Transcript of Premium Bonus 071- Transcript

Charlie:
Hello and welcome back to the British English Podcast, that show that attempts to explore the quirks and nuances of British culture while exploring or exposing you, rather to intermediate to advanced expressions that natives are using to communicate in British English. I'm Charlie, your host, and today we're going to be talking about social activities, things that we do with our friends to unwind, have a laugh and bond over. But what I want to hone in on today is what's considered a typical social activity in the UK, because it might be a little different to where you, the listener, are from. I mean, how often do you and your friends do a pub quiz or go to a music festival to lose your hearing and memory at the same time? Or stand around a bonfire in the middle of winter to watch a Guy Fawkes effigy go up in flames. Well, I'm joined by Dan from Brit Speak to tackle this activity. So without further ado, let's say hello to him. Hello, sir. How are you doing?

Dan:
I'm good. Charlie, thank you for having me. I'm doing very well. How about yourself?

Charlie:
Lovely. Um. I am a bit worse for wear. I've just come back from a stag do, which is a very big social activity for us Brits, aren't they?

Dan:
Yep. I mean, probably it's par for the course to be worse for wear after one of those things, so. Yes I understand.

Charlie:
Yes, yes. I mean it's two days now. So this is, this is the second day hangover. I thought I would be clear of it by now, but it's still haunting me, unfortunately. Um, and it's it's remarkable that two of my friends uh, decided to have a stag do on the same week, so I've got 1 in 3 days from now as well, which is horrendous.

Dan:
So you just about recovered from the first one to do it all over again?

Charlie:
I know.

Dan:
Yeah. Feel terrible again for a few more days. Sounds good.

Charlie:
Exactly. Yeah. How about you? Have you been to many stags in your. In your time?

Dan:
Mm. Actually, not that many, but I used to treat every weekend like a stag do at one point in my life, so. But these days I've chilled out a bit, so.

Charlie:
Nice. Nice. Yeah. So these days you're in Japan?

Dan:
Yeah. That's right. I live in Japan. I've been here for about eight years now. Nine years, something like that. Okay.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Whereabouts?

Dan:
So I live in a place called Shiga, which is not very well known. Um, it's the home to Japan's biggest lake. Oh. That's something. Yeah, it's a bit countryside. It's not far from Kyoto and Osaka, which people have usually heard of. So.

Charlie:
Right? And what led you to call this place home?

Dan:
Good question. So there's the real answer. And then there's the answer that I tell people when they ask me this question. And they're not the same. So usually people ask me like, Dan, why did you go to Japan? And with a straight as face as possible, I like to tell them it's because I want to become a Pokémon Master and be the best like no one ever was. And you get two reactions. Either people laugh like you did, or people look at you like, are you insane? Both work, but the real answer is, um, I was working at it job, didn't like it, went back to school, did a Celta and all that good stuff. Yeah. Needed an English teaching job, and Japan just happened to be the one that got back to me first. So. Sure, let's let's go to Japan.

Charlie:
Yeah, that was similar for me with, uh, Chile. I was, um, sort of romanticising the idea of being in Rio de Janeiro and then Chile. Santiago. The job offer was there. I was like, okay, yeah, that feels more secure to get on a plane with a job before getting there. Yeah.

Dan:
Definitely helps. So yeah, I understand.

Charlie:
Okay. Yeah. So you you did that eight years ago, right?

Dan:
More than now. Almost nine. Right. Right, right. Okay. Mhm.

Charlie:
Um. So what do you miss about the UK? Would you say.

Dan:
Oh, that's a good question. Depends on what day of the week you catch me. Because it changes quite a lot. Um I mean, beside the obvious, you know, friends, family kind of stuff. It's the weird stuff that you don't realise you're going to miss. Uh, vinegar. I absolutely gutted that I can't buy vinegar in Japan. Does my head in? Especially since Sarson's is owned by a Japanese company. But you can't buy vinegar anywhere, so.

Charlie:
Wow. Any any any reason why you think that might be?

Dan:
I guess it they don't really have fish and chips, so they don't need it, I guess.

Charlie:
No fish and chips? Well, we don't need vinegar. Yeah, exactly.

Dan:
Okay, what else are you going to do with vinegar? So they've got various other vinegars, but not like malt vinegar right from back home. So that's a bit sad.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Dan:
And other just random stuff like, uh, on the food side, like Jaffa Cakes and stuff like that, you know, stuff that you take for granted when you're living at home. Yeah. And good sarcasm. I miss some good sarcasm. Okay, okay.

Charlie:
Yeah,

Dan:
But i don't miss the rain.

Charlie:
You don't miss the rain? Yeah. That's that's. Yeah, that's a fair point. Um, I noticed that when I was in America, the, um. So I grew up with school friends. The girls particularly were very dry, very witty and quick at sarcasm. And then I went to America and lived there for a bit. And I realised after a while of coming back to the UK, I was like, oh, I haven't had that for a long time. They don't really do this. I mean, obviously they're friends for life, so it's a bit different than meeting somebody for the next six months or so. But um, yeah, I know what you mean about that. Um, social activities wise, what about pub quizzes? Have you missed them?

Dan:
Oh, yeah. I used to be a big fan of a pub quiz, you know? Yeah. Um, especially, you know, university days, and you spend a lot of time down the student union and doing the pub quizzes and whatever, and never good at them, if I'm honest. Always bad. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. But they don't know the value of a good pub quiz in Japan. I don't think so. Unless you go to like a, what they call like a foreigner bar, like a, you know, a British themed pub or something like that, a pub where Japanese people go to talk to foreigners, basically. Sometimes they might have a pub quiz, so. Right. But it's quite rare.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. And I imagine the questions are a bit different, Like it would be. It would be like, who was the queen five years ago?

Dan:
Yeah. Versus like, if you've been on Wikipedia, like, where are these from? Like.

Charlie:
Rather than which band released this album in 1962 kind of thing? Yeah. Um, I wouldn't think about.

Dan:
Oh, sorry. No.

Charlie:
Go. Go for it. I was going to.

Dan:
Say, when you talk about the pub quiz, I all I can think about. Maybe your listeners are aware of this, but the TV show Phoenix Nights, uh, with Peter Kay, and they have a pub quiz episode where they're like, name the song from the first second. And he plays the song and it's immediately obvious what the song is in the first second, like young at heart and just reminded me of that. So. Yeah.

Charlie:
Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good show. I didn't get into it as much as my as as much as my friends did. Um, but yeah, I appreciate Peter Kay. Definitely. Is he a big, um, a big role model for you when it comes to comedy?

Dan:
I was a fan. Yeah. Like, I think maybe just because I'm a northerner and I think, like, it's nice to see another northerner doing the kind of. Do you remember this thing? Which was basically his whole sketch, but. Yeah. Yeah, but I thought his TV shows were very funny.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Where where in the north are you from?

Dan:
I'm. Oh, I guess lower north, I guess you could say from Sheffield. Okay. In Yorkshire. So. Okay. It's above Derby, so it classes us North. I think that's how it works.

Charlie:
Yeah, very close to where I went to University Nottingham.

Dan:
Oh yeah. Just a quick trip down the M1 and yeah past Robin Hood and all that. And you're in Nottingham.

Charlie:
And did you go to university in Sheffield or somewhere else.

Dan:
I actually went to university in Hull, and I did my best to pronounce the h at the beginning of that word, hull, rather than all, as I would usually say.

Charlie:
I really you would say all. All. Yeah. Going. All. Yeah, I would say hell yeah. Um, that was on a pub quiz that I did last week. They were like, where is this city? On a map? And it was like the location of Hull. And my friend was like, That's Hull.

Dan:
Yeah. Good. I thought the question was going to be, where did Dan go to university? I'm like, that's a highly specific question for a pub quiz. But good.

Charlie:
Yeah. So before we go on to more social activities, when did you start doing Brit speak generally as like a content creator? I know you've got your podcast and your Instagram and maybe some other things, but generally.

Dan:
Um, so the whole content creation thing really started when I first came to Japan. I had a channel about life in Japan, showing my friends and family back home what it's like to live here, and all the weird stuff that you see. Um, and then the pandemic came along, and it's hard to make a channel about life in a different country when you're stuck in the house all the time. So.I was kind of got the itch to still make something. So I started, I would say probably 2022. I started like Instagram and didn't really know what I was doing. I was like, oh, I did what everybody else does, you know? Yeah, yeah, make videos of like pointing at stuff, be like. And then I realised after a while, like what I actually am trying to do, I'm not trying to teach general English, so to speak. I'm trying to help people deal with the shock of when they moved to the UK. Like most people, they've got good English, they move to the UK and then there's that whole situation where it's nothing like they expect. People don't communicate in the way they expect. Not everybody has the same accent, not everybody uses the same words and kind of coach people through that kind of thing. So very specifically, I got involved in British English and much more colloquial British English stuff. And because, I mean, you can appreciate when you move to a new country and you don't speak the language very well if you're on your own. It's a tough thing to do.

Charlie:
Definitely.

Dan:
if I can help people with that, then I feel like I'm doing my my bit for the world.

Charlie:
Yeah, perfect. Well, let's do that today by exposing them to what they might expect with social activities. So yeah. Pub quizzes. How often would you have gone to a pub quiz? Because I don't go that often. It's probably once a year, probably for me, I was going to.

Dan:
Say probably at best every six months, but at worst every couple of years. Depends on. Yeah, because you usually have to get some at least somebody else to do it with you. Yeah. Which requires some amount of logistics and moving pieces. And the older you get, the harder it is to get people to, to be in the same place at the same time. You know, that's true. So yeah. Yes. But it's it's not like a weekly thing. I mean for some people it probably is, but it definitely wasn't for me.

Charlie:
Yeah, there are definitely weekly attendees to this kind of activity, but I think the average person doesn't go so often. Um, yeah. I think an ideal for me would be like 3 or 4 of you going to the pub maybe 30, 40 minutes before having a little catch up, and then the pub quiz starts. It's a great little evening I think. Mhm.

Dan:
Yeah, I think so. And I think like if they do a theme as well it kind of makes it cool. Maybe it's like an 80s night or you know something like that could be quite interesting. Yeah definitely. I think for me one of the things was the most entertaining part of the pub was usually coming up with your pub quiz team name.

Charlie:
I was going to ask you that.

Dan:
Bunch of puns and stuff in there that you can have. And yeah, it's always a bit of fun like that.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got, you've got. I think that is the rule. You've got to create a pun on the idea of a team and a pub quiz. Mhm. Can you remember any that you did.

Dan:
I'm trying to think of some that would be suitable to say on your podcast. To be honest, um, they often started with the word Norfolk because it gave you a lot of wordplay that you could enjoy off that. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, something like that. Yeah. Being very juvenile, like.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um. quizzy rascals. Something like that.

Dan:
Yeah. Okay. That's cool, I like it. Yeah.

Charlie:
It's like the Three Musketeers. If there was three of you. And then something about the beer or the Queen or something. Yeah.

Dan:
Three buzzketeers or something.

Charlie:
There you go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so I've got a list of social activities here that are, um, worldwide. So these aren't the UK specific. So we're going to go through them and discuss if we've ever heard of them, if we do them, how regularly, that kind of thing. So the next one you might be able to speak to this considering where you are. Hot Pot dinners is the next one on the list. So personally, I don't think I've ever been to to have. I don't think I've had a hot pot dinner in this kind of way. I don't know. What about you?

Dan:
Last time I did was when I went to Tokyo and I was with a couple other English teachers as Stu Sensei and Mike, and we. Mike's wife happens to be Chinese, and I know this great hot pot place. So we went there and got, like a hot pot, and it's quite common, but it's more of a winter thing, I think. Yeah, like people enjoy it in winter. There's different styles. There's like nabe and oden and all this other stuff, but it's not something I do regularly, to be honest. Every now and then. But when you, you do always see the restaurants are packed. So. Okay. So obviously popular.

Charlie:
And what's different about it than just going to a normal restaurant.

Dan:
So in the middle of the table. Usually there's a burner or some kind of heat source, and a bowl full of depends on what it is, like an oil or a soup or whatever it happens to be. And then the ingredients are delivered like on little plates, and you kind of put them in the soup as you want, like you kind of it's almost like you make it yourself at the table in a weird way.

Charlie:
Okay. Yeah, there's a bit of a ritual to it all then, and you're a bit closer around, almost mocking, like the campfire back in the day kind of thing.

Dan:
Yeah, it's a bit like that. But you pay for the privilege of doing it. Yes.

Charlie:
And you don't have to tidy up afterwards. Yeah.

Dan:
Oh, that's the plus. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Nice. Okay. Yeah. So would you guess that the UK has many hot pot dinner opportunities?

Dan:
Unless it's like a Lancashire hot pot, which is a totally different thing, but okay. Like a northern stew I guess you'd call like a hot pot. But no, it's not something I ever really did in England, that kind of thing. So yeah, maybe if you go to Chinatown or something. Probably. Yeah.

Charlie:
But yeah, yeah, I'm sure London's got everything. So yeah, you could probably. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So not really for the Brits, but um, an interesting one, um, to explore. Uh, so the next one. Salsa dancing nights.

Dan:
All right. Okay.

Charlie:
You've ever been to a salsa club?

Dan:
Yeah, well, I've got two left feet, so. No, um, but my Brazilian wife loves to dance, even at the music in the supermarket, so I'm sure she's done this kind of thing in her life. Um, but I definitely don't have the experience of that one.

Charlie:
She's not dragged you along.

Dan:
Uh, she's not had the chance yet. But I'm sure when that opportunity arises, she'll try.

Charlie:
Yeah. What about your your wedding day? Did she want you to learn a bit of salsa for then?

Dan:
No. Luckily, I got away with that one. Oh, you did, you did very good.

Charlie:
Nice. Um, how about yourself? Salsa was a part of, um, Chile, like, uh, in Santiago, so that was quite cool to experience, but it was more just appreciating the skill of them and not really feeling like I can get involved. I was starting to move my hips and then I felt awkward. So then I'd stop and then I'd just be like, oh, you guys are amazing. Really good, really good. Yeah.

Dan:
Yeah. Nice.

Charlie:
I went to Colombia actually once with a student who's Colombian, and he went, he took me to a really good salsa club and it was really awkward. At the end of the night, I still hadn't danced. And he just like, like grabbed me, took me to the middle of the dance floor and tapped a girl on the shoulder and said, excuse me, he doesn't know how to dance. Can you teach him, please? And she just looks me up and down. She's like, okay. And then we have like ten awkward, like minutes of just like trying to teach me whilst everyone's going mental around me.

Dan:
My Britishness is cringing. For you on the inside they're like, yeah, nothing like being thrown in at the deep end, is there?

Charlie:
No, no. Certainly not. Um. Karaoke nights. What about them?

Dan:
Ah, this is very different between Japan and England. Like in in England, it's usually in a pub in front of all your mates. And the, the key is to kind of be bad at it. It's more entertaining. Like if you're bad at it, people enjoy it more. But if you're good, everyone's like, come on, grow up. But in Japan, there's it's such a popular pastime, like everybody does karaoke. I have heard this.

Charlie:
Yes. Yeah. Does that mean that you..

Dan:
There are rooms and stuff, where you rent it and go there and it's kind of weird

Charlie:
Yeah. Right. So actually, on the stag that I just went to, I was in Edinburgh and we went to two versions. We went to literally the English version and the Japanese version. We went to a pub and everyone was screaming bloody murder. And then our friend was like, no, let's actually hire a booth so we can just properly sing on our own because we weren't really getting the mic time. So he hired a booth for two hours, and, uh, it was fun. It was fun. It's just I'm not used to that kind of environment that often, but, I mean, I can't really sing, so I find it quite cringe.

Dan:
Yeah. I mean, um, here in Japan, it's something that most people do. They'll go out drinking and be like, okay, let's go karaoke. And like, especially if you missed the last train, like, you've got to wait 6 or 7 hours for the first train. It's like, well, karaoke is 24 hours a day. Let's just go there for a few hours and often comes with free drinks. Uh, not alcoholic, but like free soda or coke or whatever you want to call it. Yeah. And air conditioned. So it's usually a good place to wait for the first train if you've missed the last one. So it's quite common.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. Right. Um, I was wondering about this because I have, I've had Japanese students and they've told me about this part of their culture. Does this mean that, um, being good at singing creates quite a sort of hierarchy in the social dynamic?

Dan:
In a way like Japan's general approach to society is don't make other people feel bad by being good at stuff. And if you are good at stuff, don't downplay it, you know? Um, but occasionally, sorry.

Charlie:
If you are good at stuff, don't downplay it.

Dan:
Oh, no, downplay it a bit so you don't make other people feel bad.

Charlie:
Haha, yeah.

Dan:
Like you'll meet somebody who's an absolute genius on the piano. You're like, can you play piano? Yeah, a little bit. Haha. Calm down.

Charlie:
Right, right right right.

Dan:
But they do have a show on TV where people go there and see who can make the most perfect rendition of famous karaoke songs, and it like, comes up on the screen with, like, the pitch monitor and like how the percentage, how perfect it was. And so there is that element of it. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. So in your group if you go to a karaoke they wouldn't be like oh me first. Yeah I've got this song. They'd be quite timid around it. And then when they get on they just do an absolute performance.

Yeah. Absolute belt out a perfect song and then be like, all right, we're all right. And you know, that kind of thing. So yeah, there's always one person in your group that's actually really good and everyone else is like, all right, I've got to follow that. Oh, right. Yeah yeah yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah, that would be awkward. Um, but yeah, so they do exist. But yeah, like you said, it's more like somebody is just horrendous. And they've they've got the courage to stand up there and look like an idiot in the UK.

Dan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Usually some liquid courage.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, okay. Next one I mean, this one's. Yeah. Okay. Going for a pint?

Dan:
Yeah. I mean, what's better than that? That's very British, but also feel like it's one of the things that we've given to the world like one of the exports. Go to the pub with your mates for a pint. Sounds good.

Charlie:
Yeah. Does it happen much in Japan for you?

Dan:
Yeah. It's like they don't really have the pub like we do. They have a thing called izakaya, which is like a Japanese version of a pub where it's usually you get like a little booth and you're on your own, kind of separate from everybody else.

How do you spell this word? I want to look at it.

Dan:
Okay. So izakaya. So I Z A K A Y A izakaya. Okay. It's like a Japanese bar pub style thing. And my favourite thing is they do something called Nomi Hodai, which translates as all you can drink. Oh, yeah. Can you imagine the carnage in England if they did a all you can drink buffet? So yes, here in Japan they offer that.

Charlie:
Right. That would be deadly. That would be. Yeah. Mhm. Um, I was listening to, um, I don't know if it was this guy. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm getting confused, but he's, um, a Malay British comedian, Phil Wang.

Dan:
Oh, yeah. I saw him on Taskmaster. He's very funny.

Charlie:
Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. And I can't remember if it was him talking about this, but he said that a lot of his friends, if they have beer, they would go very red in the face.

Dan:
Yeah, Japanese people do that, right.

Charlie:
Okay. So. But even so, they they love it. They drink it just as much.

Dan:
I mean, it depends on the person, but alcohol plays a big part in social activities in Japan. And despite the fact that everybody goes red in the face after a couple of pints, it's like, well, it's par for the course, so.

Charlie:
Right.

Dan:
Yeah.

Charlie:
But is it a painful kind of experience, do you think?

Dan:
No. Apparently it's just like feeling a bit flush and your face goes red, but. Oh, okay. Um.

Charlie:
Okay. Yeah. Right.

Dan:
Yeah. And they have basically translated the expression, which is to be read like we would say like or to be red in the face, meaning like you're embarrassed, but for them it means like, oh, he's drunk.

Charlie:
Ah, right. Yeah. Oh. So it's kind of just, uh, getting red lips from a bit too much red wine.

Dan:
Yeah, I suppose it's a bit like that. Yeah. Like wine lipstick.

Charlie:
It's part of it, yeah. Yeah.

Dan:
Okay. You can't have it without the side effects, so you just have to deal with it.

Charlie:
Yeah. And everyone accepts that you're going red and you're not going to die. Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah, that wouldn't work. A pub having, um, endless a bottomless pint that would be in the UK. That would be terrible. Terrible. Um, I'm looking at the, um, izakaya, and it feels like there's more, uh, culture around the eating part of it as well. Yeah, you can get lots of nibbles.

Dan:
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah. So it's kind of people go there for a evening because they can get a bit something to eat. They can get a bit of like something to drink and little, like snacks and stuff while they're there and relatively because if you do the the all you can drink thing, you can kind of leisurely drink and you don't have to worry about how much you're spending. And, you know, but for British people, it's a challenge, not just a comfort thing like, well, two hours. Let's see how much I can drink rather than Japanese people just being like, oh, I don't have to worry for two hours. It's a very different attitude towards it.

Charlie:
Yeah, that really, really is it's a big thing as well. Um, a Brit seeing that as a challenge. Most definitely. It's like an ego challenge, but also a stingy challenge. It's like, yeah, let's see. I want.

Dan:
To get my money's worth.

Charlie:
My money's worth. Exactly. Yeah. Uh. All right. Next one. Um, street food tours.

Dan:
Okay.

Charlie:
Street food tours.

Dan:
So generally in Japan, food is a massive deal, right? So, like, in Osaka is like, Japan's most famous food place is a street which is called Dotonbori, which is just street food, and everybody goes there and like, makes their way down the street eating all the good food. However, I don't know how the concept of doing that in England would work. Well, you just go from like one chippy to the kebab shop to like, how's that going to work? Like, I can't imagine there being a queue for that tour, to be honest.

Charlie:
No. And yeah, it's a meal in itself. So you wouldn't really you'd be quite full straightaway, wouldn't you?

Dan:
Tap out after one like I've done. I've just had.

Charlie:
A full kebab, mate. I don't want fish and chips.

Dan:
Yeah. So street food England?

Yeah. No. Okay. Uh, attending a football match.

Dan:
Ah, yeah. Yeah. This is a big thing. Growing up, when I was in England to go watch Sheffield Wednesday, for better or worse.

Charlie:
Yeah, right. Were you a big fan?

Dan:
Yeah. When I was young, me and my dad would go to the stadium all the time, and, um. Then it got expensive, So I stopped going so much. Um, switch to ice hockey randomly. I used to go watch ice hockey a lot in England, and then even here in Japan, I go watch football sometimes. I've got a little flag here for Vissel Kobe, which is my team in Japan.

Charlie:
So very nice to see them sometimes. Have they got a good standard? Are they better than Sheffield Wednesday?

Dan:
I mean, that's not hard to do, but um, the standard I mean it's all right. It's fun to watch and yeah, it's, it's a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. So. Yeah. How about yourself? Is it something that you've ever been into? Because England, it's either like it's a bit like Marmite usually football.

Charlie:
Yeah yeah I agree. Yeah I think I loved it as a kid and then realised I hate it as an adult. No, I don't hate it. No, it's just 90 minutes and sometimes a draw and it's a bit like ah, I spent my whole day focussed around that 90 minutes.

Dan:
You had the same problem with cricket like five days. It was a draw, like come on.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, I've said this on the podcast before, but, um, yeah, I was I was up to a point where I actually coached cricket was when I realised that it's boring, like my dad forced me to go through this whole coaching career as a yeah for cricket. And then I got to 18. I was like, I'm really bored of this. No, I don't like this. Yeah.

Dan:
Well, better late than never.

Charlie:
Yes, yes I suppose. Yeah. But, um, no. At the same time, for those who do enjoy it, I can understand why they appreciate the sport. But not for me. Not for me. Yeah. Same. Um, but. Yeah. Football. I think it's a it's a huge part of British culture still. And yeah, most, most guys would be like, oh yeah, I'd be up for going to watch a football match. I'd say.

Dan:
I think traditionally, yeah. But I think now it's like you have to be a member and it costs you like £500 a year just to be a member, to be able to try and buy tickets and. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. It's not a sport for poor people anymore. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Or maybe you've been a loyal fan for ages. You've held on to those season tickets and or your friend has done that, and then they're like, oh, I've got a spare one this weekend. Do you want to come?

Dan:
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Um, so yeah, I'd probably go, I don't know, once or twice a year, maybe a bit less nowadays, but yeah.

Dan:
Me too. These days.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. 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. Um, cheese and wine tasting parties.

Dan:
Interesting.

Charlie:
Um, cheese and wine tasting party.

Dan:
Say something that's going to out me as being a terrible British person, but I am not a big fan of cheese. Oh. Which is almost a sacrilege thing to say. Coming from England, I also don't drink tea very much, so that's why I tell people I left England. They kicked me out for being not British enough. No. Yeah. All joking aside, I'm not a big fan of cheese, so this wouldn't really appeal to me.

Charlie:
What? What's what's cheese done to you? What's it done to you to to offend.

Dan:
Existed

Dan:
Basically. That's the problem. Yeah. You know, I can tolerate cheese on other things, but just like, here's a block of cheese, like. All right. Yeah. Thanks.

Charlie:
Like a even like a cheddar. Just like a plain or like quite a strong cheddar. You don't like that?

Dan:
No mini cheddars I could deal with. I'm joking, but no, I've never been a big fan of cheese, so that wouldn't really appeal to me. But I know lots of people are into this. Like a cheese board, especially like Christmas. It seems like a Christmassy thing when you get like a bottle of wine and a cheese board. It's quite a romantic thing sometimes between like a couple or. But yeah, it's it's for want of a really overused British expression. It's not my cup of tea. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
And the wine.

Dan:
I could take it or leave it. My favourite wine is vodka.

Charlie:
So nice. Oh, interesting. Dan, where's that grown? Yeah.

Dan:
Well, the cheap stuff's grown in the off licence in a barrel somewhere. Probably. Oh, dear. Yeah.

Charlie:
Okay, so I think it's got a pretentious rap in the UK. In Australia, it was quite common for my friends to do it, and I think it's a bit more accessible. And I mean, they don't have the class based system as much in Australia, so it's naturally going to be less stigmatised. But yeah. Would you agree with that?

Dan:
I would say it's a bit posh.

Charlie:
It's a bit posh.

Dan:
Seems like you'd buy a kit from somewhere like Waitrose rather than Aldi, you know. You know what I'm saying? Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I can agree with you on that one. Mhm.

Charlie:
Uh escape rooms.

Dan:
Interesting one. I'd never done one in England but I've done a couple in Japan.

Charlie:
Yeah. That might be to do with the fact that they've become more popular in the last 5 to 10 years.

I would imagine so, like they weren't really a thing when I was last in England. Yeah. But it's kind of fun. It's if you've got the right group. I think if you're in a group with people that annoy you, it's probably going to be not a nice experience. But the ones I've done have been nice, but trying to do it in Japanese is always a bit trickier. Oh gosh.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. How is your Japanese?

Dan:
uh, I can I don't know how you would call how you would describe it basically. Upper intermediate to advanced. Probably similar level to what people are listening. And I studied for the purpose of communicating. And I just kind of learned what I needed to do and then didn't really worry about it too much after that. Right? Yeah. So mostly it's just naturally being picked up. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. So and one of those was escaping a room. You needed to do that.

Dan:
Yeah. And some of it was a bit weird. But you know, when you're around Japanese people that can help you fill in some of those blanks, it's not so bad.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's quite crucial to to know those little subtleties in an escape room because they're they're hints to the next step, aren't they. So you could be stuck in literal. Yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. You could be stuck there forever. Um. But yeah, So escape rooms, I think they're just globe. No, probably not globally, but I mean I went to one in in Germany when I was living there 5 or 6 years ago. And I've noticed that they're popping up in the UK. When I was in Edinburgh this weekend, I saw that there was an immersive sort of horror ghost sort of escape room kind of thing.

Dan:
like different themes and stuff. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, that would be a good way to shake the Hangover. I was, I was thinking I was, I was, I was borderline contemplating.

Dan:
Shock my system.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Oh, I've forgotten that I'm hungover.

Dan:
Yeah. The adrenaline will sort you right out.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah. So escape rooms, they're they're a thing. And I think, um, especially bigger cities around the UK, I would encourage you to do them. I think they're a good way to bond with people. I'd go with a group of like what, four? Five?

Dan:
I think between 3 and 5 probably is a good three and four.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Dan:
Okay. Too many. Why is it too many cooks spoil the broth? So if there's like 20 people, you're never going to agree on anything, so. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Nice. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Um, going on a coffee crawl.

Dan:
That's interesting. I would have expected the word pub crawl. Yeah. A coffee crawl. I guess it's the same concept, but you're visiting different cafes rather than pubs, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie:
Makes sense. So the shorthand or the subtext after this says popular in Scandinavian countries and Australia, where friends visit several coffee shops. Say again.

Dan:
I said Australia's serious about their coffee, so that kind of makes sense.

Charlie:
They are? Yeah, yeah. Where friends visit several coffee shops in a single day to sample different coffees and pastries. That is. That is perfect. I would love to do that.

Dan:
It sounds lovely. Yeah, as long as you don't need to sleep that evening. Yeah.

Charlie:
No. Yeah. Oh, actually, yeah. I would struggle if I have back to back coffees. I am on the bathroom floor wishing I didn't do that. Yeah. My heart is just like, yeah.

Dan:
I can sit like in Tom and Jerry cartoons. You see it pumping out of your chest? Yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
Is coffee a big part of Japanese culture?

Dan:
Yeah. Coffee is important here. Um. It's available. Like even vending machines. Like, the vending machines have little cans of hot coffee that you can get and stuff. It's kind of cool.

Charlie:
Okay. Um, do the vending, does that provide good quality? A vending machine? Yeah.

Dan:
It's fine. It's not like world beating, but it's fine. You'll pay like ¥100. You'll get a little cup of hot, a little can of hot coffee and. Yeah, yeah. Cool. While you're waiting for your bus or whatever, it's quite nice. Okay. And? And every convenience store has, like, their own coffee machines. So you can buy, like, a cup of coffee. Yeah, yeah, it's easily available.

Charlie:
So how much would you say a normal cup of coffee in a cafe is? Because you just said ¥100. That's about £0.50 I've just googled. That's cheap.

Dan:
It didn't used to be, but it is these days. Um, if I go to, like, an actual cafe, I'm probably looking about 500, ¥600 for a cup of coffee, right? Which is probably about £3, give or take.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. Not too far from what we're used to. Although Costa is, um, helping make that not true. Um, okay, so we wouldn't do a coffee crawl in the UK. I think that's a bit strange. Um, we've got mainly chains of coffee machine coffee.

Dan:
It's not that interesting is it?

Charlie:
No, no. Should we go to this Cafe Nero and then that Cafe Nero and then that Costa?

Dan:
Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie:
Let's mix it up. Let's go crazy. Easy. Um.

Dan:
Yeah. Can't imagine.

Charlie:
I don't I don't really like how we've got all these chains across the UK.

Dan:
No, I quite like the more independent, you know, one off kind of thing.

Charlie:
Yeah. It might be just a cliche comment, isn't it? Like, who really? Do you know? Many people who would say I love a chain?

Dan:
No, nobody does. But we're just kind of accustomed to it now. Like the high street is just. Well, that's one of my biggest problems with modern high streets is like, it's just copy and paste. It's the same thing in every single high street. There's no unique thing anymore. So. Yes, yes. But now I'm sounding like a grumpy old man shouting at clouds. So.

Charlie:
Shouting at clouds. I've not heard that before.

Dan:
Yeah, it's a Simpsons reference for you guys. Oh, is it The Simpsons? Yeah.

Charlie:
Okay. Shouting at clouds. Um, so we wouldn't do a coffee crawl, but we we do drink coffee. Certainly. We would do a pub crawl. Let's talk about that. So, um. Yeah. Would that be going far and wide, or would that be just going up and down the same high street kind of thing?

Dan:
Um, usually like in, in if you're in Sheffield, there's a street called West Street, which is like the, the Bar Street, you know. Right. And you would start at one end and work your way down to the other end. And usually it's like, um, a predetermined, I don't know, itinerary is the word. I don't know if you have an itinerary for that kind of thing, but, you know, and when I was in uni, we used to play a game called Pub Crawl golf.

Charlie:
Yeah. Pub golf. I was just gonna ask this. Yeah.

Dan:
Yeah. Which is a strange concept, but for British people, it's completely normal thing to do with your weekend. But. Yeah, and you don't. Especially if you can do it in fancy dress. That's even better.

Charlie:
Yes. You don't need a set of golf clubs to enjoy this. This sport? Um, sport? Yeah, it is a sport. Dan.

Dan:
I'm not going to argue.

Charlie:
So I think the idea is there's a is it, if somebody takes it very seriously, there's a scorecard and you've got to get a certain type of drink in each hole.

Dan:
Yeah. They'll be like which is the pub.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Dan:
Yeah, yeah. It's like the Par is to drink a tequila shot and something else in this pub and then. Yeah. Yes.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. So that.

Dan:
if you made it to the end you've done well.

Charlie:
And that I guess is why they call it a crawl, because by the end of it you are crawling from pub to pub. Um, I don't do this anymore. I did it at uni to old.

Dan:
It was a uni thing.

Charlie:
It's a uni thing, isn't it? Once you realise that, um, you don't need to be crawling around to prove your worth in a social group. I don't think there's.

Dan:
Anybody actually enjoy it past the third pub. I don't think so. I think it just becomes a bit of an endurance test.

Charlie:
It is yeah.

Dan:
Whats wrong with just going to the pub for a quiet pint and just enjoying it. What's wrong with that? Yeah. Says the 40 year old. So? The 18 year old me would be gutted to hear me say that.

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. If. If only he knew what's down the line. Um. Poor guy. So the next one is a bonfire on the beach. This sounds dangerous.

Dan:
I mean, on a British beach. I don't fancy it that much. I mean, I should qualify that with. I'm from the north and our beaches are horrible, so. Well, I.

Charlie:
Yeah, I don't want my family to hear this, but I went to a beach with them the other week. The other month for a British, um, southern coast sort of camping trip. And they were like, we're going to West Wittering. It's the best beach on the South Coast. I was like, really? Because I've just moved from Australia. So I've got high expectations, high expectations, and they sat me down and I mean, I got through and it was it was really weird. It looked like a refugee camp in a way, because there was like different, like small little pockets of people with these wind breaking sort of materials like, yeah, the sheets everywhere. Yeah. So much tarpaulin everywhere. And the sand is blowing in your face and you're just, like, grinning and bearing the mediocre weather. It was, I would say it was disgusting.

Dan:
It's pretty much an accurate description of what it's like to go to the beach as a British person. Yeah. It's like, you know, hide behind the windbreak, try and make a little sandcastle and then back in the car before you get diphtheria or something like. That's great.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. That's true.

Dan:
Yeah. So I can't imagine the bonfire on the beach being like, you know, you kind of see it in films where it's like, oh, they go to the beach at sunset and they have a bonfire and it looks really nice, and somebody's got a guitar and oh yes, I can't imagine it in England, you know.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. I don't know if they do it. I mean, they've got it here. They said common in places like California, Australia and Brazil, but Australia, I mean New South Wales is very it's a bit of a nanny state. So they really don't let you do much like they, they barely let you drink alcohol out in public. And if you've got a glass you're arrested immediately. So I think a fire naked fire would be. Yeah. But um yeah, maybe maybe Brazil I reckon.

Dan:
But. I reckon Brazil they're big fans of the beach aren't they. So yeah. Yeah I reckon.

Charlie:
Okay, so don't encourage yourselves to do bonfires on the beach. If you're in the UK, stick to the pub crawls.

Dan:
Yeah, yeah. What could go wrong. What's more British than that. Yeah.

Charlie:
Talking of which. Afternoon tea?

Dan:
This is something I've never, ever done. My wife has done this more than me. When we visited England together in 2019, she really, really wanted to do this and I was just like, the only people that do this are tourists, man. Like nobody. I don't know, but my mum took my wife for afternoon tea and I was I was baffled by the whole thing.

Charlie:
Um, I've never gone to the Ritz for afternoon tea, but I do know some, uh, of my female friends. They have done it multiple times. Yeah. So we're from Surrey, so just outside of London. So I think going to the going to the town and making an evening of an afternoon of it, that might be something that some do.

Dan:
Quite decadent. Oh yes.

Charlie:
Oh yes.

Dan:
Yes yes yes.

Charlie:
So involving tea, scones, finger sandwiches and cakes in a quaint tea room. Um. Yeah. Yeah, the Ritz is famous for it.

Dan:
Yeah, yeah. It is.

Charlie:
Um, yeah. All right. Next one.

Dan:
What it is, what it is like. I think it's here in Japan. It's quite popular, but it's kind of like anything if you go to like, they've obviously seen it in a film and tried to copy it and it's not quite right, you know. Yeah. Like like kind of like sushi in England. We've seen it, but it's not quite right. You know, it's that kind of thing. So yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
It's like in America they try to create pubs and it just, it feels like.

Dan:
They've seen it in a film once. Yeah. They tried their best.

Charlie:
Yeah. And it's like it's a bit like going round, um, Madame Tussauds or like a theme park. That's like imitating real life. It's kind of like,

Like a Hogwarts theme park, but.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I know this isn't real. This is a set I'm on. Where's the camera?

Dan:
Yeah, exactly. Like some, um, Hollywood filming studio or something.

Charlie:
Yeah, exactly. We have come to the end of part two now. So again, feel free to pause the episode, to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. All right, so moving on to part three. Now enjoy. But this one you might be able to speak to attending a music festival.

Dan:
Oh yeah. I mean England's kind of got a lot of good music festivals, right? Yeah. Depending on what you're into, there's like a music festival for everybody. Like, no matter what you're into.

Charlie:
Absolutely. Yeah.

Dan:
So yeah, in my younger days, big fan, I was a musician in my younger days, played in bands and stuff, and summer was always about like, which festivals are you going to go to this year?

Charlie:
Would you perform in any.

Dan:
Only like smaller, like city based ones rather than the actual big ones? But yeah. Um, what? Always liked that.

Charlie:
What instrument did you play or do?

Dan:
I can play. I generally played guitar, but I can also play bass and drums and some other bits and bobs, so. Nice. Depending on the different bands and different people I was playing with, it depends on what I was doing, but. Have you ever had a guitar?

Charlie:
Ever treated yourself to a loop pedal and created your own stuff now?

Dan:
No. No. I've seen plenty of people doing it though. It looks cool, but, um. Yeah, I wouldn't be so much of a virtue of mine. It's just four chords in it. Like it's not that interesting.

Charlie:
Um, what kind of music do you like?

Dan:
Um, so anywhere from, like, I grew up listening to, like, dance music when I was, like, younger. And then I discovered, like, punk rock at about age 13. So I was really into, like, punk rock and Metal and all that stuff. And nowadays I'm really into, like, lo fi, like chill, lo fi, study girl hip hop stuff. So yeah, quite a wide variety of music that I'm into. But my heart's always going to be with like punk rock and that kind of stuff. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Nice. My friend, uh, was also into punk rock, and he was telling me a little bit more about it. I'm a million miles away from appreciating it, but I can, I can, I can understand.

Dan:
It is very much an acquired taste. Like, yeah.

Charlie:
I could, I could enjoy a bit of lo fi with you now. Yeah. Um, another friend actually took me to a gig where this, um, he's actually got a small record label, and this artist that he showed me was on his label, and he became really successful over the last five years or so because of the Spotify playlists that are doing all these lo fi, hip hop kind of things. He's, um.

Dan:
Along with this kind of music.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's, um, he's like a smooth jazz musician, but just, like, incredibly diverse. Like, he uses synthesisers and piano, drums and bass and, like, it's they're like an incredibly talented band within their own right of their instruments. Whereas most low fi that we hear is produced just on the computer, isn't it? So it's like drag and drop kind of thing. So he's climbed the ranks quite well because he's actually a musician within that field, if that makes sense.

Dan:
Not just somebody in their bedroom, right?

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ollie. Ollie. How? If you wanted to listen to him, guys, I'll.

Dan:
Make a note of that.

Charlie:
O L I - H O W E very eclectic or very, um. Uh, diverse. Experimental. That's the word experimental. Um, okay. So music festivals? Yes. We would go to them regularly. Well, you'd probably go to only one in the summer.

Dan:
Usually you'd pick which one you're going to go to. Like you'd see the line-ups come out, maybe like March, April time. And you decide like where your budget's going to go for that year. Like, I mean, tickets nowadays are so expensive you could pretty much only really afford to go to one if you're going to go for the weekend, because usually you'd go for three days and camp or whatever. So yes. Yeah, it's quite expensive nowadays.

Charlie:
Which ones did you go to?

Dan:
Uh, often things like Leeds reading I would go to. Um, back in like 2000ish, 2002. Then there was a festival called Slam Dunk Festival, which I think is still happening. Yeah. And I would often go there and it was all it was more about which bands were going to play where rather than the festival itself, to be honest.

Charlie:
Aha. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So you're following that rather than the location? Yeah, sure. Um, what about attending a stand up comedy show?

Dan:
Yeah, I used to go to the comedy club sometimes and just watch whoever was on. But I'm a huge fan of stand up comedy, so. Yeah, that sounds like a great evening. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah. Perfect. Perfect for me. I would enjoy that. Yeah. Um, Sheffield has it got a lot of comedy?

Dan :
Got a couple. Uh, the couple like comedy clubs, depending on which night it is. But, I mean, most of the stand up comedians usually hit Sheffield City Hall on their tours or whatever. Yes. Okay. Um, and yeah, I've seen quite a few really, really funny comedians in Sheffield.

Charlie:
Who have you seen?

Dan :
So, uh, Jimmy Carr was good. Okay.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, I saw him, um, in where I was from, and it was like a probably a 200 seater, like a very small venue. Exactly. So he was really getting some heckles that he was able to deal.

Dan :
With, like audience participation, isn't it? At that point. Yes.

Charlie:
Yeah, that's a big part of his act isn't it.

Dan :
Mhm. So yeah, I think he's probably the most famous one that I saw. Uh Reginald D Hunter was another one that I enjoyed.

Charlie:
Oh I don't know this one.

Dan :
Yeah. He's, he was quite famous on like you know like 'mock the week' and would I like.

Charlie:
Oh yeah.

Dan :
All these kind of panel shows.

Oh I like him, actually.

Dan :
Yeah, he's really funny. So. American guy. Really? Really?

Charlie:
Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Um, I've seen quite a few big ones, but I think as soon as they get to, like Wembley Stadium, it loses its magic for me. Like, it's the intimacy that makes a comedian really magical. In my opinion.

Dan :
When they start filming DVDs in stadiums, you know, like, okay, they've really made it now, like Lee Evans or somebody, you know? Yeah.

Charlie:
I went to see Lee Evans in Wembley. Yeah. And Ricky Gervais as well.

Dan :
Yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
Um, okay. So but we would do that and there's smaller venues all around. Like for example London, there's just hundreds, and that's a very good social occasion. You could go just with your mate, or you could go with a group of people, a mix of genders as well. It's like quite a casual.

Dan :
Open to everybody, I think. Yeah.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Um, so what else? Um, I just want to pick a couple more. Uh,

A very extensive list that I'm looking at. Oh, yeah. Plenty to pick from.

Charlie:
Sauna nights.

Dan :
Wow. The British person in me is very sceptical about this. Go on. Yeah. I think like, coming to Japan where, you know, public bathing and saunas and, you know, onsen and all that stuff.

Charlie:
What's onsen?

Dan :
Onsen? Oh, sorry. Uh. Hot springs. Like a hot spring. Um, that kind of concept, like, I don't know, maybe, like I'm too prudish, you know, the British prudish attitude. Like, I it seems weird to me. Like. But, you know, I bet you know Finland or something. Mad for this kind of thing.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan :
I bet they're mad for it.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah. Um, what do you mean by prudish? In that sense?

Dan :
The concept of being naked in front of other people to enjoy something seems like something that is not that easy for me. Like, you know, like when you have that dream as a kid that you forgot to get dressed and you went to school or something and you're like, oh my God, it's like the worst thing that ever happened to me. And then like, oh, you choose to do that? Cool.

Charlie:
I'd like you to ask your Japanese friends if that is a common, recurring nightmare in their childhood or their teenage years.

Dan :
Once I've said it out loud, I'm like, I'm pretty sure that's only me.

Charlie:
But no, that's that's like common in, like, Hollywood films, isn't it? It's like, ah, I forgot my clothes kind of thing. Like in the middle of the gymnasium or whatever.

Dan :
Yeah. Like I think the other thing as well is like, obviously I'm a big fat white guy and like all these little Japanese people, whenever I go anywhere like that, they're just like. Suddenly the centre of attention is like, oh, okay, cool. This is so much fun.

Charlie:
Is it is it fully naked?

Dan:
Yeah.

Charlie:
Oh, wow.

Dan :
Um. But luckily, I'm saved by the fact that I have tattoos. And usually that's a pretty good way to get banned from any kind of public nudity in Japan. So do they ban that? Yeah. Like, I, I mean, it's the attitude to tattoos is deeply ingrained in their society because it was a mark of the yakuza, which is like it's like a crime, right? So for most Japanese people, tattoo equals they're involved in crime. And that for I mean, even certain gyms, I'm not allowed to go to certain hotels I'm not allowed to stop at. And, you know, this kind of thing and. Wow, it's kind of weird. Yeah, yeah, it is changing, but it's slow.

Charlie:
Okay, okay. Yeah, that's that's something that you wouldn't ever think about in the UK. If you're about to get a tattoo. You'd be like, oh, you'll regret this when you're an old man like, oh, you'll regret this if you live in Tokyo.

Dan :
Yeah. Well I definitely didn't see it coming, so. But it kind of saved me from the embarrassment. Do you want to go to the hot springs? Oh I can't. I've got. Yeah. Shame. Yeah. It's like a get out of jail free card. Yeah, yeah.

Charlie:
That's funny. How common would you say? How common would you say tattoos are in the UK?

Dan :
Oh, they're increasingly common. I would imagine I would imagine that it's going to correct itself at some point because it seemed like from me being like 15 to 30, everyone got a tattoo, like everyone's got a tattoo. But I think that'll eventually correct itself with less and less people getting tattoos because it's going against the grain, which is what young people generally do. Right. Yeah.

Charlie:
That's true. Yeah. The the idea of a tattoo is kind of to individualise yourself or like make yourself a little bit different. But if everyone's doing it, then yeah, it might. Exactly. Yo. Yo back. Um, I just, uh, googled it. And apparently 42% of people born in the 80s and 90s have at least one tattoo.

Dan :
Mhm. Sounds lower than I expected, actually, to be honest.

Charlie:
I really I think that's still very high.

Dan :
42% in my head I was like at least 50, so. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Charlie:
Tattoos have become increasingly mainstream, with over 20 million people in the UK now having at least one. 20 million. Yeah.

Dan :
Big business.

Charlie:
Yeah.

Dan :
But they've evolved though, like in the 80s, everyone had like a, you know, it's normal to get like a Tasmanian devil, which is like the cringe one or like a tribal tattoo, Like. All right. Gavin, what tribe are you from? You know, I mean, but nowadays, I think there's a lot more artistic merit in some of the tattoos that people get now, which is kind of cool. Yeah.

Charlie:
And meaning as well. Something to do with family or something like that. Um, yeah. Okay. But going back to sauna nights, Brits don't really have a culture around saunas. We don't really know what we're doing. I mean, I was a member at a really posh gym before I realised I can't afford this. Um, and they've got, like, three types of saunas and a jacuzzi and, like, a cold plunge. And everyone was just doing it all wrong. Like, we were all just madness. Yeah, yeah. We just didn't know what we were doing. And I actually saw a German lady in there getting very upset with how we were doing it, and she went and complained. She was like, this is not how it is done.

Dan :
Get these people under control. The bit that blew my mind most. There was. There's three different kinds of saunas.

Charlie:
Yeah. Wet, dry and steam. So it's not a sauna. Well, is it a steam room, a wet sauna or a dry?

Dan :
Semantics at this point. Yeah, but I just thought sauna is sauna and like that. Yeah, but that's how uncultured I am.

Charlie:
There you go. Yeah, I think most scandies would be quite shocked with that because I think they, they, they almost like, not require I'm going to be shot for saying that. But like they're assuming that most people know about the two like the dry and wet kind of thing. So yeah, I'm going.

Dan :
To get lynched if I ever go to Stockholm, is what you're.

Charlie:
Saying. Or me for saying something so incredibly incorrect? Yeah, but they they are very understanding of the benefits of cold plunge and sauna and stuff like that. Um, would you appreciate cold Plunge?

Dan :
I'd like to try it at least once in my life just for the sake of it. But it's hard enough to go from, you know, like a hot shower into a lukewarm bath. Like, I don't know how much I'd fancy jumping in some ice water after that. Yeah, I don't know. People are weird, man. Everybody likes something like, cool. Whatever floats your boat. Like crack on. Yeah.

Charlie:
Very good phrase. Whatever floats your boat. Um, yeah. I was surprised that I got into it. And, uh, afterwards, you feel a good little buzz from it. Yeah. And your mind feels clean and like. Yeah, it's a nice feeling, I recommend it. Um, and also, I always avoid, like, anything that's slightly not pleasurable in life. And I think it's very good for us to experience that. Mhm. Interesting. Yeah. Full of luxuries. Our lives nowadays I'd say. Yeah. Exactly. All right, uh, let's end on making a bonfire in the countryside. Making a bonfire in the countryside.

Dan :
I mean, growing up in England, obviously my mind immediately just goes to November 5th, Bonfire Night, and I wouldn't necessarily equate that with the countryside as much as being in an open area where you're not going to set fire to some houses or something.

Charlie:
That's the ideal. Yeah.

Dan:
Yeah. And I think a Brit, a regular British bonfire in a local village or a small town is a great way to prepare young people for the inevitable disappointment of life because it's hyped up for months. It's going to be this big thing, and it's a little fire in the local park and a couple of Catherine wheels and a soggy hot dog, and it's like, come back next year. And inevitably it's going to rain and call off the whole thing anyway. So yeah. But I am joking, by the way. Everybody, like I am being very cynical. If you are in England, try and go to your local bonfire. It's something to experience but don't hold your breath, I would say.

Charlie:
Yeah. Don't think it's like, um. Well, actually, I was about to say don't think it's like Disneyland or anything, but I was just as disappointed when I went to Disneyland. And and, I mean, you've got to spend a fiver maybe if you go to these bonfires, they like shaking the charity buckets at you at the end and the at the entrance and the exit. But yeah, spending a fiver over a wet, soggy hot dog versus, what, hundreds of dollars. Yeah. Anyway, um, it is a thing, but, um, outside of, um, Guy Fawkes. Yeah. The November the 5th, I think you just occasionally smell somebody else's burning like a bonfire to get rid of all of the compost or something at the end of their garden,

Dan:
Like some kind of farming thing, maybe like the. They, like, um, ploughed the fields or something. There's some leftover stuff they've got to burn or whatever. So.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dan:
I don't ever imagine doing it for fun.

Charlie:
Yeah. It says here a favourite in rural Britain and many parts of the world where friends gather around a fire to share stories, roast marshmallows or cook. I don't think we roast marshmallows on the regular, do we?

Dan:
No, no. Like, especially. Depends what you're burning. If you're burning like a bunch of old wood. I don't really fancy. I mean, maybe all right, but if you're burning, like, hazardous material to get rid of it, maybe a marshmallow is not the best idea. That's. That seems like an American campfire style thing where it is, like. Sounds nice and romantic, but I can't imagine people doing that in England very much.

Charlie:
No, there's a thing called a s'more in America. Have you heard?

Dan:
I've heard of it, but I don't know what it is.

Charlie:
It's like a sandwich of, uh, not like a cracker. It's kind of like a cracker with marshmallows and chocolate or Nutella, and you kind of like a marshmallow.

Dan:
Guessing you don't mean like a cream cracker. Not like a Jacobs cream.

Charlie:
No no no, no. You just, like, put like, these biscuit bits. Like a little biscuit or something. And then you melt it. And it is very nice, but it sounds nice. It's a lot more like, um, summer camp for them.

Dan:
Yeah, that kind of image is what I've got in my head.

Charlie:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I went to a couple of places camping with a couple of American friends, and they brought their S'more like tongs. Like, it was like.

Dan:
They have specific tools for this?

Charlie:
Yeah. So, you know, the the toastie machines that we have. Imagine that shrunk down into, like, a square. And you put the marshmallow and the, the things that I just mentioned and you clamp it down and then you put it in.

Dan:
Okay. So it's like on like on the end of the tongue. It's like a toastie machine basically. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Well yeah. That's the modern world working well, like we've got a problem. Let's fix it. Let's make tongs for s'mores. What a world.

Charlie:
But I don't think we would. We would sit around the fire as Americans would. I mean, it's probably part of our climate. Like, it's not going to be that warm in the evenings.

Dan:
When are you going to do that?

Yeah. Yeah. But we would gather around watching a Guy Fawkes effigy burning down and be like, hey, why? Why are we doing this again? I don't remember, but Guy Fawkes. Yeah, let's watch him burn.

Dan:
Couldn't he have got caught in August where there's at least a chance of it being warm? Like he had to get caught in November, didn't he? Like. Cheers, mate. You've ruined everybody's November. Dodging the rain. Yeah. Freezing cold. Yeah. Watching some fireworks.

Charlie:
And to talk about the rain with the fire as well. It's very hard to light it. So a couple of times in the park that I went to as a kid, they would put loads of petrol around it and then light it and go poof.

Dan:
Health and safety. Yeah, it wasn't a thing in the 80s. Yeah.

Charlie:
And the kids are like, oh, that's very hot. Oh, gosh. Yeah. But yeah, a few fireworks to the end of the evening and then that's it. But yeah. So we didn't get through all 50 because that would be ridiculous. But, um, thank you very much for helping. Um, yeah. Shed some light on some social activities that we do and don't do and how often we do them in the UK. Um, but yeah. Thank you very much, Dan. Um, so can I point people to Brit speak pod and Brit speak your Instagram. Anything else?

Dan:
I mean, that's the main place to find me is I'm most active on Instagram and I just think it's at Brit speak. And then the Brit Speak Pod is my podcast. The second season starts in October. So that's if you like listening to the ramblings of a madman. Give it a go. And, uh, other than that, you know, um, all the places you expect to find people that do this kind of thing, I'll probably exist on most platforms somewhere, but Instagram is probably your best bet.

Charlie:
Brilliant. Okay, well, thank you very much for listening to the end of this, guys. Thank you Dan. And yeah, maybe in the future. Be good to have you back on the show.

Dan:
I'd be more than happy to do it. So cheers for having me today.

Charlie:
Wonderful. All right. See you soon. Bye bye, Dan. Cheers, mate. Bye. 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.