20 Years Abroad

Meg: Hey, Todd. I know you've traveled a lot. What countries have you lived in?

Todd: I've lived in three countries. I've traveled to many, many countries. But I've actually lived in three. I lived in England for one year. I lived in Thailand for four years. And I have lived in Japan for 15 years.

Meg: Wow. So when you lived in England, why did you live there?

Todd: It was the first country I traveled to after college. And I had a work permit, a work visa for one year. And I worked at a pub restaurant, which was great. It was in the countryside. And I really enjoyed it. And then I did that for six months. I lived near Cambridge. So, I was near Cambridge University. And then after that I moved to London. And again, I worked at a restaurant. And I lived in London and just worked.

Meg: Wow. So it was after college. How old were you?

Todd: I was 23 years old.

Meg: Oh, and living in London. That must have been fun.

Todd: It was fun. And interestingly, when I went to England, I could not speak English. So, I could not understand British people. It took me maybe two months before I could understand their English. So it was very, very difficult to understand British people when I first moved there.

Meg: Ah, so you liked it.

Todd: I did like England. It was fun. It was my first country. But the weather was cold for me. I'm from California, and California in the United States is very warm. So I didn't like the weather. But that's okay because all British people don't like the weather, too.

Meg: Oh, really?

Todd: Yeah. Everybody complains about the weather.

Meg: So after England, did you move someplace warmer?

Todd: I did. Right after England, I moved to Thailand. And I lived in Thailand for over four years.

Meg: Wow. Why did you live in Thailand?

Todd: I was traveling. And in Thailand I had no money and I needed a job. And I wanted to stay in Thailand, so I became an English teacher.

Meg: Really?

Todd: Yeah.

Meg: Did you teach English there for four years?

Todd: I did. So I went there and I began teaching English. Then I got a teaching course certificate to teach English in Thailand, and I really enjoyed it. The Thai students were really fun. And Thailand is a great place to live because the weather is really nice. The people are really friendly and the food is delicious. It has the best food in the world, I think.

Meg: I've also heard that Thailand is beautiful. Is it true?

Todd: It is. It has many, many beautiful islands and it has lots of beautiful places with nature and the mountains. It has jungles. It has beautiful beaches. So it's a nice place to live.

Meg: So you like Thailand, too.

Todd: I did. Thailand was great. Yeah.

Meg: So England, Thailand, you said next was Japan?

Todd: Yeah, so next was Japan. And Japan is nice. I am a teacher, an English teacher in Japan and I love teaching English in Japan. Like Thailand, the food is really, really good. The people are nice. The scenery is really beautiful. So Japan is really nice.

Meg: Are there fun things to do in Japan?

Todd: Yes. Actually, I like Japan the most because you get everything. You get lots of beautiful nature. So, you can go hiking. You can go see beautiful beaches. You can go to really nice islands. But also Japan has many, many nice cities. So you can go to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and the cities have lots to do. There's good shopping, great restaurants. It's easy to travel in Japan by train and bus. So, it's really nice.

Meg: Oh, that sounds like the best of both worlds.

Todd: Yeah, it is. Definitely a good place to live.