Transcript of Bonus Episode 040 - Transcript

Charlie:
Hello and welcome to the British English podcast. I'm currently in a different place to my usual setting. I'm in the dining room of my grandparents or my late grandparents' house, and opposite me is my fiance, Stacey. Hello, Stacey.

Stacey:
Hello there.

Charlie:
How are you?

Stacey:
I'm good. A little tired.

Charlie:
We're both tired.

Stacey:
Yeah, but yes, we're making this happen.

Charlie:
Yeah. Already thinking this is not going to work. I'm convinced it will. Stacey has been thinking of various ideas for us to do today on the podcast, and then we decided to go with a more relaxed approach. Just talking about your childhood, because I think if we delve into your childhood and maybe mine, we will discover some differences among them. And therefore help non-native adult British English learners understand a bit more about British culture. If you're not an adult, that's okay. We'll try to be polite, but just to warn you, it is aimed at a mature audience. I'm going to go straight into it, Stacey. Where were you born and raised?

Stacey:
I was born and raised or definitely born in a city town, big town, potentially a small city called Redditch, which is very close to Birmingham. But I would actually say... I don't know if I can be clear where I was raised because I did move around a little bit as a child, some of it in the very west of the UK, more towards Wales, some of it more in the Midlands, a little bit in Hampshire, which is more near where you are from. So, yes, I'm not sure. I'm unclear on where I am raised.

Charlie:
So do you not have an identity? Do you know where home is?

Stacey:
Home is... I don't want to sound cheesy, but home is...

Charlie:
Where I am.

Stacey:
Where you are or I mean home has been just wherever my parents have resided.

Charlie:
Home is where your parents have resided.

Stacey:
I would say so.

Charlie:
Yeah, okay. So you've had quite a few homes, so there's not one place. But I would always pigeonhole you to being near Wales.

Stacey:
Mhm. You would.

Charlie:
The venom in that. Can you explain the venom behind your 'You would'?

Stacey:
Yes. I see you or I judge you as being very narrow-minded when it comes to people outside of the greater London area.

Charlie:
Right.

Stacey:
I've never once lived in Wales, but you seem to have told everyone that you know or are related to that I come from Wales so...

Charlie:
From my perspective, you sounded Welsh when I met you. A bit Welsh. You did. You admit that, right?

Stacey:
Mhm.

Charlie:
You are on the border of Wales.

Stacey:
Correct.

Charlie:
And quite a few of my friends who are from around the Greater London region area borough. They don't really know about those places like they don't... I think quite a few of them know the town Hereford.

Stacey:
It's a city.

Charlie:
Sorry, the city. The city, Hereford. Apologies Mayor. What's the mayor of Hereford called?

Stacey:
John Bishop.

Charlie:
John Bishop.

Stacey:
I have no idea.

Charlie:
Sorry, John. Sorry Mr. Bishop, for assuming it was a town. Yeah, not many people know that name. I guess they kind of do. But anyway, yes. I'm being ignorant saying that you're from Wales, but it's easier in conversation. I actually always say near Wales.

Stacey:
Okay.

Charlie:
Anyway, so that's kind of where you're from. And we're going to go to your fondest childhood memory.

Stacey:
Do you not want to disclose where you were born and raised?

Charlie:
Okay. Yes, go on then.

Stacey:
I mean, I was just about to say, is this good for security reasons? Because this is definitely one of my secret answers.

Charlie:
Oh, don't say that.

Stacey:
Some kind of banking question.

Charlie:
Unhear, people.

Stacey:
Where were you born and raised?

Charlie:
I'll throw them. I was born in Middlesbrough.

Stacey:
No, you weren't.

Charlie:
And I was raised in Dublin.

Stacey:
This is a lie.

Charlie:
Yeah. I was born and raised in Surrey, in a village called Horsley.

Stacey:
You were born in Horsley?

Charlie:
No, I was raised in Horsley. There's no hospital in Horsley. There's a veterinary. I was born just outside of London in a county called Surrey to the southwest. Stacey was born in Wales.

Stacey:
Three hours more west of that.

Charlie:
Three hours more west of that... northwest. I looked on a map, I was quite surprised. But anyway, childhood memories. It's quite big to go straight for your fondest. So just some fond ones.

Stacey:
I don't know if I have a significant...

Charlie:
I don't have any fond memory.

Stacey:
I have many fond memories, but I don't know if I have one individual significant fond memory that springs to mind.

Charlie:
Oh, I can think of one.

Stacey:
For me?

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
You weren't in my childhood.

Charlie:
I know, but you talk about it a lot.

Stacey:
Okay.

Charlie:
One with your father. And he was pretending to be a train?

Stacey:
A donkey.

Charlie:
A donkey?

Stacey:
Yeah. That's quite fond.

Charlie:
Tell me that one.

Stacey:
Yeah, I feel like it's a regular toddler-parent activity. But, yes, I would force my dad to give me donkey rides around the house. And I think at one point I'd even dangle a carrot in front of him, which is probably a bit offensive now, if I think about it.

Charlie:
What, to donkeys?

Stacey:
Or to my dad. Both.

Charlie:
He'd take a carrot. Better than nothing.

Stacey:
But yeah, that is a very fond memory.

Charlie:
And if any of you are crouching on the floor, like for a cable or something, sometimes you jump on each other and "donkey ride, donkey ride", breaking each other's back as adults.

Stacey:
It is a bit of a running joke in the Benson household.

Charlie:
Yes, maybe I could do that one day.

Stacey:
Uh, no. Not sure that would be uh...

Charlie:
After our wedding?

Stacey:
If you become a Benson, maybe.

Charlie:
Oh. I think I'll skip the donkey ride.

Stacey:
No, okay.

Charlie:
Any more?

Stacey:
I don't know why this is a fond memory. It's actually a bit of a traumatic memory of my childhood. The once when I was left to look after my lovely golden retriever, Millie, because my mum and dad went to Portmeirion on a little holiday.

Charlie:
Portmeirion?

Stacey:
In Wales.

Charlie:
Oh, okay.

Stacey:
I'm 99% sure.

Charlie:
So well.

Stacey:
Geography is not my strong... strength, but yes, I was left to look after Millie. My nanny was looking after me. My grandmother. Not an actual nanny.

Charlie:
But you call her nanny.

Stacey:
But I do call her nanny.

Charlie:
Not Nana?

Stacey:
No. My mum is now called Nana to her grandchildren, but my nanny was called Nanny or Nan.

Charlie:
Okay. Your mother's mother?

Stacey:
My dad's mother.

Charlie:
Oh, your dad's mother.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Muriel?

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Okay.

Stacey:
She's Nan or Nanny.

Charlie:
Okay? Yeah, she's Muriel to me.

Stacey:
She's actually called Moo at one point, like Nanny Moo or...

Charlie:
Yeah, that's strange. Why is that?

Stacey:
Muriel. Moo.

Charlie:
Oh, what? The young children couldn't really say Muriel?

Stacey:
Yeah, so they'd say...

Both Charlie & Stacey:
Moo.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
It was... It was endearing when it's like a two-year-old, but it's a bit less when it's a 34-year-old.

Charlie:
Yeah. You're not 34 yet.

Stacey:
33.5 rounding up.

Charlie:
This really could be a... fraudulent. Like this episode could do us over.

Stacey:
Yeah and let's please not rob our bank details. Or what do they do? Identity...

Charlie:
Identity theft.

Stacey:
Theft. That one? Yes.

Charlie:
Don't steal our identities.

Stacey:
Please. But I didn't get to my memory.

Charlie:
Go on, then.

Stacey:
I was looking after my lovely golden retriever and she saw... we were on a walk, a squirrel about 50m up in front. And the last thing my mum and dad said to me before...

Charlie:
Sorry to interrupt. It says fond.

Stacey:
Yeah, I know.

Charlie:
Fond memory.

Stacey:
Weirdly, this is a fond memory. I feel like it's a proud memory.

Charlie:
Okay. Carry on.

Stacey:
That taught me resilience and that I have the strength to do things. I don't know.

Charlie:
Do things?

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Okay, carry on.

Stacey:
Millie saw a squirrel. The last thing my mum and dad said to me before they left to go on holiday was. Whatever you do, do not lose the dog.

Charlie:
How old were you again?

Stacey:
I'm going to say six.

Charlie:
With a fully-grown golden retriever.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Squirrel, go.

Stacey:
Yes. Millie just decided to take off and chase this squirrel. I mean, squirrels are very...

Charlie:
Tempting.

Stacey:
Tempting for a probably a three-year-old golden retriever at this stage. And I did not let go of Millie's lead, so I got dragged probably about 50m along gravel.

Charlie:
Oh.

Stacey:
And the side of my cheek and forehead got completely grazed. And my shoulder, my arm, my shin, it was terrible, very traumatic. But I don't know why, but I look back on that now with bizarrely some kind of fondness. I think it's because I just love Millie. She's a perfect dog.

Charlie:
I think it's because you like to tell that story and it shows you've got grit.

Stacey:
Mmm... Sure, we can go with that.

Charlie:
Yeah, I think it does.

Stacey:
Do you have any significant fond memories?

Charlie:
Oh, my first memory was when I put my head through a cat flap.

Stacey:
I haven't heard this.

Charlie:
No?

Stacey:
No.

Charlie:
That's my first memory of crawling around the kitchen floor in the house that you haven't been to because we had moved since, yeah. And crawling along the... under the table. And then I went through the cat flap and I remember seeing the outside world very clearly. Quite fun. There wasn't much to it other than that. And then I backed out and that was it.

Stacey:
Ah.

Charlie:
That was my first one. I don't think that's a fond one. Another one again, not fond, but I do remember...

Stacey:
The whole title of this question is fond.

Charlie:
Oh, no, I do have a fond one. So in our back garden, we used to have a little slope. It was only about two metres, maybe even less, but it was just enough gradient to get some speed up with those... You might need to help me out with this vocabulary. What was it called when you put a wet slide down and bubbles?

Stacey:
Like a slip and slide?

Charlie:
Slip and slide. We had a garden party with your birthday, and we would always do the slip and slide down that hill or slope. And it was so fun.

Stacey:
That does sound really fun, actually.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
I need a slope and a slip and slide.

Charlie:
And a paddling pool as well.

Stacey:
Ooh, I love a paddling pool.

Charlie:
Yes. I think that's quite cultural. Paddling pools. Most countries would probably laugh at a paddling pool.

Stacey:
Yeah, I do feel like it... I mean, there definitely are paddling pools in other countries but I do think that in the UK not many people can justify a swimming pool.

Charlie:
Hell no.

Stacey:
The expense and the upkeep is just not worth it for the summer that we typically have here. So a paddling pool just makes a lot of sense.

Charlie:
It does, yes. It is an inflatable.

Stacey:
Miniature swimming pool.

Charlie:
It's not even that.

Stacey:
It's a paddling pool.

Charlie:
Yes. To paddle is a verb meaning to walk in water at ankle height.

Stacey:
Oh, okay.

Charlie:
Isn't it?

Stacey:
Sure. I would just say a little bit of splish sploosh around.

Charlie:
Okay. You should be a teacher perhaps. Splish splooshing around in the summer in the slip and slide and the paddling pool.

Stacey:
That's a lovely childhood.

Charlie:
Yes. The other memory I was going to say was when my sister ate poisonous berries in the middle of a road.

Stacey:
Why is that fond?

Charlie:
No, it's not fond. It's just... And I don't think I was even alive, but everyone retells it so often that it's part of my memory.

Stacey:
I've also never heard of that one.

Charlie:
Ah, well, this is kind of why I wanted to do it because we would get to know each other even better than we already do.

Stacey:
Are we preparing for marriage?

Charlie:
We are preparing for marriage, yes. So that is some childhood memories. Now, this is something I don't know about you. Do you have any siblings? I do know but do tell us.

Stacey:
Yes, I do indeed have two siblings, both of them younger, because I am the eldest and both brothers. And what's more to say?

Charlie:
Yeah, well, one of them signed up to the premium podcast of this. So I mean this bit will be in the free podcast, but what is your relationship like with them and who is your favourite?

Stacey:
I definitely don't have a favourite.

Charlie:
Lies.

Stacey:
I love them both equally, but... I'd say my relationship is fairly similar with the both of them. It's always been a very close and loving, caring relationship.

Charlie:
I think it has been. I noticed that when you left for America all those years ago, they were distraught and I was surprised by that. My family is great. We love each other very much, but, you know, we're quite comfortable with having time apart in different countries.

Stacey:
I disagree. I think you...

Charlie:
What? Laura lives in Australia.

Stacey:
Yes. But I think some other members of your family are distraught about people leaving.

Charlie:
Okay. One of the three children. But again, I don't think she was that bad that she was that bothered until she had three kids and she wanted some aunts and unkies, uncles around.

Stacey:
Were you gonna say 'unkies'?

Charlie:
Unkies... It's quite cute, actually. Unkie Charlie.

Stacey:
Unkie Charlie.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
You are admitting to having some siblings yourself.

Charlie:
Ooh, very good, yes. I have two sisters, both older so that's a difference for us. I'm the youngest. You're the oldest. I'm more mature. You're very immature.

Stacey:
Mm, disagree.

Charlie:
I'm very, you know, plan... I don't even know how to say the word. I'm very good at planning.

Stacey:
You're very organised?

Charlie:
That one. I'm very organised. I've got my shit together.

Stacey:
That is a lie.

Charlie:
It's the opposite.

Stacey:
Do you think that stems from you being the baby of the family?

Charlie:
It's the only reason.

Stacey:
Really?

Charlie:
I think it probably does shape one's personality.

Stacey:
Interesting.

Charlie:
Yeah, because you've always had to be the lead of the three. You've always had to be in control of the situation. Just little things like babysitting them.

Stacey:
Yeah, I suppose. I've never really kind of acknowledged or I guess analysed the dynamic.

Charlie:
Well now's the time.

Stacey:
Of a sibling age relationship, the psychology of birth order.

Charlie:
Yeah, let me say it. The psychology of birth order, actually, it's called.

Stacey:
Bravo.

Charlie:
Another thing about being the youngest is that you don't tend to get as many rules thrown at you.

Stacey:
Mmm.

Charlie:
Did you have more rules?

Stacey:
I had definitely more rules. My parents were much stricter on me growing up.

Charlie:
What kind of rules? Let's go there.

Stacey:
I wasn't allowed to swear at all, so I wasn't allowed to say anything. Even I wasn't allowed to say fart.

Charlie:
Fart?

Stacey:
Or crap. Those were both considered...

Charlie:
Well crap is a bit more of a swear word.

Stacey:
Fart, though.

Charlie:
Fart is not. You sound so posh.

Stacey:
Well, how would I have normally said...?

Charlie:
Fart?

Stacey:
Fart, fart.

Charlie:
Fart.

Stacey:
Fart.

Charlie:
Let's not say that constantly.

Stacey:
Crap, fart.

Charlie:
All right.

Stacey:
Bloody. Those were the three really frowned-upon words.

Charlie:
Your mum's gonna be calling you up when she listens to this one. But that's incredible. At what age, though?

Stacey:
All age really. It's only been...

Charlie:
All ages.

Stacey:
All throughout my whole childhood, I would say. It's only really been in the last...

Charlie:
Year.

Stacey:
Five years. I would say close to 30 that I now feel comfortable dropping a swear word.

Charlie:
Dropping the word fart.

Stacey:
I mean, maybe not fart. Fart, crap...

Charlie:
Stop saying fart!

Stacey:
Fart, crap and bloody definitely were allowed maybe when my brothers started to use it more. But I mean, they never even had that rule. They...

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
They were only banned or like frowned-upon for saying... Am I allowed to swear?

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
For saying like, shit, fuck.

Charlie:
Whoa. Big words, madam.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Only when necessary. I love your parents.

Stacey:
Oh, bugger.

Charlie:
And I love the way that they've raised every individual of your family. But your brothers do have potty mouths.

Stacey:
They do.

Charlie:
They're very comfortable with it.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
And they're comfortable saying it in front of your family.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
That's a difference from my family. But still going on. Going back to you, being the eldest child, you weren't allowed to swear at all and then they were. Did you think that was annoying?

Stacey:
Not annoying. I think I liked being the goody two shoes and...

Charlie:
Say that phrase again.

Stacey:
Goody two shoes.

Charlie:
The goody two shoes.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
It means the very well-behaved person.

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Think of Hermione Granger in Harry Potter.

Stacey:
Yeah. Usually it's a bit of a kind of an annoyingly obnoxious, kind of well-behaved person, someone that thrives from being well-behaved.

Charlie:
I just thought about Hermione. It doesn't necessarily mean that you are book-smart or a bookworm. It just means you're a bit annoying and really well-behaved.

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Goody two shoes. It was a phrase that was thrown around as a young boy or a young girl at somebody who's being really annoyingly good. Such a goody two shoes.

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Okay. So that's you in a nutshell. You are a goody two shoes thinking about it.

Stacey:
I'll take it. I'm okay with that.

Charlie:
You won't even say fart.

Stacey:
I say fart all the time now because you fart all the time.

Charlie:
All right! What about mine? Because you know you're meant to ask me some questions back.

Stacey:
What question are we on? What was the favourite thing to do? That's not the question. It was about your relationship with your sisters.

Charlie:
Yeah, we went off-script.

Stacey:
Yeah, that's what happens.

Charlie:
It was about birth order, the psychology of birth order or birth order Psychology.

Stacey:
I think... I think your relationship or dynamic with your sisters definitely has been influenced by the psychology of birth order.

Charlie:
Yeah...

Stacey:
You need to Google that to get that right, because I do think you identify with being the youngest. Use that to your advantage. So, you know, if you accidentally miss someone's birthday or forget to do something or whatever it may be, I feel like you play the I'm the baby card.

Charlie:
Yeah. Birth order Psychology.

Stacey:
Okay, thanks.

Charlie:
Or Birth Order Theory by Alfred Adler. I remember that one, actually. Yes, I do play up to that sometimes. I think it's also to do with personality, but then, you know, does that stem from it?

Stacey:
I'm sure this could be a whole podcast.

Charlie:
It could be. My eldest sister is a doctor and so she is very book-smart. And so that kind of led the pack because she was the clever one and we were not as clever and we were younger, so she was always the...

Stacey:
Did you always feel a bit inferior?

Charlie:
I never... I said to myself every night, I don't want to be Laura. And I never wanted to be that smart, I don't think. I mean, do we ever say that? Did you ever want to be smarter than you are?

Stacey:
Mmm.

Charlie:
Or do you now?

Stacey:
Definitely now, for sure. Yeah, I am... I am rapidly just becoming dumber by the day. Definitely.

Charlie:
That's Instagram for you.

Stacey:
Instagram is killing those brain cells. I think in the time of school and when I was actually studying or trying to be academic, I think I probably wanted to be a little bit smarter than I was to maybe just find things a bit easier maybe. I think I did have to work quite hard to get good grades.

Charlie:
Right.

Stacey:
It didn't just come naturally, so I did secretly study quite hard.

Charlie:
Oh, yes. You hid this from your friends?

Stacey:
Yeah.

Charlie:
This is culturally specific.

Stacey:
Is it now?

Charlie:
I mean some Asian cultures are very comfortable with, you know, focusing entirely on the academic world.

Stacey:
I think it's a peer group thing, though, maybe as well, because I think some peer groups in my school were also very comfortable being academic and there would almost be a bit of competition to be the smartest in the group or it was considered cool to be an overachiever. Maybe not cool, but it was commendable.

Charlie:
Oh really?

Stacey:
Is that right? Whereas in my peer group, it was not.

Charlie:
And that is because you originally were in a private school in primary school, right? And then you moved to a state school. I went to a state school, and I was told that it was the best in the county and we were very lucky to be there. But you said mine looked like a prison. I showed you it proudly and you said 'you went there? That looks like a prison, Charlie. You went to prison.'

Stacey:
It's not the most architecturally designed school, so it does look a little bit prison-y.

Charlie:
Yeah, it's getting demolished, actually. And being moved across the road. But yeah, back to you. So you went from a private school and what did you say to yourself when you left a private school to a state school?

Stacey:
I think that's a loaded question because you know what I said.

Charlie:
Very good. It's a loaded question. I like that, I like that a lot.

Stacey:
I think I vowed to not become stupid because I was under the impression that the quality of education was less in a state school, which is highly incorrect. I actually think I got a better education or a better level of teaching in my state school compared to my former public slash private school days.

Charlie:
Yeah, again, this could be another whole podcast because state schools versus public schools or no. Oh no, I said that right actually, in England. That's a different thing in every single country, it's massive. The change, the difference, even up to university. So for us, the stereotype, correct me if I'm wrong, state school people are quite comfortable, very happy to go to a state school and they look at private schoolers as snobs, posh, and...

Stacey:
Up themselves.

Charlie:
Up themselves in an arrogant way and not necessarily clever. I felt like we looked at them as in they had all the resources, but not necessarily that they are all very talented.

Stacey:
Yeah, I think...

Charlie:
They get a leg up.

Stacey:
I definitely witnessed that, yeah, because I think also in where I grew up, some people could pay to get into a kind of their parents could make a voluntary donation or contribution to the school and they could then be bumped up the list.

Charlie:
Yes.

Stacey:
So...

Charlie:
Yeah. But I do want to clarify that as an adult, I don't think that but it's interesting to understand what we thought growing up and in a private school, you look... people would look at state schools as in, what would you say?

Stacey:
Chaos.

Charlie:
Chaos?

Stacey:
Yes. I think we always thought that they were a lot bigger, which they were.

Charlie:
Physically?

Stacey:
Yeah, physically bigger and more... I mean, in terms of numbers, student numbers.

Charlie:
Oh, not everyone is a giant. Anyone's six foot and under go to the private school.

Stacey:
No, I mean, in private school, they thought the state schools were much more overcrowded because I think I never had a class above like 20 or 30 students, maybe even less. I feel like it was actually maybe 15 to 20 students. And then in my secondary school, it'd probably be more like 40.

Charlie:
Whoa, 40? We had 30 to 32. Never any more than 32.

Stacey:
Really? But how many were in a year as well?

Charlie:
We had eight forms. So eight times 30.

Stacey:
Wow. Yeah. Massive. Chaos. Carnage.

Charlie:
Well, it was a prison. Got locked up at night. That's school. Toys. Let's go there toys and games.

Stacey:
No, I think they're boring, let's move on.

Charlie:
No, no, no, no.

Stacey:
I didn't have any toys or games.

Charlie:
Polly in my pocket. You can't get more culturally specific.

Stacey:
I did actually have a Furby.

Charlie:
Polly in my pocket. Oh, Furbies. No. Maybe they were worldwide. I wonder if...

Stacey:
I never had a Polly Pocket. And it's not called Polly in my pocket. It's called a Polly Pocket.

Charlie:
My head has just exploded. Is it not Polly in my pocket? Yes, it is. I've just Googled it.

Stacey:
It's called a Polly Pocket.

Charlie:
No, that's a shorthand. Polly Pocket. Large wearables. Oh okay. But it came up as Polly in my pocket. No, it's both. It's definitely both. Okay. Yeah. So it's Polly Pocket. What is it? It's a plastic little figurine or doll in a tiny, tiny plastic capsule?

Stacey:
Container. Like a Tupperware, what you put... Or, like, a lunchbox, you open it up, and there's a Polly Pocket world in there.

Charlie:
Yeah, there's a... It's like a doll house in a lunchbox.

Stacey:
Yes.

Charlie:
Nice. And then the guy's version. Do you remember that?

Stacey:
No, I actually never had a Polly Pocket.

Charlie:
Mighty Max?

Stacey:
Never heard of it.

Charlie:
Yeah. Mighty Max. Yeah, it was basically a skull and you'd open it. Oh, it was so good. There were lots of them but I had the one with the skull.

Stacey:
Wow. I've never seen them. Interesting. So, like a more...

Charlie:
A masculine Polly pocket.

Stacey:
Okay.

Charlie:
Or a male Polly Pocket.

Stacey:
No more masculine. I don't think you can say male now.

Charlie:
Correct. I stand corrected. Yes. So those are some toys. You had a Tamagotchi?

Stacey:
Tamagotchi.

Charlie:
I had a Tamagotchi. I was quite good. Were you good? I think you were. You were a goody two shoes.

Stacey:
I was a goody two shoes. Mine lived the longest.

Charlie:
I can really imagine that. And then I think your brother Hugo would have, like, broken the actual device.

Stacey:
Yeah, I mean, he was just not interested in Tamagotchis.

Charlie:
I can imagine what he'd say right now. Loser Charlie.

Stacey:
He was way too busy playing football or, you know, just hanging out on the streets.

Charlie:
Yeah. Can you go into that a bit? So what's what was his life like, would you say? His childhood. So he would come back from school on his own? Like, would he walk home?

Stacey:
At a certain age.

Charlie:
Yeah. What age?

Stacey:
Well, actually, we always had to be picked up because we never lived that close to our school. So my mum or dad would always pick us up from school. They, Hugo, especially the youngest, had quite a lot of after-school activities because he was quite...

Charlie:
Such as?

Stacey:
...sporty. So he played a lot of football, mostly football, I would say. He played a lot of football. I think he played for a few different teams. So yeah, he would do that. But to be honest, I think this is highlighting that I don't have a very good memory of my childhood. It's a bit of a cloudy...

Charlie:
You definitely had one, didn't you?

Stacey:
I was alive as a child, yes.

Charlie:
But he got into...

Stacey:
I can't remember, like so much stuff.

Charlie:
You literally can't remember. Okay. Well, yeah...

Stacey:
I can only barely remember the Tamagotchi. Like, barely.

Charlie:
What about playground games?

Stacey:
I can't remember playground...

Charlie:
Stuck in the mud?

Stacey:
Stuck in the mud, yeah, but I only know what it is. I can't remember ever playing it.

Charlie:
Are you joking?

Stacey:
No, I'm not. I really have really terrible, like, specific memory. I can't remember people's names from school. I can't remember so much.

Charlie:
You can't remember the first person you married, quote-unquote.

Stacey:
I never married anyone.

Charlie:
Did you not?

Stacey:
No.

Charlie:
Nor did I.

Stacey:
You were waiting for me.

Charlie:
Aww. We have come to the end of part one, so feel free to take a break from your listening practice, but if you're happy to keep going, then we're now moving on to part two of this episode. Thanks so much for being a premium or Academy member and enjoy the rest of the show.

Stacey:
We've already discussed the pets.

Charlie:
We had hamsters. Did you have hamsters?

Stacey:
I did have hamsters and I've actually got a really good story about my hamsters.

Charlie:
Tell me.

Stacey:
We had miniature hamsters, and...

Charlie:
Hamsters are miniature.

Stacey:
No, no, no, no, these are... They're called... They were actually called dwarf hamsters.

Charlie:
Dwarf hamsters.

Stacey:
I don't know if they are technically called dwarf hamsters anymore.

Charlie:
I think they are.

Stacey:
They are significantly smaller than standard-sized hamsters. And it's really hard to determine the gender of them because their genitalia is so small.

Charlie:
I can see what they're...

Stacey:
Relate?

Charlie:
Yeah, I can relate.

Stacey:
And so we thought we were getting two little girl hamsters and turns out we actually had a little boy and a little girl.

Charlie:
And I was called Charlotte for quite a few months.

Stacey:
This is not part of the story. And the hamsters obviously did the dirty.

Charlie:
Oh, right, they were incestuous.

Stacey:
They weren't siblings at this point.

Charlie:
Oh.

Stacey:
We just had two hamsters from the pet store.

Charlie:
Yeah, but they were probably from the same litter.

Stacey:
Are hamsters in litters?

Charlie:
I'd bet my bottom dollar. I would go for that.

Stacey:
Okay. Well, anyway, the hamsters reproduced and created 16 little baby hamsters in... in the cage.

Charlie:
Lucky they were small.

Stacey:
But then the daddy hamster started to eat the baby hamsters.

Charlie:
Oh no, unhear!

Stacey:
It's okay. We rescued them, so we took the dad out of the hamster home.

Charlie:
Cage.

Stacey:
And... It was a hamster home. It was very nice. It had decor and everything. They had multiple wheels.

Charlie:
Did they have paintings?

Stacey:
They had different floors. They had three floors. It was a whole setup. We were very good hamster owners.

Charlie:
The mortgage on that these days.

Stacey:
But yes. And then so we called the pet store and said, 'excuse me, we actually must have had a boy and a girl hamster because they have created little baby hamsters'. And they said 'that's fine...'

Charlie:
'A hamster miracle'.

Stacey:
Wait for I think they said something like four weeks and then bring the hamsters back into the store and we'll take them off.

Charlie:
Why wait four weeks? Oh, they needed to stay with their mother.

Stacey:
They needed to stay with the mother and...

Charlie:
Not the dad.

Stacey:
The dad had been removed, and I think they just needed time to grow a little bit before they could then take them off of us, basically. But the pet store hadn't realised that miniature hamsters or dwarf hamsters actually reached adolescence or puberty much earlier than a regular hamster. So then the babies started having babies. And I think at one point we had 36 little miniature hamsters all trying to eat each other in this hamster house. It was so traumatic. It was honestly one of the most stressful experiences I've ever encountered. So my mom just took the whole hamster house back to the pet shop and basically just kind of left them there and said 'please help'. And I think they did help. And they they obviously like removed all the hamsters and kept them safe. And they all reached they all definitely reached full hamster adult age. End of story.

Charlie:
End of story. I was wrapped by that story. My jaw was dropped. I forgot that my jaw was dropped at one moment. That's incredible. Wow. Yeah. So did they take it in turns to do the wheel?

Stacey:
What all of the babies?

Charlie:
Yeah, like at the gym. Like, 'can I, can I go on the wheel for a bit?'

Stacey:
They were so tiny. They were honestly...

Charlie:
And only one water?

Stacey:
No, they were like the size of the end of the water.

Charlie:
The end of the water. The tiny tube.

Stacey:
The tiny tube. They were... the hamsters were smaller than my little fingernail. And they were like little red, like, almost like wormy things.

Charlie:
Did you just have insects or something?

Stacey:
No. That's what little baby hamsters look like.

Charlie:
Okay, so is that what...

Stacey:
They're all pink. They don't have any hair.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
They're like little thumbs.

Charlie:
Little thumbs. Goodness me. Okay, well, yeah, they don't eat any...

Stacey:
Do you want to talk about your pets? Because I know you had quite a few.

Charlie:
We had lots. What would you guess we had?

Stacey:
Hamsters, sheep, doves...

Charlie:
You went for the big one straight away. Sheep.

Stacey:
Chickens. Did you have chickens?

Charlie:
No, we didn't have chickens. Our neighbours had chickens. But we...

Stacey:
Cats. So many cats.

Charlie:
Five cats at one point. Twelve sheep.

Stacey:
Twelve is a lot.

Charlie:
Thirteen at one point. Uh, rest in peace. Doves. My mum had a dovecote. Still does. Yes. That's quite a pretty little feature in the garden. There are quite a few doves, actually. But did you know that to keep the doves in there at the beginning, you've got to have a sort of a cage around the dovecote?

Stacey:
You've got to trap the doves?

Charlie:
Yeah, you've got to keep them in there for a... whilst they're nesting and getting familiar with it and then they'll come back to it for food.

Stacey:
Wow. Okay.

Charlie:
It's not like a cage. It's more like loose...

Stacey:
Mesh.

Charlie:
Yeah, it's not metal, it's fabric.

Stacey:
Oh, okay.

Charlie:
Not dangerous. Don't call NS... No, not NSPCC.

Stacey:
RSPCA.

Charlie:
RSPCA. So RSPCA is the hotline or helping charity?

Stacey:
It is a charity but it's not just a hotline. It is a physical charity.

Charlie:
Yes, but there was a joke that you would say, I'm going to call and then if we're talking about bad parenting of a child, you'd say, 'I'm going to call the NSPCC on you'. And the same with pets. If you abuse a pet, you'd say, 'I'm going to call the RSPCA'. You see, I was very good at it.

Stacey:
Um, there's too many letters.

Charlie:
There are a lot. RSPCA for animals, NSPCC for children.

Stacey:
Let's hope you're correct, otherwise...

Charlie:
No, I am, I am. I'm confident with that even though I mucked it up.

Stacey:
Okay. You got to the sheep. No, you got to the doves.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
I think that was it.

Charlie:
Cats. Sheep. No dogs. I wish we had dogs. But now maybe it's because... It's a good thing because I really like dogs now. Because I've found them myself. That's it, I think. Oh, guinea pigs!

Stacey:
Guinea pigs.

Charlie:
Guinea pigs and rabbits.

Stacey:
Oh, rabbits. Cute.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Stacey:
I'd like a rabbit.

Charlie:
Not now. Yeah, okay. You'd like a rabbit? Not sure what to do with that. I do want to say, though, sheep are not a normal pet.

Stacey:
No, I mean, I don't think doves are a normal pet either.

Charlie:
No, none of them are normal. I would say the normal...

Stacey:
Cats are!

Charlie:
...ones are cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits and dogs.

Stacey:
But preferably not at the same time.

Charlie:
That'd be chaos. It's like we're at state school. What about holidays? I meant to say vacation.

Stacey:
Holiday.

Charlie:
Holiday and or vacation. Where did you typically go when you were growing up? I know your parents splashed out a bit at the beginning, didn't they?

Stacey:
Yeah, we did have some pretty extravagant holidays, actually. Way more than we would have done now, only in a short period, I think, actually, because I should explain that I probably from the age of 11 to 14, didn't see my parents as much because they worked crazy hours. So I actually had a full-time childminder with my brothers. So I went to school and then got cared for by our actual nanny, not grandmother, nanny, but an actual nanny. So during that time...

Charlie:
Sorry, what age was this?

Stacey:
I think between around eleven. Ten to eleven to thirteen, fourteen?

Charlie:
Okay. So not your whole childhood?

Stacey:
No. A small stint in...

Charlie:
And this was because your parents were taking on a very big challenge in their career.

Stacey:
Yes. And during that time, my mum and dad, when we did get to go on a family holiday, made it a little more extravagant than usual, I would say.

Charlie:
We have come to the end of part two now. So again, feel free to pause the episode to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. All right. So moving on to part three now. Enjoy.

Stacey:
And I definitely grew up with like caravan holidays in the UK. A lot of just trips down to South Wales, more low-key holidays. But during this time we went to.. We did an America road trip. It went from South Carolina down to Florida. Went to Disneyland and all that kind of thing. And we also did quite a big trip in Mauritius, which was very big.

Charlie:
Wow. Yeah, big. Disneyland, was that as amazing as...

Stacey:
Yeah, that trip was very memorable being as I have a terrible memory, I can remember that trip.

Charlie:
It's good that they spent all that money on you. And we said, 'what is your fondest childhood memory?' and you talked about your dog scraping your face.

Stacey:
Well, to be honest, when people say childhood memory, I automatically think of below the age of eight.

Charlie:
Yeah, I kind of do too.

Stacey:
During this time, I was almost... I was a teenager so...

Charlie:
How old were you?

Stacey:
I just said twice.

Charlie:
No, no, specifically.

Stacey:
Eleven to fourteen.

Charlie:
Yeah, but that's a big difference, I'd say in Disneyland world.

Stacey:
I can't remember.

Charlie:
Oh, goodness me. Work it out. Eleven...

Stacey:
Let's go with eleven.

Charlie:
Eleven you're still... You can still pull from your imagination quite a lot.

Stacey:
Let's go with twelve.

Charlie:
Fourteen you're thinking about other people.

Stacey:
Let's go with twelve then.

Charlie:
Twelve, okay. I say twelve weird. Twelve.

Stacey:
Twelve.

Charlie:
Twelve. Yes. Yes. So the normal thing in the UK during the nineties and maybe the noughties was caravans, camping...

Stacey:
Spain.

Charlie:
And Spain.

Stacey:
France?

Charlie:
France.

Stacey:
France.

Charlie:
Not Italy?

Stacey:
No, I never...

Charlie:
Quite a few friends...

Stacey:
I went to Italy once.

Charlie:
...occasionally went to Italy, but it was a lot more common to go to the south of Spain or the south of France. If you're a bit posher, France. France was a bit posher.

Stacey:
Yeah, Spain was really cheap, I feel like to fly and also I think Spain is the original land... I could be incorrect here, but the original land of the all-inclusive.

Charlie:
Oh, right.

Stacey:
Charlie's eyes were very concerned whilst I was...

Charlie:
Thought you were going to do a historic fact, then it was like the origin of English.

Stacey:
And all-inclusive holidays are typically a bit cheaper so I think Brits love their cheap holidays.

Charlie:
Yeah, cheap holidays in the sun, basking in the rays to catch up on that vitamin D that they lost for eight months of the year.

Stacey:
Is basking a word?

Charlie:
Basking in the warmth of the sun. It is a word.

Stacey:
Great. Well done, English teacher.

Charlie:
Thank you. There we go. Those were your extravagant holidays. What was your favourite?

Stacey:
I think my favourite was Mauritius because like my dad donkey rides story, we also got to feed these giant tortoises. Yeah, a tortoise, they're on land, so that's tortoise. They were giant and they were like two hundred years old and we got to dangle these like, leaves in front of them and they would just eat, chomp away and it was amazing.

Charlie:
Wow. Did you do donkey rides with them?

Stacey:
I mean, we did, but I don't know if...

Charlie:
Did you? Really?

Stacey:
Yeah. I mean...

Charlie:
Did you?

Stacey:
Only my brothers and they were very small.

Charlie:
Oh, that's naughty.

Stacey:
I think a lot of people did them. It is naughty and now, looking back on it, I wasn't sure whether to mention it because...

Charlie:
David Attenborough says shame on you.

Stacey:
Everyone was doing it. The Mauritian native folk people were encouraging...

Charlie:
Wow. For a big tip?

Stacey:
...the terrible tourists to ride the tortoises.

Charlie:
Yeah, well, there we go. We'll leave on that. And I will call the...

Stacey:
Not the NSPCC.

Charlie:
The RSPCA. Everyone else get on that phone and report her. You've got all of her secret questions, so go nuts.

Stacey:
Steal my identity.

Charlie:
No, don't.

Stacey:
Report me.

Charlie:
Don't. But yeah, I think we will actually leave it there. So thank you very much for the time and the conversation. I feel like I've learned a little bit more about you.

Stacey:
Can I get a chocolate Magnum back now?

Charlie:
Oh, yes. I've hidden the ice creams. They're going to be melted in my pocket.

Stacey:
I... I think I've learned a little bit about you, too.

Charlie:
In a positive way?

Stacey:
Mmm, maybe.

Charlie:
All right. Thank you very much, guys, for listening to the end of this. And we will see you next time on the British English podcast. Bye bye.

Stacey:
Bye.

Charlie:
Okay. There we go. The end of part three, meaning the end of the episode. Well done for getting through the entirety of it. Make sure you use all of the resources available to you in your membership. Thanks once again for supporting the show and I look forward to seeing you next time on the British English Podcast.