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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.
Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.
Ian: And today, we're joined by a very special guest; a good friend of ours and former resident of Santiago, down here in Chile, and also California native—Maggie Gallagher. So, Maggie is going to join us today to talk all about the magical state of California that exists in the US. So, we're really excited to have her and let her give her input on everything. So, Maggie thank you so much for joining us. We're so excited to talk to you today.
Maggie: Yeah, thank you guys so much for having me. I'm very excited to be on Coffee with Gringos.
Ian: So again, listeners as always, if you get lost, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. Maggie, this is your first time on the pod, so how about you give everybody a little introduction first of all before we dive into our conversation today.
Maggie: Yeah, so I'm Maggie. I, like Ian said, am from California in Berkeley, which is in Northern California and I lived in Chile in 2019 and I worked at DUOC and also worked as an English teacher at Dynamic (English). That's how I met Ian and Paige. Since then I've been back in California, and super excited to talk to you guys and reminisce on my Chilean time as well as tell you guys all about my home state.
Ian: Well, awesome. Like we said, we're really pumped to have you, and let's just go ahead and jump into it because I think some questions that I, personally as a teacher, all the time or even with just foreigners that I talk to, they ask me about California. I say I'm from the United States and they say, “Oh, where are you from? New York City? California?” and these are usually a couple of places that get mentioned. And they think of Hollywood, they think of LA, they think of the mountains, they just think of this magical place in the US. So, tell us what California is all about? As a native, you have got to know a lot more than most.
Maggie: Yeah, I mean, California, first of all, it's so beautiful. I mean, everybody knows that because you see that in movies it really is just like that. California just has everything and that's what I really love about it. It has people from all over the world, it has beaches and mountains and has farms. I think that people in California have a lot of energy because it's sunny all the time and I think it's just a really fun, exciting place.
Paige: Yeah, sounds great. Why did you leave? It seems too, it's funny, I've been to San Francisco, LA, kind of the main cities when it comes to California. But I did kind of feel like when I was living in Santiago that it gave me vibes a little of LA. I guess, the smog was one of them and just the general landscape. Again, I have visited the state a handful of times. Did you feel like when you were living in Santiago that it reminded you a little bit of home?
Maggie: I didn’t dis feel that way actually. I'm not from LA but I lived there for four years when I was in college and as soon as I got to Santiago, I was like this is like LA but with a metro system, and so much better because you can actually get around. In LA, there's so much traffic and it's difficult to navigate the city. But yeah, they actually are really similar, and just in general, Chile is basically just beaches and mountains and California is very similar in that way too. So, I was like wow, I went across the world and ended up in a similar place.
Paige: That is funny.
Ian: Yeah, I've heard a lot of people—well, not a lot of people—other Californians that I know also say that they see Chile as sort of a Latin California in some ways. You have good wine, you have the outdoors, you have similar weather, sort of that Mediterranean climate. You have, unfortunately, now a lot of wildfires in both places and so that way you can draw a lot of similarities in that way. So, I've only been to LA once and it was on a business trip so I can't say I know I have a good opinion on it so, that's all I know.
Maggie: Yeah, and I will say if you go for the north too, the second state above California is Washington and that's where my sister lives and I was just there recently, and reminded me so much of the south of Chile like Araucania and Pucón and all that stuff. It’s super similar to that as well.
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. 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.
Ian: Another thing I hear about a lot is the food in California. You have so many different fusions, so many different people that live there that you are just bound to have amazing cuisine. So, can you tell us a little bit about what kind of great food you can get out there?
Maggie: Yeah, I mean, the food is super good and California. Like you said, there are just people from all over the world, so everybody's just there making their food and especially people from Asia and Central America. Not so much South America, you don't really get Chilean or Argentinian food or anything like that but yeah, there's just all kinds of different combinations. And also, there are a lot of farms in California so the food is always super fresh, and definitely, for me, the best thing that you can't get anywhere else is the Mexican food, especially down in LA. The tacos are so good, and you just cannot replicate them anywhere else.
Paige: That's fair. I mean, for listeners who don't know, California is so close to Mexico. You're close to the source. It's funny too being an English teacher for a little bit, Ian still is, a big thing that people don't realize about the US is how many regional accents there are and California has a pretty distinct accent. Yours sounds pretty neutral but what are the California accents if you were to share for us?
Maggie: Yeah, I feel like, definitely. I mean, to me, I also sound very neutral but I've definitely heard people have told me that I have the California accent which I don't know if I agree with but those definitely like the Valley Girl accent and in down in LA there’s the “surfer dude” accent and I feel like where I live, there's not so much an accent, but there's more slang like how Chile and has chilenismos. and slang and stuff in the Bay Area. I would say, there are definitely a lot of regional accents similar to South America too in that way.
Paige: True. I feel like I would say the biggest thing coming from the Boston area and Northeast is the speed. I feel like in the northeast, we talk really fast and so, in California, it's just a lot slower. Where us, we are just always kind of like—it’s just very fast. So, I wonder too if Californians, their accent is easier for people who are learning English as it is kind of slower.
Maggie: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I mean, I never heard anyone tell me when I was a teacher that my accent was easy to understand. I think actually sometimes it can be harder. People from the Northeast enunciate a lot and I think even California—and definitely me—tend to just not pronounce their words very well and talk very loosely, I guess. And I had to really learn to enunciate better as a teacher. I was like, I have to actually say my words all the way.
Paige: That’s funny. As you're teaching English, you're like, “I should teach myself.”
Maggie: I learned so much about English as a teacher.
Ian: Isn’t that funny you learn your own language by teaching it so much like that. And yeah, I totally agree. I don't know if you have much of an accent. You clearly don't talk like a Valley girl. You’re not saying “like” every other word, “Like, we went to the beach and we, like, went to a party after”. But there's definitely that slower tempo to your speaking which is the more laid-back west-coast vibe. So, it’s definitely noticeable for I think other Americans—other people from the US. Anyway, so tell us if you had to pick up one thing, or a couple of the best things about California, what would you choose?
Maggie: Oh man, so hard. To me, the best thing is just the weather. It's just so nice out all year round, especially down in Southern California, it gets hot. But where I'm from, it's never hot, never cold—it's always right in between. You can just always go outside no matter the time of year and that's something I miss when I'm in other places. And I also just think the people. I think, because, like we've been saying, there are so many different kinds of people there, everybody is very open and interesting and I just feel like it's just such an exciting place that a lot of people go to because they have different talents or skills or interests. People go to California because they are really good at climbing or because they want to surf or because they're an actor, because they're a writer, because they're a nerd or something. So, there's just every kind of person there which I really like.
Ian: A little something for everybody there.
Paige: That's cool. And I guess on the flip side of that, what would be something that you don't like about California?
Maggie: I feel like, honestly, kind of the same thing that everybody wants to go there. So, it's way too crowded now and super expensive, and that is a real bummer about California. Especially, for me, I'm 26. I'm just starting to work and getting to try to live on my own stuff and it's pretty difficult to get started financially there because it's just so expensive. The rents and everything else is because everybody wants to live there, which is annoying.
Paige: Fair. So, it needs to be like a secret. You are like “California sucks. No one go there.”
Maggie: Yeah, don't tell anyone all the good things there in California.
Ian: Yeah, exactly. Have you seen a big difference from the time you were young to now in the changes in prices?
Maggie: Yeah, even more recently. So, I'm from Berkeley, which is the Bay Area which is very close to Silicon Valley, which is where Facebook and Google, and all those other tech companies have their headquarters. And I would say, in the time since I graduated high school, which was in 2014, and now, things have changed really drastically. Many more people, has gotten more expensive, different types of businesses, like that old corner store is now a fancy café or things like that as say, in the past maybe seven to ten years, it's changed really fast because of, like I said, a lot of new people came because of the big technology companies, and they have their high paying jobs. So, it's expensive now.
Paige: I feel like a lot of people are attracted to LA, particularly because it's Hollywood, famous people, actors, musicians. Everyone that's a celebrity lives in that area. You went to school in LA. Do you feel like you run into celebrities a lot or are they in their own space and you never are allowed in their kind of bubble?
Maggie: So, I did. When I first moved there, I actually did see a couple of celebrities because the area where UCLA is, is kind of close to a really wealthy neighborhood of LA where I think a lot of them live. And one time I was in an ice cream store and Jennifer Garner was there and she was reading a book to her kids and then they left and then I walked out, and I was walking out into the parking lot and she almost ran me over with her car and we just locked eyes, like, “Oh my God”. And then another time, I was driving down Sunset Boulevard, which is an iconic road in LA, I looked to the side of me and I saw Reese Witherspoon driving a big black SUV. But I immediately got really excited and pointed out to my friend, and she noticed us all looking at us and she immediately started doing these tactical, evasive driving maneuvers and slowed way down and lost us, basically as soon as she noticed us. Those are my two celebrity sightings.
Paige: I mean, those are huge celebrities. I'm surprised these celebrities have a driver's license. It sounds like they shouldn’t it basically, based on what you said.
Ian: Well, when you have fangirls like Maggie bugging you all the time you have to evade them somehow.
Paige: She has got to practice getting away from people.
Ian: Okay. Maggie, to wrap up the podcast today, we're going to play a little game that we play with all of our guests that have spent time here in Chile and this is the “Chile rapid-fire questions session.” So, Paige and I are going to ask you a few questions, rapid-fire, and you have to on the spot, give us your answer. Okay, here we go—favorite Chilean food?
Maggie: Sopaipilla.
Ian: Nice. Favorite drink?
Maggie: Pisco sour.
Ian: Your favorite place in Chile you visited?
Maggie: National Park Pan de Azúcar or Cochamó.
Paige: Okay, I'll take over. Favorite “chilenismo”?
Maggie: I thought about this a lot and my favorite one is “fome” because everything that's so “fome” is “fome.”
Paige: What's the best place you rock climbed in Chile?
Maggie: I think my favorite spots were in that, like the Cajón del Maipo. There are just so many little places you can go like us. But honestly, not to put down Chile, I know that there is some rivalry here but my favorite places to climb are really in Argentina.
Paige: Fair. In the Southern region?
Maggie: Yeah, there is Frey nearby which is really cool, and then also, literally across the Andes from Cajón del Maipo, if you've crossed over the mountains at the end of the Cajón is an area called. But it's so cool for climbing and you can just stay in this refugio and climb for your whole life. There's so much climbing.
Ian: Okay. So, Maggie, once again thank you so much for joining us. It was a pleasure having you on and good luck with everything in the future and hopefully, we'll see you down here in Santiago once things keep opening up a bit more as COVID hopefully keeps going away. So, thanks again for coming on. We appreciate it.
Maggie: Yeah, thank you guys so much for having me. It was super fun and yeah, I hope to get down there soon.
Ian: Perfect. Well, listeners, as always check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.
Paige: We'll see you next time.
Ian: Coffee with Gringos officially has over 100 episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that's thanks to you. But we're always working to grow our audience, so make sure to rate, review, and share us.
Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:
1. to reminisce (verb): to remember the past in an enjoyable way.
a. I enjoy reminiscing with my friends.
2. pumped (adjective): excited.
a. I am so pumped to watch the new movie tonight.
3. handful (noun): a small number.
a. I have visited the country a handful of times.
4. to draw similarities (idiom): to make comparisons.
a. We need to draw similarities between the two options.
5. bound (adjective): destined or likely to happen.
a. They are bound to get hurt doing dangerous activities.
6. to replicate (verb): to copy; reproduce.
a. They replicated the items to have a bigger quantity.
7. to enunciate (verb): to pronounce or express clearly.
a. She enunciates each word very slowly for the students.
8. laid-back (adjective): relaxed; calm.
a. She is a very laid-back person who enjoys simple things.
9. nerd (noun): a person who lacks social skills and/or is overly studious.
a. There are many nerds here at the science convention.
10. flipside (noun): another aspect or version of something; opposite.
a. On the flipside, option 2 can be very expensive.
11. bummer (noun, slang): something disappointing or annoying.
a. It is such a bummer that we can’t go to the beach due to rain.
12. headquarters (noun): the main building or location for an organization.
a. The company headquarters are in Santiago.
13. drastically (adverb): very; extremely.
a. The climate has changed drastically in just a few years.
14. to run into (phrasal verbs): to see or meet someone by chance or luck.
a. She runs into celebrities in Hollywood often.
15. to lock eyes (idiom): to make strong eye contact with someone else.
a. The two people locked eyes and got a strange feeling from each other.
16. SUV (noun, acronym): Sport utility vehicle.
a. The celebrity was driving an SUV in the city.
17. tactical (adjective): planned; strategic; calculated
a. The team is creating a tactical plan to succeed in the mission.
18. to wrap up (phrasal verb): to finish; to conclude.
a. We are going to wrap up today’s episode with some fun questions.
19. on the spot (idiom): without any delay or time to consider.
a. We have to find a solution on the spot when we arrive.
¿Alguna vez has sentido curiosidad por saber cómo es estudiar y vivir en Holanda? En este episodio 181 de tu podcast favorito, Coffee with gringos, seguimos a un Chileno que estudió música y vivió en Holanda, también compartirá sus pensamientos sobre las diferencias culturales entre Chile y Holanda. No te pierdas esta inspiradora historia de un Chileno que vivio y estudió en el extranjero! 😲
Read the full transcript here: https://www.dynamicenglish.cl/coffee-with-gringos-podcast-clases-particulares-de-ingles/episode-181-chileno-viviendo-y-estudiando-en-holanda-paises-bajos