Bonus Ep 65 - London Living: Insights from a Long-Time Friend
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Transcript of Premium Bonus 065- Transcript
Charlie:
Welcome to the British English Podcast, everybody. Today's episode is a special one for me because I am sat opposite my good friend Matthew from university that has been in my life for over 12 years now.
Matt:
Longer, longer.
Charlie:
Longer.
Matt:
It's longer than 12.
Charlie:
And we are going to be talking about Matt's life generally, but more specifically about his existence in London. He's been around the world, but he's spent quite a few years in London. How many years would you say?
Matt:
I think it's eight.
Charlie:
Eight years.
Matt:
It might be nine.
Charlie:
Might be nine years. 8 or 9 years of knowledge in the big smoke.
Matt:
In the big smoke.
Charlie:
In the big smoke. And we're going to be going over a variety of topics. We're going to be comparing where he has lived in previous years. We're also going to be giving you, hopefully, some valuable advice for anyone looking to fit in quickly in London.
Matt:
Mm Yeah, you don't want to be a bloody tourist, do you? In London. That's the worst.
Charlie:
Yeah. God. And then insights into the typical Londoner's lifestyle. How living in this vibrant city has shaped, um, Matt as a person as well.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Has it shaped you, would you say?
Matt:
I think it has left, uh, quite a large imprint.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. On my perception of the world.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And then we're also gonna go into some memorable experiences that Matt has had, including an experiential theatre that he went to a year ago now.
Matt:
Yeah. Last year. Yeah. Last year. Yeah.
Charlie:
And then, um, another intriguing night out that you went to quite recently in a sheriff's town. Was it?
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah. Similar actually.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. Very similar experiences. Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, and then if we get time, a little bonus segment where we stereotype some of London's most iconic neighbourhoods and just have a little bit of fun with it.
Matt:
Yeah, I hope we do get to the stereotypes.
Charlie:
Yeah. We will, we will. Okay. Um, so how are you?
Matt:
I'm very, very well. What I like is that being on the podcast has made you call me Matthew and not Matt.
Charlie:
Yeah, I don't, I don't normally call you Matthew.
Matt:
It's interesting.
Charlie:
I think it's like with my dad, he wants me to call him daddy, but I call him father in front of people.
Matt:
Those are both weird.
Charlie:
Well, it's kind of like a sort of 'father' kind of tongue in cheek. Kind of. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
It's weird though, isn't it?
Matt:
Do you put the Surrey do you up the Surrey accent when you say it? Is it like a father.
Charlie:
Father.
Matt:
Father. Like you grew up in a castle?
Charlie:
Exactly.
Matt:
Unlike the common 'dad!'.
Charlie:
Yeah. So it's the same with Matt versus Matthew?
Matt:
Yeah. Matthew does have a nice flow to it. Matt. It's it's quite.
Charlie:
It's one.
Matt:
It's quite a boring name isn't it?
Charlie:
It's like you open your mouth, isn't it?
Matt:
It's like you just blurted out a name.
Charlie:
Yeah. But no, I've actually. I've actually liked the word Matt in my life as a name. Not just the word. Um, one of my good friends from my primary school was a Matt, and I was quite envious of it.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I've never really vibed with it, if I'm honest.
Charlie:
Oh really?
Matt:
Yeah. Never, really. Never really felt like a Matt.
Charlie:
Oh right?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
What would you like to have?
Matt:
I think my brother got the better of the two names.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Charlie:
What was that?
Matt:
It's James.
Charlie:
James.
Matt:
James. It's just nicer.
Charlie:
It's a solid English name for sure.
Matt:
It is, yeah. Charlie's good.
Charlie:
I quite like Charlie now.
Matt:
Charlie is good.
Charlie:
Yeah, I'm happy with it. Although lots of dogs are called Charlie.
Matt:
Yeah. Also the shortened version. Chaz.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
It's. That's not good is it?
Charlie:
I don't, I don't, I'm done with that.
Matt:
Chaz.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Okay. I'll be Matthew. You be Chaz.
Charlie:
Perfect. Alright. Um, so how about we talk about your, um, your original home town? Let's go there first. Where where were you born and raised?
Matt:
So I was born on the south coast of the UK. Um, uh, in a county called Dorset famous for, I would say, um, farming. Um, not having any motorways and not much else. It's quite a quiet, rural place to grow up. So I would say the exact opposite to London.
Charlie:
Nice. But you were able to do quite a few things that you probably wouldn't have been able to do if you had grown up in London. Like, I remember you famously telling me that as a teenager you jumped over hay bales, um, that were on fire.
Matt:
Mmm.
Charlie:
Because that was a challenge that you as, you kids did.
Matt:
Kids.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You damn kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Much to. Yeah.
Charlie:
What age was this?
Matt:
Oh, I wasn't a kid. I was a mature. As a mature adult. I was definitely responsible for what I was doing. And, um, in the countryside, I just as you know as well, there isn't an awful lot to do apart from kind of drink and get into trouble.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um, and that's exactly what happened, is that I drank and then fell in a bonfire and.
Charlie:
Oh, you fell in it?
Matt:
Fell in it, yeah. And went to a...
Charlie:
Were other people jumping over it?
Matt:
Oh yeah. That's how I fell in it.
Charlie:
Ah. Oh yeah. You clattered into somebody?
Matt:
I did clatter into somebody.
Charlie:
Oh yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. And then we both fell in the fire and then went to hospital.
Charlie:
Oh, gosh.
Matt:
Yes. Sorry mum. You had to come pick me up at 4 a.m.. Take me to the Special Skin hospital after. Yeah. Not great.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
So, yeah, it was. There was new. There was interesting experiences to be had.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I've not fallen in a bonfire in London.
Charlie:
No, no, that's to be expected to be honest.
Matt:
Yeah, but you do end up making up quite a lot of your own fun.
Charlie:
Yeah. In the countryside.
Matt:
In the countryside. Yeah.
Charlie:
Whereas in London there's all of the distractions that you can think of.
Matt:
Yeah, almost too many.
Charlie:
Almost too many. I agree with that. I agree, yeah. So you grew up in Dorset and then where did we meet?
Matt:
We met in the metropolis of. Well, that's what it felt like coming from Dorset! Of Nottingham, didn't we.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It did feel like a big city at the time.
Charlie:
It did. I'd like to go back to see how small it feels now.
Matt:
I went back. I don't know, like ten, ten years ago.
Charlie:
Oh. Oh ten years. Oh so the, only a couple of years after, right?
Matt:
Yeah. Like a few years after we graduated. And it was bleak. I would say. It's. Yeah, it just felt like a big town, like.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, yes, that's probably what it would feel like, a big town.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah. My cousin went to it recently, and, um. I don't have anything else to say.
Matt:
How was Nottingham!
Charlie:
Well, I mean, I can't say that he thought that because he had our perspective probably.
Matt:
Right.
Charlie:
Because he has gone from a rural area too.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, so what brought you to London after university? Did you go straight to London?
Matt:
Um, I didn't, I spent, um, six months working in Bristol and living. Yeah, living in Gloucester, in my grandad's bungalow with a friend. And then we drove into Bristol every day and I worked at a, I want to say, a PR company.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Um, which was uh, yeah, fine. It was a job. Um, and then got a job in London. And immediately said, I quit. I'm leaving Bristol and then packed up the Toyota Corolla and drove it straight to London.
Charlie:
I, uh, I was actually looking at Bristol recently as another city to go to. Do you not recommend?
Matt:
No, actually, I do recommend Bristol. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to Bristol. It's I would say the second best UK city.
Charlie:
Interesting.
Matt:
Yeah it's cool. It's got a, it's got a cool kind of like atmosphere. Lots of art. It's got a good music scene.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Bristol's nice. Yeah. Bristol's. Bristol's nice. It's not London. But it's nice.
Charlie:
Um so that leads on to your overall impression of living in London compared to other places that you've lived.
Matt:
Hm, yeah. It's tricky. I think it's hard to compare London because it is a world class city, like it is a world class city in terms of food, arts, experiences. Um, it's it's just a real hub. You really feel that here I think, it feels like an international hub.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
So it is hard to compare it because I think it's got to be one of the best cities in the world.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But being from the UK and London being in the UK, there's not as much kind of excitement around it as say, a city abroad.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Because it's very British.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
And you speak the language, you know, all of the kind of cultural cues and prompts. There's not that same level of exploration and surprise that you get from a city abroad.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, that does make sense.
Matt:
Do you find that?
Charlie:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, massively. Um, so to put this in perspective, you were in London for three, four, five years?
Matt:
Like four years I think it was.
Charlie:
Four years. And then you moved somewhere very different.
Matt:
Yeah. To Shanghai.
Charlie:
Shanghai.
Matt:
For three years, pretty much.
Charlie:
And why did you move to Shanghai?
Matt:
I went to Shanghai, um, with my girlfriend, Lauren. She wanted to move out to China. I had been travelling in China and liked it a lot and ended up studying out there, which was great.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
An awesome experience.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Yeah, and we came home just before Covid hit, which was perfect.
Charlie:
Yeah, that is some shrewd decision making.
Matt:
Yeah. I mean, we didn't know.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
But.
Charlie:
You can just say that.
Matt:
I mean, it was some shrewd decision making. We saw Covid coming a mile off.
Charlie:
Watch out for those bats, guys.
Matt:
Yeah. Ooh, everyone's eating a lot of bats. That's surely going to end up in a kind of global.
Charlie:
Did you ever go to a wet market?
Matt:
Uh, yeah. They're everywhere.
Charlie:
Did you? Oh right.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although it wasn't very wet. I remember distinctly being like, this isn't wet. All dry. I've been lied to. Maybe there's like a lost in translation thing.
Charlie:
No, wet means alive.
Matt:
Does it actually?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That makes more sense than it just being kind of flooded.
Charlie:
Did you think it would be like, um, wet t-shirt contests?
Matt:
There's no wet t-shirt contests here. It's just lettuce. Hahahahaha!
Charlie:
But weren't there loads of animals?
Matt:
Um...
Charlie:
I don't think you went to a wet market.
Matt:
I think I didn't. No, it was veg. It was. Maybe it was just a market.
Charlie:
I mean, maybe the vegetables are still alive.
Matt:
I mean, yeah, arguably.
Charlie:
I'm pretty sure it means that, but. Yeah. So, uh, you didn't have any bat.
Matt:
Uh, I had no bat. Can confirm zero bat.
Charlie:
I am joking, guys. I know that not every Chinese person eats bat, but some.
Matt:
Clearly.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Clearly some.
Charlie:
Clearly some.
Matt:
Clearly some.
Charlie:
Okay, so you moved back from Shanghai how long ago now?
Matt:
Um, not great with dates. I think it's six years now, yeah.
Charlie:
So you've had six more years.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
In London.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And, um, did you feel different to it prior to Shanghai and post Shanghai?
Matt:
Yeah, definitely. I think there's a lot you take for granted when you live somewhere and then you move away. There are certain things you're like, hm, that's actually great about that city. And then there's some things that you compare and you're like, hm that's quite shit about that city.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Have you found that?
Charlie:
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. I mean it's very stupid to say, but I really don't like not being on the coast.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
But you can't really blame a whole geography.
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
For that.
Matt:
Yeah. I think London's old as well, right? Which is great because you have like lovely architecture and you know, it feels historical and all that stuff.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it also means all of the infrastructure is hundreds of years old.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
The roads are all higgledy piggledy.
Charlie:
Higgledy piggledy.
Matt:
You move in, you move into places that have been there like 400 years and are crumbling down around you. So there's definitely the history is a good and a bad thing, I think.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, I can understand that. Do you take advantage of the, um, art and the museums, that kind of world?
Matt:
Hmm.
Charlie:
I think after university you were big into that. Are you still?
Matt:
Yeah, I think there's definitely a saturation point that happens with London, like museums and art.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's lovely. It's world class again.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
But do you want to spend your Saturday surrounded by, like, loads of lost tourists? Maybe not. And there's only so many times you can go to the science museum. I think it's five. I think five is the maximum amount of times that you can go to the science museum. After that, it's diminishing returns.
Charlie:
Okay, okay. That's nice.
Matt:
I mean, are you going, like you?
Charlie:
I don't, I'm a bit of a philistine with all this because I find it all quite boring. I think science museums I could geek out in. But I went to the Natural History Museum the other month with Harry.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And got in for free. It's free!
Matt:
Yeah, it's all free.
Charlie:
It's incredible.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And saw the big whale. The, uh. Fossil.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Above. Amazing.
Matt:
Amazing.
Charlie:
Quite a few other amazing things. And then you get into the smaller rooms and they're all quite samey. It's like. Yeah. Wow. Like, there's no contrast in the feeling. It's like all old. Impressive. Wow. And that wow is not how you want it to resonate truly.
Matt:
I mean, the enthusiasm can be summed up with yeah wow. Yeah. Wow. Sure. I hate going to a museum and being like, here's a sword. And you're like, yeah. And like, here's a, I don't know, amazing fossil. And you're like, yeah. And they're like, here's five rooms of pots.
Charlie:
What!
Matt:
And you're like.
Charlie:
Oh, I think like as in...
Matt:
Ceramics.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. From yeah, yeah.
Matt:
I don't care about the old pots. Does anyone, does anyone going in and being like, can't wait to see the pots.
Charlie:
I know some people. I reckon the people that watch, um, what's the guy from Blackadder called that then turned-.
Matt:
Rowan Atkinson?
Charlie:
No, the other one. The sides.
Matt:
John Cleese.
Charlie:
No. Baldwin.
Matt:
Baldrick.
Charlie:
Baldrick.
Matt:
Baldwin.
Charlie:
So close.
Matt:
I don't. Yeah.
Charlie:
No. Tony Robbins.
Matt:
Tony Robbins. The, uh.
Charlie:
Ground. Uh, time, time team. Time team.
Matt:
Tony Robbins is the big kind of.
Charlie:
No, that's Tony Robbins. No. Oh, sorry. Tony Robinson.
Matt:
Tony Robinson.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Is he on time team?
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
I've never watched Time Team.
Charlie:
No, I haven't either. Um, I did some research on it recently.
Matt:
Oh, yeah? Baldwin?
Charlie:
So it was Baldrick.
Matt:
Baldrick.
Charlie:
Baldrick.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So he was on Blackadder.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
A very famous British TV show. That was our parents' generation that were obsessed with it.
Matt:
Yeah, I'd say.
Charlie:
It was on in the background for me. Did you embrace it?
Matt:
I yeah, I was, I did quite like the whole Monty Python, Blackadder. Yeah. It is good. It still stands up.
Charlie:
Yeah. Nice.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, so he would enjoy the pots, I think.
Matt:
Is that how he got to this?
Charlie:
That's how we.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He would love him. Yeah. But him alone, I think. He'd be in there on his own being like wow.
Charlie:
Come on, come guys. Look at these pots.
Matt:
Look, this pot was made of pots like they all are.
Charlie:
Um, so we got here from overall impression of living in London compared to other places you've lived.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So compared to Shanghai, what is London like?
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
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.
Matt:
I would say.
Charlie:
Is it smaller?
Matt:
Oh, it's much smaller.
Charlie:
Yeah, much smaller.
Matt:
Yeah, I'm gonna completely guess and maybe massively over exaggerate, but I think Shanghai was 20 million people.
Charlie:
26 now.
Matt:
26 million people. A whole population of the UK is 60 million.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
So it's one third of the size of the entire country in one city.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
And I think, I think London, correct me if I'm wrong, 7 million?
Charlie:
8.9 now but yeah.
Matt:
8.9. And it goes up. This might be again like not a true fact, but I think I heard somewhere that it goes up a third during the weekends? The population.
Charlie:
Yeah that's mad to think isn't it. I wonder if other cities are like that. It would kind of make sense that it's not like that for most, because London's like this hub that everyone kind of around the South and sort of Midlands gravitate towards. Yeah.
Matt:
I think it does. I think it does have a lot of tourism as well. London.
Charlie:
Oh yeah. Of course.
Matt:
Like, yeah I think Rome and Paris.
Charlie:
And you've got so many cheap flights in from Europe.
Matt:
So many. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That's one good thing that's great about London. Amazing flights.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
You go anywhere cheap.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I mean not very comfortable.
Charlie:
No, but it's only an hour or two.
Matt:
Exactly.
Charlie:
Yeah. I used to fly home from Germany for £9.99 sometimes.
Matt:
Wow.
Charlie:
The train was £30, but still. £9 flight.
Matt:
It just doesn't. Yeah, you can't argue with that.
Charlie:
Any other thoughts before we move on to the recommendations and reflections?
Matt:
Yeah. Uh, London's very cool.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Which I think some other cities don't always have. It's got a great music scene.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
Everyone's very fashionable in London.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's very, it's a cool place to live. It's got a lot of like kind of culture behind it. That makes it just feel like it's just a cool place to live. There's always cool stuff going on.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Uh, and I feel like some other cities, especially if they're much newer cities where they don't have that, the kind of like cool parts of town always just feel a bit like artificial. I don't know if you've experienced that?
Charlie:
What about Brighton in the lanes? Is that? Do you know that? You don't?
Matt:
I do know Brighton and the lanes. Yeah.
Charlie:
Not a fan?
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
I'm just trying to think of other cities and the cool bit.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, I guess Brighton is quite a cool place.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Is it a city?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Is it?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Brighton's a city?
Charlie:
Yeah. For sure.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. But in kind of a more of a, like, juggly way? I don't know if I-.
Charlie:
I think that's because there's quite a few jugglers.
Matt:
That's what I mean. Yeah.
Charlie:
Around the lanes.
Matt:
It's a bit.
Charlie:
Matt doesn't speak in metaphors. He's very literal.
Matt:
It's cool in a very, like, juggly way. But do you know what I mean?
Charlie:
There are loads of jugglers there.
Matt:
People that love doing circus activities.
Charlie:
It's quite hippie like.
Matt:
Yes, hippie like is what I mean.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah yeah.
Charlie:
Juggly. Yeah.
Matt:
Which is its own kind of brand of.
Charlie:
Cool.
Matt:
Ish.
Charlie:
Ish. For you. All subjective, of course.
Matt:
Of course, of course.
Charlie:
So where are the cool pockets of town in London?
Matt:
I would say Hackney probably leads the way at the moment.
Charlie:
Still in 2024? Yeah?
Matt:
Yeah, I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Maybe. Um, I think it used to be kind of the Shoreditch area.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
But now that's just very businessy.
Charlie:
Okay. Oh really?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Shoreditch is businessy?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
As in the like pubs and hospitality side of it is a bit too commercial, or?
Matt:
It's been commercialised. Yeah. I feel like Shoreditch feels like central, part of central now.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
More than kind of east London.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
Um, I mean, Dalston was considered quite a cool area for a bit. I think it's probably. Okay, cool.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um, pockets of South. Peckham.
Charlie:
So yeah, I was just going to say those three, they're all north, north east?
Matt:
East. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Hackney. Definitely north east. Right?
Matt:
Definitely. Yeah.
Charlie:
And then Dalston. Fairly north? Or more north east still.
Matt:
Yeah. It's just below Hackney I'd say.
Charlie:
Oh okay.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
And then the South?
Matt:
Peckham.
Charlie:
Peckham. Would you say that there's a divide between the river?
Matt:
Oh there is.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Well I think there is a divide. I think people like to talk about the divide.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But really it just exists in people's minds.
Charlie:
Right okay.
Matt:
Not in reality. I think you get people that are like, I'm south, like I will only live in South. And then there's people that are like, North is the best.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Would never go south. But really, having lived in both, they're pretty similar.
Charlie:
Oh, really?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
I want to ask you about the chains that I've heard about. So somebody from the north came south and said, what is it all? What is it about in the South that there's chains in every high street? Apparently in the north there's not so many chains.
Matt:
That's a good observation.
Charlie:
Yeah. Thoughts?
Matt:
Yeah. Probably agree with that. There are more. I feel like South. There's more. Kind of. It feels like they are more built around high streets I would say.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
And on the high streets there are typically more chains.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Yeah, I would agree. I think that's probably a true statement.
Charlie:
So there's less high streets, you would say in the North.
Matt:
There's definitely high streets.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it feels a bit more, um, patchworky as opposed to like here's a tube stop and therefore there's a high street.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
There's more like areas that are nice without it needing to connect to the tube network.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
So it's less maybe it feels a little less high streety.
Charlie:
I wonder why that is.
Matt:
Yeah. Same.
Charlie:
Um, part two. Recommendations and reflections. Uh, the first one. What's a piece of advice you'd give to someone trying to fit in quickly in London?
Matt:
Oh. Oh, okay. First one.
Charlie:
Throw away the oyster card?
Matt:
I'd get rid of that oyster card.
Charlie:
Don't even get it.
Matt:
I mean, if you're rocking an oyster card now.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. You're gonna get laughed out of the pub.
Charlie:
Yeah, absolutely.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah, you are, aren't you?
Matt:
You are. Yeah. I think it's visiting parents and people whose work pay for them to travel.
Charlie:
Oh, okay.
Matt:
Are probably the only remaining oyster cards users.
Charlie:
Yeah. So if you've got an oyster card, you can say it's work is paying for my travel.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
You could say that to everyone.
Matt:
You could say that to everybody.
Charlie:
On the tube.
Matt:
On the tube. Don't mind me. Work's paying for this. I'm. I'm. I'm local, I fit in.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I would get rid. That's a great first point.
Charlie:
So the reason being?
Matt:
Um, no one uses oyster card because you have to top it up.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Right?
Charlie:
Yeah. You have to. I think you have to buy it firstly.
Matt:
You do. Yeah.
Charlie:
And top it up. And nowadays the phone just the tap and any normal debit credit card works fine.
Matt:
Yeah. Any.
Charlie:
It's the same price.
Matt:
It's the same price.
Charlie:
Unless you're a student, I think there's something that you can get a deal on the oyster card.
Matt:
That's true. That's true. Yeah.
Charlie:
Which some of you listening might be students. So fair enough. If you've got an oyster card and you're a student, we ain't judging.
Matt:
We're not judging. And actually, if you're a student with an oyster card. Very good.
Charlie:
Very good.
Matt:
Very good. Because the tube is extortionate. So make sure you're getting that discount.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So you think it's extortionate?
Matt:
I do.
Charlie:
I don't think it's that unreasonable. What about prices generally in London?
Matt:
I did read somewhere that pints are now £7, which seems ridiculous.
Charlie:
How much were they when you were in, uh, Dorset when you were 15 plus?
Matt:
They're still, you can still get a pint for £3.50, I would say? In some local pubs.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
I remember paying I think £2.70 for my first pint as a legal 18 year old.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
I think a Kronenbourg breached the £3 mark. £3.20 I think it was.
Matt:
Yeah. And you're like, oh!
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
£3.20!
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
£7.
Matt:
£7.
Charlie:
I mean, some of the IPAs, the craft beers, they are robbing you blind.
Matt:
They are. Yeah. If you, there's certain areas in London, West London. And actually I had a £7 pint in Shoreditch once.
Charlie:
I can't I yeah, I can imagine, I can imagine that in Shoreditch, all the cool areas I'd say they'd hike up the prices. No?
Matt:
It depends. Yeah. I think some of them are holding on to a sort of. Yeah.
Charlie:
No, we don't charge you too much.
Matt:
Yeah. Do you remember that pub in Nottingham that did £1 pints? Do you remember that?
Charlie:
Uh which one was that?
Matt:
Up in Lace Market on that corner bit.
Charlie:
Oh yes.
Matt:
I think it was Wednesdays, afternoons.
Charlie:
£1 pints.
Matt:
£1 pint.
Charlie:
I mean, do you remember EQ, the club that did 69p shots?
Matt:
Nice. Yeah I do remember that.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
There's always a marketing thing and I feel comfortable, uh, approaching this phrase with a friend. I was with my cousin and she mentioned this and I thought, I'm going to skip this right now. Um, whenever, whenever you see a 69, people are tongue in cheek, kind of playing with what?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
What are they?
Matt:
I think, um, it's like a it's funny, isn't it, because the numbers are, like, mirrored and everyone's like, ah, crazy. Nine and six are just like the same, but one's the opposite way round. Other than that, I can't think of a single reason why it's funny.
Charlie:
That was good. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, it's funny, isn't it? It's the same number.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Nuts.
Charlie:
Um, so it's a sexual position.
Matt:
Right.
Charlie:
Uh, for foreplay. Let's just call it that.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Look it up.
Charlie:
Yeah. There we go. Um, don't Google it without having a VPN, maybe.
Matt:
Yes. Or parents' consent.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
For our younger listeners.
Charlie:
Yeah. For our oyster card holders.
Matt:
Yeah. If you've got an oyster card and a student discount, make sure you get parental guidance before you're firing up the old Google.
Charlie:
So I haven't actually let you answer the question. Any advice for settling in quickly?
Matt:
Okay. So yeah, that's a good one with the oyster card. And let's stick on the tube.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Because there are two other situations on the tube that will make you stand out like a sore thumb.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Number one, don't stand on the left on the escalator. You will get tutted.
Charlie:
Yeah. At. Yeah.
Matt:
People will, uh, roll their eyes behind you. You won't. You won't know it, but they'll be doing it.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You'll be facing the wrong way.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Uh, and second. Sorry.
Charlie:
So sorry. Stand on the right.
Matt:
Stand on the right.
Charlie:
Walk up on the left. Yes, it is right. Yeah, yeah, that is correct. Sorry. I remember that clearly right now.
Matt:
Stand on the right.
Charlie:
Stand on the right.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
If you're in a hurry, walk up on the left. Quickly.
Matt:
Correct.
Charlie:
Yep.
Matt:
Yep. Um, if you're a masochist.
Charlie:
We just had about a minute of deliberating how we pronounce this word. So masochist means a person who derives sexual gratification from their own pain or humiliation. So if you're a masochist.
Matt:
Ah. I didn't realise it was a sexual thing.
Charlie:
In general use, a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious.
Matt:
Okay, yeah, so if you're a masochist, you can go up the non you can walk up the non escalated stairs.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. Which is always way more than you think it is.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um would you say that, uh, locals do that?
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
No, unless there's a big queue for the escalator. Yeah. Um, so you can use that. Uh, but other than that, stay on the right. And. Yeah, just enjoy floating up out of the tube. And then more tube advice would be don't be slow at the gate.
Charlie:
Yes. Get that oyster or phone or debit card, credit card ready.
Matt:
Get it ready.
Charlie:
And raring to go.
Matt:
You want to be 1.5 seconds at the gate before it opens. Max. Max.
Charlie:
Do time yourself. Um, if it takes longer to time yourself, that's okay. It's alright. I've got a timer. Got a timer, guys. And start. Yeah. Stop!
Matt:
Yes! 1.3! I belong.
Charlie:
And then you can gloat at the people behind you.
Matt:
Guys. 1.3. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That's what all Londoners do. They're timing themselves out of the gate. Literally.
Charlie:
Haha. Very good. So be efficient around the gate.
Matt:
Yep.
Charlie:
Don't get an oyster card. Stay on the right at the escalator. Um, should we get out of the tube now?
Matt:
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's not all about getting the tube. London isn't just going on the tube.
Charlie:
It is a lot about the tube though. Isn't it?
Matt:
It's a lot on the tube yeah.
Charlie:
You will spend a lot of time on the tube because everyone lives, quote unquote, in London. But it takes about an hour on the tube to see any friend.
Matt:
Agreed. It took me an hour to get here today.
Charlie:
Yeah, exactly.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So get get ready to not look like a novice on the tube. That's a great starting point.
Matt:
That's a good starting point, I think. Yeah. If you get the if you get the tube down, that's probably the most Londoner thing to be able to do.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
And then outside of that it's pretty much like yeah it's a free for all. Like.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah, I don't know. What do you think. Is there anything else that marks you as a Londoner?
Charlie:
Um, I think to fit in on a sunny day, you get out to the park.
Matt:
Oh, true.
Charlie:
And you just abuse the sun. Don't put any sun cream on. And, uh. Yeah. Stay there for as long as possible. Get a picnic going, thrive in the sun, and then just head down when it's not sunny. And just forever living in the dark.
Matt:
Yeah. Oh, don't say hello to people.
Charlie:
Yeah. Don't say hello to anyone. Don't be friendly.
Matt:
Don't be friendly.
Charlie:
Don't be friendly.
Matt:
Don't be friendly. Don't say good morning to anybody as you're walking somewhere.
Charlie:
Was it like that in Shanghai? It's a huge city. So were they quite, uh, cold in the way that they don't say hello?
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. Alright, so moving on to part three now. Enjoy.
Matt:
They don't say hello.
Charlie:
They don't say hello.
Matt:
They don't say hello.
Charlie:
Too busy.
Matt:
Yeah. They'd be doing a million hellos a day.
Charlie:
Yeah, that is the reason, isn't it?
Matt:
Yeah. It's just it would be. It's just too much.
Charlie:
So Matt and I bonded over cycling when we were post university years. We did a big trip down France. And I've appreciated whenever you're on a bike. Not in London so much, but as soon as you get out of the city, anyone going past you on a bike, you nod at each other. You're like, alright, biker.
Matt:
Mhm.
Charlie:
It's like a common sort of appreciation for the vehicle that you're both on and you're like, alright, alright.
Matt:
That is nice. Does make you feel like kind of part of a secret club.
Charlie:
Yes it does.
Matt:
A little bit.
Charlie:
And I think that's the same with just humans in a rural area like. Alright human.
Matt:
True.
Charlie:
And then you get into a city, it's like, well, we're all humans. I'm not going to say hello to you.
Matt:
So fuck off.
Charlie:
Yeah, but London is notorious for this.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, other cities aren't so rude. I think northern cities are much more friendly.
Matt:
They are.
Charlie:
Which is a shame for a Southerner to advise you to go north if you want to be conversing in English. Um, but.
Matt:
Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's it can be a bit cold I think.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Which it does make it when in London. It does make it when people are nice to each other. It feels like amazing.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Like, oh, someone helped me with something and it's just it just feels like the world's biggest act of kindness. Because it's in London.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, um, the weather, when it's good, everyone is really, really grateful for it being good until it's too hot and then people are complaining. But still, like today, it was lovely and everyone was so positive. And coming from Sydney, it's sunny a lot of the time. People don't really want to talk about it so much. And as a Brit, I know non-native listeners are like, why do you always go on about the weather? But we bond over a good day because we appreciate it. And I do like that, that we appreciate it.
Matt:
Yeah, I think we it's yeah, it's supply and demand isn't it. When you, when you don't have much nice weather.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
And then it comes out. It's really valuable.
Charlie:
Yeah. It's a big negative isn't it. Like a lot of days of not having it.
Matt:
Yes.
Charlie:
Is what you have to suffer with to get that gratitude.
Matt:
I heard, uh, that in Australia, kids are not allowed to go out and play without a hat.
Charlie:
Yeah, I would imagine that's true. They had a big campaign called slip, slop, slap, slip on a hat, slop on some sun cream and slap on a t shirt.
Matt:
Slap on a t shirt.
Charlie:
Oh, no, I've got it wrong. Slip on a t shirt.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Slip, slop slap. Slip on a t shirt. Slop on some suncream. Slap on a hat.
Matt:
Yeah. Slap it, slap it on. Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean, the marketing department there could have put a little bit more effort in couldn't they.
Charlie:
You know what? I'm really annoyed with the marketing department in London. See it. Say it. Sorted.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Oh my God. What the hell is that? See the naughty thing. Tell. Rat somebody out. Say, I think that bag's been there for ages. It might be a bomb.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And then what? It's all sorted?
Matt:
In your, in your, in your mind it is.
Charlie:
Yeah, but it's also, it's such a bad half rhyme. See it. Say it. Sorted.
Matt:
Yeah. It's just an alliteration, isn't it?
Charlie:
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I suppose so.
Matt:
It's just lazy.
Charlie:
It annoys me greatly.
Matt:
But what, like, how would you improve it?
Charlie:
Um.
Matt:
Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's probably as good as it's going to get.
Charlie:
Yeah. Maybe. Yeah.
Matt:
Identify the risk. Report the risk. Go on with your day. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?
Charlie:
Yeah. Talking of announcements, I don't know if this is true, but I remember ten years ago I heard that they changed it from, um, mind the gap before the mind the gap. It was-.
Matt:
Bing bong. Get on the train. I don't know.
Charlie:
No. It was something about Sir and madam.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Ladies and gentlemen, mind the gap.
Matt:
Oh.
Charlie:
I mean, there was something in between it. Ladies and gentlemen, we are at Tooting Broadway. Please get off carefully. Mind the gap.
Matt:
That's quite nice.
Charlie:
And now it's. Hello, everybody. For woke, the woke movement.
Matt:
Oh.
Charlie:
Have you noticed that? I don't.
Matt:
I haven't, no. I don't think I hear Mind the Gap anymore. Have you heard.
Charlie:
Oh no I hear it still.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's still a thing?
Charlie:
Please mind the gap. Oh, there's a please, isn't there?
Matt:
Oh, yeah.
Charlie:
Please mind the gap.
Matt:
Very British.
Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that is.
Matt:
Really.
Charlie:
Still a thing. Maybe not on all trains because the newer ones are closer.
Matt:
What I would like to say on record is that we don't need train announcements on the big trains.
Charlie:
What do you mean?
Matt:
So. So as we discussed earlier, I grew up on the South coast. I regularly get the train from London to Dorset. It stops 14 times, let's say from London to Dorset. You get on the train and it's like, hello everybody. You're on the South Western Railway service to Weymouth calling at and then 14 name places at 400dB. As you're sitting there trying to just relax on the train. And it happens pretty much at every stop like shut up!
Charlie:
Haha.
Matt:
There's a sign on the train that scrolls so you can see all the stations.
Matt:
I have the internet on my phone and I can look at the stations. Like just be quiet. I know you're bored, but just shut up. It is so annoying. Just be quiet.
Charlie:
Yeah, it is annoying, especially if you're at the end of the night and you're just trying to get a bit of kip. But, um, is there any reason why they do that other than habit? People who are blind?
Matt:
Yeah. Okay. For blind people, absolutely fine. But I don't think it is for blind people.
Charlie:
No, I don't think it is for blind people necessarily.
Matt:
Because in I think in Europe they have silent trains.
Charlie:
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Matt:
It's like a thing.
Charlie:
Germany's very quiet.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
On the train.
Matt:
Like the train has to be silent.
Charlie:
Yeah. It's like a library stepping in there.
Matt:
Yeah. So it's like calm.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt:
Get your book out.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Enjoy. Not.
Charlie:
Bing bong!
Matt:
All the time.
Charlie:
Um, if I was moving to London, what would you suggest to look out for in terms of area or property? What things should I be aware of? Just repeating that.
Matt:
Um, it's a good question. I think there are. I think top of the list probably is location slash proximity to transport.
Charlie:
Yes. This was this was a depressing find for me. Mhm. Uh, other cities haven't been so crucial to be so close to a good point of contact. But yeah, everyone talked about that when I was looking. They were like, how close are you to the tube and which line are you on?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. So that makes a big difference. Yeah.
Charlie:
And it does it does add a lot of time to your commute or social location like transport kind of thing. Um, every time. So yeah. Yeah. Find a good location close to a good line. What is a good line? The northern line I think is actually quite good.
Matt:
Northern line's good unless you're commuting.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Because it's rammed in the morning.
Charlie:
Ahh.
Matt:
Really, really busy. But other than that very good. Splits in two. Lots of good stations. Victoria line for me is probably. Yeah top. You've got all the big train stations on there. You've got Kings Cross.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You've got Euston, you've got Victoria on there. It's fast.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
So you can get places quickly.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Oxford Circus you can go to central. It's a good'un.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
It's a good'un.
Charlie:
Victoria line.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Elizabeth line. You said earlier.
Matt:
Very good.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it's a bit of a east-to-west-y.
Charlie:
Aha.
Matt:
Which I don't find myself doing as much as going north to south.
Charlie:
Yeah. That was another thing for me. So I love being on the water. The Thames is water but we don't really see it that much. Do you see it much?
Matt:
No. No I don't.
Charlie:
Why don't we see it? I mean, what you just said kind of mirrors that.
Matt:
I think affordability.
Charlie:
Huh?
Matt:
So the bits you'd want to live on, on the on the river. Probably quite expensive.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah.
Matt:
Probably quite expensive. And the bits that aren't.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That are on the river you don't want to live in.
Charlie:
But we don't socialise on the river.
Matt:
Don't socialise on the river.
Charlie:
Is it too commercial? Or too like bank kind of like corporate offices?
Matt:
Yeah that's a really good question.
Charlie:
Oh there's a lot of like the Houses of Parliament and stuff. All of those important buildings are along the river, I guess.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But yeah, we won't.
Matt:
No. Maybe it's a weather thing.
Charlie:
A weather thing.
Matt:
Yeah. Again.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Because if it's nice, then you would be kind of, you know, out near the beach or by a river. You kind of have to be outside, right? To be.
Charlie:
Oh, you mean in the long term of building up the, the city.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah or not.
Matt:
Yeah. Like pubs and bars along the river. Maybe you have to have like an outside seating area to enjoy it? Weather's not so great. So you don't put that in.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. But you're right. Like you never go, oh, should we, uh, go down by the river?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
Like, um, Battersea Power Station is quite close to the river. Yeah, that seems crazy to me. I mean, long time ago. Kind of makes sense. Get the parts near through the river, I guess.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But mad that that like, to me, if I was designing a town or a city, I'd put all of the leisurely things by the water.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But again, yeah, it's the historic shit.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Okay. Um, so, Matt, how did you spend your days off in London when you were first living here? And how do you spend them now?
Matt:
Hm, so I think the main change has been house parties.
Charlie:
House parties!
Matt:
House parties.
Charlie:
When we were 20 plus. God, did we not have some good house parties.
Matt:
Couldn't move for house parties, couldn't move for them. You had three on at the same evening. You're like, God, which one do I go to?
Charlie:
The people that live upstairs, they're in their 20s and they have house parties. A girl vomited on our porch. I called her out on it. And the. Oh, bless him, the guy upstairs, he was so sweet. He apologised profusely. And then the next morning he came and knocked on the door with a box of chocolates.
Matt:
What type of chocolates?
Charlie:
Celebrations.
Matt:
Oh, so he was sorry?
Charlie:
Yeah. He was like, I'm so sorry. I'll clean it up tomorrow. And then he came with chocolates.
Matt:
Do you think that the girl lived upstairs? Or do you think it was his girlfriend?
Charlie:
It could have been his girlfriend.
Matt:
That's why he was kind of.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, taking responsibility for it.
Charlie:
Yeah. That's true.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But. Yeah. So house parties were a thing for us.
Matt:
They were. Yeah.
Charlie:
They were fun.
Matt:
They were fun. They were really a house party is great fun. But they are also a pain to clean up after.
Charlie:
You had a lot of house parties in your first Clapham flat, didn't you?
Matt:
Yeah, I did, yeah, yeah, it was a great house party house.
Charlie:
That's something that I've actually not experienced as an as a non-university student living with other people, as roommates like that much. I just went straight into, well I lived on my own in, well, as a roommate in Chile. And then I lived with Stacey pretty much.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So I didn't have what you had, which was like five flatmates.
Matt:
Oh it got up to ten.
Charlie:
Ten!
Matt:
We had ten at one point.
Charlie:
Oh because everyone was plus one-d.
Matt:
I think we had more than that. So it was a one, two, three. It was a four bed house. So that then everyone doubles up so eight.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
And then at one point we had, uh, Jim and Andy sleeping in the living room, uh, both on air beds.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
Yeah. Ten.
Charlie:
Wow. Both of them at the same time were in the living room?
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you'd hear them going to bed. You hear the *sounds* of them pumping up the air bed before going to sleep. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah. Wow.
Matt:
So it's ten people, which was probably too many.
Charlie:
Too many.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Too many humans in the household. And now?
Matt:
Uh, and now, no, no real house parties to speak of I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
If you do go to somebody else's house, it's for a dinner.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
You go around for a dinner.
Charlie:
We are forever socialising around food now, aren't we?
Matt:
True. Yeah. It's less. Let's see if we can get 60 people into someone's rented house.
Charlie:
And all consume a crate of beer.
Matt:
Yeah, exactly. It's.
Charlie:
Now it's. Do you want some sushi?
Matt:
Come round and have some burrata. No, honestly, it's a great recipe. You must try it. I'll send it to you.
Charlie:
Oh, God.
Matt:
Yeah, it's a bit much so. Yeah. No more house parties. Which is like the big change.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You socialise more in restaurants and or pubs.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Than at people's houses.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Right?
Charlie:
Yes. We like to host but I agree. Yeah. And I think that's something to do with how big London is, although that doesn't compare to when we were younger, but still like kind of trying to find a meeting point between the two.
Matt:
Um, I think there's a website that does that, you know?
Charlie:
Is there? I've always thought about that.
Matt:
So you can put in two places and it'll find somewhere that's equidistant.
Charlie:
Very partridge.
Matt:
Between two places. And I think also recommends like restaurants and pubs that are equidistant.
Charlie:
Ah okay. That's good. Do you know the website?
Matt:
It's called.
Charlie:
Equidistance. Com.
Matt:
Equidistance. Com. I think it's I can't remember but if you Google it, it'll come up. Yeah. It's yeah it's I think I used it a couple of times as like, yeah, well I'm not using this again because I want to be near my house.
Charlie:
Nice. Okay. Um, well, thank you very much for telling me about how you, um, grew up in Dorset, got burnt, moved to the big city of Nottingham, then realised that there's a much bigger city called London and then an even bigger city called Shanghai. And then you moved back to London and, uh, decided to go on dinner dates instead of house parties. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But yeah, some good tips in there. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Matt:
Very welcome. Very welcome.
Charlie:
Thank you for coming on the show.
Matt:
Thanks for having me.
Charlie:
Oh, you'll be back soon. You'll be back sooner than you know. And that's not a threat. Even though it sounded like one.
Matt:
It sounds bloody ominous, doesn't it? You'll be back sooner than you know.
Charlie:
But thank you very much, guys, for listening to the end of this episode. Um, I've been Charlie, and this has been.
Matt:
Matthew.
Charlie:
Matthew. Very good. See you next time on the British English Podcast. Bye bye.
Matt:
Bye bye.
Charlie:
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.
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Transcript of Premium Bonus 065- Transcript
Charlie:
Welcome to the British English Podcast, everybody. Today's episode is a special one for me because I am sat opposite my good friend Matthew from university that has been in my life for over 12 years now.
Matt:
Longer, longer.
Charlie:
Longer.
Matt:
It's longer than 12.
Charlie:
And we are going to be talking about Matt's life generally, but more specifically about his existence in London. He's been around the world, but he's spent quite a few years in London. How many years would you say?
Matt:
I think it's eight.
Charlie:
Eight years.
Matt:
It might be nine.
Charlie:
Might be nine years. 8 or 9 years of knowledge in the big smoke.
Matt:
In the big smoke.
Charlie:
In the big smoke. And we're going to be going over a variety of topics. We're going to be comparing where he has lived in previous years. We're also going to be giving you, hopefully, some valuable advice for anyone looking to fit in quickly in London.
Matt:
Mm Yeah, you don't want to be a bloody tourist, do you? In London. That's the worst.
Charlie:
Yeah. God. And then insights into the typical Londoner's lifestyle. How living in this vibrant city has shaped, um, Matt as a person as well.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Has it shaped you, would you say?
Matt:
I think it has left, uh, quite a large imprint.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. On my perception of the world.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And then we're also gonna go into some memorable experiences that Matt has had, including an experiential theatre that he went to a year ago now.
Matt:
Yeah. Last year. Yeah. Last year. Yeah.
Charlie:
And then, um, another intriguing night out that you went to quite recently in a sheriff's town. Was it?
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah. Similar actually.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. Very similar experiences. Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, and then if we get time, a little bonus segment where we stereotype some of London's most iconic neighbourhoods and just have a little bit of fun with it.
Matt:
Yeah, I hope we do get to the stereotypes.
Charlie:
Yeah. We will, we will. Okay. Um, so how are you?
Matt:
I'm very, very well. What I like is that being on the podcast has made you call me Matthew and not Matt.
Charlie:
Yeah, I don't, I don't normally call you Matthew.
Matt:
It's interesting.
Charlie:
I think it's like with my dad, he wants me to call him daddy, but I call him father in front of people.
Matt:
Those are both weird.
Charlie:
Well, it's kind of like a sort of 'father' kind of tongue in cheek. Kind of. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
It's weird though, isn't it?
Matt:
Do you put the Surrey do you up the Surrey accent when you say it? Is it like a father.
Charlie:
Father.
Matt:
Father. Like you grew up in a castle?
Charlie:
Exactly.
Matt:
Unlike the common 'dad!'.
Charlie:
Yeah. So it's the same with Matt versus Matthew?
Matt:
Yeah. Matthew does have a nice flow to it. Matt. It's it's quite.
Charlie:
It's one.
Matt:
It's quite a boring name isn't it?
Charlie:
It's like you open your mouth, isn't it?
Matt:
It's like you just blurted out a name.
Charlie:
Yeah. But no, I've actually. I've actually liked the word Matt in my life as a name. Not just the word. Um, one of my good friends from my primary school was a Matt, and I was quite envious of it.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I've never really vibed with it, if I'm honest.
Charlie:
Oh really?
Matt:
Yeah. Never, really. Never really felt like a Matt.
Charlie:
Oh right?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
What would you like to have?
Matt:
I think my brother got the better of the two names.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
Charlie:
What was that?
Matt:
It's James.
Charlie:
James.
Matt:
James. It's just nicer.
Charlie:
It's a solid English name for sure.
Matt:
It is, yeah. Charlie's good.
Charlie:
I quite like Charlie now.
Matt:
Charlie is good.
Charlie:
Yeah, I'm happy with it. Although lots of dogs are called Charlie.
Matt:
Yeah. Also the shortened version. Chaz.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
It's. That's not good is it?
Charlie:
I don't, I don't, I'm done with that.
Matt:
Chaz.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Okay. I'll be Matthew. You be Chaz.
Charlie:
Perfect. Alright. Um, so how about we talk about your, um, your original home town? Let's go there first. Where where were you born and raised?
Matt:
So I was born on the south coast of the UK. Um, uh, in a county called Dorset famous for, I would say, um, farming. Um, not having any motorways and not much else. It's quite a quiet, rural place to grow up. So I would say the exact opposite to London.
Charlie:
Nice. But you were able to do quite a few things that you probably wouldn't have been able to do if you had grown up in London. Like, I remember you famously telling me that as a teenager you jumped over hay bales, um, that were on fire.
Matt:
Mmm.
Charlie:
Because that was a challenge that you as, you kids did.
Matt:
Kids.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You damn kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Much to. Yeah.
Charlie:
What age was this?
Matt:
Oh, I wasn't a kid. I was a mature. As a mature adult. I was definitely responsible for what I was doing. And, um, in the countryside, I just as you know as well, there isn't an awful lot to do apart from kind of drink and get into trouble.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um, and that's exactly what happened, is that I drank and then fell in a bonfire and.
Charlie:
Oh, you fell in it?
Matt:
Fell in it, yeah. And went to a...
Charlie:
Were other people jumping over it?
Matt:
Oh yeah. That's how I fell in it.
Charlie:
Ah. Oh yeah. You clattered into somebody?
Matt:
I did clatter into somebody.
Charlie:
Oh yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. And then we both fell in the fire and then went to hospital.
Charlie:
Oh, gosh.
Matt:
Yes. Sorry mum. You had to come pick me up at 4 a.m.. Take me to the Special Skin hospital after. Yeah. Not great.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
So, yeah, it was. There was new. There was interesting experiences to be had.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I've not fallen in a bonfire in London.
Charlie:
No, no, that's to be expected to be honest.
Matt:
Yeah, but you do end up making up quite a lot of your own fun.
Charlie:
Yeah. In the countryside.
Matt:
In the countryside. Yeah.
Charlie:
Whereas in London there's all of the distractions that you can think of.
Matt:
Yeah, almost too many.
Charlie:
Almost too many. I agree with that. I agree, yeah. So you grew up in Dorset and then where did we meet?
Matt:
We met in the metropolis of. Well, that's what it felt like coming from Dorset! Of Nottingham, didn't we.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It did feel like a big city at the time.
Charlie:
It did. I'd like to go back to see how small it feels now.
Matt:
I went back. I don't know, like ten, ten years ago.
Charlie:
Oh. Oh ten years. Oh so the, only a couple of years after, right?
Matt:
Yeah. Like a few years after we graduated. And it was bleak. I would say. It's. Yeah, it just felt like a big town, like.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, yes, that's probably what it would feel like, a big town.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah. My cousin went to it recently, and, um. I don't have anything else to say.
Matt:
How was Nottingham!
Charlie:
Well, I mean, I can't say that he thought that because he had our perspective probably.
Matt:
Right.
Charlie:
Because he has gone from a rural area too.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, so what brought you to London after university? Did you go straight to London?
Matt:
Um, I didn't, I spent, um, six months working in Bristol and living. Yeah, living in Gloucester, in my grandad's bungalow with a friend. And then we drove into Bristol every day and I worked at a, I want to say, a PR company.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Um, which was uh, yeah, fine. It was a job. Um, and then got a job in London. And immediately said, I quit. I'm leaving Bristol and then packed up the Toyota Corolla and drove it straight to London.
Charlie:
I, uh, I was actually looking at Bristol recently as another city to go to. Do you not recommend?
Matt:
No, actually, I do recommend Bristol. Yeah, yeah. Shout out to Bristol. It's I would say the second best UK city.
Charlie:
Interesting.
Matt:
Yeah it's cool. It's got a, it's got a cool kind of like atmosphere. Lots of art. It's got a good music scene.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Bristol's nice. Yeah. Bristol's. Bristol's nice. It's not London. But it's nice.
Charlie:
Um so that leads on to your overall impression of living in London compared to other places that you've lived.
Matt:
Hm, yeah. It's tricky. I think it's hard to compare London because it is a world class city, like it is a world class city in terms of food, arts, experiences. Um, it's it's just a real hub. You really feel that here I think, it feels like an international hub.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
So it is hard to compare it because I think it's got to be one of the best cities in the world.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But being from the UK and London being in the UK, there's not as much kind of excitement around it as say, a city abroad.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Because it's very British.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
And you speak the language, you know, all of the kind of cultural cues and prompts. There's not that same level of exploration and surprise that you get from a city abroad.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, that does make sense.
Matt:
Do you find that?
Charlie:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, massively. Um, so to put this in perspective, you were in London for three, four, five years?
Matt:
Like four years I think it was.
Charlie:
Four years. And then you moved somewhere very different.
Matt:
Yeah. To Shanghai.
Charlie:
Shanghai.
Matt:
For three years, pretty much.
Charlie:
And why did you move to Shanghai?
Matt:
I went to Shanghai, um, with my girlfriend, Lauren. She wanted to move out to China. I had been travelling in China and liked it a lot and ended up studying out there, which was great.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
An awesome experience.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Yeah, and we came home just before Covid hit, which was perfect.
Charlie:
Yeah, that is some shrewd decision making.
Matt:
Yeah. I mean, we didn't know.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
But.
Charlie:
You can just say that.
Matt:
I mean, it was some shrewd decision making. We saw Covid coming a mile off.
Charlie:
Watch out for those bats, guys.
Matt:
Yeah. Ooh, everyone's eating a lot of bats. That's surely going to end up in a kind of global.
Charlie:
Did you ever go to a wet market?
Matt:
Uh, yeah. They're everywhere.
Charlie:
Did you? Oh right.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Although it wasn't very wet. I remember distinctly being like, this isn't wet. All dry. I've been lied to. Maybe there's like a lost in translation thing.
Charlie:
No, wet means alive.
Matt:
Does it actually?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That makes more sense than it just being kind of flooded.
Charlie:
Did you think it would be like, um, wet t-shirt contests?
Matt:
There's no wet t-shirt contests here. It's just lettuce. Hahahahaha!
Charlie:
But weren't there loads of animals?
Matt:
Um...
Charlie:
I don't think you went to a wet market.
Matt:
I think I didn't. No, it was veg. It was. Maybe it was just a market.
Charlie:
I mean, maybe the vegetables are still alive.
Matt:
I mean, yeah, arguably.
Charlie:
I'm pretty sure it means that, but. Yeah. So, uh, you didn't have any bat.
Matt:
Uh, I had no bat. Can confirm zero bat.
Charlie:
I am joking, guys. I know that not every Chinese person eats bat, but some.
Matt:
Clearly.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Clearly some.
Charlie:
Clearly some.
Matt:
Clearly some.
Charlie:
Okay, so you moved back from Shanghai how long ago now?
Matt:
Um, not great with dates. I think it's six years now, yeah.
Charlie:
So you've had six more years.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
In London.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And, um, did you feel different to it prior to Shanghai and post Shanghai?
Matt:
Yeah, definitely. I think there's a lot you take for granted when you live somewhere and then you move away. There are certain things you're like, hm, that's actually great about that city. And then there's some things that you compare and you're like, hm that's quite shit about that city.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Have you found that?
Charlie:
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. I mean it's very stupid to say, but I really don't like not being on the coast.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
But you can't really blame a whole geography.
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
For that.
Matt:
Yeah. I think London's old as well, right? Which is great because you have like lovely architecture and you know, it feels historical and all that stuff.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it also means all of the infrastructure is hundreds of years old.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
The roads are all higgledy piggledy.
Charlie:
Higgledy piggledy.
Matt:
You move in, you move into places that have been there like 400 years and are crumbling down around you. So there's definitely the history is a good and a bad thing, I think.
Charlie:
Yes, yes, I can understand that. Do you take advantage of the, um, art and the museums, that kind of world?
Matt:
Hmm.
Charlie:
I think after university you were big into that. Are you still?
Matt:
Yeah, I think there's definitely a saturation point that happens with London, like museums and art.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's lovely. It's world class again.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
But do you want to spend your Saturday surrounded by, like, loads of lost tourists? Maybe not. And there's only so many times you can go to the science museum. I think it's five. I think five is the maximum amount of times that you can go to the science museum. After that, it's diminishing returns.
Charlie:
Okay, okay. That's nice.
Matt:
I mean, are you going, like you?
Charlie:
I don't, I'm a bit of a philistine with all this because I find it all quite boring. I think science museums I could geek out in. But I went to the Natural History Museum the other month with Harry.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And got in for free. It's free!
Matt:
Yeah, it's all free.
Charlie:
It's incredible.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And saw the big whale. The, uh. Fossil.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Above. Amazing.
Matt:
Amazing.
Charlie:
Quite a few other amazing things. And then you get into the smaller rooms and they're all quite samey. It's like. Yeah. Wow. Like, there's no contrast in the feeling. It's like all old. Impressive. Wow. And that wow is not how you want it to resonate truly.
Matt:
I mean, the enthusiasm can be summed up with yeah wow. Yeah. Wow. Sure. I hate going to a museum and being like, here's a sword. And you're like, yeah. And like, here's a, I don't know, amazing fossil. And you're like, yeah. And they're like, here's five rooms of pots.
Charlie:
What!
Matt:
And you're like.
Charlie:
Oh, I think like as in...
Matt:
Ceramics.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. From yeah, yeah.
Matt:
I don't care about the old pots. Does anyone, does anyone going in and being like, can't wait to see the pots.
Charlie:
I know some people. I reckon the people that watch, um, what's the guy from Blackadder called that then turned-.
Matt:
Rowan Atkinson?
Charlie:
No, the other one. The sides.
Matt:
John Cleese.
Charlie:
No. Baldwin.
Matt:
Baldrick.
Charlie:
Baldrick.
Matt:
Baldwin.
Charlie:
So close.
Matt:
I don't. Yeah.
Charlie:
No. Tony Robbins.
Matt:
Tony Robbins. The, uh.
Charlie:
Ground. Uh, time, time team. Time team.
Matt:
Tony Robbins is the big kind of.
Charlie:
No, that's Tony Robbins. No. Oh, sorry. Tony Robinson.
Matt:
Tony Robinson.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Is he on time team?
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
I've never watched Time Team.
Charlie:
No, I haven't either. Um, I did some research on it recently.
Matt:
Oh, yeah? Baldwin?
Charlie:
So it was Baldrick.
Matt:
Baldrick.
Charlie:
Baldrick.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So he was on Blackadder.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
A very famous British TV show. That was our parents' generation that were obsessed with it.
Matt:
Yeah, I'd say.
Charlie:
It was on in the background for me. Did you embrace it?
Matt:
I yeah, I was, I did quite like the whole Monty Python, Blackadder. Yeah. It is good. It still stands up.
Charlie:
Yeah. Nice.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, so he would enjoy the pots, I think.
Matt:
Is that how he got to this?
Charlie:
That's how we.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He would love him. Yeah. But him alone, I think. He'd be in there on his own being like wow.
Charlie:
Come on, come guys. Look at these pots.
Matt:
Look, this pot was made of pots like they all are.
Charlie:
Um, so we got here from overall impression of living in London compared to other places you've lived.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So compared to Shanghai, what is London like?
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
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.
Matt:
I would say.
Charlie:
Is it smaller?
Matt:
Oh, it's much smaller.
Charlie:
Yeah, much smaller.
Matt:
Yeah, I'm gonna completely guess and maybe massively over exaggerate, but I think Shanghai was 20 million people.
Charlie:
26 now.
Matt:
26 million people. A whole population of the UK is 60 million.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
So it's one third of the size of the entire country in one city.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
And I think, I think London, correct me if I'm wrong, 7 million?
Charlie:
8.9 now but yeah.
Matt:
8.9. And it goes up. This might be again like not a true fact, but I think I heard somewhere that it goes up a third during the weekends? The population.
Charlie:
Yeah that's mad to think isn't it. I wonder if other cities are like that. It would kind of make sense that it's not like that for most, because London's like this hub that everyone kind of around the South and sort of Midlands gravitate towards. Yeah.
Matt:
I think it does. I think it does have a lot of tourism as well. London.
Charlie:
Oh yeah. Of course.
Matt:
Like, yeah I think Rome and Paris.
Charlie:
And you've got so many cheap flights in from Europe.
Matt:
So many. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That's one good thing that's great about London. Amazing flights.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
You go anywhere cheap.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I mean not very comfortable.
Charlie:
No, but it's only an hour or two.
Matt:
Exactly.
Charlie:
Yeah. I used to fly home from Germany for £9.99 sometimes.
Matt:
Wow.
Charlie:
The train was £30, but still. £9 flight.
Matt:
It just doesn't. Yeah, you can't argue with that.
Charlie:
Any other thoughts before we move on to the recommendations and reflections?
Matt:
Yeah. Uh, London's very cool.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Which I think some other cities don't always have. It's got a great music scene.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
Everyone's very fashionable in London.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's very, it's a cool place to live. It's got a lot of like kind of culture behind it. That makes it just feel like it's just a cool place to live. There's always cool stuff going on.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Uh, and I feel like some other cities, especially if they're much newer cities where they don't have that, the kind of like cool parts of town always just feel a bit like artificial. I don't know if you've experienced that?
Charlie:
What about Brighton in the lanes? Is that? Do you know that? You don't?
Matt:
I do know Brighton and the lanes. Yeah.
Charlie:
Not a fan?
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
I'm just trying to think of other cities and the cool bit.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, I guess Brighton is quite a cool place.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Is it a city?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Is it?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Brighton's a city?
Charlie:
Yeah. For sure.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. But in kind of a more of a, like, juggly way? I don't know if I-.
Charlie:
I think that's because there's quite a few jugglers.
Matt:
That's what I mean. Yeah.
Charlie:
Around the lanes.
Matt:
It's a bit.
Charlie:
Matt doesn't speak in metaphors. He's very literal.
Matt:
It's cool in a very, like, juggly way. But do you know what I mean?
Charlie:
There are loads of jugglers there.
Matt:
People that love doing circus activities.
Charlie:
It's quite hippie like.
Matt:
Yes, hippie like is what I mean.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah yeah.
Charlie:
Juggly. Yeah.
Matt:
Which is its own kind of brand of.
Charlie:
Cool.
Matt:
Ish.
Charlie:
Ish. For you. All subjective, of course.
Matt:
Of course, of course.
Charlie:
So where are the cool pockets of town in London?
Matt:
I would say Hackney probably leads the way at the moment.
Charlie:
Still in 2024? Yeah?
Matt:
Yeah, I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Maybe. Um, I think it used to be kind of the Shoreditch area.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
But now that's just very businessy.
Charlie:
Okay. Oh really?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Shoreditch is businessy?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
As in the like pubs and hospitality side of it is a bit too commercial, or?
Matt:
It's been commercialised. Yeah. I feel like Shoreditch feels like central, part of central now.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
More than kind of east London.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
Um, I mean, Dalston was considered quite a cool area for a bit. I think it's probably. Okay, cool.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um, pockets of South. Peckham.
Charlie:
So yeah, I was just going to say those three, they're all north, north east?
Matt:
East. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Hackney. Definitely north east. Right?
Matt:
Definitely. Yeah.
Charlie:
And then Dalston. Fairly north? Or more north east still.
Matt:
Yeah. It's just below Hackney I'd say.
Charlie:
Oh okay.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Um.
Charlie:
And then the South?
Matt:
Peckham.
Charlie:
Peckham. Would you say that there's a divide between the river?
Matt:
Oh there is.
Charlie:
Yeah?
Matt:
Well I think there is a divide. I think people like to talk about the divide.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But really it just exists in people's minds.
Charlie:
Right okay.
Matt:
Not in reality. I think you get people that are like, I'm south, like I will only live in South. And then there's people that are like, North is the best.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Would never go south. But really, having lived in both, they're pretty similar.
Charlie:
Oh, really?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
I want to ask you about the chains that I've heard about. So somebody from the north came south and said, what is it all? What is it about in the South that there's chains in every high street? Apparently in the north there's not so many chains.
Matt:
That's a good observation.
Charlie:
Yeah. Thoughts?
Matt:
Yeah. Probably agree with that. There are more. I feel like South. There's more. Kind of. It feels like they are more built around high streets I would say.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
And on the high streets there are typically more chains.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Yeah, I would agree. I think that's probably a true statement.
Charlie:
So there's less high streets, you would say in the North.
Matt:
There's definitely high streets.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it feels a bit more, um, patchworky as opposed to like here's a tube stop and therefore there's a high street.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
There's more like areas that are nice without it needing to connect to the tube network.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
So it's less maybe it feels a little less high streety.
Charlie:
I wonder why that is.
Matt:
Yeah. Same.
Charlie:
Um, part two. Recommendations and reflections. Uh, the first one. What's a piece of advice you'd give to someone trying to fit in quickly in London?
Matt:
Oh. Oh, okay. First one.
Charlie:
Throw away the oyster card?
Matt:
I'd get rid of that oyster card.
Charlie:
Don't even get it.
Matt:
I mean, if you're rocking an oyster card now.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. You're gonna get laughed out of the pub.
Charlie:
Yeah, absolutely.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah, you are, aren't you?
Matt:
You are. Yeah. I think it's visiting parents and people whose work pay for them to travel.
Charlie:
Oh, okay.
Matt:
Are probably the only remaining oyster cards users.
Charlie:
Yeah. So if you've got an oyster card, you can say it's work is paying for my travel.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
You could say that to everyone.
Matt:
You could say that to everybody.
Charlie:
On the tube.
Matt:
On the tube. Don't mind me. Work's paying for this. I'm. I'm. I'm local, I fit in.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
I would get rid. That's a great first point.
Charlie:
So the reason being?
Matt:
Um, no one uses oyster card because you have to top it up.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Right?
Charlie:
Yeah. You have to. I think you have to buy it firstly.
Matt:
You do. Yeah.
Charlie:
And top it up. And nowadays the phone just the tap and any normal debit credit card works fine.
Matt:
Yeah. Any.
Charlie:
It's the same price.
Matt:
It's the same price.
Charlie:
Unless you're a student, I think there's something that you can get a deal on the oyster card.
Matt:
That's true. That's true. Yeah.
Charlie:
Which some of you listening might be students. So fair enough. If you've got an oyster card and you're a student, we ain't judging.
Matt:
We're not judging. And actually, if you're a student with an oyster card. Very good.
Charlie:
Very good.
Matt:
Very good. Because the tube is extortionate. So make sure you're getting that discount.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So you think it's extortionate?
Matt:
I do.
Charlie:
I don't think it's that unreasonable. What about prices generally in London?
Matt:
I did read somewhere that pints are now £7, which seems ridiculous.
Charlie:
How much were they when you were in, uh, Dorset when you were 15 plus?
Matt:
They're still, you can still get a pint for £3.50, I would say? In some local pubs.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
I remember paying I think £2.70 for my first pint as a legal 18 year old.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
I think a Kronenbourg breached the £3 mark. £3.20 I think it was.
Matt:
Yeah. And you're like, oh!
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
£3.20!
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
£7.
Matt:
£7.
Charlie:
I mean, some of the IPAs, the craft beers, they are robbing you blind.
Matt:
They are. Yeah. If you, there's certain areas in London, West London. And actually I had a £7 pint in Shoreditch once.
Charlie:
I can't I yeah, I can imagine, I can imagine that in Shoreditch, all the cool areas I'd say they'd hike up the prices. No?
Matt:
It depends. Yeah. I think some of them are holding on to a sort of. Yeah.
Charlie:
No, we don't charge you too much.
Matt:
Yeah. Do you remember that pub in Nottingham that did £1 pints? Do you remember that?
Charlie:
Uh which one was that?
Matt:
Up in Lace Market on that corner bit.
Charlie:
Oh yes.
Matt:
I think it was Wednesdays, afternoons.
Charlie:
£1 pints.
Matt:
£1 pint.
Charlie:
I mean, do you remember EQ, the club that did 69p shots?
Matt:
Nice. Yeah I do remember that.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
There's always a marketing thing and I feel comfortable, uh, approaching this phrase with a friend. I was with my cousin and she mentioned this and I thought, I'm going to skip this right now. Um, whenever, whenever you see a 69, people are tongue in cheek, kind of playing with what?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
What are they?
Matt:
I think, um, it's like a it's funny, isn't it, because the numbers are, like, mirrored and everyone's like, ah, crazy. Nine and six are just like the same, but one's the opposite way round. Other than that, I can't think of a single reason why it's funny.
Charlie:
That was good. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, it's funny, isn't it? It's the same number.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Nuts.
Charlie:
Um, so it's a sexual position.
Matt:
Right.
Charlie:
Uh, for foreplay. Let's just call it that.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Look it up.
Charlie:
Yeah. There we go. Um, don't Google it without having a VPN, maybe.
Matt:
Yes. Or parents' consent.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
For our younger listeners.
Charlie:
Yeah. For our oyster card holders.
Matt:
Yeah. If you've got an oyster card and a student discount, make sure you get parental guidance before you're firing up the old Google.
Charlie:
So I haven't actually let you answer the question. Any advice for settling in quickly?
Matt:
Okay. So yeah, that's a good one with the oyster card. And let's stick on the tube.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Because there are two other situations on the tube that will make you stand out like a sore thumb.
Charlie:
Nice.
Matt:
Number one, don't stand on the left on the escalator. You will get tutted.
Charlie:
Yeah. At. Yeah.
Matt:
People will, uh, roll their eyes behind you. You won't. You won't know it, but they'll be doing it.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You'll be facing the wrong way.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Uh, and second. Sorry.
Charlie:
So sorry. Stand on the right.
Matt:
Stand on the right.
Charlie:
Walk up on the left. Yes, it is right. Yeah, yeah, that is correct. Sorry. I remember that clearly right now.
Matt:
Stand on the right.
Charlie:
Stand on the right.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
If you're in a hurry, walk up on the left. Quickly.
Matt:
Correct.
Charlie:
Yep.
Matt:
Yep. Um, if you're a masochist.
Charlie:
We just had about a minute of deliberating how we pronounce this word. So masochist means a person who derives sexual gratification from their own pain or humiliation. So if you're a masochist.
Matt:
Ah. I didn't realise it was a sexual thing.
Charlie:
In general use, a person who enjoys an activity that appears to be painful or tedious.
Matt:
Okay, yeah, so if you're a masochist, you can go up the non you can walk up the non escalated stairs.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah. Which is always way more than you think it is.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um would you say that, uh, locals do that?
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
No.
Matt:
No, unless there's a big queue for the escalator. Yeah. Um, so you can use that. Uh, but other than that, stay on the right. And. Yeah, just enjoy floating up out of the tube. And then more tube advice would be don't be slow at the gate.
Charlie:
Yes. Get that oyster or phone or debit card, credit card ready.
Matt:
Get it ready.
Charlie:
And raring to go.
Matt:
You want to be 1.5 seconds at the gate before it opens. Max. Max.
Charlie:
Do time yourself. Um, if it takes longer to time yourself, that's okay. It's alright. I've got a timer. Got a timer, guys. And start. Yeah. Stop!
Matt:
Yes! 1.3! I belong.
Charlie:
And then you can gloat at the people behind you.
Matt:
Guys. 1.3. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That's what all Londoners do. They're timing themselves out of the gate. Literally.
Charlie:
Haha. Very good. So be efficient around the gate.
Matt:
Yep.
Charlie:
Don't get an oyster card. Stay on the right at the escalator. Um, should we get out of the tube now?
Matt:
Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's not all about getting the tube. London isn't just going on the tube.
Charlie:
It is a lot about the tube though. Isn't it?
Matt:
It's a lot on the tube yeah.
Charlie:
You will spend a lot of time on the tube because everyone lives, quote unquote, in London. But it takes about an hour on the tube to see any friend.
Matt:
Agreed. It took me an hour to get here today.
Charlie:
Yeah, exactly.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So get get ready to not look like a novice on the tube. That's a great starting point.
Matt:
That's a good starting point, I think. Yeah. If you get the if you get the tube down, that's probably the most Londoner thing to be able to do.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
And then outside of that it's pretty much like yeah it's a free for all. Like.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Yeah, I don't know. What do you think. Is there anything else that marks you as a Londoner?
Charlie:
Um, I think to fit in on a sunny day, you get out to the park.
Matt:
Oh, true.
Charlie:
And you just abuse the sun. Don't put any sun cream on. And, uh. Yeah. Stay there for as long as possible. Get a picnic going, thrive in the sun, and then just head down when it's not sunny. And just forever living in the dark.
Matt:
Yeah. Oh, don't say hello to people.
Charlie:
Yeah. Don't say hello to anyone. Don't be friendly.
Matt:
Don't be friendly.
Charlie:
Don't be friendly.
Matt:
Don't be friendly. Don't say good morning to anybody as you're walking somewhere.
Charlie:
Was it like that in Shanghai? It's a huge city. So were they quite, uh, cold in the way that they don't say hello?
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. Alright, so moving on to part three now. Enjoy.
Matt:
They don't say hello.
Charlie:
They don't say hello.
Matt:
They don't say hello.
Charlie:
Too busy.
Matt:
Yeah. They'd be doing a million hellos a day.
Charlie:
Yeah, that is the reason, isn't it?
Matt:
Yeah. It's just it would be. It's just too much.
Charlie:
So Matt and I bonded over cycling when we were post university years. We did a big trip down France. And I've appreciated whenever you're on a bike. Not in London so much, but as soon as you get out of the city, anyone going past you on a bike, you nod at each other. You're like, alright, biker.
Matt:
Mhm.
Charlie:
It's like a common sort of appreciation for the vehicle that you're both on and you're like, alright, alright.
Matt:
That is nice. Does make you feel like kind of part of a secret club.
Charlie:
Yes it does.
Matt:
A little bit.
Charlie:
And I think that's the same with just humans in a rural area like. Alright human.
Matt:
True.
Charlie:
And then you get into a city, it's like, well, we're all humans. I'm not going to say hello to you.
Matt:
So fuck off.
Charlie:
Yeah, but London is notorious for this.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Um, other cities aren't so rude. I think northern cities are much more friendly.
Matt:
They are.
Charlie:
Which is a shame for a Southerner to advise you to go north if you want to be conversing in English. Um, but.
Matt:
Yeah, it's. Yeah, it's it can be a bit cold I think.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Which it does make it when in London. It does make it when people are nice to each other. It feels like amazing.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Like, oh, someone helped me with something and it's just it just feels like the world's biggest act of kindness. Because it's in London.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, um, the weather, when it's good, everyone is really, really grateful for it being good until it's too hot and then people are complaining. But still, like today, it was lovely and everyone was so positive. And coming from Sydney, it's sunny a lot of the time. People don't really want to talk about it so much. And as a Brit, I know non-native listeners are like, why do you always go on about the weather? But we bond over a good day because we appreciate it. And I do like that, that we appreciate it.
Matt:
Yeah, I think we it's yeah, it's supply and demand isn't it. When you, when you don't have much nice weather.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
And then it comes out. It's really valuable.
Charlie:
Yeah. It's a big negative isn't it. Like a lot of days of not having it.
Matt:
Yes.
Charlie:
Is what you have to suffer with to get that gratitude.
Matt:
I heard, uh, that in Australia, kids are not allowed to go out and play without a hat.
Charlie:
Yeah, I would imagine that's true. They had a big campaign called slip, slop, slap, slip on a hat, slop on some sun cream and slap on a t shirt.
Matt:
Slap on a t shirt.
Charlie:
Oh, no, I've got it wrong. Slip on a t shirt.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Slip, slop slap. Slip on a t shirt. Slop on some suncream. Slap on a hat.
Matt:
Yeah. Slap it, slap it on. Yeah, yeah, yeah I mean, the marketing department there could have put a little bit more effort in couldn't they.
Charlie:
You know what? I'm really annoyed with the marketing department in London. See it. Say it. Sorted.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Oh my God. What the hell is that? See the naughty thing. Tell. Rat somebody out. Say, I think that bag's been there for ages. It might be a bomb.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
And then what? It's all sorted?
Matt:
In your, in your, in your mind it is.
Charlie:
Yeah, but it's also, it's such a bad half rhyme. See it. Say it. Sorted.
Matt:
Yeah. It's just an alliteration, isn't it?
Charlie:
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I suppose so.
Matt:
It's just lazy.
Charlie:
It annoys me greatly.
Matt:
But what, like, how would you improve it?
Charlie:
Um.
Matt:
Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's probably as good as it's going to get.
Charlie:
Yeah. Maybe. Yeah.
Matt:
Identify the risk. Report the risk. Go on with your day. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?
Charlie:
Yeah. Talking of announcements, I don't know if this is true, but I remember ten years ago I heard that they changed it from, um, mind the gap before the mind the gap. It was-.
Matt:
Bing bong. Get on the train. I don't know.
Charlie:
No. It was something about Sir and madam.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Ladies and gentlemen, mind the gap.
Matt:
Oh.
Charlie:
I mean, there was something in between it. Ladies and gentlemen, we are at Tooting Broadway. Please get off carefully. Mind the gap.
Matt:
That's quite nice.
Charlie:
And now it's. Hello, everybody. For woke, the woke movement.
Matt:
Oh.
Charlie:
Have you noticed that? I don't.
Matt:
I haven't, no. I don't think I hear Mind the Gap anymore. Have you heard.
Charlie:
Oh no I hear it still.
Matt:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
It's still a thing?
Charlie:
Please mind the gap. Oh, there's a please, isn't there?
Matt:
Oh, yeah.
Charlie:
Please mind the gap.
Matt:
Very British.
Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that is.
Matt:
Really.
Charlie:
Still a thing. Maybe not on all trains because the newer ones are closer.
Matt:
What I would like to say on record is that we don't need train announcements on the big trains.
Charlie:
What do you mean?
Matt:
So. So as we discussed earlier, I grew up on the South coast. I regularly get the train from London to Dorset. It stops 14 times, let's say from London to Dorset. You get on the train and it's like, hello everybody. You're on the South Western Railway service to Weymouth calling at and then 14 name places at 400dB. As you're sitting there trying to just relax on the train. And it happens pretty much at every stop like shut up!
Charlie:
Haha.
Matt:
There's a sign on the train that scrolls so you can see all the stations.
Matt:
I have the internet on my phone and I can look at the stations. Like just be quiet. I know you're bored, but just shut up. It is so annoying. Just be quiet.
Charlie:
Yeah, it is annoying, especially if you're at the end of the night and you're just trying to get a bit of kip. But, um, is there any reason why they do that other than habit? People who are blind?
Matt:
Yeah. Okay. For blind people, absolutely fine. But I don't think it is for blind people.
Charlie:
No, I don't think it is for blind people necessarily.
Matt:
Because in I think in Europe they have silent trains.
Charlie:
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Matt:
It's like a thing.
Charlie:
Germany's very quiet.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
On the train.
Matt:
Like the train has to be silent.
Charlie:
Yeah. It's like a library stepping in there.
Matt:
Yeah. So it's like calm.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matt:
Get your book out.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Enjoy. Not.
Charlie:
Bing bong!
Matt:
All the time.
Charlie:
Um, if I was moving to London, what would you suggest to look out for in terms of area or property? What things should I be aware of? Just repeating that.
Matt:
Um, it's a good question. I think there are. I think top of the list probably is location slash proximity to transport.
Charlie:
Yes. This was this was a depressing find for me. Mhm. Uh, other cities haven't been so crucial to be so close to a good point of contact. But yeah, everyone talked about that when I was looking. They were like, how close are you to the tube and which line are you on?
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. So that makes a big difference. Yeah.
Charlie:
And it does it does add a lot of time to your commute or social location like transport kind of thing. Um, every time. So yeah. Yeah. Find a good location close to a good line. What is a good line? The northern line I think is actually quite good.
Matt:
Northern line's good unless you're commuting.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
Because it's rammed in the morning.
Charlie:
Ahh.
Matt:
Really, really busy. But other than that very good. Splits in two. Lots of good stations. Victoria line for me is probably. Yeah top. You've got all the big train stations on there. You've got Kings Cross.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You've got Euston, you've got Victoria on there. It's fast.
Charlie:
Mhm.
Matt:
So you can get places quickly.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Oxford Circus you can go to central. It's a good'un.
Charlie:
Okay.
Matt:
It's a good'un.
Charlie:
Victoria line.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Elizabeth line. You said earlier.
Matt:
Very good.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
But it's a bit of a east-to-west-y.
Charlie:
Aha.
Matt:
Which I don't find myself doing as much as going north to south.
Charlie:
Yeah. That was another thing for me. So I love being on the water. The Thames is water but we don't really see it that much. Do you see it much?
Matt:
No. No I don't.
Charlie:
Why don't we see it? I mean, what you just said kind of mirrors that.
Matt:
I think affordability.
Charlie:
Huh?
Matt:
So the bits you'd want to live on, on the on the river. Probably quite expensive.
Charlie:
Yeah, yeah.
Matt:
Probably quite expensive. And the bits that aren't.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
That are on the river you don't want to live in.
Charlie:
But we don't socialise on the river.
Matt:
Don't socialise on the river.
Charlie:
Is it too commercial? Or too like bank kind of like corporate offices?
Matt:
Yeah that's a really good question.
Charlie:
Oh there's a lot of like the Houses of Parliament and stuff. All of those important buildings are along the river, I guess.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But yeah, we won't.
Matt:
No. Maybe it's a weather thing.
Charlie:
A weather thing.
Matt:
Yeah. Again.
Charlie:
Right.
Matt:
Because if it's nice, then you would be kind of, you know, out near the beach or by a river. You kind of have to be outside, right? To be.
Charlie:
Oh, you mean in the long term of building up the, the city.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah or not.
Matt:
Yeah. Like pubs and bars along the river. Maybe you have to have like an outside seating area to enjoy it? Weather's not so great. So you don't put that in.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah. But you're right. Like you never go, oh, should we, uh, go down by the river?
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
No.
Charlie:
Like, um, Battersea Power Station is quite close to the river. Yeah, that seems crazy to me. I mean, long time ago. Kind of makes sense. Get the parts near through the river, I guess.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But mad that that like, to me, if I was designing a town or a city, I'd put all of the leisurely things by the water.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But again, yeah, it's the historic shit.
Matt:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Okay. Um, so, Matt, how did you spend your days off in London when you were first living here? And how do you spend them now?
Matt:
Hm, so I think the main change has been house parties.
Charlie:
House parties!
Matt:
House parties.
Charlie:
When we were 20 plus. God, did we not have some good house parties.
Matt:
Couldn't move for house parties, couldn't move for them. You had three on at the same evening. You're like, God, which one do I go to?
Charlie:
The people that live upstairs, they're in their 20s and they have house parties. A girl vomited on our porch. I called her out on it. And the. Oh, bless him, the guy upstairs, he was so sweet. He apologised profusely. And then the next morning he came and knocked on the door with a box of chocolates.
Matt:
What type of chocolates?
Charlie:
Celebrations.
Matt:
Oh, so he was sorry?
Charlie:
Yeah. He was like, I'm so sorry. I'll clean it up tomorrow. And then he came with chocolates.
Matt:
Do you think that the girl lived upstairs? Or do you think it was his girlfriend?
Charlie:
It could have been his girlfriend.
Matt:
That's why he was kind of.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, taking responsibility for it.
Charlie:
Yeah. That's true.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But. Yeah. So house parties were a thing for us.
Matt:
They were. Yeah.
Charlie:
They were fun.
Matt:
They were fun. They were really a house party is great fun. But they are also a pain to clean up after.
Charlie:
You had a lot of house parties in your first Clapham flat, didn't you?
Matt:
Yeah, I did, yeah, yeah, it was a great house party house.
Charlie:
That's something that I've actually not experienced as an as a non-university student living with other people, as roommates like that much. I just went straight into, well I lived on my own in, well, as a roommate in Chile. And then I lived with Stacey pretty much.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
So I didn't have what you had, which was like five flatmates.
Matt:
Oh it got up to ten.
Charlie:
Ten!
Matt:
We had ten at one point.
Charlie:
Oh because everyone was plus one-d.
Matt:
I think we had more than that. So it was a one, two, three. It was a four bed house. So that then everyone doubles up so eight.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
And then at one point we had, uh, Jim and Andy sleeping in the living room, uh, both on air beds.
Charlie:
Wow.
Matt:
Yeah. Ten.
Charlie:
Wow. Both of them at the same time were in the living room?
Matt:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you'd hear them going to bed. You hear the *sounds* of them pumping up the air bed before going to sleep. Yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah. Wow.
Matt:
So it's ten people, which was probably too many.
Charlie:
Too many.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
Too many humans in the household. And now?
Matt:
Uh, and now, no, no real house parties to speak of I would say.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
If you do go to somebody else's house, it's for a dinner.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
You go around for a dinner.
Charlie:
We are forever socialising around food now, aren't we?
Matt:
True. Yeah. It's less. Let's see if we can get 60 people into someone's rented house.
Charlie:
And all consume a crate of beer.
Matt:
Yeah, exactly. It's.
Charlie:
Now it's. Do you want some sushi?
Matt:
Come round and have some burrata. No, honestly, it's a great recipe. You must try it. I'll send it to you.
Charlie:
Oh, God.
Matt:
Yeah, it's a bit much so. Yeah. No more house parties. Which is like the big change.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
You socialise more in restaurants and or pubs.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Matt:
Than at people's houses.
Charlie:
Yes.
Matt:
Right?
Charlie:
Yes. We like to host but I agree. Yeah. And I think that's something to do with how big London is, although that doesn't compare to when we were younger, but still like kind of trying to find a meeting point between the two.
Matt:
Um, I think there's a website that does that, you know?
Charlie:
Is there? I've always thought about that.
Matt:
So you can put in two places and it'll find somewhere that's equidistant.
Charlie:
Very partridge.
Matt:
Between two places. And I think also recommends like restaurants and pubs that are equidistant.
Charlie:
Ah okay. That's good. Do you know the website?
Matt:
It's called.
Charlie:
Equidistance. Com.
Matt:
Equidistance. Com. I think it's I can't remember but if you Google it, it'll come up. Yeah. It's yeah it's I think I used it a couple of times as like, yeah, well I'm not using this again because I want to be near my house.
Charlie:
Nice. Okay. Um, well, thank you very much for telling me about how you, um, grew up in Dorset, got burnt, moved to the big city of Nottingham, then realised that there's a much bigger city called London and then an even bigger city called Shanghai. And then you moved back to London and, uh, decided to go on dinner dates instead of house parties. Yeah.
Matt:
Yeah.
Charlie:
But yeah, some good tips in there. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Matt:
Very welcome. Very welcome.
Charlie:
Thank you for coming on the show.
Matt:
Thanks for having me.
Charlie:
Oh, you'll be back soon. You'll be back sooner than you know. And that's not a threat. Even though it sounded like one.
Matt:
It sounds bloody ominous, doesn't it? You'll be back sooner than you know.
Charlie:
But thank you very much, guys, for listening to the end of this episode. Um, I've been Charlie, and this has been.
Matt:
Matthew.
Charlie:
Matthew. Very good. See you next time on the British English Podcast. Bye bye.
Matt:
Bye bye.
Charlie:
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.
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It focuses on British culture, informal expressions, accent and history that is all unique to the UK.
Charlie has spent 6000+ hours teaching intermediate-advanced students since 2014 privately on Skype and has seen a lot of different styles of learning and while he believes there will never be a single CORRECT way to improve your English there are a large number of methods that people use that do waste people's time and prevent them from improving quickly.
So Charlie decided to create The Academy because he believes he knows a VERY effective way to improve your English quickly and enjoyably.
What do I get when I join?
Access to ALL INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED PHRASES with contextualised definitions in the EXTENDED GLOSSARIES
EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS that breaks down the best expressions from each episode.
QUIZZES to check if you understand how to actually use the expressions in a sentence.
PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE audio files are included for the 'hard to speak' expressions.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS, LISTENING COMPREHENSION & VOCABULARY TESTS
BONUS video or audio content for some episodes
A NEW episode released every single week!
Weekly Speaking Classes - BRAND NEW!