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Todd: So Marianne, we're going to talk about education, and we're going to talk about the qualities of a good and bad teacher. And I'm a teacher so this is important for me, so I'm going to be taking notes.What do you think makes a good teacher?Marianne: I have no idea. No, I'm kidding. Okay, so I have to remember like when I was in junior high school or high school for example, my good teachers, how were they. I think a good teacher has to be strict. Insisting sometimes because you can be lazy, or as a student it could be difficult to understand what the teacher is talking about. So the teacher really have to insist on very important things.And yes, the teacher has to be strict. But at the same time, the teacher-student relationship should be kind of equal or respectful. So the teach is not – of course, he is or she is superior because he has or she has knowledge. But it could be nice if the teacher can interact with the student. So if the student is able to give his opinion or her opinion about the subject the teacher is talking about, I think it's nice. Because I think the teacher, his responsibility or her responsibility is to raise critical thinking of the student.So it's very important this time of interaction of exchange between teachers and students. So yes, it could be my definition like the teacher being strict but at the same time being open to talk about subjects.Todd: All right. Those are some good points. But going back to being strict, can you be specific? Do you mean like making sure they do their home work.Marianne: Yes.Todd: Making sure they're on time to class.Marianne: Yes. And punish them if they are late for example, like…Todd: Oh, punishment. Okay.Marianne: I mean, like say something like, you know, like you have an appointment. It's very important. For example, you have English class at 2:00 so be here at 2:00 and not 2:05. So it's very important because you have to show respect for the person who would deliver you content about English. And it's very important because it helps you in your life to – even for yourself, for the student, it's not only to show respect to teacher but it's also for the student to – for him or her to be able to keep her schedule. It's very important in life because otherwise you can spend your life being always late and not doing things on time.But if you are always behaving this way, then you can never build anything in life. So you have to have also for yourself some strict attitude or strict capacity or I don't know how to say.Todd: No, that's perfect. Sounds good. How about some bad things? Have you had some bad teachers in the past?Marianne: Yes. Like for example, a teacher who are just strict and that's it, like there is no communication possible with them. It's terrible. For example, I remember when I was in junior high school, I had an art teacher actually, she was our art teacher and nobody liked her. She was just terrible like a very strict woman and very angry every time we went to attend her class.And I remembered I was really terrified by her. And for me, she didn't teach me anything. So this kind of strict attitude was not really helpful for me.Todd: Yeah. I like that. So strict but not too strict.Marianne: Yeah. Strict, it means in the sense that making the other responsible. Like an adult has to show teenagers that they will become future responsible adults, too. So they are not just like kids and you just don't say to your kids for example, "Don't eat this," and that's it. If you can just say to your children, "Don't eat this because you can be sick if you eat too much of this." Like you have to give them a reason or you have to make them responsible. They have to understand actually.Todd: No, I totally agree. Very, very good points.

Todd: Hey, Marianne. So we're talking about love and relationships in the modern era. So the question is do you think social media changes how people date?Marianne: Yes, definitely. In the sense that, well, social media are actually changing the way we interact with each other. Not only talking about love but just even with your friends or colleagues. It just changes the way of how – or the way how people interact with each other.So for example, we have – I would say – well it's a difficult question because social media can help you to connect with people you would have – with who you wouldn't have any connection. But in the other hand, it can also kind of isolate you. Like because – well, if you use social media like you don't have the human interaction. You are just facing you with your screen and you are just alone with your social media. You do not encounter someone for real.So I would say, sometimes it cannot help you to connect with other people, so to have a social life. It's a product but I think it could work this way unfortunately. So you really have to be the own master on your social – you have to have the power on your social media to pass this line. Social media should not prevent you from having a social life. It should help you to socialize in a different way maybe. But don't be like isolated or don't just close yourself because it's very easy to lose it.It's just like social media reflects your – it's like a mirror. It just reflects you. So for example, if you try to look for a partner or if you play with your social – not social identity but there is a way to say this like a computer or Internet identity. Now there is a new identity.So many – of course, like you play with this image. Like you upload photos you have chosen to upload. You upload content you have chosen to upload. So you show a different face on the social media. So it's not really who you are. So it completely changed the way you interact with others because if you think that yourself you are like lying in a way or inventing this new face, then also other people invent new faces. So I think it changed completely the relationship you have with others.Todd: Yeah. That's so true. I agree with you. One thing I think that's kind of weird is for example, you become friends with somebody and you know that they're married. And then you'll follow them over, let's say, four or five years but you don't have contact with them everyday. And then I'll notice that person never mentions their spouse on their social media profile. Never.And it makes you wonder sometimes, are they still together because you never see photos of the person. You only see photos of the individual. And me personally, I think that's kind of strange. What do you feel about that? Do you feel like if you're in a relationship, your social media account can be just you and only you? Or should it include your…Marianne: That's a good question. Yes.Todd: Your other person.Marianne: Yes. That's a very good question actually. Yes, because for example – your partner for example, he or she, like you are not allowed sometimes to upload photo of him or her. So how do you, yes, how do you decide like what kind of content. And it's the same question for your children for example. Many people upload photo of their babies, newborn babies. So it's very cute but nobody asks them are they okay with like having their photos on your social media? So yes, it's a good question.In my case, well I use social media only for my work purpose, my job, or I just upload some events. So it's very like – it's more a platform where I exchange some information. And I don't talk too much about my private life. So I avoid this question about like uploading some content that concern my family or my partners or my children if I have some, so.Todd: Yeah. I guess, it's a tricky issue really, isn't it?Marianne: Yes.Todd: Anyway, thanks, Marianne.Marianne: Thank you.

Todd: Hello, Marianne. I thought we would talk about love and relationships today.Marianne: Okay.Todd: If you don't mind.Marianne: That's fine.Todd: And we would ask you about marriage in your country of France. And is it changing? Like are fewer people getting married? Are they getting married younger or later? Like how is marriage changing in France?Marianne: Well, marriage, it's kind of like very, like it's a traditional idea. Actually, it's a very conservative idea or very – it became like a conservative concept.So actually nowadays, I would say that French people do not really care about getting married. They care more about like having a stable relationship or having a real love relationship. Because I would say like for example, for my grandfather and grandmother's generation, marriage was very, like, it was very important for the stability of the family and for the stability of – even for yourself. Like even for when you were a woman at this time, you have to rely on a husband to live because women were not independent. They couldn't work or they had difficult access to work.So marriage was very important to have this possible life and having someone who can support you. But nowadays, because things are changing between men and women, they tend to be equal, so they tend to have the same rights. So marriage became less important to get some stability in your life. But the most important nowadays is to find someone that you can really rely on and someone that you really love to have a family.So people get married like when they are older. So they really enjoy like being young and enjoy, like, having different partners for example and then decide who is the best one, best partner. And then when they are older, when they are sure, they can get married and have a family. But it's not the first priority. People are more independent; women and men nowadays in France.So marriage is like kind of just like people put back – put the marriage back, it's not the first priority. The main priority is really about love, about finding happiness in your life if you find someone you love.Todd: Okay. Well, I think in the States it's very similar. But how do they feel about children? And also, how do they feel about, let's say, being with someone for their entire life? Like you find your soul-mate and then that's it.Marianne: Well, it's a very romantic idea. So I think it's – it doesn't have to do with marriage. Like it depends on your personality I would say because if you believe in this idea of the perfect soul-mate and someone you can live with forever, it's more like romantic. So I would say, nowadays, like still French people believe in everlasting or never-ending love. But it's not necessarily through marriage that you accomplish this.Todd: Okay. And what about children?Marianne: What do you – so what's your question about children?Todd: So you were saying that marriage isn't as important to people. Are they willing to have children out of wedlock? Or like do people feel like you have to be married to have children or they just…?Marianne: No, no. No, no. You have to love each other. You really have to love each other to have children. Like it doesn't matter so much if you are married or not, it's just a question of paper usually. For example, if the child should have the name of the father or the mother when you are not married, it could be this kind of issue. But like people can have children and then get married.Like for example, my friends – I have many friends around me who are just getting married now but they have already children like two or three children. So it's not, yeah, the question of having children or getting married before – we don't need – the order does not really matter nowadays. You have to marry the other if the other is really your ideal partner. But it does not matter if you have children before or after.Todd: That makes a lot of sense. I think it's the same in a lot of countries these days.

Todd: Okay. So we’re talking about housing Meg. You know, these days, a lot of people can actually stay in houses when they travel. Like they don’t stay in hotels, they stay in a house. Have you heard about Airbnb?Meg: Yeah, I have heard of it. I’ve looked at the website a couple of times. Do they have Airbnb where you’re from?Todd: They do. They actually do have Airbnb in San Francisco but I have not used it in San Francisco, I’ve only used it actually traveling in other countries. I used it Thailand and I was going to use it in Japan but I ended up – I couldn’t use it because of the travel problems but yeah.Meg: So how does it work?Todd: Basically, what it works is if somebody owns a house, they can rent out a room. And so, you find a house online and then you book it with the scheduling system online. And then you pay Airbnb the money and then the people let you stay in their house.Meg: What are the cost usually? Is it expensive?Todd: It can be really cheap or really expensive. You have both ends. I mean, sometimes you can just rent a room and sometimes, you can actually rent the whole house.So, you know – and now, in places like Thailand or other places in Southeast Asia, what they do is a lot of condominiums now are kind of turning into mini-hotels. So rather than try to find long-term tenants, they just search for – or they just rent out their apartments on Airbnb.Meg: Right. Well, it sounds like a good way to stay some place you haven’t been before.Todd: It is good. I mean, when I used it in Thailand, what I liked about it was you feel like you have a real, you know, you have real roots there. You’re not in the hotel so nobody is kind of intruding on you or nobody is coming to clean your room everyday. So you feel like you have more privacy and you feel like you really live in the place. And usually, the apartments are in real neighborhoods so they’re not in touristy areas. So there are definitely some advantages.Meg: Would you say that it’s safe?Todd: Yeah. I guess that’s the biggest concern. It seems to be safe. I mean, from what I see – although there was an interesting case recently in California where they’ve had problems of squatters. And a squatter…Meg: What are squatters?Todd: A squatter is somebody who, they take the Airbnb house and then they just never leave.Meg: Oh.Todd: Yeah. And then they’re hard to evict. So that was one interesting thing. And then also, recently, the company has been in the news because people that have low-income housing, like government-subsidized housing, they’ve been trying to rent out their apartments on Airbnb.Meg: On Airbnb.Todd: And then the city or the government said, “Hey, you can’t do that because we give you this house at a discount to help you because you’re low income. So you can’t use it to make a profit.” So it’s been a very debatable situation.Meg: Yeah. I guess it’s kind of like double dipping.Todd: Yeah.Meg: You’re getting discount or paid in a way to live there and then you want to get paid more. So it sounds like a problem.Todd: Yeah. So what do you think? Would you be interested in doing something like Airbnb?Meg: Yeah. I definitely think so. After researching a place, maybe if I have a lot of pictures and it seemed clear that it would be safe, yeah, I think I’d like to do it.Todd: And actually their website is fantastic. Like if you go to their website, you can, let’s say, choose a house in Paris or Madrid or whatever. And then they often have like the Google street cam thing so you can see what the house looks like on the inside. And then you could actually do the rotating camera and see what the neighborhood looks like.And then everybody leaves reviews about the owner and about their stay there, so you’d get a good feel about what the place is like. So it’s kind of a new way to travel, and it’s kind of cool.Meg: Yeah. It sounds interesting especially the reviews. I think knowing someone else has had a good experience, I would definitely be interested in doing it.Todd: Yeah, definitely.

Meg: So Todd, I heard that you’re from San Francisco and that it’s really expensive there maybe to live. Is it – is that true?Todd: Yeah. It’s ridiculously expensive. It’s obscene actually. It’s so hard to get other people to realize how expensive it is. You have to actually live there and then you can experience it firsthand.But basically, you know, your average small apartment is a minimum, a minimum of like $3,000 a month.Meg: Wow. That sounds really expensive.Todd: Yeah.Meg: Well, so I don’t know much about the San Francisco area. Is that like just in the main downtown part or anywhere in the city is it that expensive?Todd: It’s actually – yeah, it’s pretty much the entire peninsula. And the high pricing affects all of Northern California. And the reason is because companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, Yahoo, Cisco – all these really big rich, rich companies pay people a lot of money. And so, there’s a lot of money in San Francisco for the tech world, and that just drives up the prices for everything.Meg: So everyone who lives there like must be pretty rich?Todd: Yeah. So it’s very high income. I think the average income is over $100,000 a year or something crazy like that.Meg: Wow.Todd: Yeah, it’s a lot.Meg: So if apartments are $3,000 a month, what about houses?Todd: Houses are ridiculously expensive. So your average house is probably – in San Francisco, a really small rinky-dink house can go for almost $1 million.Meg: Wow.Todd: Yeah.Meg: Wow. That sounds impossible.Todd: Yeah. It sounds obscene. Yeah. Years ago I worked on the construction crew, and this was 15 years ago. And we were just renovating or painting a very small little shack. I mean, the house wasn’t even that big and it was going for $1 million.Meg: Wow. So when you were working there, were you living in San Francisco also?Todd: I was. And that’s actually why I became a teacher in Asia, why I moved to Japan because we were losing our lease on our apartment, and I had to go find new housing. And not only is the house inexpensive but even if you have the money, you might not get a house because you have to go through this long process. It’s almost like getting into college.You have to get through this interview process. And just going and finding an apartment is such a complicated process in San Francisco that I thought, “Oh, forget it, I’m just going to take the easy way out and go back and start teaching overseas again.”Meg: So if someone were interested in living in San Francisco, what would your advice be?Todd: Don’t, or make sure you have a lot of money or you have a really good job. I guess there are some ways around it. You can rent rooms and things like that. But it’s doable because there is low-income housing. And if you live in the outskirts and if you are going to commute into the city, you could probably find something around $1,500 a month. But still, it’s pretty expensive.Meg: So work for Google first, then move to San Francisco.Todd: Right. Exactly. Make sure you get that job at the tech company. And then once you have that job, then you’re set.Meg: Great. Well, thanks for sharing about San Francisco.Todd: Sure.

Abidemi: So Rory, talking about schedules, do you ever think that life is too busy or too much that we’re trying to fit too many things?Rory: Maybe for some people. Not for me, actually. I take life quite slowly. But I noticed with my daughter that we’re always sort of rushing her to do things. So when she comes home from school, she has to do her homework. And then one night a week, she has to go to swimming then she has piano, then she has like an acrobat lesson.When I was a kid, we did nothing after school, you know. We went to the park by ourselves and played. But nothing was scheduled, so we just did what we wanted.Abidemi: I see.Rory: So do you think like kids today, we try and make them do too much or they try and do too much.Abidemi: That’s a really good question. And I think, yes, you’re right. It feels like a lot – that we expect a lot more from kids these days. Whereas similar to your background too, when I was growing up, I thought sometimes that I was bored out of my mind because there was just nothing really much to do except for maybe going to the library and borrow some books to read. And I had all the time in the world to read them.But these days, you see kids running around trying to do it all. Play soccer or some kind of sports or do some club activities or just something. They are always busy, the kids I see around me. So…Rory: Yeah. Yeah. I think we’re trying to make them maybe grow up too quickly or do too much too soon. When I was kid, you could sort of find our own path. You know, when you became a teenager, when you start to get to university, starting to make these choices.But now, parents seem to – okay, the kid is going to do piano and they’re going to do soccer and they’re going to study hard for, you know, exams, do extra math tuition. I don’t know if kids can handle it.Abidemi: I don’t know either. It also seems that it comes with our world today. It’s a lot more competitive. And what I’ve heard is like people are trying to prepare their kids as much as possible. I’ve heard, for some universities, you need to show that you can handle a lot.Rory: Right.Abidemi: And because everybody is the same place, they’re all racing for the same positions that if you don’t distinguish yourself in some way, you can't make it.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: So in response to that, parents are trying to pile as much on the kids as possible.Rory: Yeah. I was reading something that said that employers really look now for extra-curricular things that kids do. So not just their grades but what clubs were they members of. Were they acting in the theater, were they a member of a sports team and these things seem to be becoming more important now.Abidemi: Than just school work.Rory: Yeah. Yeah.Abidemi: I think it’s a shame. I like the way I grew up. Yeah. I’ll like if my kids could have a bit more freedom but I can also see that with the way the world is going, I would probably be anxious for them to do as much as possible so that they can have the best in the future.Rory: Yeah, because it’s a balance between giving them the freedom and then giving them the opportunities to excel at various things.Abidemi: There you go. That’s it. Yeah.

Rory: So I was thinking about my current job.Abidemi: Uh-hmm.Rory: And I think like my work schedule is so good.Abidemi: Yeah.Rory: I work Monday and Tuesday, then I have a day off. Then I work Thursday and Friday, and then I have the weekend off. And I get five months holiday, yeah.Abidemi: Wow.  Sign me up.Rory: So I mean, what’s a good work schedule for you?Abidemi: I think what you’ve just described sounds really good as well. When I was younger actually, I don’t know where this idea came from but my ideal work hours were 9:00 until 2:00.Rory: Okay.Abidemi: Not 9:00 until 5:00 like you usually hear in a lot of Western countries, but 9 o’clock to 2 o’clock.Rory: Right.Abidemi: I don’t know. So maybe for me, if I could do it, if I could find something like that, it would be really good because you can sleep in until maybe 7:00 or 8:00, go to work, finish at 2:00, still come back and have a good chunk of that day to do other things. So…Rory: Yeah. So my previous job was quite – I started at 9:30 and I finish at 12:30. I worked five days a week but it was great because work was finished by lunch time. I had the whole day free. And that was a good job.Abidemi: And you still got a full time salary?Rory: And that was a full-time salary, yeah.Abidemi: Wow. Sounds even better than this one, maybe.Rory: Yeah. In the past – I mean, I’ve worked in restaurants where you work only in the evenings. So I’d start at 5:30 and work until around midnight. I didn’t like that as much because all day, I was thinking, “I’ve got to go to work later.” So I think I prefer working in the morning and get it behind me as soon as possible.Abidemi: I think maybe I’m the same way as well. I prefer to get it down and then have the rest of the day to enjoy. Also, I had a job where I was working during the weekend. And I would have Mondays and Tuesdays off. And I didn’t really like that. I missed seeing friends on the weekend and then going out. So I don’t think I would like anything like that.How about not working? Do you think – how long do you think you could go without not having to work?Rory: Well, it’s funny because this job now I have really long vacations but I’m not happy when I’m not working. Like my wife gets very frustrated with me because if I have nothing to do, I tend to be a bit annoying around the house, just getting depressed, just arguing all the time.But I don’t need much work. Like if I could just do like an hour a day, I think that would be enough to make me happy.Abidemi: Okay. How long could you go would say? A week or two without having to touch work?Rory: I could probably go a couple of months.Abidemi: Okay. Without having to work at all.Rory: Yeah, if I have other things to do, you know.Abidemi: All right.Rory: So if I had other projects like if I was doing a lot of training for running or if I was studying, if I had a good book then I could probably go quite a long time.Abidemi: Yeah. I get pretty restless myself, too. I think after three, four days of not having anything to do, I just want – I really need something. Maybe, like you said study or learn or go out and do something, have a project, have a goal. I think, yeah, my personality type needs to constantly do something, produce. Yeah.Rory: Yeah. When I worked in Europe, I used to do – I used to teach for one or two weeks intensively, and then have three or four weeks off. And it was quite nice because I had lots of free time but after two or three weeks of free time, I was quite looking forward to the next block, the next block of teaching.But teaching these intensive blocks can be quite – it can be quite tough as well. Like I have to – I did a six-week block in Russia once, and after three weeks, I just wanted to go home.Six weeks was too long.Abidemi: Wow. I see.Abidemi: How intensive was it?Rory: Well, the job in Russia was really intensive because I was living with the students in a residential university. And so we had breakfast together and then I taught them from half past eight in the morning until half past six in the evening.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: We had lunch together, and then we had dinner together in the evening.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: And there was one bar in the university, and we all went to the same bar in the evening as well.Abidemi: And you had the same group of students?Rory: The same group of students.Abidemi: For six weeks?Rory: For six weeks and it was six days a week of teaching.Abidemi: Wow. I can – if you the teacher felt like that, I can only imagine how the students must have felt. They must have wanted a break badly.Rory: Yeah. We all wanted a break.

Adam: Sarah, I heard you worked in reality TV. Can you tell us a little bit about that?Sarah: Yeah. When I was living in Orlando, Florida, I worked for a production company that filmed reality television. And first of all, it was an interesting job because I worked from 7 o’clock at night until 5 in the morning. It was me and four other guys. And I was the only person who hadn’t been to film school that was working there.And overnight we would transcribe video footage. So what we would do is we would watch the extended footage of the reality shows that this company produced, and we would type out everything that they were saying. And I quickly came to realize that everything in television is scripted, even reality television because they would often prompt the people what to say on the shows.Adam: Interesting. Was the producer there on camera prompting them to say things that you saw but we as viewers might not see?Sarah: Oh yeah. So all the producers and the staff are all around and in-between takes, you know, they’ll try to get them to say things a certain way. And so they’ll often retake scenes over and over again until they get the kind of footage that they want.Adam: Interesting. Can you tell us what TV show you were filming?Sarah: No, I probably can’t say that.Adam: How did you get a job like that if you didn’t have the same filming background that your colleagues had?Sarah: I grew up in radio, so because I had radio, media on my resume, they hired me.Adam: Were you interested in reality TV before you got that job?Sarah: Not at all. I was just trying to pay rent and pay my bills. So actually at that time, I was working five different jobs. That was just one of them.Adam: Wow! That’s amazing. Pulling all-nighters as well.Sarah: Yup.Adam: Was there a reason that you had to work at night?Sarah: That particular job, that’s what they hired me for because they had people who did that job during the day, too.So we were the night shift.Adam: So that’s really interesting. So when you watch reality TV show today, how do you feel? Can you sense what the producers are trying to do or can you enjoy it? How do you feel about watching reality TV now?Sarah: I never really liked reality television before I worked with reality television. And now, I like it even less because I realized it is all fake and all scripted, and it’s not very interesting to me.Adam: How did the actors or the members of the reality TV show casts, how did they feel about this scripting of the TV show?Sarah: They seem to be fine with it because they, you know, signed all the contracts and the things to be on the show. So they don’t really mind it.Adam: Wow. That’s really interesting.

Sarah: So Adam, how old were you when you got your first job?Adam: I was 16 but actually my dad tried to get me to work at Baskin & Robbins when I was 15. And the manager wouldn’t hire me because I was under legal working age in the States.Adam: How old are you when you first started working?Sarah: I started working when I was 14. I’m from North Carolina in the States. And there, you are legally able to work at the age of 14. So I worked as a DJ. My father owns a radio station, so I became a DJ at age 14.Adam: That’s amazing. What sort of things did you talk about as a DJ?Sarah: It was mainly a programming situation, an AM radio station. So I don’t have to talk much. It was mainly just operating the board. And a few commercials, and weather and things like that I would have to talk. But mostly, it was just pressing buttons.Adam: Did you play any music?Sarah: Yeah. Some music, depending on the time of day.Adam: Could you play what you wanted or did you have to follow a script?Sarah: No, you have a follow a format pretty much, so. So what’s been the most interesting or exciting job you’ve ever had?Adam: I worked at an airport fueling airplanes when I was in college. And I drove a fuel truck around the tarmac and fueled airplanes, big commercial airplanes like 747s and also small private prop planes just with two passengers. That was a really interesting, interesting job.Sarah: It sounds kind of slightly dangerous or maybe a lot of responsibility. Was it?Adam: Yeah. If you – because you’re driving this large truck around very, very expensive planes, so a lot of responsibility. It wasn’t so much dangerous, I don’t think. But yeah, it was definitely – if you made an error or had an accident, it would be a big accident.It was – the hours were not very good. I had to wake up at 4:00 in the morning to go to the airport at 5:00. And when I went home I would smell just of gasoline. But it was quite an interesting and kind of exciting job.Sarah: Nice.Adam: Yeah. How about you? What’s your most interesting job?Sarah: Most interesting, I guess, for me was I was hired by a car company one time to go and do like test drive demonstrations on like different cities around the US. And I had to, like, ride around with people doing the test drive and tell them about the vehicles, which was interesting because I really know nothing about cars. So I had to memorize a lot of information. But it was fun getting to go to different cities in the US every weekend.Adam: Wow, cool. What car company did you do this for?Sarah: I did that for Kia but I’ve also worked for Hummer, and Ferrari and BMW.Adam: Wow. That’s amazing. Were those separate contracts for Ferrari, Hummer and BMW?Sarah: Yeah. For those, I didn’t do test drives. I was, what's called a promotional model or a brand ambassador. So the companies hire local people when they're an event in a certain area. And most of the time, you’re just getting people to fill out surveys or do some kind of prize drawing. But in the case of Kia, it was actually doing test drives.Adam: Did you get any free merchandise or vehicles from any of these?Sarah: I wish I got a free vehicle, but no, just the t-shirt or whatever outfit you had to wear for the promotion.Adam: Yeah, that’s sounds really interesting. I love cars, so I’d love to do something like that.

John: So we've been talking about women's roles in society. And are you a stay-at-home momor a working mom?Sarah: Well, I guess I'm both. Right now, I'm on maternity leave and I'm on month six of maternity leave.John: What does that mean?Sarah: So maternity leave is when you have a job but then you become pregnant or you're going to have a baby, maybe adopt, too. So you're going to have a baby, and so you take time off of work to stay home with the new baby.John: Oh, I see. Do you still get paid?Sarah: I do. I get about half of my wage. So I do still get paid and I'm very grateful for that. So I've been at home with the new baby for six months. And I'm going to go back to work next month.John: Oh. What will happen with the baby?Sarah: So I have two kids actually. I have a toddler and a baby. And both of them will go to daycare during the day.John: I see.Sarah: So I signed up for the daycare before the baby was even born. It's really hard to find good daycare that you can afford, that's near your house. So you have to start planning before the baby is even born if you're the type of person who wants to go back to work.John: I see. I don't think many men worry about getting good daycare for their children…Sarah: No.John: When they think about their jobs.Sarah: No. Even when there's a family, and the mother and father both work, still it's the mother that has to do everything with the kids, usually. Usually, the mom has to for example, get the bag ready for the kids to take to daycare. They have to arrange the daycare. They have – the daycare has the mother's phone number, usually.And so, the mom has to do a lot of extra work even though mom and dad both have full time jobs.John: I see. Are you saying that things should be different?Sarah: Yes. I think things should be different. I'm so lucky my husband agrees with me. And my husband, he drops the kids off at daycare and he picks them up and he does the laundry and the dishes. And it helps me to be – and it helps me focus on my career so that I can stay late at work if I need to. I can go to an extra meeting on a weekend. And it makes me feel more fulfilled that it's not my husband's job that comes first.A lot of times women make less money than men and they put their job second to their husband. And it's not equal, and it's not fair. And so, I think that people should work on making things more equal.John: Well, I agree with you.Sarah: Thank you.

John: Okay. So Sarah, you said you participated in rodeos before but I thought only men ride horses in rodeos?Sarah: Yeah. Like 99.9% of the time, the men do all of the rodeo sports. There's like two sports for women and the rest of them are all for men.John: Oh.Sarah: When I said I wanted to do the traditionally male events, they said, "You can't do that. You're a woman. You have to do these other events that are not dangerous. They're safe."For example, the men do calf roping. You work with a baby cow, a calf that's about 100 pounds. The women do goat roping.And they work with a tiny goat that's about the size of a small dog. So I just always thought the difference was stupid. I don't want to do the easy, safe event. I want to do the difficult event and people were really surprised. And first, they said, "You can't." And I said, "I'm going to anyways."John: Wow!Sarah: And the first time I did the saddle bronc, they said, "Look, look, look. We got you a girl horse because you're a girl."John: Oh my.Sarah: And I thought, "Well, you didn't need to draw more attention to it. I just want to compete like everyone else."John: Right.Sarah: And my first time, I fell off the horse and I was really injured. And I was laying there and one of my friends came running out. And he said – I thought he was going to help me up and help me leave because I was really hurt. And instead he said, "Hurry up! You got to get off the – you get out of the arena because the next person wants to go."John: Oh, wow!Sarah: And I was really happy that he said that actually because he was just treating me the way he treated any other competitor. "Oh, get up. Be tough. You're fine."John: Yeah.Sarah: And I didn't want anyone to help me.John: So he didn't help you.Sarah: Right. And I was really glad that he was treating me like everyone else. And when you see a rodeo, you'll see that the women do events where they can dress really nice. They always wear nice clothes, beautiful hat. They even have earrings and things on.And when the men do events, they're doing events that they really have to use their muscles and get dirty, and I really liked doing those instead. I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm just saying I like to do the other one and I think that maybe other women like to do the other events, too.John: So do you think that the situation is improving? Are more girls joining rodeo now?Sarah: I don't think so. I think the sport of rodeo is becoming less popular. So I think in the future, there won't be more women in rodeo. There will just be fewer people in rodeo.John: Oh, I see.Sarah: Because the rodeo events, they're not very kind to the cows or the other animals. And as people get older, maybe they get more softhearted like me, and they don't want to make the animals get tied up or chase the animals. And so I think fewer people are interested in rodeo these days.

John: So Sarah, you talked about competing in a rodeo. Have you done any other sports on horseback?Sarah: Yeah. Well, not a sport. I used to have a job, and my job was to take people on horseback into the mountains in Wyoming. And it was a really fun job.Everyday, we would saddle up, maybe 15 or 20 horses. And then we would take beginners, people who had never ridden horses before, and we'd show them how to lead the horses and get on the horses. And then, we'd go up into the mountains for two hours or four hours or sometimes all day.John: Well, that sounds great.Sarah: Yeah.John: That was your job?Sarah: That was my job, and it was really fun. We would walk along these cliffs, and people would get nervous and they'd say, "Oh no, isn't my horse going to fall down the cliff?" And I'd say, "No. Your horse doesn't want to fall down the cliff just like you."John: Yeah. Right.Sarah: And the horses were really good. And to be honest, the horses mostly ignored the people on their backs.John: Really?Sarah: The horses, they knew the path that we were taking.John: Oh.Sarah: And sometimes, people would want to do something that's dangerous like go too fast or go a different way. And the horses would ignore the people and go the way they're supposed to.John: That's probably better.Sarah: Yeah.John: What about wild animals? You're out going on horseback trail rides through the mountains, right?Sarah: Yeah. And the area we went through was famous for elk. We saw lots of elk. And, you know, where there's elk, there are also the animals that eat elk. So there were mountain lions and bears.John: Bears?Sarah: I never saw a bear. But I always told the people I was with, I said, "Don't worry guys. If you see a bear, you don't have to be faster than the bear. You just have to be faster than the slowest horse."John: Oh, that's a good one.Sarah: Yeah.John: Did the visitors like that joke?Sarah: They did. They thought it was really funny until I pointed out which horse was the slowest, and then that person got really nervous.John: Did you ever see a mountain lion?Sarah: I never saw a mountain lion. But one time, the horses were all acting really nervous and they wouldn't go forward. And I didn't know why they were acting this way.John: Oh.Sarah: They refused. And so, I ended up turning around and we went off the trail, and we had to make a big circle.John: Really?Sarah: And then, later, I found out that there had been a warning, that there were mountain lions in the area. And so, I think that's why the horses refused to go.John: Wow. Those horses sound pretty smart.Sarah: Yeah. Sometimes in the morning, when we are the first people on the trail, I would see tracks, like wolf tracks or cougar tracks. But I never saw the real animal.John: That's probably lucky.Sarah: Yeah.John: Sounds like you had a really fun time at that job.Sarah: Yeah. It was really fun and we were outdoors everyday. That was my favorite part. The air was so clean and I loved working with the animals and being in the sunshine. It was great.

John: So Sarah, I was wondering, what kind of sports do you like to play?Sarah: Well, I love riding horses. And actually, when I was in college, I took a lot of classes about horseback riding. So I can do all sorts of sports on horseback.John: Wow! That's amazing. Don't you think riding horses is scary?Sarah: I think, it's part of the fun. For example, I used to be in the rodeo and I did a sport called saddle bronc riding. And the way you do this is they put the saddle on the horse and then they let the horse just go crazy. And the horse runs, and bucks, and tries to get you off, and you try to stay on. And it's really scary but it's also really exciting.John: Wow! That's what's called a bucking bronco, right?Sarah: Yeah. And it's really hard to stay on. In fact, you win if you can stay on 8 seconds.John: Oh, that doesn't seem very long.Sarah: It's really, really long. When I was – it's really long when you're on the horse. My first time, I only stayed on about 4 seconds and then I fell off in the middle of ring and I got knocked out.John: Whoa!Sarah: Yeah. And the rest – yeah, and I had a big black eye for about two months.John: Wow! From falling off a horse. That's why it seems scary. Isn't it really dangerous?Sarah: It is. It is really dangerous. And they don't make you wear helmet or any safety gear. I didn't wear a helmet my first time. I think it was pretty stupid.You start – so the horse starts in a metal cage. So the horse can't move. And then you sit on top of the horse, on the horse's back in the saddle. And then you say, I'm ready and they open the door. And the horse explodes and just starts jumping, and turning and twisting. And the horse did about three or four jumps and I fell off.John: Wow! How many seconds did you make it?Sarah: Three.John: Three?Sarah: Probably about 3 seconds.John: So you would have to do that more than twice as long to win.Sarah: Yeah. I got better at it, but I never could stay on for 8 seconds.John: Did you try any other rodeo events?Sarah: Yeah. I tried to do calf roping.John: What's that?Sarah: This is a sport where you have your horse and your horse is trained. It's not the wild horse from before. And there's a calf, and you try to throw your rope so that you catch the calf. And a calf is a baby cow.John: Wow! And so, what do you have to do if you get your rope around the cow?Sarah: Then you have to run up to the cow and you have to tie the cow's legs together. And when you finish tying the cow's legs together, the timer stops. So you want to do it as fast as you can.John: That sounds really fun. And it doesn't sound as dangerous as the saddle bronc competition.Sarah: No. It's not as dangerous. But after a while, I started to feel bad for the baby cow.John: I see.Sarah: It's just he's a small little baby and he's really scared, and he's trying to run away. And I started to feel bad about catching him with the rope and tying him up. So I stopped doing it.

Todd: Okay. So Meg, we’re talking about baking. And in the last one, in the last interview, you mentioned cake pops and some other stuff. Now you also mentioned truffles. What is a truffle?Meg: A truffle is – it’s a little chocolate candy or it can be not so tiny but it’s not huge. It’s like bite-size. Bite-size chocolate candy with something in the inside that’s called ganache, which is – can be a chocolate or a different flavor. Kind of creamy or a little more firm and then coated in chocolate. So it’s a chocolate candy basically.Todd: Okay. Now, I sometimes hear the word truffles like something that pigs find under the trees. Is it the same word?Meg: Yeah, different – no. Well, same word. Same word but those are a type of mushroom, I think.Todd: Yeah.Meg: Yeah. So there’s truffles mushroom and then there’s truffles chocolate candy. So I guess be careful which one you’re ordering if you’re at the store.Todd: Right. And they have nothing to do with each other.Meg: No. I mean maybe someone has made a mushroom chocolate truffle before. I’m not sure, but not me.Todd: Okay. So are truffles easy to make?Meg: They are – they’re time-consuming. So I don’t think they are difficult to make but you have to have the time to put in because you need to make the inside chocolate part first and mix together the ingredients and then form – I always did it by hand – form all the little balls so that you can dip them in chocolate. And so, one batch could usually get maybe 60 truffles. So probably I had to spend a few hours working on a batch of truffles.Todd: Can you go through the process, like how do you make them from start to finish?Meg: So probably my favorite ones are like an espresso chocolate kind where you would – I need some chopped up chocolates, more like baking chocolate or really dark chocolate or if you want milk chocolate, you can use it. And then mix that with some heavy cream and butter on the stove. And if there’s any flavor, you’re going to add. And so if it’s like a coffee flavor, you can add some coffee grinds and later strain them out, so it has that flavor.And then…Todd: And that’s the inner part that you’re working on?Meg: Right. Yeah.Todd: That’s like – what’s that called again?Meg: Ganache.Todd: Ganache.Meg: Hmm.Todd: Okay.Meg: And so, then you’ve made that and so it’s still pretty thin, more liquid-y. And so you need to put it in the fridge to let it firm up for – it can take – that recipe can take a few hours before it’s ready. And then once it’s ready, I just use like a small spoon to scoop a little out and then use my hands to roll it into like a ball shape.And then let that sit, and then I had to put it back in the fridge because your hands kind of warm the chocolate back up. And then once it’s out, you can use a special dipping fork or just a regular small fork and have some melted coating chocolate that you can get at craft stores where there’s fancy kinds or cheap kinds or whatever. And then you need to dip each ball individually and put it down on wax paper, like a special paper that it won’t stick to.And then you let them – if you’re going to add anything on top like sprinkles or anything, you can do that then. And then that’s it. You’re done.Todd: Wow. And then you just put them on the fridge. You chill them, right?Meg: You don’t have to. They’re better actually if keep them out of the fridge because if you put them in the fridge then you maybe have to handle issues with it going from cold to warm. And chocolate – you might not know chocolate – if it gets too cold sometimes or like frozen, little white spots can come to the surface. And so it kind of ruins the prettiness of the chocolate.Todd: Okay.Meg: Yeah. So you can just leave them out.Todd: That’s good to know.Meg: Yeah.Todd: Thanks. Well, I might give it a try but it still sounds pretty hard.Meg: Well, I’ll help you.

Todd: So Meg, I hear that you’re quite the baker. You like to bake brownies, cookies, things like that.Meg: Yeah. I love to bake. It’s pretty relaxing for me, and kind of fun, kind of a creative outlet, baking.Todd: Well, everybody notices it in the office when we see you bringing brownies for your students, and we’re all jealous. We wish we were in your class. So what is it with baking? Like is it just something you do to relax?Meg: Yeah. Well personally, I love sweets. Like I would eat only sweets if my body could handle it.Todd: Right.Meg: But I try to eat regular food, too. So I think I inherited that from my mom. So because I love sweet so much, it ends up being really fun making something like brownies or cookies.And for the creative aspect, I love to make cupcakes or cakes and – I don’t know if you’ve heard of cake pops – and decorate them.Todd: No. What’s a cake pop?Meg: A cake pop is like a little piece of cake on a stick coated in chocolate.Todd: Oh really? That sounds pretty good.Meg: Yeah. So in America right now, they’re getting pretty popular. Some people are saying it’s the new cupcake. So I don’t know if you know, a few years back, cupcakes got pretty popular. And so now, we have cake pops.And I was in the process of starting a little cake pop business before I moved to Japan. So, it’s really fun because you can make the cake pops, and it takes a while but then you can decorate them in all these really creative ways for different holidays or parties or birthday or just cute things, so. Yeah, so the creativity plus something sweet makes it fun for me.Todd: That's awesome. But what – cake pop, is it like a corn dog but like a cake?Meg: No. It’s just like a little round piece of cake. So the process is you should bake a cake like normal.Todd: Yeah.Meg: And then sift it up, so it’s just tiny little crumbs. So ruin the cake that you’ve made, sift it up until it’s just crumbs and then mix in just a little bit of like cream cheese frosting. And it makes kind of a formable, moldable dough. And then you mold balls, put it on a stick, dip it chocolate, and then you can decorate it.So it can be chocolate or like a vanilla-colored type, you know, you can have different colors, things like that.Todd: Wow. Cake pops.Meg: Yeah. Yeah. So cake pops are probably my favorite thing to make but also decorating cakes. I took a couple of cake decorating classes and making frosting and, you know, using the special frosting tools to swirl it on the cupcakes or whatever. So yeah.Todd: So have you ever made like a wedding cake or anything like that?Meg: I did actually make one wedding cake. I never really wanted to make wedding cakes because they’re very complicated and there’s so much pressure for it to be extremely perfect because it’s someone’s wedding.Todd: Yeah.Meg: And so – but there was a couple that I knew who were just doing really like low-budget cute wedding, and they weren’t too concerned about it being a huge cake. They just need something smaller.And so, I did a couple of tiers and I was actually a chocolate cake. So it wasn’t even white. So I did one chocolate cake but I have a done cake pops for a few weddings as like favors for the guests.Todd: Wow. The cake pops are just the thing.Meg: Yeah, because they come out so cute. I actually have a cake pop set that I can make where it looks like a little bride and a little groom like a little tuxedo. And so those are probably my most popular ones for weddings.And I also, before cake pops, I was making truffles. So that’s another thing that you can also decorate in a cute way.Todd: Wow. Well, actually we’ll talk about that more in the next interview. I’d like to ask you some questions about truffles.Meg: Sure.

Rory: So Abidemi, do you remember we were talking about food combinations which people find strange.Abidemi: Hmm.Rory: Well, I was wondering, are there any foods which just freak you out, which you’d never eat?Abidemi: Well, I think the older I have gotten, the more I’ve become, kind of, hesitant to try new food, which is strange.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: Before, the thought…Rory: I thought you were going to say more adventurous. It’s the opposite.Abidemi: It is the opposite, unfortunately. Before, the thought of eating insects or cats and dogs didn't do anything for me. It didn’t do anything bad. It was just like, “Oh sure, I’ll try it.” Before, my philosophy was if it’s food, and if I see somebody else eating it, I’ll try it.Rory: Right.Abidemi: But now, just the thought of it, of trying to eat a dog or a cat, I don’t want to.Rory: So did you try some strange foods when you were younger?Abidemi: Yes. I traveled to Northern Canada, and I lived in an Inuit community for a little while. And there, they eat a lot of different sea animals.Rory: Right.Abidemi: For example, whales, what else? They eat caribou as well. Just different animals and I tried a lot of that. And I really liked it. It was good.Rory: Okay.Abidemi: It didn’t do anything bad to me or…Rory: Right.Abidemi: Yeah, I didn’t get sick or anything from it.Rory: And you didn’t have a problem with the connection between this animal, the whale, which people have now raised to be like this is so important for our planet?Abidemi: Personally, no. I didn’t. I think – I don’t want to say I’m being selfish but to me, if you’re doing it for – not to sell, not for commercialization, and for these people, for those people, the Inuits, it’s their way of living. It’s their way of surviving.Rory: Right.Abidemi: So I didn’t have any problems with that.So I think maybe in general, too. That’s where that philosophy before was if somebody else is eating it, and it’s okay, I’ll try it. Why not?Rory: Okay.Abidemi: So I don’t know.Rory: I’ve never tried anything like that but if I see…When I traveled in Southeast Asia, I did try some insects.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: And they looked terrible, and it’s really hard to get your mind around the fact you’re going to eat it. When you eat it, it doesn’t – I mean, it tastes okay.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: They normally cook that maybe candied, served a little bit salt or a little bit salty.Abidemi: Oh. All right.Rory: So they taste okay. But your eyes continue to tell your brain that there’s something wrong.Abidemi: Okay. Okay. Do you think you would try it again?Rory: I think I would. I think the future is insects.Abidemi: Okay. The future is insects. That’s funny.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: It’s funny, in Nigeria, we used to, when I was a kid, we would – I don’t know what you call them. They were like – I don’t want to say termites – I’m not sure. But they were flying. A certain type of flying insects that will come at a certain time of the year and they were only there maybe for two or three weeks. And we will just catch them and fry them. Just salted and fried. It was really good.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: And back then to me, it wasn’t anything strange. It was just like nice.Rory: Right.Abidemi: I would think that I would like to try it again because it was just so good, just from my memories. But I don’t know I might hesitate now to eat it.Rory: Yeah. I think people can quickly become use to strange foods.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: So like nobody ate raw fish in England, say, 25 years ago. But with Japanese food becoming more popular, now it’s perfectly acceptable. Lots of people like to eat like raw, raw fish.Abidemi: Okay. Okay. I think, if you say, if you say something it’s healthy, it can quickly gain in popularity.Rory: Yeah. Yeah. And –

Rory: Hi, Abidemi.Abidemi: Hi Rory.Rory: So I was thinking about food in different countries.Abidemi: Oh, my favorite topic.Rory: Yeah.Abidemi: I love eating.Rory: Okay. Some countries have foods which other countries seem to find a bit strange. Okay. Something in England which people find quite odd which we think is perfectly normal is do you know lasagna?Abidemi: Yes.Rory: The Italian food, lasagna?Abidemi: Yes, I do.Rory: In England, if you go to a pub, it’s always served with chips – French fries. So lasagna and French fries together.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: And people just seem to think this is weird, but in England it’s completely normal. So I was wondering if you’d come across anything similar to that in countries you’d visited or even in your own country.Abidemi: All right. I think for me, when I was in Japan, I had – they have the combination of bread and noodles. So they would have noodles inside of bread, which to me is strange because it’s carbohydrates plus carbohydrates.Rory: Well, that’s quite similar to lasagna and chips, isn’t it?Abidemi: You’re right. You’re right. I would expect bread with hamburger or something more proteinous.Rory: Right.Abidemi: But yeah – so that’s strange. And I’ve also heard in Thailand, they have corn on ice cream.Rory: Yeah, I tried that.Abidemi: How was it?Rory: It was strange.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: It was really strange because like in England, we always think corn is something you have with your main course even though it’s very sweet. But actually, it matches quite well with ice cream, but it looks strange because it’s unexpected.Abidemi: Interesting. Interesting. Maybe a bit like in Japan – back to Japan again, where they have mayonnaise on their pizza. And at the beginning for me too it was very strange when I first tried it. But now, I think from that experience, I’ve grown used to put in mayonnaise on my pizza, and actually love it.Rory: Okay, yeah. I haven’t caught to that one yet.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: But I know when I went to Belgium, in Belgium, they always have French fries with mayonnaise.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: And again, when I first tried it, it seemed very strange because in the UK we always have chips with ketchup.Abidemi: I see.Rory: But with mayonnaise, it’s actually pretty good.Abidemi: Yeah. I think so, too. I think what I like is French fries, mayonnaise, and ketchup.Rory: Together?Abidemi: Together.Rory: You mix the ketchup and the mayonnaise.Abidemi: I do, yes. You should try it sometimes.Rory: I will try it, but I do think that’s a bit strange. Okay.So in Nigeria, are there any foods, which to you are normal but maybe you think people from other countries might find a bit strange?Abidemi: I think the whole idea of eating with their hands, and also the fact that we eat a lot of – I don’t know how say it, describe it but solid food, we call it.Rory: Right.Abidemi: So we have food that’s made from yam like we call it pounded yam. A lot of food that’s made from – it’s hard to describe. So they’re like solid. They're kind of like mash potatoes but thicker.Rory: Right. So a yam is a type of potato?Abidemi: A cousin of potatoes, I would say.Rory: Right. Okay.Abidemi: Kind of but it’s starchier than potatoes. So we have a lot of food that’s made in that way. So to people that might not be used to that, they find it quite strange that we’re eating something so starchy and thick. So I think we have that.One thing that’s strange to us from the Japanese side is eating raw food.Rory: Right.Abidemi: Like raw meat or raw fish, raw fish especially. For us, even vegetables, we don’t – that’s another thing actually. And almost anything that’s raw, we don’t really like. I remember the first time I had salad. It was “What is this? Am I an animal? Why am I eating uncooked carrots or lettuce?” So it needs to be cooked.Rory: Right.Abidemi: Maybe it goes back to our history. If you don’t cook, we didn’t have a lot of refrigeration so maybe we’re still in that mode a little bit. If you don’t cook it, it’s not as healthy. So we always want to cook it and make sure it’s hot or spicy.So I think maybe that would be it.Rory: Right.Abidemi: Raw food, raw vegetable, we’re still kind of like, “No,” I think.Rory: So one thing, when I first came to Japan, I used to – I mean, in England, people often eat rice with something else. So they might put soy sauce on it. They might have it fried, like an egg fried rice or something. And it was strange for me to eat plain rice when I first came here.Abidemi: Actually, I had a similar experience too when I was in Japan. I remember the first time they served me rice, just plain rice. In Nigeria, maybe now it’s changing a little bit, but in Nigeria, eating plain, white rice is the epitome of poverty. You have no money; you have nothing but plain rice. So for me, it was like, “Whoa, what is this? This is really strange. I need to put something on this rice.” And when I did that, I think I kind of like saw the Japanese people around me…Rory: Ye

Adam: Hi Sarah.Sarah: Hi.Adam: Today we’re talking about bucket list. Things you want to do before you die. Do you have anything?Sarah: Actually, no. I don’t have a bucket list. And the reason why is because I’ve already done or I’m currently doing the things that I want to do. In addition, I like to live in the now, so like the present, like what’s happening. So I really don’t think of the distant futurevery much, just like what’s in front of me.For example, I’m going to Singapore soon, in about 10 days. And I’m really looking forward to that and the new adventure and things that I’ll get to do there.Adam: What sort of things do you have in mind to explore in Singapore?Sarah: First of all, swing dancing. My favorite kind of dance currently is Lindy hop swing dancing. And Singapore is one of the places in Asia that has several swing dance meet-up groups. So I look forward to dancing several of the nights while I’m there, but also trying all of the delicious food and just exploring a country that I’ve never been to.Adam: Wow, great. What are some of the things that you have wanted to do in the past that you have accomplished already?Sarah: I think living in foreign countries. I’ve already lived in two foreign countries and I plan on living in foreign countries probably the rest of my life. So that’s a big one. And I think just everyday things, like finishing college and getting two master’s degrees and being able to support myself. It’s all things that are important to me.Adam: Yeah. Those are really great things. What are your two degrees in?Sarah: My first degree is in teaching English to speakers of other languages. This degree allows me to be able to live in other countries and to teach English. And then my other degree is in global studies. So it’s like an inter-cultural degree where I learned about different cultures and religions.Adam: That’s really great. Have you ever eaten anything exotic or had any really interesting experiences that most people might not have had when you’re traveling to these different places and fulfilling your goals?Sarah: I’ve definitely eaten a lot of different things, most of which I’m not really sure what a lot of it was. The strangest probably – jellyfish, maybe. I’d also gotten a chance to ride a lot of different animals. I’ve ridden a camel, donkey, horse, elephant, and even an ostrich. So that’s pretty exciting.Adam: Yeah. That’s really interesting. Have you done any other extreme activities?Sarah: Yeah. I’ve been skydiving before. I’ve been volcano boarding. I’m trying to think what else I have done. I haven’t been bungee jumping. I think that’s probably one of the only ones that I haven’t done as of right now. But I really have no desire to do that one, so.Adam: Wow. That’s great. You’ve lived a good life.

Sarah: So Adam, we're talking about bucket lists, so things that you would like to do before you die. So what's your number one thing on your bucket list?Adam: Oh, difficult question. Number one, I'd probably have to say, oh, skydiving maybe. I’ve wanted to do it for a long time. And I went bungee jumping in New Zealand. That was fun but I still have not yet been sky-diving. And jumping out of the plane just sounds like an awesome idea to me.Sarah: What other kind of adventure sports have you done?Adam: This summer, I was – what did I do? Sand boarding in Peru. That was fun. When I was younger I did a lot of snowboarding and skateboarding. And yeah, I really enjoy extreme sports. I ride a motorcycle currently. If I could I'd love to race cars professionally, although I don't know how good I'd be at it. But it just looks like so much fun.Sarah: Yeah. Well, it’s never too late to start something you want to do, so you should add that to your bucket list. So tell me what else is on your bucket list?Adam: I really want to write a book. Be the author of a novel. I'm always in the process of writing something down but it never seems to come to complete book type end result. But maybe eventually, all of these little things that I have written down will come into a book form and I can publish it and complete my goal.Sarah: What kind of things do you write? Like what kind of genre or is that kind of all the same or do you write many different styles?Adam: I wrote a lot of different things. One thing that I write is travel stories from my travels abroad or anecdotes that I come across when I'm traveling. Recently, I've been writing jokes. I really enjoy watching stand-up comedy and have got kind of inspired from them to write some stuff down, although I've never really presented it.And I also write, I guess, fantasy stories as well. I have a few short stories but it's been difficult for me to try to put them into book, like a longer version of them. The details are tricky to write down.Sarah: Wow! That's really interesting. Hopefully, one day, we'll be able to read a book written by you.Adam: Yeah. That'd be great.Sarah: Yeah. So tell me what else is on your list?Adam: The other things would be traveling to Europe, which I plan to do hopefully next summer, so I can cross that one off the list. I've always wanted to go to Europe especially Italy and Spain. So I'm excited to get that one done.And I'd also really like to go to Africa and go on a safari and see, you know, lions, tigers in the wild, in their natural habitat. I've also heard that you could see sharks, Great White sharks in South Africa on the coast. I had some friends that went and sat in a cage in the water and had Great White swim by. That sounds like a terrifying and once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm terrified of sharks but it would be quite amazing to see.Sarah: Yeah. I am terrified of sharks as well, so I probably will not be adding that to my bucket list. But yeah, I hope you get to do everything that's on your list there.Adam: Thanks. Me too!

Sarah: So do you dream a lot? Do you remember your dreams?Todd: I usually do. Although, I have to admit, now that I'm older, I don't dream so much. It's pretty rare that I have a dream. But I will have dreams if I'm really stressed or if I'm really sick. So usually, every time I get sick, I notice I'm sick because I have a dream. And I'll wake up in the middle of the night from some crazy dream and then I'll notice, oh wow, I'm sick.So yeah, that's about it.Sarah: That's very interesting.Todd: Yeah. Although, you know, when I was younger, I used to have all these dreams related to work. I guess they were stress-related. And the craziest dream was, I was a waiter at a very fast-paced restaurant, and it was very stressful. And you had to wait on about 10 tables, and people would come in and you have to get their food fast. And if you didn't, you'd get yelled at by the boss or the customers would be upset.So I used to have this dream – and this is when I was in college, that I would be sleeping and there would be a table in my room and the customers would be sitting there watching me sleep, and they would be furious because I wasn't bringing their food. I was like just sleeping in the bed right next to their table. And it was the same nightmare I had for – like again and again and again. It was crazy.Sarah: That's really interesting. And kind of funny, too.Todd: Yeah, I know. And it's weird how you have the same recurring dream. I used to have another dream, a nightmare when I was young. And it would be – I was riding a bicycle up like a mountain and the mountain was – like had a path that just kept going around and around the mountain. And you had to be really careful or else your bike would fall off the cliff. And then, my bike of course would go off the cliff and I would fall, fall, fall and you would wake up right before you hit the ground.I had that dream many, many times when I was a little kid.Sarah: Wow.Todd: Yeah.Sarah: Yeah.Todd: Do you ever have nightmares or any dreams like that?Sarah: Yeah. I don't dream very often but I have this one reoccurring dream also where I am in school and it's at the end of the semester and I suddenly realized that there's one class that I haven't been going to the entire semester and I'm going to fail it. So I panic and I'm running around like trying to find my professor to like try to figure out what I need to do or what I need to study for the final exam so that I don't fail this class.But what's really interesting about this dream is I found out a few years ago that my father has the same reoccurring dream.Todd: Wow. You know, this is going to sound crazy. I've had that dream, too. I've had a dream of like I registered for a course in college and I never went to the course, and I'm going to get an F. And I don't even remember when I registered or where the class is but I didn't finish the class. Is that the same dream?Sarah: Exact same dream.Todd: Wow. I wonder what it means.Sarah: Me too.Todd: Maybe there's somebody out there that really knows what it means and they're like, "Uh-oh, those two people are doomed."Sarah: There must be a lot of people with that dream.Todd: Yeah. And maybe that's it, like there's certain structures. Like I know that the bike dream that I have about falling off the cliff, I've heard that many people have that. Yeah.Have you ever heard about the dream – I had it a couple of times, a dream where you're in class and then you suddenly notice that you don't have any clothes on and you're afraid that people are going to notice you don't have any clothes on?Sarah: No, I've never had that one.Todd: Yeah. That was one when I was really, really little, but yeah.Sarah: I've heard that some people – a lot of people have dreams about their teeth falling out and that this means that like they're afraid of losing something in their life.Todd: Really?Sarah: Something that's really important to them.Todd: Oh wow. So if you're teeth are falling, you're going to lose something.Sarah: Yeah.Todd: Wow.Sarah: Or you're afraid of losing something because most people, their teeth are really important to them.Todd: Yeah. Interesting. Well, I don't have any nightmares anymore. It's pretty rare. How about you?Sarah: Yeah. Same as me. Thank goodness.Todd: Yeah. Maybe it's just a young thing.Sarah: Maybe.

Todd: So Sarah, let's talk about sleep. How many hours of sleep do you usually get every night?Sarah: Usually, at least eight. It depends on how late I stay up but usually about eight hours, I try to get every night.Todd: And you are pretty consistent, like even on the weekends, you get eight hours.Sarah: Yes. Even on the weekends. Sleep is very important for me to feel normal and energetic.Todd: Now, do you need an alarm clock to wake you up or you just wake up naturally everyday?Sarah: I definitely have to have an alarm clock. Even though I wake up very easily, I don't wake up at a routine time easily. So I usually set two alarms and that will usually get me up.Todd: Oh wow. I actually have this kind of weird mental ability. I thought that everybody can do this but I found out it's not the case, but I can wake up exactly at the minute I want, any time. So like, if I have to get up at 5:43, before I go to bed, I can say, "Okay. Get up at 5:43." And I'll wake up at 5:43, exactly.Sarah: That's amazing.Todd: Yeah. I don't know how – I guess your brain just can keep time. When I tell people this, sometimes they think, "Oh come on, that's not true." But really, ever since I was a kid I could just tell myself what time I want to wake up and I'll wake up exactly at that time.Sarah: That's really quite amazing. I wish it was that way for me, but it's not.Todd: Yeah. You know what's weird – because I don't use alarm clocks. And I can't – like an alarm clock – the idea actually, I can't have a deep sleep if I know that it's going to ring and wake up, like it's going to jolt. To me an alarm clock is like somebody throwing cold water on you, you know. So yeah, I don't use alarm clocks at all.Sarah: Yeah. I'm always paranoid about being late so that's why I set two just in case like one doesn't go off. But I can sleep anytime of the day. Like it really doesn't matter what type of day, it's very easy for me to fall asleep for as long as whenever. So that's why I have to have an alarm clock because I could sleep 12 or 14 hours and not wake up.Todd: Wow. That's like you do like sleep.Sarah: Yeah.Todd: So do you take naps?Sarah: No, because then I feel really like groggy and really like irritable if I take naps because I just want to sleep longer than that amount of time. So I don't take naps.Todd: Like can you sleep with the light on?Sarah: Yes.Todd: Really?Sarah: Yes.Todd: Yeah, I can't. Actually, that's why I always wake up so early. As soon the light comes through the window, I wake up. I can't sleep if it's not dark.Sarah: I can sleep in any situation; light, noise, sitting up. It doesn't matter. I can sleep.Todd: Oh wow. So you're a deep sleeper.Sarah: Yeah.Todd: I'm so jealous. Like just a little bit of noise or a little bit of light and I can't sleep. And actually, I probably only get an average six hours a night. But I do sometimes take naps.Sarah: Oh okay. How long do you usually nap for?Todd: Usually an hour. I found out if I go over an hour then that's the danger zone because then if you sleep like two or three hours, then you wake up and you're just groggy for the whole day. Like you can't – it's like you've been drugged, you know. So yeah. Forty-five-minute nap is about it.Sarah: Yeah. When you were a child, did your parents make you take naps?Todd: They did. And oddly enough, when I was a kid though, I couldn't sleep, like, you would cry, "I don't want to take a nap" you know. And you'd be like you conk out. But yeah, I do remember.Do you remember having to take naps in school?Sarah: I didn't go to school actually. I was homeschooled.Todd: Oh really.Sarah: I remember taking naps when I was really little but beyond that and like school-age, I never had to.Todd: Oh wow. Anyway, all these talks are making me tired. I think I'm ready for a nap.Sarah: Sounds good.

Spencer: Yeah. So Curtis, what would your dream house be like? Tell me about the kitchen, living room, yard.Curtis: Well, I've thought a lot about my dream house and designing it. Actually, that's the kind of work that my father does, so he said he could draw the plans up for me. But I've done a lot of art and I really want to work my art into the house.So the living room, I would like there to be kind of a frieze around the outside of the room where I actually do the art myself. Now, I used to do a lot of construction when I was younger, and so I would really like to take part in the process so that I have a kind of sense of ownership with the house that I've really built a part of that.The kitchen, I want it to be a very large space and next to a room that has a lot of media so that you can kind of pay attention to things or watch tutorials and recipes while you're cooking, follow along with your favorite chefs or cooking channels. I'd like a really big industrial refrigerator and a huge island that I can work with, as well as a massive sink for cleaning things.I used to work at a restaurant and I loved the dishwasher there because it was so quick and easy. So I would like a restaurant-style dishwasher in my kitchen, too.Spencer: Yeah. So tell me about – what would your yard be like?Curtis: I would like a lot of grass. I really love a yard with nice grass especially when you're playing soccer, you can get under the ball and have a lot of fun like that.Spencer: It's nice to have a big backyard to play sports.Curtis: Yeah. I think so as well.Spencer: What about your bathroom?Curtis: My bathroom. Well, I would like to have a kind of a spa in there, honestly. I would like to have a big bathtub. But I want my house to have geothermal heating. And if I have a geothermal heating system, I can also probably have a hot spring in the bathroom.I like it to be quite big and have a nice shower as well. Just very nice open area with nice sinks. I don't want to feel constrained in my bathroom. I don't want it to be small. It has to be big.Spencer: What about your living room?Curtis: My living room. One of the things that was really important to me for my living room again, is the art that I want to have a lot of details around the outside that are murals or friezes that I have actually created on the wall and so that there's almost a kind of entertaining sense about it. Just being in there before you turn on any other devices or televisions or anything like that. That there is kind of a artistic and comfortable feel to it. It doesn't feel sterile, it feels very homey.Spencer: Cool. Would you have a big garage?Curtis: I probably would have a big garage because I really love driving, and I used to race cars at the track. And for the purposes of doing work on cars, or any other DIY work around the house, I would like to have a really big nice garage.Spencer: Would you have any sort of like swimming pool or – I know you said you wanted a sauna in your bathroom but…Curtis: I would really like a portion that's maybe separate from the bathroom, that has  shuttersthat open up. So on a nice night, you can actually open it and see out over the yard or whatever landscapes that the house is built next to.Spencer: That would be cool.Curtis: But I would like the area to be a little bit private, hopefully surrounded by woods a little bit where you can't see your neighbors immediately.Spencer: Yeah, exactly.

Curtis: All right. So Spencer if you could design your dream home, what would it be like?Spencer: I know exactly what it would be like. It would be all wood, old-style beach house on the ocean and on the sand. So it would have ocean front porches all the way around. The biggest thing is the porches because I don't really care about having, you know, massive extra rooms for guests or whatever like I want to be able to be outside. Like being outside is big for me.I love screened-in porches as well. So that and a library. I'm a huge kind of book nerd, so I would love to have just a library with lots of different shelves and, you know, a couple of desks for studying. That's the dream home for me. What about you?Curtis: Actually, I'm wondering about the outside. Would you paint the house or would you just leave it the natural wood color?Spencer: I want a natural color. There's an island south that's all kind of pastel Easter egg looking colors and it's too much for me. Also too like all the beach houses in LA, they're all kind of too tacky for me. Like I don't know. I like kind of the old look kind of traditional style.Curtis: Do you think you would use natural wood on it or a different material? I know that the beaches are really tough on the siding and paneling.Spencer: That is true.Curtis: Okay. What would th e kitchen be like in your dream house?Spencer: I'm not much of a cook but I hope that my future husband is. So I would like to have a big kitchen for him. Lots of table space. I want one of those islands, you know, in the center of a kitchen where there's a marble countertop that has, you know, a couple of sinks and the ability to kind of put multiple different parts of vegetables or fruits out and about while you're cooking and preparing.Yeah. I'd also like kind of a bar counter space as well so that people kind of pull up a chair and maybe help cook or maybe just be there for company while you're cooking.Curtis: And how about your living room, do you have any ideas for that?Spencer: Living room mainly just comfort. My parents had a living room in their house but it was all just really nice antique furniture and we were never allowed to go there. So it's kind of like what's the point of having a room in a house that you never go into?So I would like a living room, yes, maybe with a fireplace and some antique furniture but nothing too nice that, you know, my child or my dog were to come in from outside could really like mess up.Curtis: And how about your yard, do you have any ideas for a yard around your house?Spencer: I want a lot of dogs. So I would like a big yard that they could be able to run around in, as well as if I have children, like have enough room for them to be able to, you know, slip and slide. So, you know, one of my best friends back home she had a yard that had a creek in it. And that was so much fun like growing up being able to like catch different, you know, creepy-crawlies in the stream as well as have a messy or muddy day if we wanted to.Curtis: And how about the bathroom?Spencer: I want a massive bathroom actually. You know, my favorite shower in the world has like five or six different faucets and it's just massive. That gives you space. I'm kind of a clumsy person, so if I fall down I don't want to be able to, you know – I don't want to hit my head on anything.I also like a big Jacuzzi bathtub. My grandparents have this really, really, big old porcelain tub that I swear like five people could fit into. So I'd really like to be able to have a big bathtub.Curtis: Okay. Thank you.

Todd: So Meg, you are talking about being in the military, and you said you were a medic. Can you explain what that is?Meg: Yeah. So a medic, which now I believe is called health care specialist, is – I always say it's kind of similar to being like a paramedic where it's not a full nurse job. I think nurses have more training like in civilian side nurses, but similar to paramedic where you have certain, like, minor procedures that you're trained to do and high-level things than just an EMT like doing IVs and giving shots and stitches and things like that.And you're trained – because it's the military, you're especially trained for emergency situations, and how to treat someone who has maybe some serious life-threatening wounds. So that's a medic.Todd: Wow. That sounds like a really difficult job. I mean, it's not your typical, just soldier job. You must have had a lot of schooling and education.Meg: I had – well, everyone goes through the initial, about two and a half months like basic training. And that's more kind of basic combat skills and physical training that kind of thing. And then I had four months past that to train to be a medic. So we went through like emergency medical technician course just like civilian side. I got certified with that. And then we had additional training for the military skills like IVs and emergency procedures, that kind of thing.Todd: Right. Can you explain what IV is?Meg: IV is an intravenous – like getting fluids into your body. So if you've been injured and you've lost a lot of blood or maybe you're dehydrated and you need some fluid in your body quickly, then we stick a needle into your vein and then the fluids go in. And the needle comes back out but a little tube stays in. And then you can get fluids quickly that way.Todd: So anybody that's been to the doctor knows that's always kind of the anxious moment when the nurse or the person who's going to stick the needle in. Were you good at doing that?Meg: So once I learned how to do it, I think I was pretty good. And I actually enjoyed doing it, not in a creepy way but, you know, it was – I guess, because I was decent at it that it was a part of my job that I enjoyed.But for myself, before we went through that training, I actually became dehydrated and needed to get an IV myself. And I was terrified because I really hadn't had that before in my life. And so, the nurse was going to come, you know, put the needle in my arm and I was like, "No, isn't there another? I'll just drink a lot of water." And she was saying, "Aren't you going to be a medic." And I was like, "Oh, I haven't trained yet. Don't do it." So yeah.Todd: Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I was recently in the hospital and they had me strapped upfor both blood and for the water, the intravenous drip. And it's annoying because you can't really move, like if you want to get up and walk anywhere, you're strapped with all these tubes. And it's not very convenient.Meg: Yeah, yeah. Or at least you have to careful. When I was getting the IV, I didn't know that the needle doesn't stay in your arm. Now, for some things, it does. For blood, maybe it's different, I'm not sure. But yeah, so I was trying to be so careful too but you still want it to go well so you don't want to move very much.Todd: Right. So what percentage of people would you say freak out when they get the needle?Meg: Probably 90% or 95%.Todd: Oh really?Meg: Yeah. Even, you know, tough Army guys would come in and be – and they'd be like, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm fine in a bit." "Well, we need to give you an IV." And they'd be like, "Oh…"Todd: Right. Yeah. Nobody likes that.Meg: No.Todd: So you transitioned. You were in the medical profession and then you moved to education. Why did you leave the medical profession for education?Meg: Yeah. That's interesting because I became a medic in the military because I thought after I – when I could continue college that I would be a nurse or a doctor. But my time serving as a medic helped me learn that that was not what I wanted to do for my career after all.So I definitely am glad that I had those skills and the things that I learned and was able to experience. But I had – English had kind of been on the back burner. And so then I said, "Okay, let me revisit this," and it led to English education.Todd: Wow. Have you ever thought about being like an English specialist for people in the medical fields like teaching doctors and nurses?Meg: I guess I haven't thought about that specifically. Sometimes I thought about going back to military. They do have something like English schools in the military. And so, I guess that would be related. Also it could be – yeah, so that would be interesting. Something to think about.Todd: All right. Great. Thanks, Meg.

Todd: So Meg, I thought we would talk a little bit about the military. Now, you were actually in the military.Meg: Yes. I was actually in the Army National Guard. So I enlisted when I was 17. In America, in the National Guard, each state can have kind of different rules, or different requirements. And so, in Indiana, you can enlist when you are 17 with parental permission. So I did that.Todd: Wow. Seventeen is really young age.Meg: Yeah. And it sort of happened really quick. I mean, I was a junior in high school and I got a call from a recruiter. And at first, I was really against it but then in Indiana, if you enlist and you serve your time, they'll pay your college tuition if you go to a state college.So Indiana has Purdue, and I was interested in going to Purdue anyway, so it seemed like a good idea.Todd: That's fantastic. So how long were you in the service?Meg: I was in for six years all together. That was the minimum commitment. So I could have done more but I was ready to, maybe try some other things after that time.Todd: Did it go by fast?Meg: Looking back, it definitely did. I think, there are different stages that went by slow or fast. Like when I was in actual basic training, when you're in it, it was super slow. Like you're counting on the hours every day because you're just desperate to finish and get out and get back to your family. And I was, you know, 17, so it's a little different.But now looking back, like, I can't believe it was a full six years, and now it's so many years past that already. So yeah, I guess, it did go by fast overall.Todd: Yeah, that's great. So what was it like being a woman in the military?Meg: It was – well, I served in a unit – I was a medic. And so, my unit, a medical unit, naturally has more women. The ratio is closer to 50-50 men and women, which isn't – at least that time wasn't – I don't have the current statistics, but it isn't that kind of ratio for the Army as a whole or the military as a whole.And so, for me there was – I was with a lot of other women also when I was serving. But for me personally, there were definitely challenges especially when I was first in basic training like I definitely felt personal pressure to try to keep up with the guys. With everything whether it's, you know, physically being able to lift and carry these heavy boxes and whatever. You know, you have the same requirements that you have to do. And you never want to be the weak link.And I think some other women, maybe suffered a little more because they couldn't keep up quite as well. And so that can be a little difficult. But maybe I'm naturally a bit more suited for those kinds of things. So I did okay but I definitely wanted to and tried hard to keep up with the physical aspect which isn't as easy sometimes for women.Todd: Well, that's interesting. So you do look pretty fit, so you must have been really fit back in the day.Meg: Yeah, I think. Yeah, especially basic training because you're never like not running. Anytime you're walking somewhere, you're just running, running, running, like they make you run everywhere. And you get like 5 minutes to eat breakfast and lunch, and dinner. Every time, you have to eat it so fast. And then you're doing all this physical training, and then going through obstacle courses, and carrying heavy packs and carrying your weapon round.Yeah. So that was probably the most fit I've ever been. I'm definitely not that now.Todd: Right. So if you had a daughter, would you recommend that she goes in the military, or would you recommend other women to join the military?Meg: I would not recommend it. I guess, I don't go around telling everyone, "Oh, you should just join the military." But I think if someone – if there is a woman who is interested in it or thinking about it, I would definitely – for me, I mean, it worked out great. There are a lot of like leadership and personal character qualities that I was really able to develop during my time that have continued to benefit me now.And so, for a woman who is interested, I would definitely say, "Go for it."Todd: Awesome. Thanks. Thanks, Meg.Meg: Yeah.

Abidemi: Okay, Rory, are you good at sports?Rory: Yeah, I am. I'm good at soccer, I think. And I run quite a lot. I'm getting faster. So yeah, I think I'm quite good at sports.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: How about you?Abidemi: No, not really. It's something that I never really practiced when I was a child so I'm not really good at sports. But when people look at me, they always say, "You look like you can run so fast. You look like you can play all these sports." I can run, but I don't do it often or played so many sports. Yup.Rory: Okay. And are you good at math?Abidemi: Yes. I feel like I'm bragging when I say that but I enjoy math. And when I was in school, I did well in it. I think up to high school level math, I'm good. What about you, Rory?Rory: Yeah, the same. So I think I'm quite good at math. I enjoyed it at high school but I didn't do it after that. Now I help my daughter with her math homework, and yeah, I think I'm pretty good.Abidemi: Lucky her.Rory: And how about computers? Are you good at computers?Abidemi: I think I have the basics down. So I'm good at the basic things in computers. But overall, when it gets too complicated, I'm not too good at it. What about you, Rory?Rory: Yeah, I'm okay. I can use a computer but I can't – I'm not good at programming, things like this, you know. I don't understand this.Abidemi: I think this is a big one for people. Are you good at getting up early?Rory: I'm really good at getting up early.Abidemi: How early?Rory: You know 5:00 or 6:00 o'clock is no problem for me.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: And I think it's because ever since I was young, I've always got up early. I used to do a paper round when I was a kid.Abidemi: I see.Rory: I get up before 6:00 o'clock. So how about you? Are you good at getting up early?Abidemi: No, not really. I like to sleep in. Especially when it's winter, I'm not good at getting up early at all. My body just wants to sleep the whole day. In the summer, I'm a lot better with the sun.Rory: Okay.

Rory: So Abidemi, let's talk about abilities. Can you cook?Abidemi: Yes, and no. I can cook a little bit, the basic stuff but I really like to eat but I don't experiment too much. So no, I'm not a great cook, but I can cook. I cook to survive. What about you, Rory? Can you cook?Rory: Yeah, I can. I really like cooking. I love cooking Italian food. I also love baking. So I can bake cakes and cookies and bread, stuff like that.Abidemi: Okay.Rory: How about singing? Can you sing?Abidemi: I think I can sing. Yes, I enjoy singing. I love singing. I sing a lot in church, so I can sing. What about you? Can you sing?Rory: I can't sing at all. Like even when I go to karaoke, I'm too embarrassed to pick up the microphone.Abidemi: Oh, it's too bad. What about you, Rory, can you play – okay, can you play an instrument?Rory: I can't. No. I'd love to be able to play an instrument but I can't play anything. How about you? Can you play an instrument?Abidemi: No, I can't. I really wish that I had learned something when I was younger. But I say I can play my voice. Ha, ha.Rory: That's nice.Abidemi: What about juggling? Can you juggle, Rory?Rory: Yeah, I can juggle. I can juggle with three balls and I can almost juggle with four.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: Like I can do it for about 10 seconds. Yeah.Abidemi: I can't juggle at all. So please teach me. It's always something that I've always wanted – I wanted to learn.Rory: Okay. Can you speak three languages?Abidemi: Yes. I think I can speak three languages.Rory: Which ones?Abidemi: I think English is my best language but I also speak Yoruba, a Nigerian language, and I speak French as well. Yes.And you?Rory: Well, I can speak English and I can speak some Czech. I lived in the Czech Republic for six years.Abidemi: Wow.Rory: And I can also speak a little bit of French but it's very rusty.Abidemi: Okay. Maybe next time we'll have this conversation in French then.Rory: Okay.

Adam: Hi Sarah.Sarah: Hi.Adam: Today we’re talking about do-overs. So if you had a time machine and you could go back to your college years, is there anything that you might change or do differently?Sarah: I really wish that I would have had the chance to study abroad. I chose the wrong major initially. I was a nursing major for two years, and worked really hard at a major I was really bad at. And then after two years, I switched schools and switched majors. And because of that, I had so many credits to take that I couldn’t study abroad or do really any extra classes that were fun.Adam: Hmm, that must have been challenging. Where would you have liked to study abroad?Sarah: Really, anywhere. I’ve always loved to travel, so I would have been open to going anywhere.Adam: So you said you studied nursing, what would you have studied otherwise?Sarah: Well, I first went into nursing because everyone since I was really little told me that I would be a good nurse. So I thought it was my calling in life. And then after taking lots and lots of science classes, which I’m really bad at, I decided to switch majors to education. And then I ended up liking that major, so I’m really happy that I switched.Adam: Was there any other major that you would find interesting that you might study if you went back or you’re satisfied with education?Sarah: I’m glad I did education because I really liked that work wise. But if I had to go with things that I’m interested in, I probably would have been some sort of art major. Both of my siblings are artists, so it kind of runs in the family a little bit.Adam: What kind of art do you like?Sarah: Mainly dance, but I also was really into music growing up, so musical instruments and singing.Adam: So, do you have any friends that were interested in art or dance that you had in those times?Sarah: Not really. No, actually.Adam: Do you wish that if you were in a group of people that like the similar things that you might have pursued different interests.Sarah: Hmm, definitely. I wish I would have done more with dance. I was a ballerina for 12 years. And I gave up on that when I was 14. So I got to the level where I either had to train professionally to do that for a job or stay in a class where the younger girls would keep moving up. And so at that time, I quit.And although I don’t wish I was still doing ballet, I wish I would continued some kind of dance.Adam: Interesting.Adam: So Sarah, any funny haircuts or anything like that?Sarah: Actually, yes. One week before I moved away to college, I cut my hair boy-short. And then after that, like during my first semester, I’d dyed it all different shades of red. And my hair has actually been pretty much every link and every natural-ish color.Adam: Wow. How did your friends and family respond to your red hair?Sarah: My mom didn’t like it so much. She thought I was going to die like a natural red color, but it was more of fuchsia red color. So she didn’t like it very much. But my friends and like siblings understood because I’ve always been very different and didn’t really care what other people thought about how I looked.Adam: How long did you like it?Sarah: For a while until I wanted change. I love change, so I’d always switch it to something else.Adam: Well, that’s great. Thanks, Sarah.

Sarah: So Adam, today we’re talking about do-overs. So what is something that you wish you would have done over? For example, maybe something in your university life?Adam: Yeah. There are a few things. I might change my major. I studied education, and while I enjoy what I’m doing right now, my free time I really like watching movies about science and astronomy. And if I would go back to school and start my studies over, I’d probably study something along those lines, astronomy and metaphysics or something.I think that those topics are really interesting and on the cutting edge of science and just fascinating to explore.Sarah: Interesting. Anything else you wish you would have done?Adam: I might have been more involved in the sports clubs at my school. For example, the American football team. I played in high school but in college, I wanted to play but I didn’t have the motivation to push me over the edge to actually go out and really put my heart into it.I went to one training day and kind of tried out, but I didn’t really pursue it as much as I would have liked. I think it would have been fun to be a part of that culture and that environment.Sarah: How about something that you did do that maybe now you wish you hadn’t?Adam: I pierced my ears in high school because that was the cool thing to do. But now I don’t wear earrings. And yeah, looking back on it, kind of just a silly thing to do that I’m trying to follow the trends, that, you know, trends usually pass.So yeah, that would be something that I wouldn’t do again.Sarah: Nice. Anything else you would have changed?Adam: I might have made different decisions about my girlfriends at the time. I had a really good girlfriend in the beginning of college, and things didn’t work out because of a variety of reasons. But I think if we would have worked on it, we could have. We could have made it, made it happen. So yeah, that’s something I think about sometimes about life in college.It’s always, you know, college love is kind of a crazy thing. So yeah, we’re too much like kids, I guess, I think at that age.Sarah: Okay. Thanks, Adam.

Warren: So, thanks for telling me about the ballet and all that kind of stuff, but I’m really more into sports and things like that. Do you know of any other things you can do in New York?Antoinette: Oh, absolutely. There are a lot of events for a sports enthusiast in New York. We’ve got basketball. The Knicks play. They’re an NBA team. We’ve got baseball. The Yankees and the Mets play, and there’s a feud. Yankees fans hate Mets fans and Mets fans hate Yankees fans.Warren: Right. They have two baseball teams.Antoinette: That’s right.Warren: Wow.Antoinette: Exciting. We even have a Subway Series. Well, it used to be a Subway Series because the teams would play different stadiums for about a week or so and the fans would just switch back and forth from one stadium to the other. But I think they recently built one stadium for both teams.Warren: Oh. Do you think one team is more popular than the other?Antoinette: I think probably the Yankees, unfortunately.Warren: The Yankees.Antoinette: Yeah. My family was a Mets fan and don’t tell anyone else in my family that I said that.Warren: Oh, so I guess, they don’t get along with each other?Antoinette: Oh, not at all.Warren: Oh well. Well, I’m from Canada. I really like hockey. I know that you guys have the Rangers.Antoinette: Yeah. We do have the Rangers. They play at Madison Square Garden, so you could easily find, like, buy tickets to see a game there. That’s the same place where the Knicks play.Warren: Oh, they both play at the same place?Antoinette: Yes, they do.Warren: Maybe, I could go to a basketball and a hockey game.Antoinette: You probably could if you stayed long enough. I think they have different seasons, right?Warren: Oh, do they?Antoinette: Yeah. Madison Square Garden is pretty big though, so maybe there’s more than one arena. I’m not sure. I’ve only been there two or three times in my life.Warren: Oh, okay.Antoinette: Well, we also have the US Open, if you like tennis.Warren: Right.Antoinette: Yeah. That’s heldin Queens, not on Manhattan.Warren: Oh, okay. What about the US Tennis Open but there’s also the US Gold Open. Is that in New York as well?Antoinette: In New York? I don’t think the – is it?Warren: I’m not sure.Antoinette: I don’t think that the US Open for golf is in New York. I think – no, I don’t think that’s New York. Yeah. No.Warren: Okay. Have you seen tennis before?Antoinette: Yes, I have. I saw Serena Williams play.Warren: Oh, she’s great.Antoinette: She is. Yeah. Powerful woman.Warren: Yeah. I’d like to see her play.Antoinette: Yeah.

Warren: Hey, Antoinette, why don’t you tell me about growing up in New York?Antoinette: New York. Warren, why do you want to know about that? Well, growing up in New York was lots of fun. I loved growing up in New York. I couldn't imagine growing up anywhere else.Warren: Really?Antoinette: Yeah, really. The fun things I did – well, lots of movies to go see but I guess you can see movies anywhere in the US. Anywhere in the world for that matter. I enjoyed being able to go to Lincoln Center for concerts or Carnegie Hall and even play in Carnegie Hall. So I did play in Carnegie Hall.Warren: Wow. Well, that’s exciting.Antoinette: Have you ever been to New York?Warren: I have.Antoinette: You have.Warren: Yeah. I’ve been there twice.Antoinette: Okay. What did you do when you were there?Warren: The first time, I was with my mother. I was 12 years old. And we went to Central Park and we saw some museums around Central Park.Antoinette: You didn’t go into the museums?Warren: Yes, we did go into the museums.Antoinette: Oh, okay. Yeah. That’s my park, Central Park. How did you find my park? Did you like my park?Warren: It was great. I was surprised how big it was.Antoinette: It is a big park. That’s what I like about it. You can get lost in the park and almost forget that you’re in a city.Warren: Yeah. That’s what I found really neat about it is sometimes I felt like I was in the countryside. But then I would see large buildings.Antoinette: Yes. Yeah, I enjoy that, too. Did you know that you could ride horses in the park?Warren: No, I didn’t.Antoinette: Did you know about the skating rink in the park?Warren: Yes. I’ve seen the skating rink on TV.Antoinette: Okay. What time of year did you go? What season was it?Warren: I’ve been there in the summer and in fall but not winter.Antoinette: It’s beautiful in any season, I think. I love Central Park.Warren: Yeah, me too. It was very – it was a memorable experience.Antoinette: I’m glad to hear that. What other places did you go to?Warren: Well, when I was older, I went with my friend and we went on top of the Empire State Building.Antoinette: Okay. I’m not sure if they allow you to go up there now.Warren: That was around 2004 that we went.Antoinette: Okay. Were you able to look over the edge?Warren: I don’t know if I was looking over the edge. I think it’s inside but you’re at the top.Antoinette: Okay. So yeah, things have changed a bit since I was a little girl.Warren: Did it use to be outside that you could go?Antoinette: You could go outside. There were these binocularsor I don’t know what they’re called but you put a little change in and you could see the city.Warren: Yeah. They had those as well. Yeah.Antoinette: Okay.Warren: Yeah. We could see Central Park and you could even see the Statue of Liberty from there.Antoinette: Oh well, I’ve been there.Warren: Yeah. Actually, I never got to go. Both times I went to New York, we wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty but we didn’t have enough time.Antoinette: Oh well, you should plan another trip.Warren: I’d like to, yeah. Sounds great.

Michael: So how’s crime in the big cities, like in Rome? How is crime in Rome?Goron: Well, many people are complaining for the huge immigration. Like we have many foreigners and illegal foreigners actually. They come in with boats during the night, they’re landing, and we cannot control, we cannot stop them because Italy is in the middle of Europe. So from Northern Africa, for many like – I wouldn’t say underdeveloped countries but the countries that see Italy like the…Win: Dream.Goron: America or like dream, like opportunities, which is changing right with the recent crisis.Michael: It’s actually very interesting because we have the same problem in Norway.Win: I’m seeing the same problem everywhere.Michael: Because of the European economic agreement, it’s actually illegal to come and try to find work. But the problem is that people abused us and they come – they are just to, you know – beg for money or to steal money or steal things from others. And it’s really easy to pass the border without being controlled.Goron: I don’t think those people are bad. It’s like povertymakes you bad.Michael: No, I’m not saying they’re bad.Win: Yeah.Goron: If you are desperate, you feel desperate, you do something that is, like we say, illegal.Michael: And that’s a huge problem because in the EU right now, there’s several countries which have poverty, and it evolves from that, I think. It’s really hard like to create, to make everyone happy and to – I don’t think it’s possible to solve the poverty matter.So what about Vietnam?Win: Well, the city I’m living in is very – there is no really people who was born in the city. I mean, I was born in the city but I have roots from everywhere. And most of the people from the city is like that. We They’re from everywhere from the country and the city welcomes them no matter what.So yes, we do have a problem that people keep flocking to my city to find jobs, and we have crimes and everything. But I think the fact that we have multi-origin people is one of the facts that makes the city interesting.

Paul:  Hello, my name is Goron. I’m from Italy.Win: My name is Win. I’m from Vietnam.Michael: My name is Michael. I’m from Norway.Goron: So today, we’re going to discuss about mega cities. So do you have mega cities in your country?Win: Well, Vietnam is still a developing country, but we have several big city. The city I’m from, Ho Chi Minh City is – I think it’s the biggest city in Vietnam. And we have people flocking from the countryside to the city every year. And the population keeps growing but infrastructure is not capable of keeping up with the population, so we kind of have some problem right there.Michael: No. Norway does not have any mega city. But even so, we have problems with infrastructure. We have a huge car  queuesbut they’re actually right now, they are doing everything they can to develop that infrastructure. And most of our capital, Oslo, is actually planned – well, it plans for the roads to all be sub-terrestrial.Goron: Okay. In Italy, the biggest city is Rome. It’s a really ancient city, as you know. And so for this reason, it was built for horses, for a really small amount of people, not five million as, I think, we have today.So the biggest problem in Rome is the traffic jam. Sometimes, it could be terrible, terrible. You can be stuck in the traffic for hours. And you just start to think, “Oh well, I want to get out of here.”Michael: Have you – do you have any kinds of rules or like there’s days, specific days where you cannot drive if your sign has this specific number or something like that?Goron: They tried to do that, but the drivers in Rome are really famous. They didn’t follow the rules. It’s really hard to have a car incident there. They’re driving like crazy. They are really stressed out about traffic jam and so they’re screaming. They’re horning? So it could be stressful.Win: Does the government try to renovate infrastructure of the city?Goron: The problem is like it’s really interesting because when they’re trying to dig into Rome, they find something, some monuments or something that’s from the Roman Empire. And they have to stop everything. So they cannot just destroy, you know, the columns or that they maybe, they find some new houses under the ground, then the…Michael: Or catacombs.Goron: Catacombs, yeah. So really, it’s – and so this one, it’s really difficult to dig into Rome and build new metros for example.Michael: So maybe for Italy, it would be better to create like a new capital, like political capital like in Brazil where they have Brasilia which was specifically built only for the politicians.Goron: It will be much better to move the capital of Milan actually. I think that, but it’s too much history in Rome to just say, “Oh well, let’s move it out somewhere else.”Win: I mean, I think…Michael: Would you say that urbanization is a problem in Rome that more and more people are coming to Rome from other places? And what would you think is the reason for that?Goron: Not really. It was a problem some decades ago, but not now. Not really. If you can avoid the big city, you do. But as we know, the biggest opportunities that you have for work, for everything are in the big cities. So this is the main reason.