitcase packed of stuff Venezuela, which is very important to me. And also I try to find those supermarkets from South America like Brazilian supermarkets…Aimee: Right. Yeah.Gilda: Or sometimes the Filipino supermarkets, they have stuff that we have in Venezuela, so yeah, it's very nice.Aimee: I actually used to live out in a different part of Japan where there was quite a large Brazilian population, and there were many like Brazilian convenient store. Wonderful breads, the meat was good, too. Yeah, lots of really good products. So I guess a shop like that would help you in particular.Gilda: Yes, I guess Brazilians, they don't have the same issue that we have with homesickness because they can get a lot of stuff from Brazil here in Japan.Aimee: That's true. Yeah. Well, of course, you know, there are international stores around. I'm lucky enough to – even in a small city like this, I have an international store that's reasonably close. So there are a few products that you can – I feel happy about, I guess. Maybe I wouldn't even buy them at home but when I see them in the shop here, I feel like, oh I can't get other things so I'm going to buy these biscuits.Gilda: Likewise, something that you can read.Aimee: Yeah. Well, yeah, that too. Just peel the language stick off the top and read English below.Gilda: Yes.Aimee: Yeah. There are different ways to cope with it, I think.Gilda: Yes.

Meg: Hey, Todd. I noticed that you only have two pairs of pants.Todd: Oh no. Really? Yeah, yeah. You got me. I have only two pairs of pants for work. I have my green slacks and my black slacks, and that's it. I don't like to buy clothes and I travel a lot, so I really don't have that many clothes.Meg: Are you not into fashion?Todd: Yeah. I'm not into fashion. I'm not really interested in clothes or shopping. And I only have clothes for the season. And after the season, I usually throw the clothes away.Meg: Oh really?Todd: Yeah. So to save money, I don't buy a lot of new clothes each year.Meg: Wow. So you only have clothes for the season.Todd: Yes.Meg: Well, what clothes do you usually wear in summer?Todd: Well, summer is great because you don't need a lot. In summer, I just have four or five t-shirts. I usually have some white t-shirt or, you know, a blue t-shirt which has some letters on it or maybe a little bit of English. But usually, my t-shirts are really simple. And then I have some jeans, usually two pairs of blue jeans, and I have shorts for doing sports or running or exercising. I have four or five pairs of shorts. And that's about it.Meg: Well, since you do some exercising, do you also wear sneakers?Todd: I do. I always have two pairs of sneakers. So I have one pair of sneakers for the gym, and then I have one pair of sneakers for just walking around town, and also for running, for jogging. So I have my outdoor sneakers and my indoor sneakers.Meg: What about flip-flops?Todd: I'm not a flip-flop guy. I do have a pair of flip-flops for the beach or for going to the store quickly, but I usually prefer to wear my sneakers.Meg: In the summer, it's so hot, I usually like to wear tank tops but I have to put on sun-block. What about you?Todd: I do have to wear sun-block. I have very pale skin, so sun-block is very important. I should wear it more often, but I do have a hat, so I always wear my baseball hat in summer. So to protect myself from the sun, I just wear my hat all the time, and sometimes, sun-block.Meg: So those are the clothes you wear in summer. What do you wear in winter?Todd: In winter, I'm also pretty basic. Each year, I usually buy a couple of new dress shirts, long-sleeve dress shirts that go with my slacks that you see at work. And that's about it. The only clothes I always keep, I always save are my nice jackets. I have two nice jackets for work, and I wear my, you know, my business jackets to school. And that's about it.Meg: It does get really cold in winter. When you go outside, do you wear anything extra?Todd: No. I don't like scarves and I don't like things like ear muffs and gloves. So I usually just keep my hands in my pockets. But I do have a couple of sweaters. So each year, I like to buy one or two new sweaters. And I do wear those sometimes.Meg: Sweaters are warm. What about when it snows? Don't you wear boots?Todd: No. I don't wear boots. And luckily, it doesn't snow that often where I live, so I don't have boots. But I should buy some, maybe. Sometimes, I buy the really cheap rubber boots or plastic boots that I know I don't have to keep for a long time. But, you know, boots like that are easy to get rid of.Meg: Do you ever wear something like long johns?Todd: You know, when I was little, I wore long johns. I grew up on a farm and it was very cold. But now, not so much. I don't wear long johns. But I do have sweat pants, so I have sweat pants and the sweat shirt for exercising in winter. I usually have two or three sweat suits like that. And sometimes, I wear those to bed.Meg: Hmm, that sounds like a good idea. So summer, winter, what do you wear in fall and spring?Todd: Well, fall and spring is great because in fall and spring, you can wear nice clothes. So usually, if I buy dress shoes, I like to wear those in fall and spring. In winter, sometimes, the dress shoes aren't really good for the snow but I like to wear nice dress shoes in the fall and spring.And then, sometimes, in the fall and spring, I might wear a tie when I go to work. And of course, I have my slacks and I have my jeans, and I have my, you know, running shoes. So I keep those as well.Meg: As a woman, I often wear skirts. And so, sometimes in the fall and spring, I wear tights underneath the skirts but you don't wear tights, do you?Todd: No, I don't. Although, these days, when you go to the gym, they have special tights now for men that you can wear when you exercise. So there's like the running gear is almost like tights. It looks almost the same.Meg: Wow, that's interesting.Todd: Yeah, kind of strange.Meg: So for any season, do you wear any accessories?Todd: No. I'm not a big accessory person. Like I said, sometimes, I wear a tie, but not often. And of course, I have a belt. I need a belt, but I have one belt, and that's it. But I don't like things like necklaces or, you know, bracelets. I don't really like jewelry. I do wear a watch sometimes but I don't wear a watch everyday because now, you don't need a

Todd: So Meg, we are talking about clothes, and you always look nice at work. You have a very nice fashion sense.Meg: Oh, thank you.Todd: So you must go shopping a lot.Meg: I do go shopping sometimes. It's fun to go shopping and buy new clothes especially when it's a new season.Todd: Like what do you like to wear per season? For example, what do you like to wear in winter?Meg: In the winter, it's pretty cold. So I like to wear sweaters. Sometimes, a t-shirt with a sweater over it to stay warm. Lots of long-sleeve shirts. I like to wear long-sleeve shirts. And I still wear skirts in the winter. So sometimes, I wear tights underneath the skirts to stay warm.Todd: What about dresses? Do you like to wear dresses?Meg: I do like to wear dresses. In the winter, it's a good time actually to wear sweater-dresses. They're warm and a dress, so it's nice for work.Todd: Sweater-dresses.Meg: Have you seen a sweater-dress before?Todd: I have no idea what a sweater-dress is. What is a sweater-dress?Meg: It's a dress but made of sweater material.Todd: Ah.Meg: So sweater-cloth made into a dress. So it's very warm.Todd: Okay. I was picturing a sweater with a skirt attached to it.Meg: [Laughs] You might find that but I think a sweater-dress is a little different.Todd: Okay. What about… What about in the summer?Meg: In the summer, I love to wear flip-flops. It's my favorite thing to wear. So I often wear flip-flops with jeans or shorts, skirts again. I don't wear tights in the summer because it's too hot.Todd: Right. Do you wear flip-flops to work?Meg: I can't wear flip-flops to work. So when I go to work, I often wear high heels or flats, some dress shoes.Todd: Okay. So do you like to wear shorts or skirts. Which do you prefer?Meg: I prefer shorts because it's more comfortable and easy to move around. But I also can't wear shorts to work. So I have many summer skirts for work.Todd: Okay. Now, let's talk about shoes. So women often have many types of shoes, high heels, boots, flats, like you just said, sneakers. So what kind of shoes besides flip-flops do you like to wear?Meg: I do have many pairs of shoes and so I like to wear flats and sandals especially in the summer. In the winter, I like to wear boots and rain shoes when it rains or rain boots. When I'm exercising, I like to wear sneakers or tennis shoes because it's good for your feet.Todd: Oh right. Now you travel a lot, we both travel a lot. What shoes do you usually take when you travel?Meg: When I travel, I usually take flats because they're easy to remove at the airport and they're light and convenient for traveling.Todd: Oh, right.Meg: What shoes do you usually use?Todd: Just my sneakers. So my sneakers I wear everywhere. Now, women sometimes have accessories, you know, like earrings, necklaces, scarves, things like that. What do you like to wear?Meg: I like to wear necklaces especially long necklaces. I don't like necklaces that are too short. It feels uncomfortable. I don't like to wear bracelets or a watch because I don't like anything on my wrist, but I do love to wear rings. I usually wear one ring each hand, just for fashion, not for anything special.Todd: Oh that's nice. Cool. Well anyway, thanks, Meg.Meg: Thank you.

Sarah: So John, you're an English teacher now. Is that right?John: Yes. I've been an English teacher for six years now.Sarah: Do you always want to be an English teacher?John: Well actually, recently, I've been thinking about changing my job.Sarah: Oh?John: Yes. I have been studying math and science.Sarah: Oh.John: I'm learning a lot more about math these days. I hope in the future I can be a math teacher.Sarah: That sounds interesting.John: Yes, I think so. I think math is important because if we can understand math, we learn new ways to think about problems.Sarah: What age student do you want to teach math to?John: I think I would enjoy teaching junior high school students.Sarah: So you said you're studying math now.John: That's right.Sarah: How do you do it? Do you study online?John: That's exactly right. I study online from various websites and these websites connect you to free online courses from real universities around the world.Sarah: Oh wow.John: Yeah. So I signed up for a free algebra class from a university in the United States.Sarah: Will you get a degree when you finish?John: Well you can. For every course you finish you can get a certificate that says you passed this course. And if you sign up for a series of courses, you can get a certification in a  field like math or science.Sarah: Oh really? And it's all online?John: Yeah. And it's not only math or science, you can choose any field you want. I've been thinking of studying Spanish language there and you can study computer programming or history or law.Sarah: Oh, interesting. Maybe I'll try it.John: You should. They have different types of classes. You can study by yourself by watching videos or you can even have an interactive class with a real teacher and you can meet through video chat.Sarah: Wow. Hey, thank you.John: Yeah, you should try this opportunity.Sarah: I will.

Sarah: So do you think we should sent people to Mars or Moon to spend all this money on space travel?John: Well, I think we should. Space travel can give people hope for the future, and space travel can unite people from different countries for a common goal.Sarah: But do any countries work together to travel in space?John: Oh certainly. The International Space station has astronauts from different countries working together. And I think that a joint effort is the best way to do space missions. I think that we could go back to the Moon and learn much more by going there than we can learn if we don't go there.Sarah: I see what you mean, but I think we could learn more and we could improve more if we can help the people on Earth. Think of everything we could learn from the children that can't get an education these days. Maybe the next Einstein is a poor little girl who doesn't have the money to go to school. If we spent more money on school or clean water and vaccines, maybe we could learn more from ourselves than from going to space and going to Mars.John: I agree with you that more should be spent on education, but we don't need the next Einstein if were not doing space travel. The problem is what are people with money willing to spend it on. I think that it would be nice if we could have all the rich countries spend money on education for poor people, but if you look at the numbers, the cost of one space mission is much cheaper than the things we spend money on now.Sarah: Like what?John: Well, the first example that comes to mind is war. One day of war is so expensive for all the governments and the militaries that are involved. One day of war costs more money than one space mission. But war goes on and on for days.Sarah: Yeah, and years.John: So, if you think about money in terms of ... sorry ... so the money for a space mission is expensive by itself, but when you compare it to other things it's actually kind of cheap.Sarah: I see what you're saying. You're comparing the cost of space travel to war, but I would compare the cost of space travel to the cost of, for example, getting rid of malaria. I think we could get rid of a terrible disease like malaria for as much as we would spend on a trip to Mars.John: Getting rid of malaria or going to Mars? Well, of course I would also choose that we get rid of malaria.Sarah: Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree.John: We might have to disagree this time.Sarah: OK.

Sarah: We've been hearing a lot about Mars in the news.John: Yeah, NASA keeps coming out with announcements every year.Sarah: We just found out that there's water on Mars - liquid water.John: Yes, recently they revealed that there's evidence of liquid water.Sarah: That's crazy.John: Last year they announced that they definitely found ice - solid water - in the soil. In the soil on Mar's surface the found frozen water. Now they found evidence of liquid water flowing.Sarah: Do you think people can go to Mars? Do you think we should send people to Mars?John: I definitely think we can go there. We've already sent a number of spacecraftto Mars, starting with satellites many decades ago. Then there were landers, where satellites landed on the surface and sent data back to Earth. Then we sent the rovers. Little robot cars that drive around on Mars, so we've already successfully sent many missions to Mars. I'm sure we can do it with humans.Sarah: But none of the satellites or landers or rovers, they've never come back. Do you think we could send people and they'd come back safely?John: Well, that is a problem. We could definitely send people to Mars, but bringing them back, having the astronauts come back to Earth, would be a much more difficult problem to solve.Sarah: So you think maybe we would send astronauts to Mars? They would never come back safely?John: Well, if you think about the old explorers, in the olden days ... explorers used to leave their home, and find new regions and not plan to go back. People used to take a risk, and maybe they couldn't return, so I think there are people who are willing to go on a one-way trip to Mars. I'm sure there are people willing to do that, but are the rest of the people willing to send someone on that mission? I think some people will say yes, and some people will say no. I don't know what the percent would be, but I'm willing to allow someone to do that. If someone says I want to go to Mars. I know it's a one-way trip, but I want to go. I think that's OK. We should let them go.Sarah: How about you? Would you volunteer to go?John: Oh, no. Not me. I'm staying here on Earth.Sarah: OK.

Danu: So Widuri, could you talk about another interesting place in Indonesia?Widuri: Oh, Indonesia is also famous for its cultural heritage. One I can mention is Borobudur temple. Do you know that?Danu: Borobudur temple?Widuri: Yes.Danu: I have heard about it. I heard the temple is a World Heritage site.Widuri: Yes, it is. And this one, different with Bali. This one is for Buddhism.Danu: I see.Widuri: So it's very huge and you can see a lot of stupa there.Danu: So this is a Buddhist temple.Widuri: Yes, it is.Danu: And roughly, how old is this place?Widuri: Wow. I can't remember the exact number, but it is very, very old. We even make some –Danu: Conservations?Widuri: There are a lot of conservations for this place because it was destroyped before because of the earthquake. So I think this is very, very old. I can't even remember the name of the king who made this temple, but it's very old.Danu: So this is a very famous place.Widuri: Yes, it is.Danu: Is it beautiful?Widuri: Yeah, because the scenery around it is very beautiful. If you want to go there, you have to climb some hills. So the way there is very beautiful. You can get there via local car. You can rent a car and then you can enjoy the view first before you go there. Once you get there, you can climb all the temples up through the top and you can enjoy the view again.Danu: Oh, it seems like a very nice place to go trekking as well.Widuri: Yes, it is.Danu: I see. So Widuri, so you talked about Bali and Borobudur.Widuri: Yes.Danu: Bali has a Hindu kovil and Borobudur has a Buddhist temple.Widuri: Buddhist, yes. So different.

Todd: So Meg, we are talking about animals; do you like to go to the zoo?Meg: I love to go to the zoo.Todd: Okay. So when you go to the zoo, what animals do you like to watch?Meg: I really like to watch giraffes. Giraffes are so tall and giraffes look really soft and friendly, so I wish that I could touch a giraffe someday.Todd: Oh, that's so true. There is a zoo near my house in California, and you can walk up some stairs and then you can feed the giraffes, and their face is the same height as your face, and they look really, really cute. Yeah, giraffes are great.Meg: Giraffes are so cute. Maybe someday, I can feed the giraffes.Todd: I like how giraffes look. I love their face. And I also love camels, also because I think camels have a similar face. They look really cool.Meg: I don't think camels are very cute.Todd: Really?Meg: Yeah. They're so hairy. Camels have so much hair that they look ugly.Todd: Oh really. I like camels. They always look cool and relaxed.Meg: They do look relaxed, but I like giraffes better than camels.Todd: Well, what about llamas? Llamas are kind of like camels and they're kind of like giraffes. They kind of have the same face. Do you like llamas?Meg: I think llamas look cute but I've heard that llamas aren't very friendly.Todd: Really?Meg: Have you heard about llamas spitting at people before?Todd: No. Actually, I think I heard camels do that but maybe llamas do it, too.Meg: Hmm, I'm not sure.Todd: Okay. So what about other animals? What other animals do you like at the zoo?Meg: I really like the zebras because zebras are black and white with stripes. So the zebra stripes are really cool, and zebras are similar to horses. So sometimes I think I could ride a zebra if I had one.Todd: Yeah. That would be cool. Zebras do look pretty cool. Are there any other animals?Meg: Well, there's one animal that I'm afraid of, and that's a bear.Todd: Yeah, bears are pretty scary.Meg: Bears are really scary and they're so big with huge teeth and giant claws, and I feel like a bear would eat me if I met it in person.Todd: Actually, have you seen a bear in the wild?Meg: No. I have never seen a bear in the wild, and I really don't want to.Todd: Well, in California, sometimes you can see bears in the wild, small black bears. And actually, the black bears are not that dangerous.Meg: Really?Todd: Yeah. I mean, you need to be careful when you see a black bear in the wild, but they almost never attack anybody. So the one animal you must be afraid of though is the mountain lion. So there are mountain lions also in California, and they are scary.Meg: Hmm, so maybe I should avoid mountain lions, too.Todd: Yeah. If you walk in the wild and you see a mountain lion, maybe it's too late. You're already in trouble.Meg: Maybe I'll just keep going to the zoo.Todd: [Laughs]

Meg: Hey, Todd. Did you have any pets when you were a kid?Todd: I did. I had many pets actually. I had a dog, of course, and I had some cats. But actually, I grew up on a farm. Yeah. So we raised lots of animals, and on the farm, I always felt like the animals were my pets. So it was pretty cool.Meg: Wow. That sounds really exciting for a kid.Todd: Oh, it was great. It was the best.Meg: What kind of animals were on your farm?Todd: We had almost every, you know, farm animal possible. For example, we had pigs. We raised a lot of pigs. And pigs actually are really good pets. They're very fun. Pigs are very friendly animals and they're not really dangerous, so… Also pigs like people.So sometimes when we were little, we would ride on the pigs' backs but if our grandpa saw us riding on the pigs, he would yell at us. We always got in trouble.Meg: Uh-oh.Todd: Yeah.Meg: Also, aren't pigs dirty?Todd: They are dirty. So when you would go in the pig pen, you would get very, very dirty. But, you know, when you are small, when you are young, you don't care. It's just fun.Meg: What about other animals like chickens?Todd: We did have chickens and lots of chickens. And the chickens maybe were the least friendly animals. So chickens don't like people.Meg: Really?Todd: And the chickens – you have to go get the eggs. So working with chickens was not easy, and I never liked the chickens that much. Plus, the chickens you eat more often, so it's a little different.Meg: Right, yeah.Todd: Yeah.Meg: Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen a chicken in person.Todd: Really?Meg: No.Todd: Oh wow. You must be a city girl.Meg: I am. Although, when I was young, I always wanted to have a horse. Did your farm have horses?Todd: We had one horse for a while, and then we had a pony. So yeah, we had one horse and we had one pony. The pony was great because when I was little, we could ride the pony but the pony was actually really mean. So the pony would bite you if you were not careful. And if you try to ride the pony, sometimes the pony would get angry, very angry. But it's okay. You know, when you're small on a farm, it's normal.Meg: Oh, that pony sounds scary. Were there any other animals that you had that were more friendly?Todd: Yeah. Actually, the best pet you can have is a goat.Meg: Really? A goat?Todd: Yeah. Goats are fantastic. Goats love people. They really, really love people, and they're very social. And goats follow people. So when you are little on the farm and when you walk around, the goats become your friends.So when I was little, I would walk and I had friendly goats that would follow me everywhere. And they were great, and they're very curious. They like to see what you're doing. Yeah. And they like to be petted. So, you know, like how you pet a dog, you pet a cat; goats also like for you to pet them. They're very, very social.And it's interesting because goats and sheep are kind of similar but really, they're very different. So goats are very social. Goats are very friendly and sheep are very shy. And sheep don't like people at all. So sheep stay away from people and goats always get close to people.Meg: Hmm, sounds like a goat is a good pet to have.Todd: Goats are the best. They are so friendly. And goats are cool because goats talk to you. So they like to make a sound. You know, like, "Baa-a!" They "baa-a" or whatever, they make a sound. And when you walk around as a young boy or young girl, the goats are great. They follow you and you feel like the goat is talking to you, which is cool.Meg: That sounds really fun. Now I wish I had some goats.Todd: Yeah. Oh, you got to. The only other animal we had – we also had cows.Meg: Oh.Todd: And cows are cool. Some cows are friendly. Most cows are shy. But cows, you know, they always come to you because they think they will get food. But if they see you have no food, then cows stay away. So cows like sheep are a little afraid of people, but pigs and goats love people and they're very social.Meg: Oh, it sounds really cool, growing up on a farm.Todd: It was. It was. I was lucky.

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Katie: So what are three foods that you absolutely have to have that you can't live without?Gilda: I would say that I  could not live without arepa. It's like my daily breakfast in Venezuela.Katie: What's that?Gilda: Arepa is made of corn flour, and it looks like a hamburger. So you put anything you want inside and it's very tasty. And I would say like 95 percent of Venezuelans eat arepas every day. Well, it's kind of like a high-carb diet in my country. So I need rice also for lunch, and bread. Bread is another thing. In the afternoon, a piece of bread, sweet bread with coffee is kind of like mandatory.Katie: So lots and lots of carbs in your diet.Gilda: Yes. What about you? What about in England?Katie: Well, English breakfast is not the healthiest of breakfast. It's like a big plate with fried eggs, fried sausages, hash browns, like hash potatoes, beans, just everything fried and everything delicious. And I would say that I can't live without that, but if I ate it every day, then I would probably not be able to leave my house because I would be so, so fat. But it's definitely a food that is in my top foods of all time. That's probably my favorite. But recently, I've been eating lots of tofu. It's breakfast.Gilda: Oh, okay.Katie: Yeah. So a little bit of tofu, a little bit of soy sauce just for breakfast, which is just – it's a bit of a boring breakfast. But it's really healthy, I guess. So I've been eating that a lot every day. So I probably can't live without that recently. And also, pizza. Pizza.Gilda: Oh, pizza. Yes, very good.Katie: Pizza. I think everyone can't live without pizza.Gilda: Yes.Katie: Pizza is the best. Pizza is definitely a food that I can't live without.Gilda: Yeah, I try to have pizza probably once a week, I would say. Yeah.Katie: What's your favorite topping?Gilda: That would be cheese.Katie: Cheese. Classic.Gilda: Definitely. Bacon.Katie: Cheese and bacon. Oh it sounds good.Gilda: Yes. Very, very tasty.Katie: Just cheese and bacon or anything else?Gilda: No, no. I'm going for anything actually but I will always need to have cheese and bacon on my pizza.Katie: Pizza is not pizza without cheese.Gilda: Yes. Yes.Katie: It has to have cheese.Gilda: So what else do you have? So you said tofu, pizza, what other food can you live without?Katie: Well, my grandma is part Italian. So we have lots of like pasta and lasagna in our family. So I try and eat – well, I try not to eat a lot of pasta because I'll get really fat. But pasta is definitely something that I can't live without. So good.Gilda: Yeah. Italian food is so good.Katie: Yeah. And again, lots of cheese.Gilda: Yeah. We also do a lot of lasagna but, well, we call it pasticho.Katie: Pasticho.Gilda: It's a different name but it's the same lasagna. And it's also very tasty.Katie: So good.Gilda: Yeah. But high fat food.Katie: So like a real like comfort food, isn't it? Lasagna.Gilda: Yeah. Yeah.Katie: So good. So what would you say is your comfort food?Gilda: My comfort food – that would be arepa, again. Yeah, definitely.Katie: You said you're going to have lots of like fillings in that.Gilda: Yes. So my favorite would be black beans with cheese inside. It sounds a little bit like a mix up of things but it's really, really tasty. We do eat a lot of black beans every day in Venezuela. It's very common. What about you?Katie: My comfort food, I can't eat it as much as I would like to these days but it's probably my mom's spaghetti Bolognese. So good. It's so good, like lots of pasta, lots of tomato, lots of herbs, lots of cheese.Gilda: Sounds good.Katie: It's amazing. I would like live with my parents if it meant I could have spaghetti Bolognese every day. So good. So tasty. I think it's the best

John: So I was wondering about disciplining kids in public. You have kids, right?Sarah: Yeah. I have two kids. I have a three-year old and a one-year old.John: Are they ever naughty when you're out in public?Sarah: Yes. They are naughty out in public. And I think that you shouldn't discipline your children in front of other people. So if I'm out in public and my three-year old starts to be naughty and she's crying because she wants a toy from the store or something, I will pick her up and I take her somewhere quiet until she's calm. Like I might take her to the family bathroom or a quiet hallway, so she can stop crying and stop making noise.John: I see. So you wouldn't just give her the toy she wants.Sarah: No. I don't think you should do that sort of thing to make your child be quiet, just give them something until they are quiet because then they'll be bad more in the future. If they know they can cry and scream, and mom and dad will give them what they want, they'll just be worse and worse.John: Oh, I see. They'll learn that it's okay. They can get what they want by crying.Sarah: Yeah.John: But don't you think you'll – won't you lose more time if you have to take your kids to some quiet place to calm down?Sarah: Yeah. You lose time but I think it's worth it because I think of the future and the time I'll save by making sure that my child is better behaved in the future. And the other thing too is I'm always trying to think about other people. So I don't want other people to have to listen to my child scream and cry. And I also don't want them to see me talking sternly to her because they'll maybe be annoyed or feel uncomfortable. And maybe my child will scream more because she can feel that. So I try to go somewhere quiet.John: Oh, I see.Sarah: Sometimes that's impossible though. Sometimes, if you're on the plane or on a train, you can't go anywhere or do anything. You have to stay in your seat.John: What if you're on an airplane, then do you give your child whatever they are crying for as soon as possible?Sarah: Yes, I do. I try to plan ahead and I think, okay, I need to have enough toys. I need to have lots of snacks, lots of fun things so that I prevent them from becoming naughty or crying or screaming. But sometimes, you can't help it. And if you're child or baby starts to be loud at that point, I will. I'll give them candy or food or toy, whatever they want.John: Oh, I get it. So I think you're saying, you think there might be a different reason why kids become naughty. Besides what they want…Sarah: Yeah.John: For example, they're hungry or bored.Sarah: Yeah. I think a lot of the times, children are naughty because maybe they're tired or they're hungry, or they want to play and stretch their legs but they can't because they're on the plane or they're in a stroller at the.John: So instead of waiting for bad behavior and then doing some discipline like yelling at your kids or grabbing their arms, maybe it's better to prevent bad behavior by making sure the kids sleep enough and don't get bored.Sarah: Yeah. That's what I'm saying. And, you know, my kids are young. Just three and one. So a one-year old can't really be naughty. They're just a baby. So if they need something, I give them food or what they need. But a three-year old, they can throw a tantrum. And so, they can be very naughty.John: A tantrum?Sarah: Yeah. When they scream and maybe they fall down on the floor, and they kick their legs. Sometimes they try to hit you. It's really bad. But I think all two-and-three-year-old children sometimes they do them.John: Oh, I've heard of that. It's called the.Sarah: Yes. But it also lasts into three.John: Well, it sounds like you're a good parent.Sarah: Oh, I try.

Sarah: Okay, John. I was curious about a trip you've taken. Have you ever taken a really, really awesome trip?John: Yeah. I've been on a lot of awesome trips but I didn't know that trips could be so awesome until I went with my kids.Sarah: Really? It went well?John: Oh yeah. It went very well. It's more fun, I think to take kids with on a trip.Sarah: Where did you go?John: I went to.Sarah: Wow.John: My first trip with a kid was with my daughter to. We did everything. We rode on elephants in, and we went down south and went to the beach. I wasn't worried about anything because of having kids with us. Yeah.So I wonder what would have been different if I didn't have kids. I probably would have stayed up too late, and I wouldn't have woken up in the morning. In that way, I think kids can help you have a better vacation. You can use your time better because kids are definitely going to wake up early. So you can't waste the morning.Sarah: You said you rode an elephant.John: Yes.Sarah: With your daughter? Didn't you think that was dangerous?John: Well, I was nervous about it at first. I thought, maybe it would be too dangerous but we had very good guides to help us. So I asked the elephant trainers, "Do you think it's safe enough for my daughter to ride the elephants?" And the trainers told us, yes, it would be very safe. And the trainers were right there with us together, from the start to the end. So there was never any risk.Sarah: Was there anything that you wanted to do but you decided you couldn't do it?John: Well, maybe there are some things that younger people would do if they don't have kids like going out to a dance club late at night. But I wasn't too interested in doing that anyway, so I don't consider that I missed it. Besides a dance club late at night, I don't think there's anything else I skipped. Maybe an amusement park. When you have a baby or a toddler, you can't go to an amusement park and go on a rollercoaster. But after the kids are older, you can do that, too.Sarah: So when you went to Thailand, you had one daughter, do you have more kids now?John: Yes. Now, I have a daughter and a son.Sarah: Is it hard to travel with two kids?John: Oh, it's a little harder than traveling with one kid but it's not twice as hard. There are two kids now but it's not twice as hard as traveling with one kid. Also, you find that lots of people want to help you. So if you have too many bags, for example, someone will help you carry your bags. Or if you need to feed your kids because babies can't feed themselves, right, well you just have to learn some skills like give one kid some toys while you feed the first child and then switch. So give toys to the other kid and feed the second one. So you learn lots of tricks like that so you can make traveling easier.Sarah: Well, it sounds like you have a great time traveling with your kids. Thanks for telling me about it.John: Oh yeah. I want to go on more trips with my kids. I can't wait for our next.

Todd: So Meg, do you live in a house or an apartment?Meg: I live in an apartment near the train station.Todd: Oh, you live downtown.Meg: I do.Todd: Do you like living downtown?Meg: I do like living downtown because it's so convenient. Everything is close by, grocery stores, the mall, the station.Todd: Oh, that's great. So what about your apartment? Do you have a nice apartment?Meg: It's a nice apartment, but it's really small.Todd: Oh yeah? How many rooms?Meg: Well, there are three rooms. But each room is pretty small. There's a bedroom, a sitting room like a living room, and the kitchen room.Todd: Oh, wow. So in your bedroom, like, do you have a big queen size bed, a small bed?Meg: I have a small twin size bed or a single bed in the bedroom because it's pretty small. So there's not much space for a big bed.Todd: All right. So do you have a TV in your bedroom?Meg: No. Actually, I don't own a TV at all.Todd: Really? So there's no TV in the living room, too.Meg: There's no TV anywhere in the apartment.Todd: Wow. What do you do in your house?Meg: I have a laptop computer. So usually, I can watch some TV shows or videos on my laptop.Todd: All right. Okay. Do you like to watch movies in bed?Meg: Yeah. Sometimes I like to watch movies in bed or sometimes I prefer to sit in the living room and watch movies.Todd: Right. So you must have high-speed Internet.Meg: I do. Yes. I have an Internet box that my laptop can connect to.Todd: Okay. Cool. Do you have a nice big sofa?Meg: I have two small sofas. So you can push them together to make one big sofa or you can keep them separate. Usually, I keep them separate because there's more room for people to sit on.Todd: Okay. Now, you like to cook. So you must have a nice kitchen.Meg: Unfortunately, I have a very tiny kitchen.Todd: Oh no. How do you cook?Meg: I have to use some extra tables to have more space. The counter is really small, so there's not much space. So I have an extra table I use for preparing the food.Todd: Okay. Do you have an oven?Meg: I have a very small toaster oven. So it's not really an oven.Todd: All right. So do you have a microwave?Meg: I do have a microwave and a small refrigerator and one burner, like a stove top burner.Todd: Okay. Do you cook every night?Meg: I don't cook every night. Sometimes, I'm too busy. And sometimes because my kitchen is so small, I get a little frustrated. So I just pick up some food from a restaurant.Todd: All right. Now, you live in an apartment, so how many floors does your apartment building have?Meg: The building has five floors and I live on the fifth floor.Todd: Nice. Fifth floor.Meg: Yeah. The view is nice, but unfortunately, there's no elevator.Todd: Oh no.Meg: So you always have to take the stairs.Todd: Wow. Five flights of stairs.Meg: Five flights of stairs every day. But it's good exercise.Todd: So you're on the fifth floor. Do you have a balcony?Meg: I have a small balcony where my washing machine is and I can also hang out my laundry out there.Todd: Oh cool, washing machine is outside.Meg: It is outside. It's a little different from my house in America.Todd: So from your view, what can you see?Meg: I can see the train station from one window and all the restaurants downtown. And from a different window, I can see the mountains.Todd: Oh nice. Yeah, the mountains are nice.Meg: Yeah, it's really pretty.

Katie: So I don't really know much about Venezuela in terms of the different regions and things. So could you tell me something about it?Gilda: Well, in terms of weather we have only two seasons. We have a rainy season and the rest is dry. But so, you get to enjoy the four seasons in a way if you go to the west side of the country. We have like high mountains and you can see some snow and also, like it's a little bit cold over there.But if you go to the middle, in the middle of the country, the center, is hot. It's quite hot and dry. So it's where the – it's like the cowboys' area in Venezuela. So a lot of horses and they eat a lot of meat.In a little bit of north, in facing the Caribbean Sea, is the capital, Caracas. There, we have a very nice weather. I guess, that's the reason why it's the capital, maybe because the weather is really nice. We can wear the same clothes the whole year around.Katie: Nice.Gilda: So we don't have to think about winter clothes or anything like that. You can wear shorts all the time. So it's really, really nice. Yeah.Katie: What's the average temperature in Caracas?Gilda: While the, all this weather reports would say like 30, 35 and people will be like, "Oh, it's really, really hot."Katie: Yeah.Gilda: It's not. When you're there, you feel like probably 27 is like the body temperature, probably.Katie: Still pretty hot though, right?Gilda: It is but it's dry. It's not so humid. Even though we are close to the Caribbean Sea, it's not so humid. So it's a very nice weather. Yeah. I really like it. Yeah.Katie: So, outside of Caracas, are there any other famous cities in Venezuela?Gilda: Yes. There is one called Maracaibo. This is famous. It's the oil city. Venezuela is famous for having a lot of petroleum, and that's the city where all, most of the petroleum is concentrated and all the companies, oil companies. And since they have oil, the city is pretty modern and, yeah. So it's another major city in the country.There is another city that is kind of developing now is in the middle of the country. It's called Valencia. And also, it's famous because it has lots of industries and factories. So many people are moving there for job opportunities. And yeah, they have very nice places as well. Yeah.Katie: Are there any resort towns in Venezuela?Gilda: Yes, there are many especially because Venezuela is facing the Caribbean Sea. So there are many places for enjoying to see the ocean, beach side. There is an island called Margarita island. It's also very famous for occasion like to enjoy the summer at the fullest, and it's famous. That city has a lot of foreigners, visitors, yeah, all year around.Katie: So it's popular all over the world.Gilda: Yes, it's popular. Yeah.

Katie: So imagine that I was going to go to Venezuela, what are three things that I absolutely have to see if I go there?Gilda: Well, it depends where you go. But if you go to Caracas, the capital, definitely visit the wealthy side of the city. You can go shopping at very nice shopping malls. And also, you have to go to the disco. There are so many nightclubs.Katie: Nice.Gilda: Enjoy salsa. Yeah. What else? Oh. Well, we are very close to the beach side from the city. So like normally, every weekend, people in Caracas, the capital go to the beach and spend the day there after having – after spending the whole night dancing, so.Katie: That sounds amazing.Gilda: It's like connecting two days.Katie: Amazing.Gilda: Yeah. If you go to the south, definitely you should visit the Canaima National Park. It's a famous park because it has the highest waterfall in the world. It's called Angel Falls.Katie: Yeah.Gilda: Yeah. So, and obviously, if you go there, you will get to see how the indigenous people live and try some of their food. Yeah. Arepa, which is mandatory if you got to Venezuela, you have to eat that.Katie: What's that?Gilda: It's made of corn, yes corn – it's sort of like corn flour. It's only in Venezuela, you can find it. And it's daily breakfast. So like I cannot live without arepas every day. I have to eat it.Katie: So is it like a sandwich or…?Gilda: It looks like a hamburgerKatie: Okay.Gilda: And in the middle, like you put stuff in. It could be anything you want; cheese, meat, whatever you want. So there are so many styles of arepas. Yeah.Katie: Sounds amazing. And speaking of food, what other Venezuelan food could you recommend?Gilda: We also eat a lot of empanadas. I think you can find those in all the countries in South America. But every country has their original style.Katie: What's that?Gilda: It's also made from corn flour, and it's baked. Some of them could be fried. And they have meat or chicken inside. It's very tasty. And it's always like a breakfast thing. Yeah.Also, if you go there during, you can try hallaca. It's a traditional dish in. And it has all the four types of meat. It has pork, it has chicken, beef, fish, plus vegetables. It's very tasty. I know it sounds a little bit like oh, all together, but it's very tasty but you get a lot of weight after.Katie: I can imagine. That's what is for, right? Putting on weight.Gilda: Yeah, exactly. So everybody in January, new resolutions, losing weight.Katie: Sounds about right. Now I'm really hungry.

Todd: So Meg, thanks so much for helping me clean my house.Meg: You're welcome. No problem.Todd: Yeah. It's terrible when you have so much to do.Meg: Yeah. For example, tomorrow, I really have a lot to do.Todd: Oh no, really? What? What do you have to do tomorrow?Meg: Well first, I have a lot of laundry that I need to do. So I'll need to wash my clothes. After I wash my clothes, I'll need to iron my clothes, of course. And then finally, after I iron my clothes, I need to hang up all the clothes.Todd: Oh, yeah. That's terrible. Yeah. Actually, I never iron my clothes.Meg: Really? Why not?Todd: I always put my clothes in the dryer and they, you know, come out and they're okay. and I just hang them as soon as my clothes get out of the dryer. So I never iron my shirts. And sometimes, I take things to the dry cleaners so I don't have to iron.Meg: Yes, that's something I also have to do is drop off a few dresses at the dry cleaners, some formal clothes. I need to take them to the dry cleaner.Todd: Oh really? Well, wait. How about this? You helped me clean my house, so I want to help you. So I can take your clothes to the dry cleaners.Meg: Really? Is it okay?Todd: Yeah. No problem. Actually, it's easy because I need to return some movies. So when I go to return my movies, I can drop off your clothes at the dry cleaners.Meg: Hey, while you're going to the dry cleaners, can you mail some letters for me?Todd: Yeah. No problem. That's easy because the post office is really close to the dry cleaners.Meg: Oh that's great. That will save me time because I need to go buy groceries.Todd: Oh yeah? Where do you buy your groceries?Meg: I usually buy my groceries at Maxx Value, a grocery store.Todd: Okay. Yeah. I like to go there because they have really cheap milk, they have cheap bread; they have lots of good meat. Yeah, I like that store.Meg: Yeah. They have a lot of delicious bread also.Todd: You like the bakery.Meg: I do like the bakery at Maxx Value.Todd: That's good because actually I know you bake. You like to bake bread. So if you like the bakery, their bread must be good.Meg: It is good. I recommend it.Todd: Okay. I'll go check it out.Meg: Great.

Meg: Hey, Todd. Are you busy today?Todd: Yeah. I am so busy. Last night, I had a party and now my house is so dirty, and I need to clean my house.Meg: Wow. Where will you start cleaning?Todd: Well, everywhere in the house is dirty, so the kitchen is very dirty. The living room is dirty. But I think, first, I'll do the kitchen. I have to throw away all the old food. We have lots of trash from the party. And then I have to wipe the counters. We have food all over the counters. And then of course, I have to wash the dishes and put everything away.Meg: Wow. It sounds like it was quite a party.Todd: Yeah, it was. Well, we ordered pizza but also everybody brought food. And so, we had lots of food and everybody left their dishes and pots at my house after they went home. So I have everyone's dishes, and pots and plastic containers. So I feel I should clean everything and then give it back to everybody.Meg: Hmm, that sounds like a good idea. Did anyone drop any food on the floor?Todd: Yeah. Actually, they dropped food everywhere. So I have to vacuum the carpet in the living room and I need to mop the kitchen floor. So I think I need about three hours just to clean the entire house.Meg: Oh, three hours? Can I help you clean?Todd: Well, actually yeah, if you can, I really need help. But if you can just collect the trash. I have some trash bags and go around and collect all the plastic cups. There are many plastic cups, and collect pizza boxes and maybe get the old food and throw away the old food, that would be great.Meg: Sure. I can collect the cups and throw away the old food. Is there anything else you need me to do?Todd: Well yeah, actually. If you have time, can you go to the store and buy some cleaning supplies? I need dish soap to wash the dishes, and I need window cleaner to clean the windows.Meg: But window cleaner? Why the windows?Todd: Well, it was a very crazy party, and you don't want to know.

Aimee: So why do you think Britain never wins? Is it because their songs are always terrible?Katie: Well, I mean, I disagree as a British person. I think the songs are always awesome, of course. But usually, how people win Eurovision is when you want to vote for a country, you have to ring up. And people always vote for the countries that are next door to them. So countries that are close to them. So the UK really only has Ireland next door. So we only really ever get votes from Ireland. We're not close to any other countries.Aimee: Not friendly.Katie: Not friendly.Aimee: Yeah. I guess that's it.Katie: Yeah.Aimee: It's not physical closeness, it's like emotional closeness as well, isn't it?Katie: We're not either. We're not physically close or emotionally close to any countries in Europe, so.Aimee: That's true.Katie: We don't get any points.Aimee: So which countries typically manage to get a lot of votes then?Katie: Countries that are in the middle, that have countries all around them. So like Austria has lots of countries surrounding it. Germany has lots of countries surrounding it. Yeah. England just doesn't have a chance of winning. The UK will never win Eurovision song contest ever again.Aimee: Unless they change their foreign policy, perhaps.Katie: Or unless we just move the entire country in the middle of Europe.Aimee: Well, that's not going to happen, isn't it?Katie: We can dream. We can dream.Aimee: So it's not possible to vote for your own country?Katie: No. You can't vote for your own country. You have to vote for any other country except for yours.Aimee: Oh, I see.Katie: Otherwise, Russia would just win it every time. Russia is so big.Aimee: That's true. I didn't think about that. It has a massive population. So how does it work exactly? You're sitting at home. You're watching the TV, and then you have to pick up the phone and call, is that it?Katie: Yeah. When everyone sung their song, they will show you telephone numbers for each country. And you have to choose the country that you liked the best. And then you call that number, and that counts as one vote for that country. And then the country that gets the most votes gets 12 points. And then the next country down gets 10 points and then 8 points, all the way down to 1 point. But a lot of countries in Eurovision sometimes get 0 points for the entire show.Aimee: Oh dear.Katie: The UK often gets 0 points.Aimee: Do they?Katie: Yes.Aimee: That's embarrassing, isn't it?Katie: Very embarrassing. Very embarrassing.Aimee: And what is the hosting language?Katie: Well, they always speak in English. And usually, the host country will also speak in their language. So if it's France, they'll speak in French. If it's Germany, they'll speak in German. But when they are announcing the points, they'll speak in English and French.Aimee: English and French only?Katie: Yeah.Aimee: Oh that's interesting. And I assume that each individual country who's watching the show has their own presenters speaking in their native languages though.Katie: Yes. Yes.Aimee: To help translate everything.Katie: They have their own commentators who will talk throughout the entire show and explain everything.Aimee: Okay. Wow. It's such a massive scale, isn't it?Katie: Yeah.Aimee: Really huge.Katie: It's the best event of the year. My favorite thing ever.Aimee: So since you can't vote for the UK, then who do you normally vote for?Katie: Well, I normally vote for the country that I thought was the most interesting, which is how I think you should vote in Eurovision. Seeing that it's a singing competition then I think it should be judged on who is singing the best or has the best song or who has the most exciting outfit. But yeah, it changes every – it depends on who I think was the best.Aimee: Right. That sounds like a good, fair strategy.Katie: I think so. I think the rest of Europe should do that as well.Aimee: Yes. I guess they should.

Aimee: Hey, Katie, did you hear that Australia are rejoining the Song Contest?Katie: I did. It's a really big news. Really big news.Aimee: So can you tell us a little bit about? What is it exactly?Katie: is basically a music competition that happens every year in May. And countries from all over Europe have an entry in the competition.Aimee: Right.Katie: So big, big music singing competition.Aimee: And it's Euro…Katie:, yeah.Aimee: Okay.Katie:, and yeah, every single country in Europe send somebody to sing in the competition.Aimee: Okay.Katie: And all of Europe watches it, and all of Europe votes for a winner, and it's huge. It's huge.Aimee: It does sound huge, continental competition.Katie: Big battle with music.Aimee: And where is it usually hosted?Katie: It's hosted in the country of the previous year's winner.Aimee: Right. So this year then, do you know where it was?Katie: I don't remember who won it last year, but the previous year, two years ago, it was won by someone from Austria.Aimee: Okay.Katie: So last year, the competition was in Austria.Aimee: Right. That sounds like a wonderful event for the hosting country.Katie: Yeah. And I'm from the UK, and the UK hasn't won it in such a long time. And I really, really want to win because I wanted to go and see a live competition.Aimee: Right. So over the – you mentioned that you're such a big fan. Over thehistory, do you have any personal highlights?Katie: Probably my favorite entry was from ages and ages ago, before I was even born by an English entry called Bucks Fizz.Aimee: Okay.Katie: They were really awesome. They were singing a great song, and then suddenly, halfway through the song, the boys ripped the girls' skirt off.Aimee: Oh.Katie: Not that way. But they were wearing a long dress and then they were suddenly wearing a skirt. And it was amazing.Aimee: They kind of costume changed then.Katie: Yeah, costume change. And it happened in the '70s, I think, '70s orAimee: '80s, maybe?Katie: Yeah. And at that time, it was probably the most exciting entry in ever.Aimee: Oh really.Katie: It's very exciting.Aimee: A real shock.Katie: Real shock. A big costume change, big drama.Aimee: And how was the song?Katie: Eh. The song was okay. No one remembers the song. Everyone remembers the skirts.Aimee: Okay. So I take it, they didn't win then?Katie: I don't think so.Aimee: Did they?Katie: I don't, I don't know. I can't remember. Also, I remember the costumes but not if they won or not.Aimee: Yeah. Not the song.Katie: Isn't that funny?Aimee: Costumes, too are important.

Sarah: So John, you told me about the paleo diet and what it is. But why did you decide to eat like that?John: Well, let me tell you. I was feeling sick for a long time.Sarah: Oh, I'm sorry.John: Oh, it's okay now.Thanks though. I started to feel sick three years ago, and then it got worse and worse in my stomach. I had lots of stomach trouble called indigestion, and I didn't know why until I found out that some foods are healthier than others. So that's why I started learning about the paleo diet and eating healthy. I found that we should eat fresh fruits and fresh vegetables and we definitely shouldn't eat fast food. And we shouldn't eat very many snacks either.Sarah: Oh.John: And because I was sick with my stomach trouble, I was also feeling depressed. But I learned that our moods and our emotions can be affected by what we eat.Sarah: Really?John: Yes. I was very surprised to learn that. But it makes sense because our brain chemistry comes from the foods we eat. When we eat healthy foods, we get good chemistry in our body and our brains can function normally, and we can have good moods and good emotions.Sarah: So you feel happier and healthier now that you changed your diet.John: That's true. But changing my diet wasn't enough. Even though I fixed my diet, I still didn't feel 100 percent. So I had to do more research. And I found something else that's very important.I didn't realize before but everyone needs to get enough exercise every week. In fact, it's best if you can exercise 30 minutes every day.Sarah: Everyday?John: Well, of course you can take a day off. Two days off each week is okay. And you don't have to do very difficult exercise. Just riding a bicycle or jogging is enough. But I also found that having a healthy diet and getting enough exercise is still not enough because you need two more important factors.Sarah: What are they?John: One is called stress management. When we feel stressed, our body has a reaction to stress, and it can make you feel sick, and it can put you in a bad mood. So we need to learn ways to manage our stress. So we need to learn how to breathe deeply and relax more. And when we encounter stress, we should learn healthy ways to react and not react in unhealthy ways, such as getting angry or feeling frustrated.Sarah: What's a healthy way to react?John: Well first, you should breathe and relax your body by slowing down. And then you should think calmly and clearly about the best way to handle a problem. So don't just worry about the problem and think about what can go wrong, but think calmly about ways to solve problems.Sarah: Okay.John: But I found the most important factor in feeling healthy was a big surprise to me.Sarah: What was it?John: We need to get enough sleep.Sarah: Oh.John: Everyone knows we should sleep more but very few people sleep enough. Most adults should sleep 8 hours every night. I was only sleeping 5 or 6 hours every night.Sarah: Oh wow.John: Yeah. So sleeping at night is like recharging your battery, right. So do you have a cell phone?Sarah: Sure, of course.John: What do you do when the battery is dead?Sarah: I plug it in.John: Yeah. And you need to leave it plugged in until it has a full charge. Well, not sleeping enough is just like unplugging your phone before it's charged. So it's much better to have a healthy diet and get a regular exercise, learn stress management skills, and most importantly, get enough sleep every night.Sarah: Okay. I'll try hard. Thank you.

Sarah: So John, I heard you've been trying out a new diet. Can you tell me about it?John: Yes. I've been trying the paleo diet.Sarah: What's that?John: Well, this diet is supposed to make you feel better and eat healthier. And the idea is that a lot of the problems we have with health, a lot of modern human health problems, come from the foods we eat. So the idea is that maybe we should eat a diet which is closer to what early humans ate before.Sarah: Early humans ate? Like what did they eat?John: Well, they mostly ate fruits, and berries, and nuts, and meat. They didn't eat grains because grains come from agriculture, from growing plants on purpose.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: And they didn't eat bread and cake and cookies and crackers.Sarah: It sounds like a hard diet to keep.John: It's a little difficult at first. What you have to realize is that these foods are refined foods. Refined foods are not really natural foods because humans have to do a lot of cooking processes to make these foods.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: When you want to eat natural, you should eat food just the way it comes like raw vegetables and fresh fruit and meat that isn't processed. So you can't eat hotdogs.Sarah: Okay.John: And sausage.Sarah: Okay.John: But you can have steak…Sarah: It sounds…John: And fish.Sarah: It sounds like an expensive diet.John: Well actually, it turns out that when you eat fresh vegetables and fresh fruits, it can be cheaper. Processed food, refined food, comes in lots of packaging from the store, and sometimes it can be more expensive for convenience. Modern humans eat these processed foods for convenience. You don't have to wash it. You don't have to do the chopping and preparation when you eat refined foods.But when you go on paleo diet, you buy the fruit and you eat it. You buy the vegetables, you have to wash it and chop it and then you eat it. So it's not processed, and it's much healthier for you.Sarah: How do you feel since you started this diet?John: I feel much better actually. When we eat carbohydrates, we can feel tired. Carbohydrates are in processed foods like anything that comes from grains. Like I said, bread, cookies, cake, crackers. They have lots of carbohydrates. And when we eat them, our body has to use lots of energy to digest carbohydrates. It takes away energy which could be used for doing activities. That's why if you eat lots and lots of bread and cake, maybe you feel tired.Sarah: Oh, I see.John: If you just eat fresh vegetables and fruit, you can feel like you have lots of free energy.Sarah: Are there any foods that you miss?John: I think the food I missed the most is pizza. Pizza was my favorite food before. I used to eat pizza three times every week. Now, I rarely eat pizza. Pizza has a crust. The crust is bread, so the crust has lots of carbohydrates. Also, pizza has a lot of processed meats including pepperoni and sausage. Those meats are not very healthy for you. Also, pizza has lots of cheese on it. Cheese is another processed food. So if we cut out pizza from our diet, we can eat healthier and feel like we have more energy.Sarah: Well, that's great. Thanks for telling me about paleo.John: You're welcome.

Waduri: Okay, Danu. Now, let's talk about what do you have in Sri Lanka for breakfast, lunch and dinner.Danu: Sure Widuri. So in Sri Lanka, I will talk about my breakfast first.Waduri: Okay. Breakfast.Danu: So in Sri Lanka, there are different kinds of breakfast menus for Sri Lankans. For example, we eat so much grains, nuts, and we eat rice as well. But for rice, the special thing in Sri Lanka is we cook milk rice.Waduri: Milk rice.Danu: Do you know how do we cook milk rice?Waduri: No, but it sounds interesting.Danu: Yes. We put coconut oil and coconut milk in the cooked rice and we make it milk rice. And we eat that milk rice with a special paste of chilies and dried fish. It's really delicious and really healthy.And apart from that, we have fruits and salads as well. For example, Sri Lanka is a tropical country and we have many kinds of different fruits all around the area. So for example, oranges, star fruits, mangosteen, bananas, are the most popular fruits for breakfast menu.Waduri: Oh, interesting. So that chili paste, it means spicy? That milk rice will be spicy?Danu: Yes, because of the coconut milk, it's a bit sweet but at the same time because of the chili paste, it's hot.Waduri: Wow.Danu: So you can adjust your spiciness as you wish.Waduri: Oh so, you eat spicy food in the morning. Then what about lunch?Danu: Oh for the lunch, it's usually everybody eats rice and curry. But in Sri Lanka, rice and curry doesn't mean just rice and one dish of curry. We usually make three to four dishes. And it might be fish curry, some vegetables, and another vegetable salad. For example, the other vegetable curry might be cabbage while the salad might be some homegrown leaves. Very healthy food.Waduri: Wow. Another healthy food. So you have salad for both breakfast and lunch.Danu: Yes, it depends. So you can – some people have both for breakfast and lunch. But usually, it's for lunch, we have a salad of leaves.Waduri: Is that what you always have at your school and home?Danu: Usually, my mom makes my food for me to take to school. So my parents, they don't like – they don't want me to eat from outside because it's healthier to eat home. So my mom makes sure that I take proper food to school. So basically, yes, I eat my homemade food.Waduri: So she makes sure you eat your salad, right?Danu: Yes. She makes sure I eat my salad.Waduri: Nice. Then what about dinner?Danu: For dinner. For dinner, it's a very simple dish. In Sri Lanka, in our culture, we say that you should eat like a king for breakfast. Eat like a prince for the lunch. And eat like a beggar for the dinner. That's because of the healthy lifestyle we follow. So for dinner, it might be a simple dish like bread and some gravy or another dish called pittu.Waduri: Pittu?Danu: Yes.Waduri: What is that?Danu: Pittu is made with grounded coconuts and flour. You mix it. And you boil it. You steam it. Steam-boil it. So it becomes a very simple food, and you put some coconut milk on it, and you'll eat it.Waduri: Is it sweet?Danu: You can make it sweet and you can make it hot depending on what ingredients do you use. So in Sri Lanka, we use lots of different spices, so depending on what spices you use, you can change the flavor as well.Waduri: Wow. Interesting. It seems like you have a lot spices in Sri Lanka. And then what about snack time. Do you have snack time?Danu: Yes, definitely. We have a snack time in the evening. For example, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, we usually have tea.Waduri: Tea?Danu: Milk tea with some cookies.Waduri: Oh nice.Danu: That's like family tea time. So we sit together. We have some cookies, maybe some bananas, and we drink milk tea. Have you tried Sri Lanka's tea?Waduri: I think I remember—what is it again? Ceylon tea.Danu: Yes, it is Ceylon tea.Waduri: Ceylon tea.Danu: Ceylon tea.Waduri: Ceylon tea.Danu: Yes.Waduri: So you mix the milk with that Ceylon tea.Danu: That's right. We mix the milk with Ceylon tea.Waduri: Interesting. I want to try it.Danu: You should try it. It's very delicious.Waduri: Okay. Thank you, Danu.Danu: Thank you, Waduri.

Danu: Okay, Widuri. So you are from Indonesia.Widuri: Yes.Danu: So I would like to hear about some typical Indonesia food. Let's talk about breakfast.Widuri: Breakfast. Okay. Let me see. Actually, Indonesian eat rice. We eat rice every day, three times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.But there is no specific and typical breakfast actually in Indonesia. For example, in my house, my mom will prepare both bread and rice. And sometimes, we also have porridge. But usually, people will prefer rice rather than bread. But then, we will eat that and drink milk every morning.Danu: So what is your favorite breakfast?Widuri: My favorite one, I prefer the lighter one, which is bread than strawberry jam, and of course, the milk.Danu: Okay. I see. So what about lunch, Widuri, in Indonesia?Widuri: But lunch, of course, I will eat rice. In cafeteria, at my school, we have a lot of menus, rice menus. For example, fried rice. That one is very famous in Indonesia. And then rice with curry, rice with soup, rice with chicken, fried chicken. There are a lot of menus actually in Indonesia. But basically, of course, we eat rice.Danu: Okay. That's interesting. Do you have any snacks during the evening time?Widuri: That's not really common actually. We don't really have snack time or tea time like that in Indonesia. But if you want to have snacks, then the snacks will be traditional foods from Indonesia like cakes.Danu: So what kind of cakes are they?Widuri: Wow. If I mention the name, it's probably hard to remember, but the name is like kue cubit. Do you know that food?Danu: Kue cubit.Widuri: Yeah.Danu: That's interesting. That sounds very funny.Widuri: Yeah. It is. The cake is very small. That's why we call it cubit. It's like you pinch the cake. So small but it's very sweet. You can have chocolate toppings or green tea toppings and strawberry jam on it.Danu: I see. So Widuri, could you talk about dinner in Indonesia?Widuri: Dinner. Hmm, actually, there are a lot of menus like pasta or rice again or other things. But for me and my family, we usually have fruits and salad for dinner. You know, it's healthy lifestyle.Danu: I see. So Widuri, you said you usually eat rice for three times a day.Widuri: Yes.Danu: So do you eat the same rice with same side dishes or curry or soup?Widuri: Yeah. Usually, my mom will cook every morning and then, she will cook again in the afternoon. But usually, same menu.Danu: Okay. Widuri, so salad and some fruits. That's interesting. Is it normal in Indonesia? Could you talk a bit about the salad and the fruits?Widuri: Yeah. Even though Indonesian eat rice three times a day, but my family prefers a healthier lifestyle such as salad and fruits.My friends also do that, I think, because we don't want to get fat, and fruit and salads for dinner is the best way to keep your body slim. And we usually have salad without toppings. You know, sometimes, the toppings makes you fat.Danu: So what kind of salads and what kind of fruits do you eat?Widuri: Indonesian is tropical country. There are a lot of fruits like watermelon, apples, oranges. And then we also have srikaya. Do you know srikaya?Danu: I have not heard about it before.Widuri: Then it's fruit from Indonesia. Its name is srikaya. The shape is like pineapple but it has different taste, of course. It's not sour. It's sweet. Its name is srikaya.And for salad, we eat the usual salad like lettuce and the tomatoes, something like that mixed with the fruits.Danu: Oh, you mix the salad with the fruits.Widuri: Yes, of course.Danu: That's interesting. So what's your favorite fruit? I mean, fruit.Widuri: My favorite fruits will be orange, I think.Danu: Okay. Sounds like a healthy way to live.Widuri: Yeah.Danu: That's why you have such a nice slim figure.Widuri: Yeah. Thank you.Danu: You are welcome. Thank you very much.Widuri: Thank you.

Sarah: So John, what do you think about tattoos and piercings?John: Oh. Well, I think they're okay. Personally, I have my ears pierced, and I have many tattoos. But in the professional world, different people have different ideas. So I had to make sure all of my tattoos can be covered by a t-shirt, so any person who sees me doesn't know that I have any tattoos.But I personally think tattoos are okay. So if I saw a police officer with many tattoos on her arms and her neck, I wouldn't have a problem with it. What about you?Sarah: Do you think in the future, maybe as you and I grow up, it will become more common to go to the doctor or maybe go to the bank and you see people, and they are professional people, but they have visible tattoos or earrings?I also have a tattoo. So I think they're okay.John: I agree. I think that in the future, it will be more and more commonplace to see people who have visible tattoos and piercings.Of course, right now, people are having more and more visible tattoos that are very small. But maybe in the future, tattoos will be bigger and bigger. I think it's the same with piercings.Nowadays, it's normal to see women and men who have their ears pierced. But it's still not common to see a professional working with their nose pierced or their eyebrows pierced. Maybe in the future that will be common as well.Sarah: I think so. But one thing that I think won't change is professional clothing. I think these days and the future, I think a nice suit, a professional collared shirt, ironed pants – I think those type of clothes are really important for your job or for the type of job if you want a promotion.And I think in the future, we'll see people with really nice professional clothing and then they might have visible tattoos or earrings. I think your clothes show how important your job is to you.John: I see what you're saying. If I was trying to hire a lawyer and I saw two lawyers and both of them had tattoos and their ears pierced, but if one of the lawyers was wearing a suit, even if that person have tattoos and piercings, if they're wearing a suit, I would rather choose that lawyer than someone who had tattoos and piercings who was wearing a t-shirt and shorts.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: So I agree with you that the clothing is more important for professional image.Sarah: What do you think – these days, some of the computer companies or tech startups, the CEOs are young people and they'll go to work wearing jeans or shorts and a t-shirt. And they like to portray a casual atmosphere through their clothes. What do you think about that?John: Well, in my opinion, the environment at a job, as long as everyone working there is in the same environment, maybe they should be able to choose what kind of professional attire is appropriate inside of that company. But the problem would arise when those workers have to interact with people from another company.So if another company has a dress code where everyone is wearing suits and these two companies have to work together, there might be a problem.Sarah: It's strange that clothes seem like they're so important. The knowledge and the product should be important but I think everyone looks at the clothes and makes a judgment.John: Yeah. It's interesting that we all know the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" but we can't help but do that. Everyone is judging people by what they wear, and that's not going to change.Sarah: I agree.

Sarah: Okay, John, let's talk about fashion. You know, I have students and I think sometimes they don't, they don't dress appropriately for the classroom.John: Oh yeah. Sometimes, it looks like students are wearing the clothes which they will plan to wear at night, to go out and go to a party with friends.Sarah: Yeah. So actually, I think school uniforms are great. I would make the teachers wear the school uniform, too.John: I agree with you.Sarah: Because I think when we talk about appropriate clothing, I think girls very often take the most of the blame for that. But I think it's our society, and we can fix the problem by having a uniform for girls and boys and teachers, and we can feel like part of a team.John: I know there are a lot of problems of school uniform. First of all, students don't want to all dress the same.Sarah: Hmm.John: But there's other problems. Usually, when schools have a uniform, the boys wear pants and the girls have to wear a dress or a skirt. I don't think that's fair.Sarah: I agree. I don't think that's fair either. I think a lot of schools these days they can let the girls choose. And so the girls can wear shorts or pants.John: Well, that's good. I think even beyond the pants or a skirt issue, there should be some flexibility to customize your uniform, whether you want to wear shirts that are a different color, even if they're in the same style. Or you want to have some pins or patches or some other accessories.Sarah: Do you think as a teacher, would you say something to your student if your student if your student came to class and maybe, for example, it was a boy and his pants were very low and you could see his underwear. Or maybe it was a girl and you thought, "Oh no, her shorts are a little too short." What do you think you would do?John: Hmm, wow, that's a difficult question. I have to say, I don't think I have been in that situation. I guess I'm lucky enough my students haven't pushed the limit too far. But I feel that I would say something if a student came to class in clothing that was, in my opinion, too inappropriate. I would ask them to, probably to, if not leave the class, at least don't wear clothes like that next time.What about you?Sarah: Well, I had a student, and he came to class with a jacket. And it looks like a very expensive jacket but it had a very bad word written on the jacket.John: Oh.Sarah: And after class finished, I told him to, "Wait, please." And I told him that he probably shouldn't wear that jacket to class, or maybe, he shouldn't wear it anymore at all. It just isn't very appropriate. And he came to class next time and he had the jacket but he had taken it to a shop and they had taken the bad word off of the jacket.And so, I was very happy to see that, that he changed his behavior and now he could dress the way he liked but also be appropriate.John: Well, that sounds very good. That's very effective.

Meg: Hey, Todd. I know you've traveled a lot. What countries have you lived in?Todd: I've lived in three countries. I've traveled to many, many countries. But I've actually lived in three. I lived in England for one year. I lived in Thailand for four years. And I have lived in Japan for 15 years.Meg: Wow. So when you lived in England, why did you live there?Todd: It was the first country I traveled to after college. And I had a work permit, a work visa for one year. And I worked at a pub restaurant, which was great. It was in the countryside. And I really enjoyed it. And then I did that for six months. I lived near Cambridge. So, I was near Cambridge University. And then after that I moved to London. And again, I worked at a restaurant. And I lived in London and just worked.Meg: Wow. So it was after college. How old were you?Todd: I was 23 years old.Meg: Oh, and living in London. That must have been fun.Todd: It was fun. And interestingly, when I went to England, I could not speak English. So, I could not understand British people. It took me maybe two months before I could understand their English. So it was very, very difficult to understand British people when I first moved there.Meg: Ah, so you liked it.Todd: I did like England. It was fun. It was my first country, but the weather was cold for me. I'm from California, and California in the United States is very warm, so I didn't like the weather, but that's okay because all British people don't like the weather, too.Meg: Oh, really?Todd: Yeah. Everybody complains about the weather.Meg: So after England, did you move someplace warmer?Todd: I did. Right after England, I moved to Thailand, and I lived in Thailand for over four years.Meg: Wow. Why did you live in Thailand?Todd: I was traveling, and in Thailand I had no money, and I needed a job, and I wanted to stay in Thailand, so I became an English teacher.Meg: Really?Todd: Yeah.Meg: Did you teach English there for four years?Todd: I did. So I went there and I began teaching English. Then I got a teaching course certificate to teach English in Thailand, and I really enjoyed it. The Thai students were really fun. And Thailand is a great place to live because the weather is really nice. The people are really friendly and the food is delicious. It has the best food in the world, I think.Meg: I've also heard that Thailand is beautiful. Is it true?Todd: It is. It has many, many beautiful islands and it has lots of beautiful places with nature and the mountains. It has jungles. It has beautiful beaches, so it's a nice place to live.Meg: So you like Thailand, too.Todd: I did. Thailand was great. Yeah.Meg: So England, Thailand, you said next was Japan?Todd: Yeah, so next was Japan. And Japan is nice. I am a teacher, an English teacher in Japan, and I love teaching English in Japan. Like Thailand, the food is really, really good. The people are nice. The scenery is really beautiful, so Japan is really nice.Meg: Are there fun things to do in Japan?Todd: Yes. Actually, I like Japan the most because you get everything. You get lots of beautiful nature, so, you can go hiking. You can go see beautiful beaches. You can go to really nice islands, but also Japan has many, many nice cities ,so you can go to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and the cities have lots to do. There's good shopping, great restaurants. It's easy to travel in Japan by train and bus, so, it's really nice.Meg: Oh, that sounds like the best of both worlds.Todd: Yeah, it is. Definitely a good place to live.

Todd: Hey, Meg. We are talking about traveling and visiting other countries. What countries have you traveled to?Meg: I've been to quite a few different countries, for example, Spain, Belize and Indonesia.Todd: Wow, three different continents.Meg: Yeah, pretty far apart.Todd: Wow, that's cool. So Spain, that must be a really nice country. What did you think of Spain?Meg: Spain is really beautiful. There's a lot of beautiful nature and also some nice cities. While I was there, I lived in a small city called Caceres.Todd: Oh nice. Are the people really friendly in Spain?Meg: Yes. Actually, the people are very friendly and very helpful, especially if you're lost.Todd: Oh, that's great. I hear Spanish food is really, really good.Meg: Spanish food is delicious. I lived with a Spanish family and my Spanish mom cooked delicious meals every day for lunch. In Spain, seafood is really popular, so I ate a lot of fish and shrimp.Todd: Oh, I love fish and shrimp.Meg: Me too.Todd: Now, Spain is really warm, right?Meg: Yes. Spain was very hot while I was there during the summer.Todd: Oh yeah? How hot? How hot does it get?Meg: It got up past 40 Degrees Celsius during the summer.Todd: Wow.Meg: Yeah. It was pretty hot.Todd: Does it rain?Meg: It does rain. But when I was there in the summer, it didn't rain very often.Todd: So what about Belize? Belize is a really small country.Meg: Belize is very small, but it's also hot similar to Spain in the summer.Todd: Why did you go to Belize?Meg: I went to Belize on a study trip for school, and I stayed there for about two weeks.Todd: Okay. Now, does Belize have good food?Meg: Belize also has good food. There was a family that cooked for us, and we had a lot of delicious almost Mexican type food.Todd: Oh really? So for example, what do you eat? Like, what do people eat in Belize?Meg: People eat – it's kind of like a taco but flat with a tortilla, and some meat and vegetables on top and some spices that make it really delicious.Todd: So the last country is Indonesia. When did you go to Indonesia?Meg: I actually went to Indonesia just last year.Todd: Oh wow. How long did you stay?Meg: I only stayed there for about a week.Todd: Oh yeah? Oh, short trip.Meg: Yeah, it was a short trip, but I was just visiting some friends there.Todd: Where did you go?Meg: I went to Jakarta and Bali.Todd: Oh, okay. So I hear Bali has really beautiful beaches. Is it true?Meg: Yeah, it's true. There are a lot of famous and beautiful beaches in Bali.Todd: Oh, did you surf in Bali?Meg: I've never surfed before. Usually, when I went to the beach, I just wanted to put my feet in the water.Todd: Oh yeah. Now, Bali also has very famous scenery on the inside like the rice fields. Did you see the rice fields of Bali?Meg: No, I didn't see the rice fields. But I did go to some famous historical spots.Todd: So of the three countries – Spain, Belize and Indonesia – what country was your favorite?Meg: Maybe Spain was my favorite because I love learning language, and it was really nice to stay with my Spanish family.Todd: Yeah. I could see that. I really want to go to Spain, and I hope to go soonMeg: I hope you can go too. It's beautiful.

Aimee: So what are some of the characteristics of the women and the girls who always win?Gilda: Well, you know, they have – well, recently, they did a sort of like a reality show. And like the whole country get to see what's happening in this Miss Venezuela organization. And they are always looking for something trendy, like what's popular in America.Aimee: Okay.Gilda: If there's a blonde girl or a brunette or – and normally, tall with all the perfect, 90-60-90 – is it?Aimee: Hmm?Gilda: 90-60-90 I think is the perfect…Aimee: Oh, you're talking about measurements?Gilda: Yeah, the body.Aimee: Like body size measurements.Gilda: Yes. Yes.Aimee: Right. So that's important too, obviously.Gilda: Yes. Yeah. That's really important. Yeah. Also the hair, the eyes, the teeth, everything. Yeah, so they think about many, many things.Aimee: So it's all based on physical appearance.Gilda: Yes, yes.Aimee: Of course it's a beauty pageant.Gilda: Of course, they go under a training, I heard, of almost one year.Aimee: Wow.Gilda: So they train them in terms of how to express themselves using proper language.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: And yeah, and also beauty; how to make-up, how to fix their hair or something like…Aimee: Okay. So like maintenance and self –Gilda: Yes, exactly.Aimee: Self presentation, I guess.Gilda: Yes, yes, yes. Yes.Aimee: Wow. What about – I don't know much about beauty pageants, so but I've heard or I've noticed that you have to have a skill as well, don't you? An extra, a special skill like what's your, what are you going to present to the judges as your additional skill. Is that the case?Gilda: That's more like American beauty pageants.Aimee: Okay.Gilda: So in Venezuela, they are not introduced like, they don't introduce to the audience a skill.Aimee: Okay.Gilda: They just go there and do the swimsuit competition and the evening gown.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: And then, a question.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: And then they're crowned.Aimee: What kind of question might it be?Gilda: Well, they have many kind of questions but sometimes the questions are really difficult.Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: But normally, it's about life, about world peace, about helping others, philanthropic activities. Yeah, that kind…Aimee: Off the top of your head, can you give an example of a question that…?Gilda: An example?Aimee: Yeah.Gilda: Like once, a girl was asked what's the difference between forgive and asking for permission. Like she had to explain what's the difference when you as for a permission and when you ask for forgiveness.Aimee: Oh so, it's like a grammar question?Gilda: Some sort of. The thing is that she fainted.Aimee: She fainted?Gilda: Yeah.Aimee: No.Gilda: She couldn't answer. It was too much. And because they're young. I mean, we're talking about girls 17, 18 years old, students. They were wearing lots of things. They're nervous. They're in front of millions of people and…Aimee: It's a lot of pressure.Gilda: Yeah. And yeah, maybe you say like, "Oh, that's an easy question." But at that particular moment, it might not be easy.Aimee: Yeah, of course.Gilda: And plus, they don't eat because they need to fit in their dress.Aimee: Oh my goodness.Gilda: Yeah.Aimee: That just sounds so intense.Gilda: It is. It's like a marathon or something.

Aimee: Hey, Gilda. I heard that beauty pageants are really popular in Venezuela.Gilda: Yes, they are. They are a huge thing in Venezuela. Everybody loves beauty pageants. It's like the Super Bowl in America, for Venezuelans it's beauty pageants.Aimee: Really?Gilda: The Miss Venezuela, that's how they call it.Aimee: Oh my goodness.Gilda: Yeah.Aimee: Okay. So from what age are children…?Gilda: It's like almost 90 percent of Venezuelan girls dream of being once in the, in this beauty pageants because once they got in, they get all some sort of surgery and, you know, they make them really, really look beautiful. And then after that they get jobs like models or actress. You know, Venezuela is also into soap operas.Aimee: Right.Gilda: So most of them want to be an actress one day.Aimee: That's so specific though, isn't it? A model or an actress. Ninety percent of the population—of the girls?Gilda: Yeah. Well, it's because of the economic situation. So it's easy money, in a way.Aimee: Right.Gilda: Yeah.Aimee: How about boys? Are boys interested in it?Gilda: No, not really. There are more into probably sports; baseball, becoming a police officer or…Aimee: Okay.Gilda: Yeah.Aimee: So what happens if, you know, if 90 percent of the population, as you said, are so keen on beauty pageants, and then they want to become a model or an actress, what happens to those who cannot make it?Gilda: Well, some of them will have probably a sort of frustrated life, some of them. Yeah. Some of them might change their mind once they, you know, grow up. Think of something different. But like, I work in a high school and most of the first year junior high school students, girls, they wear a lot of make-up. And they want to become one day, Miss Venezuela. Yeah.Aimee: Wow. Wow. Do you find – or what's your opinion about that? What do you think?Gilda: Well, I'm not supporting that. But since the country has so many crowns, there are many different pageants like Miss International, Universe, Miss World, Miss South America. There are so many. And Miss Venezuela has won a lot of crowns. So every time they get a new crown, it's a huge thing for the country. So they got the attention of everybody.So as a teacher, I don't support it. But it's kind of like something nice, you know, for the country. You're getting something.Aimee: So it sounds like it's a big source of national pride, would you say so?Gilda: Exactly. Yes, yes. That's the way it is. Yeah.Aimee: Interesting.Gilda: So many people stay at home when they're broadcasting the Miss Venezuela.Aimee: Hmm.Gilda: Yeah.

Sarah: So John, do you like to play golf?John: Well, no. I don't play golf very much, but I play disc golf.Sarah: Disc golf? What's that?John: Well, some people call it Frisbee golf. Basically, there are courses at parks. It's similar to golf but the courses are much smaller. You use Frisbees or a flying disc and you have to throw it. So it's different from golf. You're not aiming for a small hole but actually, you need to throw the Frisbee into a basket.Sarah: Oh, that sounds fun. Is it very easy?John: Well, it can be easy or it can be very difficult. It depends on the course. Many different parks have different disc golf courses. And you can be an easy beginner or you can be an expert. It all depends on how much you want to get involved.Sarah: I see.John: My friends are I, we are beginners, so we just like to have fun. So we just do the easy courses and have a good time. I think it's relaxing.Sarah: So you only need one Frisbee?John: Well actually, it's better to have two or three. You can play with one but in fact, when you learn more about disc golf, there are different sizes and weights of the discs.Sarah: Why would you want a different size disc?John: Well, it's similar to the clubs in golf. When you throw you first throw, you want it to go very far, so you should use a heavier disc. But when you're near the basket, you should make a short throw, so you want a lightweight disc.Sarah: I see. That's interesting.John: Yeah. So as I said, when you want to become an expert, you have to spend more money to get better equipment. It's like any sport, I guess. In fact, they have disc golf competitions now. So you can even participate in a tournament and win some prize money.Sarah: Did you ever compete?John: Oh no. I'm just a beginner. I don't think I want to be too serious about it.Sarah: So golf has 18 holes. How about disc golf? Does it have 18 holes, too?John: Well, not usually. Golf courses are very large, but disc golf courses are usually found in parks. So they usually have only six holes. But you can play 18 holes by doing all 6 three times each.Sarah: I see. How do you keep score?John: Scorekeeping is like real golf. So the winner should have the lowest score. Every time you throw a Frisbee or a flying disc, you have to mark one point. So if you can do a hole in one, that means you can hit the basket on your first try, then you'll only have one point. That's best.Sarah: Uh-hmm.John: But I'm not that good at it. So usually, I have three or four points for each course.Sarah: I see. You said disc golf is at the park. Do you have little kids playing in the middle of the course?John: Sometimes, the kids – of course, they can play wherever they want. And the courses do go through the park where kids play. So we have to be very careful, and we have to use good sportsmanship to wait for the course to be clear.Sarah: It sounds like a lot of fun.John: It is fun. Maybe you can join us next time.Sarah: That sounds great. Thank you.

Todd: Hey Katie. I'm having a party, Super Bowl party at my house on Sunday in a couple of weeks. Would you like to come over?Katie: Okay. But I have absolutely no idea what a Super Bowl is.Todd: Well, you know, the Super Bowl is a big sporting event and we have it once a year. But it's okay if you don't know anything about American football because actually, the Super Bowl is kind of like our unofficial holiday.Katie: Okay.Todd: Yeah. So what happens is, is everybody comes over to somebody's house, and you have a big party and you watch the game but nobody really watches the game. There's lots of other stuff going on so it's should be good.Katie: Do you have like Super Bowl food that you eat?Todd: Exactly. Exactly. So it's kind of like a big feast. So we'll have, you know, like hamburgers and stuff we'll barbecue. And we'll have lots of like chips and dip and stuff like that. So you don't have to bring any food but it's potluck. So if you do want to bring something, yeah, I would recommend it.Katie: Do you have to be like a supporter of one of the teams in the final?Todd: No. And actually, the game is not for a couple of weeks so we don't know who the two final teams are going to be.Katie: All right.Todd: They still have to decide, but actually, there's a bunch of things that have nothing to do with football on the Super Bowl that you'll probably like. The first is, they have the halftime show. You may have heard about the Super Bowl halftime show.Katie: Okay.Todd: You like music, right?Katie: I love music.Todd: Right. So they always have a really big musical act. And actually this year, I don't remember who it is. I'll have to check but it's usually somebody like Bruno Mars or U2 or somebody like that.Katie: I think last year, it was Katie Perry, was it not?Todd: It might have been. Yeah. But it's always a really, really big person. Another thing that's really cool about the Super Bowl is the commercials. So the commercials, you know, the companies spend a lot of money on the commercials, and they're usually really good. So the commercials—the people are often more into the commercials than the game.Katie: Okay.Todd: Especially if one team is kind of – if it's a lopsided win. So yeah, so the commercials are fun.Katie: What kind of commercials do they have?Todd: You know, like companies like Pepsi or Coke or like really big name companies.Katie: So the really big ones.Todd: Yeah. They'll spend like millions and millions of dollars. These are usually the most expensive commercials because it's one local game and one local audience. Like the World Cup is a more watched event but the commercials are regional for all the different countries, whereas the Super Bowl, the commercials are just for Americans.Katie: Yeah.Todd: So yeah, these are usually the most expensive commercials like around the world. So they're usually really well done.Katie: Is it just American teams in the Super Bowl?Todd: Yes, it's very, you know, Americanized name, I'd say. But, you know, like I said, the game is really not that important. But there is one way that you can make money.Katie: Okay. I'm interested.Todd: So what happens is, we have like a pool and you can draw numbers. And like you don't have to know anything about football but you can have like, you know, draw numbers for the first person to score a touchdown, or the first player to get a penalty or things like that. And you just fill out the chart and then if your player gets that, then you can get money.So you have to contribute. You have to pay like 10 bucks to play. But then it's in the pool and then you could win money at different points during the game.Katie: Have you ever won at the Super Bowl before?Todd: Yeah. It's kind of like how it works out where everybody wins a little money and everybody loses a little money. So, you know, gambling technically is illegal but…Katie: Of course.Todd: Yeah. But it's like just one of those things that everybody does.Katie: It's not for big money.Todd: No.Katie: Just a little bit of money.Todd: Just a little bit of money.Katie: So it's okay.Todd: Just to have fun. Yeah. So, and then, once I find out what teams are in the finals then I'll tell you about the colors. And it's usually best that you choose one team that you're going to support.Katie: Okay.Todd: So I'll fill you in about who the teams are later and all that.Katie: Right.Todd: So are you willing to come?Katie: Yeah. Sounds like fun.Todd: Okay, cool.Katie: I'm in.Todd: All right. So it's going to be at my house at 3:00. So if you can show up around 2:00-ish.Katie: Should I bring some food?Todd: You can. Like you can bring some type of maybe salad or like a bean dish or something like that if you like. But we'll – like the main food, we'll provide. We'll have pizza. We'll have burgers. Oh, and it's BYOB.Katie: Okay.Todd: So if you want to drink, you have to bring your own alcohol.Katie: All right.Todd: But we will have some beers and stuff. Do you drink?Katie: Sometimes.Todd

Todd: Okay. So Meg, this week we’re talking about just grooming habits and stuff. So let’s go now to like out teeth. Now, the dentist says you should floss every day. Do you floss every day?Meg: Now, I do actually. I’m pretty consistent with it because a couple years back I had some cavity issues that I didn’t want to go through again. And I wasn’t good about flossing before that but the dentist said that if I flossed and used mouthwash regularly, probably it could be avoided. And so ever since then, really every day, I do it.Todd: Well that’s good.Meg: Yeah. What about you?Todd: Well the dentist always says you should floss more. I’m pretty good about every other day. And then every now and then I’ll get it on a binge, like, “Oh I’m going to floss every meal like I’m supposed to,” but I’m pretty good. I brush my teeth twice a day. I know some people at work, I see them brushing after lunch.Are you one of those people that brushes their teeth three times a day?Meg: No, I do twice a day also. Do you do morning and night?Todd: Yeah. And actually, my dentist told me don’t do it three times a day because if you do it too much, it could do damage to your gums. Plus, he said I was brushing my teeth too hard. So I was pushing my gums back.Meg: Yeah. I actually had the exact same experience. Earlier this year, I went to the dentist because I felt like I maybe had some cavities because I had sensitivity in my teeth, and I was also brushing too hard because I was working, so I really want them to be so clean. And so my gums also were receding a little bit.Todd: Yeah, and so painful when it happens. You realize you have to reverse it, you know.Meg: Yeah.Todd: So what about the tongue scraper? Do you do little tongue scraper thing?Meg: I don’t have like a tongue scraper. I just kind of use my toothbrush and just brush it a little bit I guess. Do you use a tongue scraper?Todd: I have one. I use it sometimes.Meg: Well how does it work? What does it do?Todd: It’s just you’re raking leaves. You just put it in your mouth and you just scrape your tongue. And you do get some stuff that comes off of it and you’re like, “Oh wow.” But yeah.Meg: That sounds kind of gross actually.Todd: It is a little bit gross, yeah.Meg: But good for your mouth.Todd: Yes, definitely good. Definitely good. So then the other thing I guess we can talk about is a shaving now. So I’m the guy, so I have the facial hair.Meg: Right.Todd: But I’m pretty lucky. I only have to shave maybe twice a week.Meg: Oh really?Todd: I can get away with it, yeah.Meg: Yeah.Todd: Yeah. I don’t have the full on manly beard thing that comes out, so.Meg: Yeah, yeah. Some people have to shave like twice a day, so that seems like it would be inconvenient.Todd: Yeah. So do you – I guess because you’re a woman, do you have to do the legs thing?Meg: Yes, yes. I do shave my legs pretty much every time I take a shower.Todd: Really?Meg: Yeah.Todd: How annoying?Meg: Yeah. Well yeah, it is annoying. I actually really don’t like it. I wish I didn’t have to do it. And I mean, I guess I could choose to stop, but I’d rather do it. So yeah.Todd: Wow.Meg: Usually every time I take a shower because then if you’re wearing a skirt or shorts, it’s visible. So yeah, I’m just trying to be careful.Todd: Wow. Honestly from a guy’s perspective, when I look and I think about women shaving basically their calves below their knees, it looks like it’d be very easy to cut yourself because your legs are kind of hard, do you know what I mean?Meg: Yeah. Yeah. I think for the calves, it’s not so bad because it’s kind of a straight – it’s more smooth, but the knee part, you have to be careful.Todd: Right, yeah.Meg: Because it’s like a shape, and the ankles and feet.Todd: Yeah. That’s like for guys our problem is right under the chin and then the Adam's apple. The Adam’s apple is brutal because you kind of have to go around it, so it’s very easy to cut yourself.Meg: Yeah. Do you use an electric razor?Todd: No, I should. I’m very environmentally unfriendly. I use those plastic razors because they’re just so easy.Meg: Yeah.Todd: And actually, I kind of get away with it because of the gym I go to. They offer it. They have free razors in the men’s room. So I just do it there, save a few bucks.Meg: Yeah, might as well.Todd: Yeah, interesting. Well anyway, I guess we’re somewhat healthy.Meg: Yeah. We’re clean at least.Todd: Exactly.

Todd: So Meg, I have an interesting question for you.Meg: Okay.Todd: So the other day I was talking with a friend and she asked me about, you know, showers like how many showers do I take a day. And I think I had mentioned I take three showers a day, that’s why that came up. And she thought that was absurd that nobody should take three showers a day.Meg: Yeah. It seems a little crazy to me.Todd: That's odd. Like, you know, I thought that was kind of the norm actually these days.Meg: Really?Todd: Yeah, because you take a shower when you wake up. Then most people go to the gym. You take a shower when you’re done at the gym, which is usually mid-afternoon or early evening. And then I usually take a shower before I go to bed.Meg: I don’t think I have ever known anyone who’s taken three showers a day.Todd: Really?Meg: Do people that you know take three showers a day?Todd: I think I just assumed that all of my friends kind of did the same thing because they are guys and they also play sports. So they also take a shower – so yeah, when they wake up, before they go to bed and after they work out.Meg: Yeah. Well, I guess sports or working out definitely makes a difference. I might totally frighten you with the showers that I take because I do not shower three times a day. Typically, I shower once every two days.Todd: Really?Meg: Yeah, because especially with my skin, it gets pretty dried out if I’m showering so often with the soap and the water and everything. So I have to be careful with that. But if I’d played sports or something where I got sweaty, I’m definitely taking a shower after that, an extra shower. But yeah, I’ve never taken three showers in one day I don’t think.Todd: Well so you – even when it’s hot in summer, you just do it once every two days?Meg: If I get sweaty, then maybe more than that. But I don’t sweat very easily, so I usually don’t have to worry about it.Todd: Oh wow. No I think it must be what your skin gets conditioned to because one of the reasons why I always take a shower is not that I feel dirty. It’s like I feel like my skin gets itchy unless I take a shower.Meg: Yeah. Yeah. And it might be because – well and I think there’s a difference too with where I lived in America and living here in Japan like the humidity is different. And so my skin gets more dry here actually. It has the opposite effect. So I had to be more careful here maybe than I did in America.Todd: Yeah, that’s true. So what about – so washing your hair, you wash your hair every two days?Meg: Yes. I wash my hair every two days, use conditioner maybe once a week. My hair would also get super dried out. I don’t know if you can see it, but it’s a little frizzy right now.Todd: Yeah.Meg: So that’s how naturally is my hair type, too. So maybe your hair type handles well getting showered, washed three times a day?Todd: Yeah. I mean, well for one, I wash my hair usually twice a day, sometimes just once. But always after I work out, I have to wash my hair. But one thing I never, ever do is use conditioner. And I don’t understand why people use conditioner on their hair.Meg: Well, short hair maybe you don’t have to worry about it as much.Todd: Okay.Meg: But with longer hair, and especially earlier this year, I had hair quite a bit longer than this even and the ends get dried out very easily. And they don’t replace like the hair oils because it’s coming from the roots. And so you have to add some extra moisture into the hair if you want it to stay looking decent. So yeah, probably more important to condition long hair than short hair.Todd: Okay. Yeah, because I’ve never understood why people use conditioner because when I use it, it just makes my hair seem waxy.Meg: Maybe you’re using too much conditioner or not washing it all out.Todd: Maybe. I don't know. I have to learn how to wash my hair. Okay, cool.Meg: Yeah.

Abidemi: So Rory, in the last conversation we were talking about changing your personality and you never said what you thought of that.Rory: Well, I think, I think when you learn a language often your personality does change. I notice with my students that they often seem quite different when they speak English to when they speak Japanese. I’m not sure if that’s a language thing or a cultural thing. But I mean you speak more than one language.Abidemi: Yes, I do.Rory: Do you think your personality is different in each language?Abidemi: That’s a really good question. Just thinking of it right now, I think maybe for me it’s more a question of the culture because I think when I am in an environment where I’m expected to be more extroverted, I tend to try to live up to that.Rory: Right.Abidemi: I tend to try to be more cheerful, more open, more friendly or friendlier, I should say. But when I’m somewhere where I know that it’s expected of me to be quieter, I do tend to become more quiet.Rory: Right.Abidemi: So I don’t know. That’s a really good question.Rory: And do you think there might be something in languages which make them like a more extroverted language or a more introverted language? Like I think about Italians – maybe it’s a stereotype of Italians, but they seem to be very extroverted and the language seems to help them in that extroversion.Abidemi: That’s true. That’s very true. That’s a good question because I’m just trying to think of culture and languages in general, and there’s that debate of how cultures and languages are intertwined. Is it the culture that came first or is it the language that made the culture the way it is. So I don’t know. I really don’t know. But I would love to read more research and find out.Rory: Yeah. I mean, I noticed since I moved to Asia, to countries like Japan and Korea, the people do seem more introverted and the language also seems more introverted. So I wonder if the language or like you say, I wonder which came first, the language or the culture?Abidemi: And I think to add on to that, when I think of Asian students that I’ve noticed speaking English, which to some people is a more extroverted language, they always seem more confident.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: They seem friendlier. They seem more open to talking about themselves, their family life. But when you talk to them in their native language, it seems like they revert back to their cultural norms which would probably be less…Rory: Right, yes.Abidemi: Yeah, so maybe there is something there.Rory: Yeah. And I guess the culture over here in Asian countries is people are less likely to share information. There’s less – I mean, in the West especially recently, there’s quite a pressure on you to be more open.Abidemi: That’s true.Rory: Whereas maybe in Korea, Japan and China, people are more closed and just have different boundaries.Abidemi: I’m just trying to think of African countries, like being a Nigerian myself, we’ve had the issue of colonization and where the Western British culture is valorized. So coming from that aspect, I wonder before how we were. Were we more introverted? Because in a lot of ways we’re very similar to Asian cultures and Asian values. We have a lot of that as well.But now it’s true that being able to speak English and express yourself in a more Western way is a lot. It weighs a lot. It means a lot, so people really enjoy that. People really take their value from that.Rory: Right.Abidemi: So yeah, I think it’s a really interesting topic.Rory: Because I mean people often see England or British people as a bit introverted and a bit quiet, a bit cold and yet we share the same language as America. And people tend to think that people from North America are quiet brash and extroverted.Abidemi: That’s true.Rory: So like I said it’s more cultural than language-based.Abidemi: Yeah, maybe. Maybe we’ve come to a solution then.Rory: Okay.Abidemi: We’ve found it. It is the culture more than the language then.

Abidemi: Hi. So Rory.Rory: Yeah, hi.Abidemi: Hi. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?Rory: I’m not sure, you know. Sometimes I think that I’m basically an introvert. Like as I get older, I much prefer my own company.Abidemi: Interesting.Rory: I don’t really like going to parties that much if there’s going to be new people there. If it’s my friends, I’m happy to go out, but I don’t know. What about you?Abidemi: It’s funny what you said. I feel the same way. I think sometimes I’m an introvert and other times I can be an extrovert. But maybe in reverse to what you said. I feel like the older I get, the more extroverted I become.Rory: That’s interesting.Abidemi: While I was younger, I was a lot shier, so I preferred my own company. But now I find that sometimes too, I really enjoy people. So I like to meet new ones. So yeah.Rory: Yes. In the classroom, as a teacher, I’m quite an extrovert I think. I quite like being up in front of students and showing of, but I would never do that in front of other teachers or my friends, in my personal life.Abidemi: Interesting.Rory: But something about the classroom maybe because it’s my environment and I’m in control that I feel more comfortable, like being more extroverted and showing off, camping up.Abidemi: I think it would be a little difficult to be introverted if you were a language teacher. I think it certainly helps to be extroverted or to act to be able to become more extroverted when you’re in the classroom for sure. For sure.Rory: Yeah. And have you ever done anything really extroverted, like performed in public?Abidemi: Before I used to sing actually, and I have sang in concerts.Rory: Right.Abidemi: And it’s true. I think that’s where my introverted self really comes out because although I enjoy singing and I like the attention to a certain extent, but I get really nervous. Really, really nervous when I’m in front of a large crowd. And sometimes I’m like, “Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I here?”Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: But yeah, I don’t do that so much anymore.Rory: Right. And do you think people can change? Do you think people – because people seem to want to become more extroverted? It seems to be like society says extroverted people are successful people.Abidemi: It’s true.Rory: Do you think people can change or do you think people should try to change?Abidemi: I’ve heard of actually people saying that depending on the language that people change with the language. I’ve heard of some of my students saying that when they speak in a different language, their personality actually changes, where maybe in their own language, they may be quieter. But when they speak the different language, they become a lot more extroverted.Rory: Right.Abidemi: It’s as if they change. So whether or not it’s a real change I think you can “fake it” quote-unquote even if you’re not an extrovert or an introvert. Maybe for a few hours or for the occasion. Yeah, you can pretend, and then go back.Rory: Right. I wonder if when we speak a different language, we don’t have the same connections with the words.Abidemi: That’s true.Rory: It makes it easier to maybe speak more honestly and not worry about what other people think of us.Abidemi: That’s true.

Sarah: All right, Adam. So we’re going to talk about lifestyle choices. First question for you is would you rather have a roommate or live alone?Adam: I’ve had some really good experiences with roommates, but right now I live alone. And I really enjoy to have my own space and I like to keep it a certain way. I’m kind of a clean person, so I probably choose to live alone.Sarah: Okay. That leads me to my next question which is house or apartment. So if you choose to live alone, would you like a house or an apartment?Adam: I’d love to live in a house. Right now I live in an apartment and it’s okay. But yeah, I really like the outdoors, and like to have a yard or a small garden or something would be great. So I love, like, privacy. I like to play my music really loud or something, so in a house maybe I could do that. And in an apartment, it’s a bit difficult.Sarah: So a house usually means a pretty big commitment of like where you’re living. So if you could have a house anywhere where would it be?Adam: Maybe in my hometown. It would be nice to have a house in Seattle. But I am not a person that likes to be tied down so much, so that would be kind of tricky for me. Apartments are also nice too because you don’t have the upkeep and the responsibility that you might have with a house. So that is nice. I wish I could just have a house and just move it with me wherever I go.Sarah: So if you could move that house anywhere, would it be like a town or a city, like what do you prefer?Adam: I’d definitely live outside of the city, but close enough to where I could commute within like 20 minutes, 30 minutes to be able to go shopping and do my everyday life. But I like peace and quiet and nature, so definitely outside of the hustle and bustle of the big city.Sarah: So how about pets? Would you like to have a pet or not have anything or one live in your house?Adam: I love animals. I have always wanted to have a dog or really, any sort of pet. But I move so much that it makes having a pet difficult. So I’ve never really had one although if I ever do settle down somewhere, I would absolutely get maybe several pets. I love, I love animals.Sarah: Nice. Thanks.

Adam: Hi Sarah. Today we’re talking about lifestyle options. So my first question would be would you rather live with a roommate or live by yourself?Sarah: This one would definitely depend on who the roommate is. I have lived alone many times and I’ve also had lots of different roommates, and I found that any roommate that’s extroverted does not work well with me. I find that like if I come home and they’re there, like I don’t want to be there. So I leave again, or I just go in my room, close the door.I think the worst situation was when I lived with my sister. She is very extroverted, and we were working the same types of jobs and spending a lot of time together. When I came home, I just wanted to be alone. And so I would go in my room and she thought that I didn’t love her, I didn’t want to spend time with her. But really, you know, I just needed my space.So in that case, living alone is better. But if I have someone who is more similar in personality to me, then it works well to have a roommate. I currently have a roommate and we get along really well because we have similar temperaments. And so, yeah, it works well for us.Adam: So would you say that opposites don’t attract?Sarah: When it comes to living together, absolutely not.Adam: Hmm. How about your living situation in terms of a house or an apartment, which one would you prefer?Sarah: Definitely an apartment because to me a house seems permanent. And I love change. So I also move a lot. I have moved to a new place every two years or less for like the past 12 years of my life. So the thought of having a house and being stuck in one place doesn’t really appeal to me.Adam: I can understand that. This apartment of yours, would you prefer it to be in the city or in the countryside?Sarah: I would naturally say city, but ironically, most of the places I have lived have been more countryside or rural because that’s where I found work. But in the future, I think I would like to live in a larger city.Adam: Any cities in mind?Sarah: Not right now. I’m still trying to decide about what country I want to move to next.Adam: How about this apartment of yours in the city, would it be furnished or unfurnished?Sarah: Interesting you ask that, because the apartment I’m currently in is unfurnished. And when I moved here, it was really complicated to try to furnish it because I live on the fifth floor and there is no elevator. And it became quickly very problematic when I moved in trying to get things.But when I was coming, the apartment agency that I was dealing with told me that there weren’t any furnished apartments in the area where I lived. So I thought it was the only option when really it wasn’t.Adam: Yeah, the fifth floor, you must have got some good exercise carrying all that stuff up there.Sarah: Definitely.Adam: How do you feel about pets?Sarah: I love animals. I would love to have a dog or a rabbit. When I lived in China, I had a rabbit. But it’s just not  practicalfor my life because I live overseas and I go back and forth between the States visiting family. And it’s just not practical to have one. So maybe one day if I ever settle down.Adam: A dog, a rabbit?Sarah: Probably a dog. Dog would be first option definitely, a Dachshund. My favorite animal is Dachshund.Adam: Those are cute.Sarah: Yeah.

Todd: So Marianne, we're talking about education. And things are changing. Society is changing as it always is. But these days, you can pretty much learn anything on your own. And there is a new debate going around that colleges no longer serve the purpose that it used to. That basically, you can just learn what you want to learn without going to college. What do you think about that?Marianne: Yes, that's a very good question. I really love this possibility of having access to knowledge just by yourself without having to attend a college for example. It's a great chance for everyone to have access to this knowledge. So I can think it's a good thing.But I don't know why. I'm kind of skeptical because I think at some point, you have to have a time where you can exchange with a teacher or at least with other people who have the same knowledge as you. Because if you never, if you don't have this time and space where you can debate about what you learned, then there is no increase of the level of thinking. Like because you need to debate about things to learn more or maybe to correct things.It's like the Wikipedia, right. Like it's a contributive dictionary or – encyclopedia. But everybody is writing in this page. And sometimes you see some updates but you don't know why, for example, someone made the change because you don't have the space where you can debate about is this wrong or correct about like the information that was uploaded was or correct. And if you just see the correction but you couldn't debate about this, then you cannot understand.So I think for me, having a time and a space where you can debate is very important. And this is a place and the time that college can offer, for example, debate between teachers or debate between students about some topics.Todd: Wow! Those are really good points. Yeah, I agree. You know, I've taught at university for a while. And I do see some of the points of being a self-learner and just basically getting what you want – getting the information you want online.But the problem is, when you go to university, you have that void or the vacuum really. And so, you're going to fill that with all these different types of information. And you might see things that you aren't – that you didn't even know that you liked. And also, there's that social element that's really strong in college. I don't think you're going to find that anywhere else where you, you know, make friends, you make relationships that last your whole life.So I'm still a big believer of college but I can see that maybe we need to change the model to make them little bit better.Marianne: Uh-hmm.Todd: Which brings us to another question: how do you think we can change college to make better? Like what are some changes we can make to college?Marianne: Wow.Todd: Like I have one idea. One idea I have is that we're starting to see it a little bit with MOOCs but there's no reason that you can't take a class at any other university via video from your university. So example, if you go to UCLA, you can take art classes from Harvard or somewhere else. I think that would be really good if you can start doing that. So you're not only limited to the professors on your campus.Marianne: Wow. Yes, that's a great idea. Yes.Todd: Anything that you, looking back, you wish you could have done differently at university?Marianne: Well the big issue about university especially in the US is that it costs a lot of money. And so, if we could find ways to – because for example, you are talking about having access to a lot of content information for free actually – I mean, for free. Like you just have to pay your Internet connection and suddenly, you have access to a lot of knowledge.But when you go to college, it costs a lot of money. So this is a big issue actually. So if you could find a way to, financially speaking, like if we can find a way to make university more accessible to a wider audience, it could be nice. But I know it's difficult because we have to pay teachers. We have to pay all the infrastructures about university, so it costs a lot of money.So I don't have the solution right now but I think working on this like free education or cheaper education – I mean, cheaper in a way talking about the entrance fee, not losing the quality of education. Yeah. If we can work on this point.Todd: Yeah. I totally agree.