This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2023.
Coming back from vacation, how to talk about the adjustment in English.
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How do you feel when you come back from a weekend or a long vacation?
What can you say when you need to get used to your normal routine again?
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
I'm doing fantastic, Michelle.
How's everything in your world?
Good, i'm good, getting back into the swing of things.
I was on a trip, you know um, so i, i'm getting, you know, getting over some jet lag, getting my kids over the jet lag.
It's not easy, but uh yeah, you also had a trip, so was it hard for you to get back into the swing of things?
It was the first couple of nights back from egypt.
I definitely uh, was struggling with falling asleep and waking up, at the right times for sure, but within five days or so i was fine.
It was light, Moderate.
Yeah.
But you were in Paris, right, Michelle?
Paris and London?
Yeah, I was in Paris and London.
Yeah, it's funny.
Everything's different when you're away, right?
The way you eat, the way you move, everything's different, right?
So yeah, just getting back into my normal routine.
Of course it's different, especially with the time zone, especially with my children.
Oh my God, it's true.
And physically getting back into the swing of things.
I find that when I take trips, I usually most trips, especially in Europe or Middle East.
I'll walk a lot.
In Asia, you walk all the time, walk a ton, so your body feels really good.
And then, coming back to most of us work online and so we don't we sit all day.
That's that was a hard.
Uh, getting back into the swing of that was hard for me.
Yeah, I have I.
Yeah, I feel the same way because I would just walk all day long.
But my feet are have.
Well, they're not happier.
I don't know.
On Instagram I talked about I stubbed my pinky toe a week before I left for the trip, a whole week before.
And so it's been over a month and my toe still hurts.
And then yesterday, then last night, I was going to the bathroom and I hit it on a suitcase.
Anyway, the walking wasn't easy.
We also also in the in the Louvre cafeteria, my son dropped a chair on my foot and my foot is not having a good year.
It's not I also fell down the stairs right when we got there.
Michelle, what is going on?
It was not.
Anyway, I just had to share these things anyway.
But we're talking about getting back into the swing of things.
So I mean, Lindsay, you've talked about how you don't have the Sunday scaries, right?
Because not really.
Yeah, you don't have those Sunday blues.
But I think after vacation, I mean, I think it's normal to feel a little like because you miss the travel, I guess.
Well, especially if you're dreading your inbox, if you've been gone for a few weeks, what your inbox might look like?
Uh, yeah, that can be, I mean, vacation is great.
Traveling is great.
So there's always a little bit of a letdown when you get back into your work routine for sure.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah um, but it's also good, like i'm happy to talk to you today and this is yeah, of course, of course.
Yes, i'm excited to get into this topic today, michelle.
The swing of things.
But first we want to let our listeners know about the ios android app.
What does the app do, michelle?
Oh my gosh.
Well, this app is great because you can listen to an episode and you can have that transcript just on the episode right in front of you, so that you can follow along And you can pick certain vocabulary words and automatically add it to your personalized power vocabulary list.
So you don't have to like, just like, be taking notes all the time and you can just get these special words.
We choose them for each episode that will be really beneficial to you.
And you can just say, OK, I want this one.
I want this one.
Right.
Yeah, it's super cool.
So guys, go check out the app, allersenglish.com slash app.
But I do want to take a second just to shout out to our amazing iOS app users who reviewed us.
So thank you to Kui Wan from China, mainland.
Thank you to LCWIC from the US.
And this person actually asked, they said that they feel that Allers English has an amazing program.
It's been helpful.
But they also asked a question in their review, which I'm so excited to send you this question Michelle, so that we can create an episode on it.
So that is a cool way to leave a review.
Tell us what you think.
Throw in a question because we always read these reviews.
S-H-J-V-F-X-D-S from the U.S. reviewed us.
Thank you.
And Shazveen from the U.S.
Amazing reviews and amazing reviewers.
Thank you guys.
Thank you very much.
Yes, good stuff.
All right, Michelle, we're ready to get into it.
All right.
So we often say get back to the swing of things.
And it's so frequent that I realized myself using it or hearing it several times just yesterday.
So this is a huge one.
Actually, yeah, I was talking to someone and they knew we had come back from a trip.
And she said, Oh, is it hard to get back into the swing of things?
This is just a super common one.
But yeah, I mean Lindsay, what does this mean?
Just means getting back into your route.
Maybe you had some kind of, like i said, departure from your normal life.
You did something different and now you're getting back to your usual routine life work living situation, all those things Yeah yeah, exactly.
The usual life.
Guys, just for fun, we're going to throw out another episode for you to listen to, which is episode 1929 of All Ears.
English is we're happy to share these phrases and pie.
So just for fun, listen to that one as well.
I'm not sure if I'm happy to share my pie.
I don't know.
Wow.
Pie is pretty amazing.
I'm not sure if I would share my pie.
Which is your favorite kind of pie?
I love, especially this time of year, strawberry rhubarb pie.
It's amazing.
And in June is when it's most in swing.
It's only a few weeks of the year you can get it fresh.
Yes.
So very good.
So we often use this to talk about something new or coming back from vacation or a weekend.
But we can use it in other yes, like starting something new.
For example, it takes about three months to get into the swing of things at a new job, right into the routine.
Yeah.
So this isn't even about coming back from a vacation, right?
This is a different scenario just to get used to the routine, how work is done.
We talked on the business podcast this week about how it does take some time to learn the ins and outs.
Another good vocabulary word of a company ins and outs of a company key bonus word for today.
Yes, definitely.
Right.
So, um, and what's another, what's another example?
All right.
So you can say I feel a little bummed about my vacation being over, but once I get back into the swing of things I'll feel better.
So this one is about coming back from a trip and you're getting back into the routine.
So Lindsay, what do you do to get back into the swing of things when there's a change?
So it could be with your work.
It could be with personal life.
Is there anything you do to kind of make ease the adjustment?
Yeah, there are things I do.
And I always.
When I was in my 20s, living in New York, I always said I would never do these things on Sundays, but I do.
And this goes for the weekend into the week too, right?
A Monday, Sunday into a Monday.
I do do a little cleaning around the house on Sundays.
I go grocery shopping.
If there's an amazing hike I want to do, I'll skip that stuff and do it during the week.
But if it's a default, if I have the day, I'll do some stuff to prep.
So I feel really clean and good going into Sunday, Monday morning.
I feel...
My mind tends to reflect the way my office looks.
So I'll straighten out the office, clean off my desk, arrange my papers and just walk into a clean office on Monday morning.
That's what I do.
Nice.
Nice.
So do you do that?
Like, do you clean up your desk?
Now I'm just curious.
Every day, like at the end of the day or usually just that one to the week?
I try to to do a light cleanup just to a rain cause, but especially Friday afternoons things get chaotic.
Michelle on Fridays, just like, Oh, crazy.
And I'm usually at my craziest emotion.
I'm just like so burned out by Fridays.
I think a lot of our listeners are going to feel this too.
And so there's just papers everywhere, scribbling this, got to do this, got to do this.
So I come back into that maybe Sunday evening and say, okay, let's get this under control.
So we don't feel chaotic on Monday morning.
So that's what I need.
What do you do, Michelle, to get into the week?
I think I mean this sounds silly, but I think just like having like a quiet night and just like watching a show I like
I mean, like there were shows that I didn't really much watch any TV while I was away, actually.
So yeah.
Just kind of watching a couple shows that I enjoyed that I wanted to catch up on.
So that was nice.
Yeah, that's good.
I think in another... episode.
I've been watching a couple of those matchmaker shows on Netflix.
They are so fun.
They're so have you come back to that another day.
Okay, okay.
Okay, great.
Those are fun.
So I mean I think also after the global health crisis, it was hard for the world to get back into the swing of things right, to get used to some of those changes.
So it can be also just for giant things like that.
So getting back into the swing of things can be something as easy you know, like small as just from the weekend.
Yes.
Or getting into the swing of things can, you know, a new job, things like that.
Or it can be something larger.
Right could be coming back to working in a physical office after the pandemic right, going back to that normal commute taking the train, which many people have done.
Now there's still a huge, there's already a huge percentage of the workforce that is just back in the office right um or, like you said, a vacation or just a weekend.
Anytime you're going back to what's normal.
Yeah yeah Right right, right.
Um, uh, or just to something being routine, like that's, that's the one kind of difference.
Like if you're getting into the swing of things at a new job, like getting it to become normal, it's kind of little bit interesting um.
So, but yeah, i mean, i think, for you know, i don't, i think, like what i said, it's a good idea to find something you enjoy after a vacation, maybe something to look forward to um, or or after a you know like one thing um, we did before we left was we did make sure the apartment was semi-clean, because one time garbage yeah right, yeah well, i actually had my neighbor's check on my place specifically to make sure that there was nothing smelly, because once we went to montreal and when we came back it was late on a sunday night and we walked in and it was like, oh my gosh, rotten eggs.
There were like something, something rotten eggs, i think, in the trash, and so anyway, It happens Michelle, to the best of us.
It's okay.
But yeah, that idea of if we have time, we like to clean the house a little bit before we leave and take out the trash, just so we can come back to a sane house that feels clean and feels good, you know.
And then, and it's not fun to do, but then you kind of thank yourself for doing it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like doing a task for your future self.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
And what about knowing everyone else feels the same way?
Tell me about this.
Like anticipate, is that what we just said?
That same idea?
I mean, basically, yeah.
Just anticipating things and just you know.
If you're having a hard time adjusting back from something, just know that you're not alone and people feel this way.
That's all.
Okay.
I love it.
So what are some, so we've got our phrase, get back into the swing of things, right.
Um, or get back to, can you say into or to? would you say get back to the swing of the things I get?
Yeah.
I get back into the swing of things.
I think either is, yeah, I think we say both.
However, if it's a new thing um, like the job um yeah, get into the swing of things, because you're not getting back into it.
So that's kind of a key difference there.
That's interesting right yeah, you would never say back because you have never been there before.
Uh, so that's important to remember.
So, good stuff, all right.
So what are some other things we could say?
I'll throw out the first one michelle, are you ready?
So i could say get back into the groove.
Right, i'm a little rusty, but i'll get back into the groove after a few days, Yeah.
And again, that other example, you could say get into the groove.
Yeah.
Right.
In a similar similar way, like just getting rid of the back.
Right.
And then another one is acclimate.
It's tough to acclimate after a long vacation.
Yes.
I like this one.
It's a very interesting word. right?
It's tough to acclimate.
Yeah, that's a.
That's a higher level word.
Might be maybe an IELTS word, for example.
By the way, guys check out the IELTS energy podcast with Aubrey and Jessica.
I can see that being a high scoring vocabulary word.
Yeah, yes, yes, yes, for sure.
So and then what's one more?
Back into the routine, very straightforward term, right?
I haven't exercised in months, but I'll get back into the routine soon.
Exercise is another one of those things that you just have to be in the habit.
Yep, you know, once you lose it, it's gone and it's hard to yeah yeah um, so anyway well, let's do our role play.
Uh, so we are friends and it's a sunday night.
Okay, here we go.
Ah, i don't want tomorrow to be monday.
Oh, it's okay michelle, you'll get back to the routine before you know, and before you know it, it will be friday again.
That's true, it's tough to acclimate after the weekend.
I feel like it takes me a while to get back into the groove.
Yeah,
But once you're at work, you'll feel better.
You'll easily get back into the swing of things.
Nice.
I'm really encouraging you.
I think this is something.
If our listeners are parents of teenagers, for example, they might be having this conversation about not wanting to go to school.
I feel like I had most of my Sunday scaries in my school days.
Oh, man, did I have them.
Yeah, I had them a lot in school.
I remember like yeah, as after, especially when finishing a break, like winter break, i remember just being like, oh god yeah, it was.
I had a lot.
I had anxiety, for sure, on monday mornings.
I'm thankful that i don't experience that so much yeah, in my adult life.
Yeah yeah, but anyway.
So what do we say here, michelle?
What do we say?
So i said, all right, you said you'll get back to the routine and before you know it it will be friday again, right?
And then you said, that's true, It's tough to acclimate after the weekend, right?
And then I said, I feel like it takes a while to get back into the groove.
Yeah.
And then I said, yeah, but once you're at work, you'll feel better.
You'll easily get back into the swing of things.
So get back into the swing of things.
Nice.
Yeah.
And I think I feel like that's true.
I also.
I have this sometimes after like a family visit, you know have like a funny feeling, like I'm sad, like when my parents leave, or you know something.
And then it's like oh, but then once you start getting, you know, you know, then once you start getting moving and doing things, then you're like OK, I got, I'm OK.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's so true.
That used to happen to me in college a lot.
I think I said this before, but when my parents, they didn't come very much because I was in Virginia, they lived in New Hampshire, but when they came for parents weekend or to see a big tennis match weekend um, I would be so sad when they left.
But then you get over Monday and then by Tuesday you're like okay, I'm going to the dining hall.
I'm going to classes.
I'm doing my thing.
Tennis practice life is normal again. right?
Oh, it makes me miss the college days, actually.
I kind of miss them, but I don't totally miss them.
I don't know.
I don't.
I don't.
Yeah, I don't totally.
But I could do it for a little while.
It's a good life for sure.
Oh, my God.
All right, Michelle, what's the takeaway for our listeners?
All right.
Well, we all have this feeling.
I think it's pretty universal and I think it's fair to say that it can be hard to acclimate after something or to get used to something new, a new job, whatever it is, a new living situation.
But we gave you some of the ways we try to acclimate and we also gave you some ways to connect with others, some expressions to use.
All right.
Very good.
Good stuff, Michelle.
I'll see you back on here very soon.
And guys, don't forget to go get the app, because this will help you go deeper with today's episode and all of the episodes of All Ears English allearsenglishcom slash APP.
All right, Michelle.
Talk soon.
All right.
Bye, Lindsay.
Bye.
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