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Hello, everybody, and welcome to bonus episode
number 150 of the Culips English Podcast. Yes,
that's right. You heard me correctly. Episode 150.
It's another important milestone here in the bonus
episode series. I really can't believe it. It's
crazy how fast time flies and we're already at
150 episodes. If you've joined me for each and
every episode, if you've listened to them all,
then please let me know in the comments
for this episode. I would love to know if
there's anyone else out there who has listened
to all of the bonus episodes. Of course I have,
but I'm wondering if you have as
well. So if you have, let me know.
If you're new to our bonus episode series,
welcome. It's great to have you here. My
name is Andrew. I'm a Canadian, but I live in
Seoul, South Korea. And each and every week in
our bonus episodes, what I do is I tell you some
stories from my everyday life. And I hope that
by following along with these stories, you will be
able to "B.I.G.B" B-I-G-B. These are our goals for
the bonus episode series and ""B.I.G.B" stands
for build your fluency, increase your cultural
knowledge, grow your vocabulary and become
a clearer and better English communicator.
To accompany each and every bonus episode,
there's a 100% free for everyone interactive
transcript and vocabulary glossary that
you can get just by following the link in
the description for this episode. Plus, if you
are a Culips member, then you will also get a
comprehension quiz. And thank you so much to all
of the members out there for your support. Guys,
we couldn't do Culips without you. Culips is
100% member supported. So we rely on our members
to keep going and to make English lessons for
everyone. So thanks to all the members out there.
And if you'd like to sign up and become a
Culips member and support the work that we do,
plus get awesome benefits and bonuses and tools
that are designed to take your English to the next
level and improve your English fluency, then just
visit our website Culips.com and you can sign up
and become a member today for an affordable price.
So let's get started with the stories for this
week. And I have two that I want to tell you
about. The first one is about rage quitting. Rage
quitting, and I'll explain what that concept is
in a moment. And the second one is about elevator
etiquette. So, two very unique stories here. I
hope you'll enjoy listening to them. And without
any further delay, let's do that right
now. So here's the first story. Enjoy.
Late last week, I got a message from my
buddy Luke. Regular Culips listeners will
know all about Luke. He's been on the podcast
before and I've talked about him a lot in the
past. He's been a pal of mine for over 30
years. He's from my hometown in Canada,
but he actually lives in China these days.
And so it's quite the coincidence that we both
live in Asia, although we're both Canadians.
And he messaged me and said, "Hey, Andrew,
I'm going to be spending some time in Japan for
a few days in the summer. Do you want to join
me?" And I said, "You know what, I'm not so sure
because last summer I spent a few days in Japan,
in Osaka during the summer…" We had a Culips
meetup event, which was awesome. And one of the
highlights of my year from last year, but the
weather in Japan in the summer is extremely,
extremely hot. And I almost died during my time
in Osaka last year. I was so hot the whole time,
and it's just humid and uncomfortable.
So when he proposed this idea to me,
initially, I wasn't too into it. But I asked him
for some more details. And he told me he'd be
spending some time in northern Japan in Sapporo.
And please forgive me, Japanese listeners,
I know I'm probably pronouncing that city name
incorrectly, but I don't know how to say it the
Japanese way. So maybe you'll have to teach me
about the correct way to pronounce that city name.
But anyway, so he'll be spending some time in
Sapporo, which is in northern Japan. And he
told me that because it's higher north, it's
cooler in the summer, and just the climate
and temperature is really nice. And so I asked
him about the dates he's going to be there and
what he's planning to do. And he told me those
details. And I checked my calendar. And it just
turns out that I actually have a little bit of
a break during that time of the year as well.
And I proposed the idea to my wife. I was like,
"Would you mind if I went away for three or four
days to meet Luke in Japan?" And she was like,
"Well, if you want to do it, you can. Doesn't
matter to me." And so I decided to do it.
And so that is my big news from this week
is that later in July and August, end of July
to early August, I'm going to be spending four
days in Sapporo. So, I want to throw this out
to all of our Culips listeners in that area
of the world. Guys, if you live in Sapporo or
around the area, and maybe you'd like to meet
up for a coffee or a drink or a run, if you're
a runner, then please send me a message either
through our Discord server, you can send me a
DM. Or maybe send me an email. My address is
[email protected]. I would love to meet with
some Culips listeners when I'm in Sapporo.
Anyways, back to the story. So, after I made up
my mind that yes, I wanted to go to Japan and
meet Luke this summer in Sapporo, then the next
step was to buy my plane tickets. And I actually
did some initial searches just to see how much it
would cost to do this trip. And it's a little bit
expensive, to be honest with you, to go directly
from Seoul to Sapporo. But if you stop over in
Osaka, it's not as bad. And so I'm going to
do that on the way to Sapporo. I'm going to
go from Seoul to Osaka, Osaka to Sapporo, just
to save a little bit of money. And it's not that
big of an inconvenience. And then I think I'll
probably go direct when I'm coming back to Seoul.
So anyways, I decided about the times and the
dates and the airline and all of these things.
And it was finally time to purchase my plane
ticket. And so I went through all of the steps
on the website. You know, when you're buying a
plane ticket, there's a lot of information that
you have to fill out on the website about your
name and address and contact info and passport
info and credit card info, blah, blah, blah, all
of these different things that you need to fill
out. But whatever, you must do it. So I did it.
And then it was time to make the payment. And
so I chose the credit card that I wanted to use
for making my payment. And this window popped up.
And my credit card is a MasterCard, that is the
credit card that I use. And it said, "your card
needs to be verified by MasterCard." And so I
thought, "This is OK.” Like, I'm glad that we
have some extra security. In fact, I'm happy that
if somebody were to try and buy plane tickets
with my card, if it were stolen or something,
that they would have to go through these extra
security steps in order to make the purchase.
And the way that I would have to verify my credit
card was by downloading this little application
that my bank had created for this very purpose,
for verifying overseas purchases. Because I
was using my Korean credit card, but making
a purchase in Japan. It's a Japanese
airline that I'll be flying with. So,
it was an overseas purchase, which is why
I had to do this extra verification step.
So OK, no problem. I downloaded the application
to verify my credit card. And I should say that
I was using my computer. I guess I'm old school.
For whatever reason still, like when I have to
make a purchase like airline tickets, it feels
more comfortable for me to use my computer
rather than to use my phone. I don't know why.
I just prefer to see all of the information in
like a large way and using my keyboard and
mouse just feels better to me. So, I always
make these kinds of purchases on my computer.
So yeah, I downloaded the application and boy
was this frustrating. The verification
application was insane, guys. All of the
information that it had me confirm was just
absolutely unbelievable. I was expecting it
to just maybe check my password with my bank or
check my pin number or do some kind of two-factor
authentication. Two-factor authentication is
when maybe your bank will send you an email and
then you have to enter the code from your email
into an app on your phone or something like that,
right? And that will confirm who you are.
But this wasn't two-factor authentication.
This was like 10-factor authentication. The
steps that I had to go through, the hoops
that I had to jump through were just insane.
So first of all, the app asked me to enter
the—I believe it's called the CVC number, which is
that three digit number on the back of your credit
card. So OK, no problem. That's actually pretty
standard for making online purchases, right? So
CVC entered, and then I went to the next step.
The next step asked me to enter my pin number
that's associated with the card, which is also
pretty common for making purchases here in
Korea is that you enter your pin number for your
credit card. So again, no problem, enter that.
And then next it said that I had to verify my
card with my phone provider. So, I entered my
phone number and my information associated with my
phone account. And then they texted me a code to
my phone, and I had to enter that code. And again,
this is pretty standard operating procedure for
making purchases in Korea or verifying your
ID in Korea. So I didn't think much of it.
OK, so then that's the third step now,
right? Did that, passed, and I thought,
"OK, now I'm going to be able to purchase my
airline tickets." But no, there was a fourth step.
So then the next step was that it showed
me a number on my screen. And then I got
an automated call from my bank asking me
to enter that number. So I had to enter,
I think it was a four digit code that was
displayed on my computer screen. And then it said,
"OK, verification complete, go to the next step."
So I thought, "OK, obviously, I've proved to you
by now that I am who I am. And I'm legitimately
trying to buy this plane ticket," which I have
to say the plane ticket was less than 100 US
dollars. So, it's not like I was buying this
really expensive plane ticket, like a first class
ticket around the world or anything like that. It
was a rather cheap, budget airline plane ticket.
So I thought, "Of course,
this will be the last step, right?" Wrong.
Then next, it asked me to enter my password
that is associated with my online banking. And
so I entered that password. And at this point,
I was like, "I don't think there is any more
information that I can give to them." However,
I was wrong, because then the next step, as
far as I remember, was that it gave me a QR
code on the screen. And I had to scan that
QR code with my bank app. And so I did that.
And then finally, it was like, "OK, verification
complete." I was like, "Thank you. How many steps
do you need? Come on, this is ridiculous."
So this all took a while. And I have to say
there's a countdown of 10 minutes for purchasing
the airline tickets. The airline said that it
will hold that seat and that price for you for 10
minutes. And then after 10 minutes, I guess they
re-release that seat and somebody else could buy
it. And, you know, I never know when you're buying
something online, if the information that you can
see is true, or if it's just a sneaky sales tactic
to try and get you to buy something quickly.
But on this airline's website, it did tell
you how many seats were available. And I was
making two ticket purchases, one from Osaka…
or one from Seoul to Osaka, and then Osaka to
Sapporo. And the ticket from Osaka to Sapporo
said that there was only two remaining. So, I was
feeling a little bit of stress this whole time,
like, it'd be pretty rare that somebody was buying
that exact same ticket at that exact same time.
But I was like, "Come on, let's hurry up. Let's
go. Let's buy this ticket before it sells out."
So finally, I was verified. And after
I clicked the final like verification
button on the computer, then it just kind
of, you know, I got the "wheel of death,"
the spinning wheel of death, where it just
says loading, loading, loading, loading,
but nothing actually ever loads. And then finally,
the request timed out, and it didn't work.
So, I hit the reload button on my browser, and
nothing was saved. It was back to square one,
and I had to try and do everything all over again.
So, I tried again, and exactly the same thing
happened. And then I tried again, and then exactly
the same thing happened. So I was like, "Oh,
this is crazy. I'm not going to do this anymore."
So, I decided to use a different credit card. And
I use a different credit card from a different
bank, which had a different verification system.
And this bank is much more reasonable.
Their verification system was just easy,
like I had to just scan a code in the credit
card app. And then it verified it that way.
And it was just like one step. Perfect, OK!
However, I had some like weird fraud protection
setting on that card that automatically
denied overseas purchases. And I have no
idea why that setting was turned on.
But it was like a security setting,
I guess. I don't even know if I've used this card
for overseas purchases, to tell you the truth. So,
maybe that's why I didn't notice in the past.
But anyways, I went through all of these steps
again, you know, on the airline's website, filling
out your contact information, your passport
information, blah, blah, blah. And then again,
with this card, fail, and it didn't work. Because
as soon as I tried to make the purchase, my bank
just automatically declined that transaction.
So, I was super frustrated by this point. And I
have to tell you guys, this week here in South
Korea, the weather has been extremely hot.
And when I was trying to make this purchase,
it was like the middle of the afternoon. I had
the sun blaring in my window on me and I didn't
have the air con turned on. I was just boiling
hot and frustrated and really just like at my
wit's end with trying to make this cheap airline
ticket purchase. I was feeling really frustrated.
And so I was like, "OK, I have one
more credit card that I can try. And
so let me try my third and final card."
So, I refreshed the website. And then
can you guess what happened? Yes, that's
right. The ticket price went up by $20.
So at this point, I was just super frustrated. And
I was like, "Screw it. I'm not going to Japan. I'm
staying here. Like I'm not paying more for this
ticket anymore. Like this is totally ridiculous.
Why are none of my cards working? Why is
all of this just not going my way at all?"
And that's when I "rage quit." And "rage quit"
is originally slang that comes from computer
gaming when you're playing a game and you're
so frustrated that you're losing the game that
you just pick up your controller or pick up your
keyboard or mouse. If you're playing a computer
game, not a console game, you kind of throw
your keyboard down and just walk away and you
quit because you feel so frustrated and angry.
And so I "rage quit" trying to buy the airline
ticket because I was just frustrated and angry.
And I have to say, I'm a pretty patient person
usually overall and nothing… I don't want to
say nothing because I did get frustrated and
angry by this event. But usually things
don't get to me and actually make me feel
angry. But I could feel my blood boiling.
And I was just like, "Ah, stupid thing!"
So yeah, I rage quit. I didn't throw my
computer or my phone or anything like
that. But I did have to put it aside. And I
said, "OK, I'm going to try again tomorrow.
And we'll see. We'll hope for a better result
tomorrow." So, I put my travel plan on hold.
And then the next morning, I tried again. And
I thought, "You know, why don't I just use my
phone? Why am I using like this weird application
that I have to download to my computer to verify
my ID with my bank and verify my credit card?
So why don't I just do it on my phone? I won't
have to download an application."
And then I tried it on my phone,
and it worked the very first time. So it was like
super smooth when I did it on my phone. However,
I was very frustrated there for an afternoon
trying to purchase that ticket on my computer.
So lesson learned. And yeah, I had a "rage
quit" incident this last week. However,
the good news is I was able to purchase my ticket.
And this is kind of good news, bad news, I guess.
The ticket was $10 cheaper than the ticket after
the $20 price increase. That was an awkward way to
say that. But essentially, when I was trying to
buy the ticket the first time the price went up
$20 during that time. And then when I checked the
next day, it had dropped $10. But it was still
more expensive than the very first time I tried,
right? So, I guess I lost out on $10 by using my
computer instead of using my phone to start with.
But lesson learned. And next time, I'll just book
the ticket on my phone so that I don't have
any problems like that. But the good news at
the end of the day is that I'll be visiting
Japan in late July, early August. And yeah,
I hope I can see some Culips listeners out there
in Sapporo. And if anybody has any travel tips or
suggestions for anything that I should do, and
well, Luke and I should do, then please let me
know. I'm all ears. And yeah, any advice that
you could give would be very much appreciated.
Let's move on to the second story for this week
quickly. And I wanted to talk a little bit about
elevator etiquette, because I had an interesting
elevator experience. And I was just wondering what
you guys think about this. And we could have a
conversation about this topic over on our Discord
or in the comments for this episode, if you're
watching on YouTube as well. It would be really
interesting to hear what you guys have to say.
Because the etiquette and manners surrounding
elevators and surrounding a lot of things in life,
they're kind of unwritten rules. It's not like we
have laws governing some of the smaller etiquette
points regarding like how we walk on the sidewalk
or how we use an elevator. But it's just like
good manners or common sense, it seems like to me,
but then other people think differently and
use them differently. So then I'm wondering,
is it really common sense? Or is it just me?
And because it's an unwritten rule, or there's
no standardized rules or procedures, then it can
just get a little confusing. And so I want to know
what you guys think about this situation, OK?
As I told you in last week's bonus episode,
I went to the eye doctor last week, because my
eye was just really bloodshot after running and
getting some bugs in my eye. So, I went
to the eye doctor, the ophthalmologist,
and the clinic was on, I think, the fifth or
sixth floor. And usually I would just walk up
the stairs. But it was super hot and humid that
day. And I didn't want to get all sweaty climbing
up the stairs. So I decided to take the elevator.
And there were several people waiting for the
elevator. And yeah, I only had to wait for like
a second because they had already clicked the
button for the elevator to come down to the
lobby. And so I just stood there for a moment.
And then the elevator opened. And there were
several people that got inside, maybe four or
five people that entered the elevator. And
then I was the last one on the elevator.
So here's what I'm wondering about. I am
technically the last person to enter the elevator,
but the elevator was quite small. And that
means that I was sort of standing right up
against the door facing the door. And as soon as
the elevator opened, then I'm the first one out.
Now it just so happened that everybody riding the
elevator at that time was going to the same floor.
And I don't know, this was the first time that I
went to that building. So I wasn't sure if there
were many clinics on that floor and many
services. It's possible that there would
be like tons of different things for people
to go to. However, I had the feeling that
maybe all of the people that were riding the
elevator with me were going to the same place.
And so my gut reaction was like, OK, I was
the last one to arrive, these people were
already waiting for the elevator, they were
here first. And so when the doors opened,
and we all got off the elevator, I stood back
and I let them go first so they could enter the
clinic. And it's true, they were all going—we
were all going to the same place. But I thought
they were here first. And they were waiting
before me. And so I should let them go first.
However, I could have really saved myself like
some time, actually probably like 20-25 minutes,
had I just bolted as soon as the elevator door
opened. If I just walked because I was in the
lead at that point, if I just walked into the eye
clinic, then I would have been served right away.
I would have been the first one there.
So, this is what I'm wondering,
this is what I'm curious about for elevator
etiquette. Does the line begin in the lobby
when you're waiting for the elevator? If you're
the first one there, should you have first dibs
for going to the office or using whatever
service you're waiting for at the end of
the elevator? Or when you enter the elevator,
does everything reset and it's just the first
person out of the elevator is the first one who
gets the right to go to wherever they're going?
I don't know, I felt like I should wait and
let the people go. But talking to some of my
friends and talking to my wife about this
kind of funny moral question this week,
got some really different responses. Some
people said no way when you're in the elevator,
everything resets. And if you're the first one
out of the elevator, then you should go and be
the first one in line. That's totally fine.
Somebody else told me they thought that if
you control the elevator button, then you have
the right to be the first in line because you're
like the controller. You're hitting the open
and close button and pressing the floor number.
You're like the captain and that gives you
the right to access services first at the top.
I'm of the opinion that yeah, the line starts
in the lobby. So if you are first, if you are
the first person to hit like the call button
for the elevator, then that means you should
be the first to access the service when we get off
the elevator. And but yeah, some people said no,
it doesn't start at the lobby, it starts at the
front desk of the place that you're going to.
So I don't know, I'd like to know your opinion
about this. It's one of those like fun little
etiquette issues to think about. And I love
thinking about these things. Let me know
what do you think about etiquette for riding
the elevator like this? I really want to know
what you think about this, because it is to
me kind of an interesting moral question.
But anyways, guys, those are the two kind of
funny stories that happened to me this week:
one about rage quitting, one about elevator
etiquette. And I hope you enjoyed listening
to them and were able to improve your English
fluency by spending some time with me today.
And I gotta say, great job! You know, if you want
to hit that next level with your English, you
need to spend a lot of time getting the language
into your brain. You need to spend a lot of time
just listening to naturally spoken English. And
that's what I did here with you today is I just
spoke to you in a way that I would do if I were
hanging out with one of my friends. So, great
job on getting that language into your brain.
And since you made it all the way to the end of
this episode, I'm going to share the completion
code with you. And what I'd like you to do is
leave a comment using the completion code word
in either on our Discord server or on the YouTube
comments or Instagram comments wherever you'd
like. And your comment will signal to me and
to all of our listeners that you finished this
episode and you made it all the way to the end.
So, for this week's completion code, why don't
we go with the word "Elevator." Elevator,
it seems fitting. So, you can leave a one word
comment just with "elevator" if you'd like,
or you could leave a longer example sentence
to practice making an English sentence. I
think that's a great idea too. And I look
forward to reading what you come up with.
So guys, have a great week of English
studying up ahead. Please take care
and I'll talk to you in bonus episode
151 next week. Until then, goodbye.
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