Hello everybody and welcome back to the Level Up. English podcast. The best place to come to practice the English language, learn about the British accent and culture with me, your host. michael lavers if you are new here you might not know that although usually i'm just talking on my own here Once a month, we do bring on a guest to talk about. This could be a teacher or an expert in some other area. And today...
Is That Guest Day? And this is a really special episode. I hope you will stick around for this one because we are talking to Teacher Zdenek for the second time. And not only that, but we are talking... in person. I almost never do these in-person interviews because I don't have the opportunity very often. So I was really excited to have this opportunity. with teachers denik the last time he was on the podcast was episode 175 and now it's like double that amount later and he is back
And luckily it just worked out. We tried to arrange this a few months ago and it didn't work, but this time we were successful. So Zdenek and I met in a... popular park in the center of bangkok and we found a quiet area under this kind of like roof this shaded area where there wasn't there weren't too many people and we had a chat really with no plan. So if you like very casual episodes and you like to hear natural English that isn't...
performed or we're not talking really slowly, we're talking quite naturally with one another, then I think you will love this episode. I did my best to make the audio sound as good as I... as good as I possibly could. So hopefully it's okay. It's not obviously going to be as good. as usual because we are outside but this is something i'm looking to do more of in the future so maybe when i have the opportunity to meet other teachers
in person, I think it could be really fun to find some place outside in a park and take the podcast out there. Although I think if I do that again, I will be a bit more prepared. I will make sure to bring charging cables for my camera that was about 60 seconds where the camera stopped filming. I'll also make sure to buy a better microphone.
that is more suitable for outside interviews but yeah for this one i think it should be okay so if you do want to watch on youtube that's an option and you can see the beautiful sunny and hot uh surroundings where we're filming but there isn't really anything special to see we're not really showing many things so if you do want to listen on audio maybe like you normally do, that should be totally fine as well. So I really hope you enjoy this one.
Yeah, in this episode, teacher Zdenek and I spoke a little bit about moving abroad because now I'm living in Thailand and Zdenek is living in Vietnam and we compared some of... our experiences with that, like moving from home, what motivated us to do that, learning the local language, a little bit about teaching English, all sorts of topics today that I hope...
you'll find interesting. If you don't remember from the last time, teacher Stenek is a qualified English teacher from the Czech Republic originally. He also has a master's degree. in English, as well as Celta and Delta, all of these really impressive qualifications. So he's a great person to go to for any English-related questions. He's taught English in various countries around the world.
and also is quite passionate about football and board games. That might come up a little bit today. But yeah, if you want to know more about Zdenek, you can go to his website, which is teachersdenek.com. To spell his name, it's Z-D-E-N-E-K, so teachersdenek.com, but I'll put all the links below anyway for you to find.
But yeah, without any more delay, we can get right into our episode. I really hope you enjoy it. Let's see what we have to say. Hello, everyone. I am sat here with Stenek. Would you like to give a quick introduction and say what we're doing? Yeah, hello, I'm Zdenek. I am sitting here with Michael. So we are doing a podcast. I guess we are both podcasters and YouTubers. But to be honest, I don't feel like one much.
You're way more experienced than me. You have your famous channel, Level Up English Podcast. Yeah, good memory. Yeah, podcast is in the wild today. We're outside. We are in... I guess it's Chattachak Park. I think that's the name in Bangkok. Chattachak? Yes. Okay, so it's convenient that you're sitting here with a Czech person. There's a lot of noise around there, a lot of...
animals. You've shown me a lizard crawling up from a lake. That was cool. It's the first time I have seen anything like that, to be honest. Love taking people. I love giving people tours of Bangkok. I feel like I know Bangkok quite well at this point. And I think the lizards is always the...
one of the most shocking things to see. Maybe a lot of countries don't have that, especially in Europe. So you've got these huge monitor lizards here that you can see. We just saw one eating a fish, which I've never seen before. So yeah, it's very interesting. The largest one I have seen in Vietnam was the gecko, the small one. It sometimes gets inside your flat and starts eating all your mosquitoes, ideally.
those are the ones that make the weird sounds is that right they like scream yeah like it's it's more like a kissing sound isn't it the first time i heard that i had no idea what it was so i was a bit i was a bit scared i thought my ex-girlfriend was cheating on me Yeah, I guess basically we had the idea since we were lucky enough to meet up, we had the idea to just meet up and chat, maybe do something for both of our podcasts. So wherever you're listening to this, then hello, welcome.
And yeah, not really much plan, is there? We can just talk about maybe a little bit why we're here and our experiences here. Yeah, well, I like to wing it and I know you do too sometimes. You told me. a few minutes ago that those are your most popular podcasts with the most downloads and stuff so yeah yeah for sure for sure and people might remember because we worked together before right and you came on my podcast that's right
One thing I remember from that is you used so many good expressions, like wing it, for example. Oh, did I? Yeah, more than me, which is always nice because I can teach something new. So, yeah, winging it, like doing something without planning, right? I'm not sure it's going to happen today because I have to be honest with you, Michael, I'm slightly sleep deprived because I was so excited to meet you and to be on this podcast. I couldn't fall asleep at night. So I often talk.
nonsense, but today it might be even more bollocks on your podcast. Is that all right? That's fine by me. And I did want to ask, because I found out recently that you are a night owl, as you said. So be honest. What time did you wake up today? Just a disclaimer. I'm not an actual owl. I'm a human being. But do you really want to know? Because I don't want to shock your listeners.
It's pretty bad. I imagine it was earlier than normal because you're meeting me. Yes. You're completely right. 11, 12? 11.30 a.m. Yeah, but I went to bed at about... four o'clock but i i only fell asleep at six so wow so you're playing games i guess i blame you i have got some students yeah who listen to your podcast and they kind of
talk about the episodes with me sometimes in our lessons so of course it's a it's a wonderful opportunity to talk to you as well thank you so much that's nice to hear and it's different when like we've done this as you said we've done this online When was this? Like three years ago? I guess so. I lose track. It goes so quickly. Especially, you know...
People say since COVID, it's so hard to keep track of time. It's all messed up in my head. It could have been last year. It could have been five years. I have no idea. It wasn't last year. It was longer than that. But yeah, you're right. I'm the same. So it's all hazy in my memory. yeah but this is different right because you can kind of get to see the person it doesn't happen these days much anymore right people people always use the apps and social media
It's kind of meeting face to face is dying out. Yeah, it's a shame. I think this is also a very weird kind of concept, a very weird format as well, because we're meeting like we were chatting before this, of course, and now we've turned on the camera.
And there's that sense of being performative. We have to perform. Pressure, there's a lot of pressure. We don't even know what we are going to talk about, but that was the plan, just to kind of ramble. Yeah, and hopefully we'll find something along the way. One question, though, maybe this could be a good starting point, is a little bit about you, first of all. Let's take a step back. You're from the Czech Republic, or Czechia, would you call it now? Czechia.
Czechia, okay. Thanks for the correction. I don't know why everybody says Czechia. I guess it's the way it's spelled and people assume. Because it's a new, obviously it's a new word. They came up with this literally like six years ago. Our government people, they just decided it would be better for business because it's a shorter name. Harder to pronounce. Yeah, they've done something similar in Turkey, by the way.
I still don't know how to pronounce that. Turkey? It's now Turkey Air or something. Yeah, I prefer Turkey. Sorry, Turkish people. Me too, yeah. So yeah, you're from there, right? And then you... move you took a big move across the world so how how did that go and why did you do it if you don't mind sharing i'm kind of interested to hear yeah it's a long story actually what i have to say is that yes it can be intimidating to go this far and it's a completely different
culture right it's just such a such a contrast to what we know from europe but for me it wasn't that bad because obviously i had lived in the uk before and i worked there as a teacher as well right before covid And when Covid happened, when it all broke out. We will be right back to the Level Up English podcast after a short break. I would like to take just one minute to tell you about a new free mini course that I have available that you could try today. This is called Level Up Your English.
the mini series. So this is, again, a free course that you could take. It should take about one week to complete. I've made this course to be super accessible and easy to start. So once you sign up... you get sent an email with a 10-minute video lesson from me. And in this lesson, we'll be learning a little bit about grammar in a really fun way, I promise. And we'll be learning everything in context so it's more enjoyable and easier to learn.
Once you finish the first lesson, you'll be sent another lesson a couple days later, each lesson about 10 minutes long, so very manageable. And once again, it's totally free. So if you're interested in leveling up your English with me and you'd like to try. then you've got nothing to lose. Sign up today. There will be a link in your podcast description wherever you're listening to this episode, where you can click and join the free course today. Hope you find it useful. Thank you so much.
You know, it was hard for everyone. So I kind of started getting more active online and started teaching online as well. And after some time I got bored. I was thinking of going back to the UK, but because of one specific thing that happened, you know what I'm talking about, the B word, Brexit. Right, okay. It got more difficult for me to... to go there and i got what's the word i'm looking for i got a bit the not distracted disenfranchised yeah yeah yeah yeah uh and i just said to myself
you know what, let's do something different. Let's do something crazy, wild. Let's go to Vietnam. Wow. So it was a very conscious decision. You didn't fall into it by chance. You decided. Specifically Vietnam. Yeah, it was like a gradual process. I guess I did a little bit of research. I watched a few videos on YouTube. And it made sense.
for several reasons. One of them being that we have got a lot of Vietnamese people in my country, actually, because it's like the third largest minority after Slovak. people and ukrainians okay number three minority the largest minorities vietnamese which is mad surprising if you think about it because it's such a faraway country right
That's very interesting. So you already had maybe some exposure to the people and the culture to some extent. Yeah, completely. It doesn't compare to this course. Yeah. yeah so um how was the process for you going and moving like i i know there's a lot of probably paperwork and boring stuff but yeah yeah like the visa process yeah maybe you can that wasn't the fun part that wasn't too bad like you can just to be honest like
There's a visa you apply for. It's called e-visa, and it takes five days to process. So that's not too bad after all. Then you obviously have to book the ticket. That's quite expensive for us flying all the way from Europe, right? So you're like, what am I doing? Where am I going? Is this cheap? Is this expensive? In the end, you just have to do it.
You don't want to think about it anymore, right? And yeah, I guess I had a bit of culture shock at first, but I think because of that UK experience, it wasn't that bad because I was used to being on my own. I'd say I found my feet.
Pretty quickly. Another good expression, yeah. Yeah, I guess that kind of makes sense. So going to the UK, how old were you when you went to the UK? How old was I? Were you a proper adult? I have to... realize like how old i am now so now i'm 41 years old so when i went to the uk for the second time was in 2019 2019 and um
No, maybe 2018. Okay, so it wasn't too long ago then, actually. 2019, yeah. So that's like five years ago, six years ago. Okay, so you kind of, we could say you dipped your toes in the water. You kind of gradually got used to the idea of living abroad. Well, you were living abroad. That was my second time because when I was 21 years old, that's when I went to the UK for the first time. That's quite young. I lived there for one and a half years.
Fifteen years I spent in the Czech Republic. I did my university degree and started teaching English. It was always at the back of my mind. I always wanted to go back to those places that was almost out of nostalgia for me, you know, to go back to London. And so in the end, I did that, my dream. came through you could say and then it all went pear-shaped because of um not really brexit but covid
A couple of things happened, I guess. Kind of rhymes, right? COVID, Brexit. Both terrible things. Yes. But yeah, I mean, as you know, it's quite similar to my experience too, except that I didn't really have that. time in another country first to get used to it so moving to bangkok was like my first move abroad norway yeah i thought you'd been somewhere before that i've spent like a couple months here and there in different countries like japan and around
A lot around Asia, but a little bit Europe as well. Because I know, unlike me, you are a polyglot. You like to study languages. I don't know about that. No, come on. He's too humble. I like to study, but... My progress is so slow. I never feel that confident in anything. Not even in English these days. The difference is that you do something at least. I'm just lazy. I'm a lazy bastard. Lazy bones.
I think it's partially because it took me so long to learn English to this level that I almost sort of give up even imagining that I would have to do the same thing to go through that. It's not that it was... not enjoyable it was enjoyable but like it was a lot of effort yeah yeah and it's it's it feels kind of futile to to even think about it like oh how long would it take to take me to get to
a decent level of Vietnamese, you know, and then I sort of give up. Yeah, I mean, I know really what you mean because that feeling sneaks in for me all the time. I feel like the best way is just as much as you can try to avoid thinking about... the the long you know the whole map climb of the mountain you know it's like going to the gym isn't it like if you're going every day thinking when when am i going to have that six-pack abs like it's going to feel so uh
it's going to feel so painful to get to that level but if you just focus like in the moment focus on one pack day to day yeah one pack at a time i can do that with beer i don't i don't need to lift weights for that i don't need to pump iron focus on one One day at a time, progress little by little. I find that works much better for me. But yeah, when I slip into that way of thinking, it's very demotivating because learning a language is such a huge thing.
There's one thing I kind of admire about you. I have to say this. Whenever I listen to your podcast... Yeah, sorry. Thank you for... Just to explain to our audio listeners, Michael just reminded me that I should hold this... recording device closer to my mouth because that's the way it records my voice right hopefully it comes out yeah yeah i wanted to say that i i admire you for the way you talk about sort of your life and how you apply uh all
That stuff you can research for every episode. But it's also making me a little bit sort of intimidated. A little bit guilty that I don't do any of that.
Yeah, I don't know. You seem to be very sort of single-minded, like focused on your goals, like goal-driven, right? I don't know if I would say goal-driven. I love kind of... optimizing and like self-improvement that kind of stuff but I think a lot of it is not actually not goal-driven it's more just I maybe you know maybe at the start of the year like I did this year you know New Year's I take some time and
plan what i want to do in the year in the next few years um kind of just rough guidelines rough goals like you know improve this language or something and i kind of work out in order to get to that what steps i need to take on a daily basis to do that And then I just kind of forget about the goals and just focus on the daily tasks because I trust that that past version of Michael has decided in a smart way. So I kind of just, I get on each day with my language study and my...
going to the gym and stuff like that. I don't really think too much about the future, if that makes sense. We will be right back to the Level Up English podcast after a short break. I'm Michael Seavers, the writer... producer, and creator of The Silver King's War, a podcast series about my father's Second World War as a B-26 bombardier. Stanley L. Silverfield, known to his fellow warriors as the Silver King.
was the first lieutenant in the united states army air corps he rode in the nose the greenhouse of the famed martin marauder from a-72 north of paris the silver king a marauder man flew 38 missions. The Silver King's War is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Obviously, I must have planned things in my life. I've lived in a couple of foreign countries. I have a podcast. I have a YouTube channel. And I have done a degree.
but still I think maybe the older I get the more I prefer to as you said wing it And even the way I teach, these days it's mostly dogme. I don't know if you have ever talked about this on your podcast, a dogme method. I've heard about it, but I don't know enough to talk about it. So maybe you could...
Remind me what it is. Well, basically, the idea is that you don't use any material, any coursebook. It's more based on sort of conversation you have with someone. And anything that happens in the lesson or any sort of language work, it sort of crops up. in a natural way from your conversation. So let's say you start the lesson by talking to your student about their weekend or something like that, or an interesting article they have read, a cool video they have seen.
And then you sort of build the lesson around it. And then you notice maybe one language aspect they are struggling with. And then you focus on it. You do some sort of, I don't know, drilling or error correction feedback, whatever. But at the end of the day, it's unplanned. You're winging it all the time. You're improvising. And I feel like it's probably where I am at. Even for this podcast, I haven't prepared anything.
So I just feel more at ease. Paradoxically, it sort of eases off the pressure.
I don't know how it's even possible because usually it should be the other way around, right? When you prepare, you feel more confident. But sometimes for me, it puts too much pressure on me. And also it makes me maybe sound... less natural or less sort of I don't know like it's more forced and you have that pressure that you have to do everything according to the plan right and then when you don't and then you wear off the plan
you start getting uneasy about it. I don't know. Tell me, tell me what you think. I completely agree. I had, you know, this has just happened to me. You have so many things I want to say in my head. that they're all kind of fighting and now i've kind of forgotten a lot of them as a result of that that's all right yeah i i don't know what i can't think of the best thing to say but one thing i was going to say is i love that
that dogma method of teaching. I think that's, it just makes so much more sense. I think it's also a sign of a really good teacher that can do that and adapt to the student's needs and not just have like a set cookie cutter plan for.
for everyone yeah um yeah maybe you talk a bit more while i while i remember what i was going to say if you have something yeah yeah i i don't know like it's it's interesting like to think about how the students perceive it yeah so you could have students who really expect you to have the lesson prepared to have a clear structure aims lesson aims but
You know what? At the end of the day, it's the language inspectors or British Council or whatnot who like that the most. The students themselves. The students stick with me because they like this kind of way of learning. I think they feel less pressurized. And I don't know. It's just... I guess it can get repetitive and boring sometimes as well if you have nothing to talk about. But I'm lucky enough that...
Pretty much all my students are interesting people that always have things to talk about. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, that's what I was going to say, actually. I don't know if this can be related to language learning at all, but... When it comes to podcasting, I feel like at the beginning, I speak personally for myself, I had to do a lot more planning at the beginning because I had no experience doing a monologue or a conversation being recorded because there'd be a lot of pauses.
So what should I say now? And it takes a long time for me to build up that skill to just talk off the cuff and wing it, as you said, and not prepare anything like today. But if we did this like five years ago... There's no way I could do it without a client. I completely understand. And because we are both English teachers, I think it's the same with teaching. When you start as a teacher, when you are a novice teacher...
Honestly, you are a noob, right? To use a gaming terminology because your podcast is called Level Up, the Level Up English podcast. You are a complete noob. And now all those people are looking at you and expecting you to teach them and to... uh take them to another level so quickly and you're like what what what what am i even supposed to do so you do need some sort of like guidance or
I don't know, structure to what you're doing. I guess it could be applied to all aspects of life, more or less. Yeah, I think so. How about you with...
Vietnamese have you made any progress with that language I haven't even started so I just picked up a few phrases like please go slowly and when I take a grab which is the you know what it is the taxi motorbike taxi so like the important stuff like thank you and hello you know the basics like that doesn't really it goes a long way though like people appreciate that i'm sure yeah but like you don't want to spend like
it's almost like i use the same phrase like 50 times a day there's one phrase in particular which which is like no problem which i use so much i don't know why it's so useful because it kind of means like Not at all. It kind of means you're welcome, but it also means no problem. So it's pretty useful. Yeah, I see that.
It is very difficult. I imagine where you live in Vietnam is very similar to here. So many of my friends from the US, Australia, Europe, they don't know any Thai, even like 10 years here, which is quite shocking. I think if you're, especially in the center of Bangkok, you can live very comfortably and not use much Thai at all. It's very easy. And I think also Thai people are so friendly. Vietnamese too, I know. Yeah, they are also friendly.
give you a hard maybe they should but they won't give you a hard time if you don't know the language and to be honest they might laugh at you when you're attempting to speak but to be honest it never
It never really is a problem because I laugh at myself when I try to speak. So for me, it's a wonderful icebreaker, actually. I think it's more... it's different with english because i think the world has created a lot of pressure on everyone like even in vietnam everyone it's about all about the ielts core and
There's a lot of pressure from the parents and from your peers and from the teachers. I think English has a different status almost. That's why it's harder for people to be successful and people get more. anxious but when it comes to like these languages like Vietnamese where else is Vietnamese spoken probably just in Vietnam like Czech is only spoken in in the Czech Republic right so I think there's less pressure
What do you think? Yeah, I mean, what came to my mind is it's a really unfair kind of expectation level, whereas you might know, like you need to know five words in an Asian language as a white person. to be like impressive like wow that's amazing good job but then if you're learning English as you also might know unless you're like really really fluent like no one
No one's going to compliment you. You're expected to know English all over the world. They might even frown upon you. Yeah. So you don't get much praise for learning. And it's such a hard language, of course, isn't it? as a teacher i feel like i know how people struggle to learn but other people just don't other native speakers don't that's why that's why this is this is such a such a big difference like for example like you that's why i guess
I guess I'm more drawn to you guys. I'm going to mention, for me, you're the famous four. Luke, you, Martin from Rock and Roll English, and also Emma from the Procrastination Podcast with Emma. Very kind of you to include me. No, no. I feel like you are the people that are also studying other foreign languages. So you know what it means. You know how it feels. And you can empathize with the students. You can relate to that experience. And it's so important when you're a teacher as well.
So yes, you're right. There are a lot of native speakers who have that sort of reputation. But at the same time, I think you guys are trying to break the stereotype and you're doing really well. That's definitely motivation for me, actually, is being from such a monolingual country. That's part of my motivation to learn more. Of course, as a teacher, I feel like it's a good idea to know at least one language that isn't your native language.
But yeah, I mean, speaking about learning the local language, I was quite similar to you for like the first, it was almost first year, honestly, where I learned some basic Thai phrases. I did learn how to read before I got here, which helped a lot. but um not much more than that just very basic stuff and it wasn't until i went back to the uk last christmas last summer i guess it was in the summer um where i can you know i took a step back and i thought
I mean, I'm living there for almost a year now. I really should take it more seriously. I kind of felt guilty in some way. No, this is the only thing I have. Because I have got a lot of excuses. like i'm too old for this like even if i look at you now like michael is so much younger so i haven't i can i can blame it on that right
But no, you can't have these excuses. There's no excuse. I'm just lazy, guys. That's it. That's the reality. I have to face it. And either I'm okay with it. I accept the fact that I'm lazy and I don't feel bad about it. And then it's fine. Or I do something about it. There's nothing between. Excuses is just ridiculous stuff. It leads nowhere. If I were to word it in a kinder way, I might say rather than lazy, you might...
It might just be priorities, right? Because we all have... Thank you. I think we all have time to learn a language. I feel so much better now. But sometimes we just prioritize different things. You might prioritize having fun, relaxing, or prioritize going to the gym.
it's not always a bad thing if you're not focused on learning a language it's just you have to be honest with yourself like this isn't my top priority right now you know if you just had a baby that's that's what it is at the end of the day that's what it is but the thing is like part of you wants to do it right so that's why like there's this added guilt to it because part of you knows you should do it right it's also slightly hypocritical of you to not do it as an english teacher
Someone trying to teach someone a foreign language, although I'm in a position of someone who has learned English as a second language. So I guess that helps me a little bit as well. It's a psychological thing at the end of the day, isn't it? Yeah. I'll tell you what I'm doing, though, which I find super manageable. Maybe you could try something similar. I made the goal to do one new tie.
phrase or word every day i'll be honest it's not every day it might be like four or five times a week uh i don't usually do it on the weekends for example but basically i whenever i'm like going around my about my life and i realized there's a gap in my knowledge. Like I want to say something. So I was in a lift and the staff member in the lift kind of looked at me.
expecting me to tell her the floor number so she could press the button. And I don't know how to say floor in Thai. So I realized there's a gap in my knowledge. It was a little bit of an awkward interaction, but I just kind of pressed it myself. But then I wrote down, okay. floor on my thai notes app on my phone and then um the next morning i researched how to say floor yeah i added it to my flash cards um add some audio from from online that i found and now i'm studying
Which floor? Which floor? Fall number five, fall number six. And I know how to say that now. So hopefully in the future, I'll be able to say that. And like bit by bit, I'm kind of literally just no less than like... no more than four or five minutes a day, and I'm kind of slowly improving. This is quite nice. Great way, a natural way to learn, of course, out of necessity, right? You really need this to function. It's what we call functional language, right?
You need to function in that language. So that's what you go for. Because often when we enroll in a course, an English course, we get this course book and we are learning about things that we don't want to learn about. We don't need it. So I feel like this sometimes is the better way as well. Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's just it's more fun as well, especially if you're living in a place where you can practice, you can.
You can learn something in the morning and then practice it in a real situation that same day. You mean like enter the elevator more often than you need to and then the people might... think that you're weird or something and every time people join you in the lift you you will be like fifth floor sixth floor floor not one floor two
I've heard of people doing similar things where they'll ask people for directions, even though they know where to go, but they just want to practice their skills. And I don't know if I've ever done that, but... If I was a little bit braver, I might consider doing that just to strike up some conversation with someone that could be a thing you try. Absolutely.
It reminds me of that elevator story you just told me. It reminds me of the famous video, the Scottish elevator. You know which one I mean? I'm noting, but I don't know. So if you just Google it, listeners.
Basically, I don't know. Is it an ad? It might be an ad or something. I don't know why they recorded it. But Scottish people are somewhere. I guess they are in America or something. And they have a... voice operated elevator in there and there's two Scots inside the elevator and they are talking to it and saying 11.
In a Scottish accent, like 11. I don't know. You maybe can do a better impression than me, but 11. And the elevator does not understand them. So it keeps saying, please repeat your floor. And basically, they just get so annoyed because they keep repeating 11, 11, and they get really angry. And then there's also a twist to that video. It's so famous. 11.
Could you please repeat that? I'm sure a lot of your and my listeners know this. Yeah, that's kind of like racism, but with accents. There's so many accents in the world that a lot of this voice-activated stuff just wouldn't really work unless you're like that. RP English, kind of standard English. Yeah, so it's very unfair. Yeah, but it's a nice one. It's like a little joke, you know. One more thing I had in mind to ask you was...
A couple of things, but one, maybe about what you might miss from back home, like something that you don't have currently in Vietnam, but you miss from back home in Europe. I guess. When it comes to food, there's not much cheese in Vietnam. Or there is cheese, but it's more expensive. I guess they don't have so many cows. I don't know. There's definitely a reason for it. So basically, I don't end up buying almost any cheese.
And I miss that. But at the same time, it's a blessing in disguise because I lose weight more quickly. And yeah, I feel much better as a result of that. That's interesting. I think, yeah, a lot of the things that you might miss from Western countries might be unhealthy anyway. Like a lot of pizza and stuff like that. Yeah, I guess cheese on pizza. Yeah. It might be because a lot of Asian people are naturally more...
What's the word? Lactose intolerant. So maybe there's not so much of a historical cheese culture, dairy culture here. Right, right, right. Yes, same here. It doesn't cheese me off at all. It doesn't annoy him. Yes. Nice. Yeah. And then I guess that, like... Of course, it's always good and bad wherever you go. You can't say like one place is better than the other because it doesn't work like that. There are things that are better here. There are things that are better.
back in my home country there are things that are better in london in england but what now i lost my train of thought michael what was i gonna say there was a point to all this What was I going to say? There's pros and cons. So having no cheese is sad. Maybe that was a good thing you were going to mention. No, I was going to mention traffic, I guess.
so that one thing if i were to say one bad thing about vietnam is the traffic it's just it's too congested there's this the traffic gyms everywhere and people drive in a different way They just sort of more, what's the word for it? Like push, they push too much. Too aggressive. Like at the same time, I feel safer there. Yeah.
like it's it's weird because it's like organized chaos yeah but because they these people don't have a choice because the roads are so busy sometimes they have to like enter the the pavement as well yeah they have to ride or drive along the pavement. So you kind of get it. Some of the rules are broken as well, like sometimes they just go the wrong way or they ignore the traffic signs or something.
That's pretty common. But again, it kind of makes sense to do that in that environment under those conditions. So that's, I guess, one thing that sort of is tough for me to get used to. I don't know how it's in Thailand. Is it similar? It's similar. We were talking a little bit before we recorded, like it's similar, but I do feel like Vietnam, they're a little bit more aggressive and like that they care less for pedestrians, people walking than...
in thailand like in thailand they will go if they have the chance but if they see a person on the road they will stop and they'll also smile when you they go by like it's okay you can go which it feels aggressive but when they smile it kind of makes you forgive them but as you said like you can
You can get mad at the system, but I don't think you can blame one individual person. Because if you're waiting, if you're a polite driver, you're going to get nowhere. You have to be a bit pushy, don't you? Yeah, you have to kind of do as the Romans do as well. it's just i know it's just a phrase a cliche but you know what it's it's where you end up in the end anyway and it's the right thing to do and the only thing you can do yeah and there's no use
Like losing sleep over this, right? Probably more dangerous. I mean, that's one thing that I realized coming here is how good driving is in the UK. I don't think I've been to a country where driving is... safer than the uk obviously there's a lot of accidents and problems but just comparatively it's very good in the uk people are quite respectful for the most part um but yeah i think if you had that driving
attitude here it might even be less safe like you're driving safely by the book yeah but it probably would be quite unsafe Where when everyone is not expecting that kind of driving because you have a completely different mindset and and you just React in different ways like you react in the way you are used to from your own country. So you have to really start reading the people and start understanding the way they behave on the road.
I think it's your responsibility to do that. You can't expect the world to come to your feet and do as you are used to doing, right? I think for me, I'll just say... pretty much everything i like about bangkok and thailand like it's such a great place to live like asia southeast asia in general it is generally so pleasant yeah that's why we are here right for so long like you've been here for one and a half years you know half me
almost two years yeah yeah i mean there's a lot of benefits it's obviously cheaper than europe generally um people are friendlier climate can be quite nice that's only two two things I was going to say two things, but I can only think of one thing. I'll just say one of the biggest things that I really dislike about here is the pollution. It's getting into that polluted season right now. Especially in these large cities, Bangkok. I just came back from Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon is called also.
But before that, I lived in Da Nang. In Da Nang, it's less polluted because it's a seaside. It's a coastal city. And so Saigon, I guess, it's quite similar to Thailand, to Bangkok. yeah i went for a bike ride on saturday so what's that like three days ago or something like that two days ago and it was very it was very bad pollution but i was so like looking forward to it i didn't want to cancel
And the whole weekend and today my throat's been painful. It's like you're coming down with a cold. It's, yeah, it's really hard. You kind of have to stay inside, which isn't great. Do you use the face mask or not? Yeah, yeah, all the time. Yeah, yeah. When it's a... above an unhealthy level i'm always wearing it because i do think it helps yeah yeah does it yeah okay i should start doing that too then you always make me feel guilty michael i'm very health conscious like i see a lot of people
I know you are, yeah, running and stuff. And I'm thinking, oh, what about your lungs there? It's good for your muscles, but not your lungs. You also have a, we should show your listeners, you also have an umbrella, which kind of impressed me, this umbrella. So explain it to us, why you need an umbrella.
in such warm conditions can't you see it's tipping it down no no it's not like we first of all there's there's a roof where we are so that's that's for one and secondly it's scorching hot outside and Like no, no sign of any clouds approaching us. Well, I guess for me, it's so normal. I was, you were a bit surprised, I guess, but yeah, I didn't think about it, but it's quite common, especially with women.
I personally don't care if I look a bit feminine, but to worry about skin protection here. But I just feel as a Caucasian white person in a tropical country, I should be a bit more careful. So when I'm out... For a walk, now it's mid-afternoon, it's very hot and sunny. I try to have this UV, ultraviolet. Oh, is that UV? Yeah, it's made for rain and sun. Ah, there you go.
It's like a brand. So it's just like sunscreen would be 50 plus. This is the same kind of thing, but material. So it should protect your skin, keep you looking a bit younger, but also... It actually keeps you cooler because the sun is not directly on your skin, which is, you know, you're not going to be that foreigner that gets on the train covered in sweat, which is nice.
I'll stick with my cap for now, but this might be the next level if I decide to upgrade. Why not? I'll tell you one more thing I really miss about the UK. Not enough to move back. It's just the sense of freedom. I think it's Europe in general. There's such freedom when you, you know, I love exploring. You go to the countryside, go for a walk, hiking, cycling, very safe, very clean air.
I don't really feel that here. Like there's a lot of private areas and also it's just not that pleasant to walk in the countryside where it's like this heat. So that's one thing I miss. But again, it's one of the small things compared to all the many benefits in Bangkok.
We wouldn't be here otherwise if it was that bad. There are a lot of good things. As you said, the people, I guess, is the most important thing for me. I have to say, I've made so many good friends here, even more than in the UK, where I... I've always only lived in London and yes, it's a great place. It's a melting pot and different nationalities. But you know what? People always rush somewhere. Everybody's just chasing their dream, chasing money.
And maybe that's the problem because the kind of people you meet there as well. I don't know. Now I've probably said something I shouldn't have said. And some of my listeners living in London, even my friends may be listening. They are the exceptions, all of them. I feel like the people here are sort of like more chilled. I don't know. Like even the expats sometimes. Does it make sense? Yeah.
I mean, definitely it attracts a certain type of expat, a type of foreigner. But also the locals, of course. They're just so friendly and just... Yeah, I guess that we are kind of exotic for them, the white Caucasian, as you said, from Europe. So I guess they want to get to know us more than maybe... People from the UK would want to get to know us or in the Czech Republic, right? It would be too normal for them. Too ordinary. I guess anyone you meet here that isn't Thai could...
they probably have a story to tell because like they've come from another country. It's quite interesting to talk about. Um, but yeah, in terms of the, um, the, the culture where, in terms of the culture where like, people are more relaxed i do think there's a double-edged sword where it's really nice but on the other hand when it comes to like safety for example
People are kind of like, ah, no big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no safety first. Safety last sometimes. I don't know how it's here, but... I don't want this podcast to come across negatively. I always do that. This is part of Czech. I think we have this in common with the Brits. British people love to complain. We also like to grumble and moan.
Czech people do that a lot as well. I think it makes you feel better though. There's so many happy things in life which I feel like don't need to be said because we take it as a given. We just focus on the bad things because sharing them makes us feel better. So it's not that we're just grumpy and we hate everything. It's that we might be a little bit grumpy. Yeah, maybe. I am. At least I am. Michael seems the more cheerful one.
Out of the two of us, but he's also younger and generally the naive. I think the stereotype is that you can't teach an old dope new tricks and all that. I have another excuse here. Even the dating life I think is much better here. It's been so easy for me to just meet girls. and hang out with them and get to know them closer. And I feel like they're sort of more interested in me here than they would be somewhere in London.
unique. I'm more unique and more exotic and also they like the fact that I speak English and I'm an English teacher and you know like in the Czech Republic an English teacher like who cares like yeah it's a low paid job it's nothing special. yeah you have a university degree but you know only people only like the the losers go to study
teaching and study at the philosophical faculty and stuff like that, right? What would you say? Humanistic? Humanities. Humanities, right? Yeah. Teachers are very respected here, too. Yeah, right? So that's why I feel better here for all those reasons, right? So that's, yeah. Yeah, and I mean, this is dating advice here with Michael, but also I feel like just generally...
I don't know why I see a lot of kids doing this like back in the UK where they all have the same haircut, the same fashion and they're trying to get girls. I think, what have you got to offer that this other guy doesn't have to offer? Like you're all the same. Yeah.
If you really want to find someone, just be yourself, try to stand out. Yeah, you have to stand out, right? You have to be different. It's what makes you interesting. Yeah. It's scary, but I think that's the best way to meet friends and partners. It's almost unfair.
I remember the first day I came here, I met my first friend, a Czech guy. And he told me, Zdenek, you have a much higher value here as a man. I was like, what? Why? It makes no sense. Why should I have a higher value? And I understand. Yeah, it is like that. And in the same way, in my country, Czech girls, they are obsessed with British people or Spanish guys or whatnot, yeah? Because they're just different and look cool.
yeah you know what i mean yeah but just to just to put another slightly negative spin on that there is another side here we go where that there's maybe you could call it racism in some cases where If you're not white, like from an Asian country, for example, you might be treated even worse or discriminated against in some way because you're not special. You're not from like a traditionally rich country and you get treated a lot worse. So there is a level of that here. And I guess we have some.
some privilege in that way don't we and then we should also talk about the fact that some experts come here to let's let's call it They are the sex tourists. Take advantage of that. Come on. A lot of people come here because they're just rich and they have money and they just exploit. I guess it's not exploit because everyone is happy at the end of the day. The girls make money.
Whatever it is, relationship, they just sleep with each other for money. I'm just not a big fan of this. I feel like the girl should have more respect for herself. But then you kind of get it because... It's a developing country, right? So for some of them, it's an opportunity. But we are on a dangerous ground, on thin ice, talking about this topic. But I think we should mention it.
Basically, there are a lot of expats who come here just for this reason as well, just to get girls, you know. Sometimes they just come for a week or two weeks, they promise them a lot of things and then they just leave. And that's why a lot of girls like me, they are often very suspicious. Yeah, skeptical. Mistrust. There's a lot of mistrust or distrust or whatever the word is.
Yeah, I don't know about you, but like you said, I've got a lot of really good friends here. It's very easy to make friends. But when I meet someone who is here for that reason, it's immediately obvious. It's just kind of like some vibe they give off, like a creepy vibe. Absolutely. And I'm like...
I don't want to be friends with you. I'm just going to distance myself. Sometimes they don't reveal this immediately, right? You can tell. You can tell maybe. Maybe you have a better... sort of you have developed some sort of skill like that but like i don't i can't always tell yeah and then you're sort of like hmm yeah yeah because especially
Bangkok and Thailand is a place that is famous for this kind of stuff, let's be honest. Yeah, unfortunately, yeah, hopefully they can attract better tourists here in the future. Yeah, I noticed the sun's slowly getting... More on us. And I'm sweating. We've got bugs all over us now. Yeah, the bugs are coming. I wonder if we can finish up in a second. Was there anything you wanted to cover before we did? Bugs are bugging me. I just hope you don't get cancelled on your...
on your YouTube channel for the last topic that I've decided to include. Everything that's been said is the next opinion, not mine. Wow. If you disagree... It's his opinion. If you agree, it's my opinion. Let's say that. And definitely leave comments. This is the most important thing. Leave comments on Michael's channel as well as my YouTube channel, Teachers Denik YouTube channel. Yes. If you're listening on mine, I'll make sure to put...
links and everything to Stenex channel and make it easy to find. And maybe you'll do the same for me if you're feeling generous. Absolutely. I feel very generous today. Nice. Well, I guess now maybe we can... Take a bit of a walk through the park. Yeah. And we'll say goodbye here. Yeah. Thank you very much for listening and watching. Thank you. Thanks, Michael. Hope you've enjoyed it. Thank you very much for joining me, for meeting me.
take care man was that an awkward handshake maybe i didn't know what was coming neither did i thank you so much see you