Episode 162: The Big Events from the Year 2021

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Paige: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos”. I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige:  Today we are going to talk about 2021. I know that time has not mattered during this global pandemic, but a year has passed. In 2021, a lot of things did happen besides the global pandemic and so, we just wanted to talk about some of the big events that happened this year. So as always, check out that guide and audio transcript online at www.dynamic.english.cl. Okay, 2021, I know we think a lot didn't happen, we still had to shelter in place, where masks with COVID, but actually a lot of things still happen around the world—some good, some bad. I think everyone was really hopeful for 2021. We thought maybe the pandemic and life will go back to normal. That was not the case, as we all know and if anything, the first week of 2021 started with quite an event for the US, at least where our government was almost overthrown where the US Capitol—which is where all the US government happens, it's our Congress building—was attacked, which was pretty frightening. I don't think we've ever seen anything like it in our generation and the US definitely not, right, Ian?

Ian: I was going to say this was something for us, like you said, we kicked off the year with a bombshell. I don't think any of us who have grown up, at least younger millennials or somewhat around our age, we didn't think this was ever something that could happen. This isn't something that we had ever seen so, I know for me, personally, I was really shocked when this happened. I knew it could happen because well, Trump was still in office at the time, but to this degree in which the all the supporters rushed the Capitol and broke in, basically occupying the entire space and resulted in the death of a few people, that surprised me. I didn't think it would go that far.

Paige: Yeah, it was really scary to watch. I remember watching it on TV and just seeing the footage of people with just these crazy eyes storming the Capitol and our lawmakers having to run and go down to the safe rooms. And it was pretty scary to watch, especially because what was happening was the US Senate and House were voting to secure a democratic election, just to finalize that Trump lost the election and people wanted to destroy that. Besides seeing people rioting, it was more like shit, is our democracy at stake here? And the fact that the president at the time was supporting it, it's wild to think that that came from our own government, from the still acting president at that time.

Ian: And like you said, I think it has really put into question the amount of democracy we actually have or how much it's at stake. This is something we're still feeling the consequences of. It's still a question that gets asked every day, where are we at, actually, with democracy right now? And how has this event really set a precedent or set the possibility that could happen in the future? So definitely the way to kick off 2021 in a pretty wild fashion, I would say.

Paige: Absolutely. Yeah, so hoping the first week of 2022 will be a little bit quieter. But then events continued and if you want to do the next one,

Ian: A little bit differently, something else we saw happens supply-chain wise in March was the EverGreen?? container ship, which was a huge cargo ship that was carrying a bunch of cargo freight and it ended up running into the shore actually in the Suez Canal, which is located in Egypt. And of course, this is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, naval port lane to get goods in between different continents, different markets. And whoever was driving this boat screwed up and got it stuck for almost a week. It stopped all the marine traffic and what happened was we saw just a big buildup of again, like a supply chain bottleneck. People couldn't get their things, other boats that were trying to carry things couldn't get through. Obviously, again, just a big mistake on that person's fault. I have a feeling whoever was driving that boat probably didn't keep their job very long and really caused again an economic hiccup we could say in a year that was pretty wild, to begin with. But again, just another thing here. There's an old saying that we have an English that is, “When it rains, it pours.” I think these last two years have really shown that when something bad happens, it really can have really long-lasting and big effects like this one did. So, I remember people complaining about things that they couldn't get in the mail or things that weren’t coming through and it just goes to show how much reliance we have on these container ships carrying goods all over the world. I think people took it for granted or didn't think much about it until they realized that this can happen still today.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: Nope, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes so you can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Paige: And then another thing that happened was in April, Derek Chauvin, who was a former police officer who went very viral because there was a bodycam footage of him putting his knee on the neck of George Floyd and essentially killing him, and this really started up the Black Lives Matter protests that happened last summer all across the country and in April, he was actually convicted of killing George Floyd and sentenced to twenty-two years (in prison). And this was a really, really big verdict because many police officers have not been held accountable for killing people on the job that many have said was not necessary. And so, I think this was a big step that shows, hopefully, from now on when police officers abuse their power and that leads to people dying, that they will go to jail like everyone else. So, I think that was a really, really big case and hopefully sets a precedent.

Ian: Yeah, this was a really big moment. Obviously, we saw with the year before what happened because of the George Floyd murder and we also saw the explosion that happened with the Black Lives Matter protests surrounding this. It was, I think, a long time coming and these cases have been piling up, and like you said, it was good to see this verdict, because it was a very clear-cut case. He held his neck on the ground in a homicidal position for a long time and so, I think again, it was good to see that justice was served in this case and we are taking small steps towards fixing a pretty bad justice system that needs to be revamped and to be cleaned up. And so again, changes like this don't happen overnight. They happen incrementally and so, I think it's a good step in the right direction and hopefully, we see more—well, not more killings—but hopefully we see more justice like this in the future. Like we said, another thing that really was again, another dark thing, sad thing that happened mid-year in June was on June 24th, there was a twelve-story residential building that partially collapsed in the South Side suburb of Miami called Surf Side and a side of the building, it had deteriorated after many years of not keeping up the maintenance, not checking the infrastructure and it actually crashed to the ground. This caused a huge mess, huge piles of debris. It was a terrible disaster in which almost one hundred people—residents of the building—were killed. And as described by the mayor it was a horrible catastrophe and he said, “In the United States, buildings just don't fall down.” For me, it was kind of an interesting sentiment that he said that because I think we see the world through this lens of modernization and constantly improving and constantly troubleshooting and it's strange for us to hear that a building has collapsed and fallen because it wasn't taken care of. Here it wasn't withstanding the right materials so, I think it was shocking to hear this happened and to hear that it wasn't just one or two people—it was almost one hundred people. So, I think a lot of people have looked into more of what's really going on with the infrastructure not only in that city where there's a lot of problems but in the country in general. I think the US has had an infrastructure problem for a long time and hopefully, this terrible catastrophe at least serves as a wake-up call to make sure that our infrastructure is taken care of better and that we're actually building things that don't put people at risk.

Paige: Yeah, like you said, it was shocking, because, when I read the headline of a building collapse, I think, oh, there was an earthquake, there was some causation to cause it but really, like you said, it was mostly just the engineering and they weren't doing the proper tweaks and fixes to make sure the foundation was okay. One of my best friends from home is an engineer, and she read the report, she goes, “Oh, they cited that this was wrong and they just never fixed it.” And, it's this human error probably the end of the day. It was probably just too expensive to fix and they probably just kicked the can down the road. And then sadly, it ended in a bunch of people dying. So that's really sad. But on a happier note, in July, something that happens every two years is the Olympics. And so, there was lots of debate with COVID whether the Tokyo Olympics would happen or not, and it ended up happening in a unique capacity. There weren't fans in the stands, it was very limited who was allowed to watch but the athletes were able to go and compete. I don't know about you, but I love watching the Olympics so, it added some happiness in a pretty dark year being able to watch people kick ass and running and the gymnastics which I love and the swimming, and they had some new events which are cool to watch. What was it? Rock climbing and skateboarding? So, I honestly watched a lot of it which was really fun.

Ian: Yeah, it was really cool to have these new sports especially that you mentioned these new events like rock climbing, surfing, skateboarding, adding a new element to the games that we've already known and enjoyed. But I think you brought up a good point. I think it was extra special this year because of all the nonsense we've been living through the last couple of years and so, fun moments to where you can see a lot of solidarity between countries and showing that sportsmanship and just showing talent, overall. It’s a great thing to see when we're constantly flooded by negative media, right? It's good to see people going out and flourishing and really showcasing their skills in a positive way. I'll take that over negative news any day. So, it was a nice little treat for us and it popped in there in the middle of the year.

Paige: Speaking of international news that's a little sobering, is in August when the US withdrew from Afghanistan, the Taliban—which is a terrorist group, more or less—took over which is a little scary. I think that a lot of people there are afraid because that group is violent and also restricting when it comes to human rights, especially towards women. So, I think that was pretty upsetting to see the takeover and how quickly it happened. Once US troops pulled out and that's an ongoing story that we will sadly see unfold in 2022. On a happier note, there were some historic things that happened in Chile, you just told me.

Ian: Yeah, so to hopefully end out the year in a good way, we can see that Chile on December 7th approved same-sex marriage in a landslide vote. And this happened after basically four years of, I guess we could say kicking the can down the road. It was that both houses of Congress for a while had been just showing inaction regarding the issue like we see with a lot of politicians, but finally, both houses of Chile's Congress passed the measure and it was pretty overwhelming and this made Chile the eighth Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage and the thirty-first worldwide. So, I know that this was a big deal. Like we said, it has been I think, a long time coming. This is a very common thing that we see in the world today, same-sex couples and same-sex marriage, as well coming around so, it was interesting that President Piñera—Sebastian Pinera—who, for basically his entire life, has opposed this, he basically said he'd change his position and let it go through. So maybe this is sort of a way to make him look nice while he's leaving office. Who knows but we'll take it?

Paige: I think that's amazing that they legalized same-sex marriage because I remember when I moved to Chile and I was doing research to find story ideas, and I was shocked that it wasn't that long ago that it wasn't even legal to get divorced. They had a very religious Catholic route in their country and so, the fact that here we are in 2021 and they're legalizing gay marriage is pretty great that they're catching up to the times, which is good.

Ian: Absolutely. Well, we'll take the strides wherever we can. So, as we've mentioned, we have mentioned a few of these stories. If we had a lot more time—maybe even hours—we would include everything that happened, but it's just impossible. So here were just a few stories we wanted to highlight on and hopefully, things get better in 2022. I know we said this last year with our end of the year wrap-up and we were in for a big surprise so, I'm sure we're going to see many more exciting things this year, but let's cross our fingers that it's a little less eventful, or, if any events happen, they're a bit more positive. So, listeners, as usual, check out that audio guide and transcript online at www.dynamicenglish.cl. As always, thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     to overthrow (verb): remove forcibly from power.

a.     Rioters tried to overthrow the government.

2.     to kick off (phrasal verb): to start.

a.     The year kicked off with some crazy events.

3.     bombshell (noun): an overwhelming surprise or disappointment                  

a.     The news came as a bombshell to the world.

4.     saferoom (noun): a secure and safe location used in defense of an attack.

a.     The politicians quickly relocated to the saferoom.

5.     to riot (verb): to take part in violent public disturbances, including the destruction of property.

a.      The huge crowd began to riot the area and enter the building by force.

6.     at stake (idiom): at risk; to be won or lost.  

a.     People now realize that so many lives were at stake that day.

7.     precedent (noun): an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered in later events.

a.     Proper precedents need to be set in order to keep everyone safe.

8.     to revamp (verb): to give new and improved form, structure, or appearance.

a.     They needed to revamp their website in order to bring in more visitors.  

9.     incrementally (adverb): in regular increases, additions

a.     Suppliers have incrementally reduced regional production and imports.

10.  to kick the can down the road (idiom): put off confronting a difficult issue or making an important decision, typically on a continuing basis.

a.     Politicians usually kick the can down the road in order to be reelected.

11.  solidarity (noun): unity or agreement of feeling or action.

a.     It is amazing to see the solidarity that we have here today.

12.  strides (noun): a step or stage in progress toward an aim.

a.     Strides have been made towards justice.