Hello, hello dear listener!
Welcome into our chit chat episode!
Rory, are you excited? Very excited!
We are back together after months of being apart!
Yeah, you know, like this summer we've been travelling, we've been, you know, enjoying our life and we recorded many episodes, like in June and then we're kind of like, yeah, let's live a life!
Hey, let's go there, let's go here and now we are back.
So we are ready to record a lot of new amazing episodes for you.
And we just want to say hello dear listener, okay, we are with you, we're happy that you are with us, okay?
Stay with us and we want to tell you what we've been doing because Rory did something really amazing this summer.
Well, so did you! Before we get on with our chit chat episode, we have an announcement for you.
In the beginning of June we decided to make our summer premium episodes free for everyone and try to monetize our podcast with ads.
And now that the summer is almost over, we have decided to make a few changes to how we release new content.
So all our premium episodes will be available for free, dear listener, on all podcast platforms.
But you can listen to them for a month, okay?
So when a new episode is released, it's for free for a month.
And after that, the episode is moved to the archive, the special place where all our episodes are kept.
It's available, but you pay for them.
Yes, after they are removed from the free feed, those of you who decide you want to continue having access to our premium episodes, both old and new, can sign up to our Patreon page and binge listen to all the episodes we've released since 2020 without any interruptions from ads.
Imagine an episode with no advertising.
Very good, very professional, very demure, very mindful.
So these changes will allow us to make a more sustainable revenue and at the same time will allow you to listen to all our premium episodes for free.
Thank you very much for your continuous support.
Now, with that out of the way, we've got some catching up to do.
Rory, you go first. Well, I had two big things.
One is much bigger than the other.
The first is that I spent nine weeks in Oxford.
Yes, the Oxford in England with all the universities and colleges.
Oxford did listen to our Rory went to Oxford.
Wow. Rory, so what did you do there?
Well, I worked as a teacher and sometimes activity leader and sometimes welfare officer at a school called St.
Clairs College, which is in the northern part of Oxford.
It's one of the first international baccalaureate schools in the world.
In fact, I think it's the first IB school in the world.
Oh my God, so you were in Oxford in one of these buildings, these beautiful old buildings, right?
I was in many old buildings, to be honest.
We got to do lots of cool things like go and study visits with the students to different colleges and university sites and museums.
And you worked with students who studied in Oxford?
Well, they were young people, so they were probably going to study in Oxford full time.
This was just for a summer course they were doing.
But yes, I worked with students aged 15 to 17, sometimes 18, and they were all absolutely brilliant.
Actually, they came from all parts of the world.
Their behavior was amazing, like so well behaved, such good students.
I think I haven't worked anywhere like that in a very long time.
Wow, and everything was offline, right?
In the classroom. Everything in the school was offline.
However, when I wasn't teaching offline classes, I continued to teach my online classes as well, which was very, very entertaining.
So I think I worked something like 40 hours, maybe more than 40 hours a week every day without breaks for nine weeks.
Crazy, Rory. Okay, so what are the three things you loved about Oxford?
Not about your job, but maybe some other bits about Oxford?
Okay, so top three favorite things.
My biggest favorite was the people, because everybody that I lived with and that I met were very friendly and helpful.
The second favorite thing was next to the school, there was this part of Oxford called Summertime, which is one of the nicest parts of Oxford.
Oxford is already nice, but imagine the nicest part.
And you could go there, go shopping, coffee, relax.
It was very chilled. So that was amazing.
And it was only 10 minute walk away maximum.
And my third favorite thing was a place called Port Meadow, which is like a big open green space.
There are open fields and you can chill out there, you can relax.
But it's also got a stream or a river running through it.
And so when it was very hot, which it was very, and it was very hot very often.
So we used to go swimming in the river.
And it was amazing. You could see people on their boats going down the river.
You could see people swimming, of course.
And there were horses that would come right up to the water and you could go and see the horses.
And they were completely free to do whatever they wanted.
It was that's cool. That's amazing.
What didn't you like? So like, was there any things that you like hated and like, oh, what's going on?
Or maybe something was strange?
Maybe not about Oxford.
Well, almost nothing. One weird thing was when you want to get a bus in Oxford, you go to the bus stop.
But you must also wave to the driver to tell them that you want to get on the bus.
And I didn't know this because I just imagine if you're standing at the bus stop, the driver must know to stop.
I just didn't get that at all.
You were standing there and the bus just goes past.
I didn't know that until the bus drivers told me, which was a bit unfortunate.
So that was a weird thing.
But that was like the only really bad thing.
What about paying with your credit cards or cash?
Do they accept cash? Because I often hear people from London that there are places which don't accept cash and there are places where you can only pay in cash.
Well, I never had any of those problems, but I pay for my card.
Sorry, I pay for everything using my card.
Okay, okay. Wow dear listener, can you imagine our Rory in Oxford and Oxford professor?
Rory, do you feel like an important now?
Like, oh, I've taught in Oxford.
Well, I feel really good about being able to go there and meet all these amazing students.
That was pretty awesome.
I'm even more impressed that I was able to work in nine weeks continuously with no breaks.
That was also quite an achievement, I think.
I'm never doing that again, but I was able to do it and I got all of these really cool ideas for teaching, which I can now transfer to my usual classes.
So I feel good about it. Oh, I wasn't just a teacher though.
I was also a teacher trainer.
Yes, I ran teacher training sessions too.
And who? So Rory taught students and he taught teachers as well.
He taught everybody, okay?
Like, wow. And he's saying all this, wearing an Oxford hoodie dear listener.
So if you go to Oxford, one must-do thing is to buy an Oxford hoodie.
And it's kind of, it's usually black or dark blue and it has an Oxford in white.
And Rory is wearing this beautiful hoodie.
It's a hoodie, right? It is a hoodie, yes.
It's a large, but it doesn't look like a large one.
It's actually very well made.
I also went to Oxford, but you know, as a tourist.
So I just visited these touristy places and I bought an Oxford hoodie.
Or maybe I bought it in London.
Nice. We're gonna need to wear these for the videos.
So we've been to Oxford, dear listener.
Yay! Rory worked there and I just visited.
And now you know it. So you are closer to Oxford now.
Well, it wasn't just Oxford.
I also had my birthday. Rory's birthday and Rory usually has like what, 15 parties in different places with different people.
But I was sensible this year.
I only had 10, 3 parties.
3 parties? What? Oh, Rory, are you getting old?
I think I only had 3. Yeah.
And yeah, I'm getting old.
I need to come down. Yeah, but one party lasted for what, a week?
No, no. I was very well behaved this year.
Yeah, Rory's birthday is in August.
At the end of August, wait, I have my 24th.
Absolutely right. It's the 24th of August.
What was the best present that you got?
The best present was definitely having all of my friends and family around me.
However, if we are talking about the physical things, I got really nice clothes, actually, to be honest.
I got a whole load of shirts.
Obviously, all of them are dark colours, they're drastic.
Everyone listens to me.
What else? I had a whole ton of books to add to the already growing pile of books that I still have to read.
I think those are my favourite things, to be honest with you.
And of course, what's life without little champagne?
So I also got a lot of champagne as well.
However, it's not just all about my summer, is it, Maria?
Oh yeah, my summer, I've been travelling, visiting different places.
So I went to Turkey twice.
I went to Istanbul. And then I went to a place called Siddeh in Turkey as well.
So it was a beach holiday.
The water was so warm. It's like you just go there and you stay there for like two hours.
You know, it was amazing.
So I got my tan, I enjoyed the sun and the beautiful food.
You said you went twice, but why did you go twice?
No, I went to Istanbul. And Istanbul is like...
So the beach holiday is like Istanbul to enjoy the city.
And then later in June, I went to the beach.
So I'm a sea person. I need my vitamin C, dear listener.
Are you the same? Do you like the sea?
Do you like swimming in the sea or do you usually swim in the swimming pool?
So actually, I love swimming pools and the sea and sand.
So yeah, that's like a true summer for me.
But also, dear listener, I'm a mountain person.
So I like mountains and forests and like feeling this summer in nature, right?
Trees and flowers and fields.
So I went like traveling in the mountains.
I climbed some volcanoes.
I saw bears, you know, bear, a bear in the wild.
Oh my God, what kind of bear?
It was a mother bear with a little baby bear.
A bearling. So I saw two of them together.
That was pretty scary, dear listener.
Okay, because they were very close.
I was in the car, but still, you know, to see bears very close is so well scary.
But it's fascinating to see animals in the wild.
Have you ever seen a bear in the wild or maybe, I don't know, some other animals?
Oh yeah, and I also went to Kyrgyzstan.
And there is a lake which is called Issykul, I don't know how to pronounce it in English, but like a sacred lake.
One of the, I don't know, most famous lakes in the world now, you know.
And many people from different countries go there.
I saw Chinese people and Indian people and people from Europe, from Belgium, for example.
So different people from all over the world go there to enjoy the lake in Kyrgyzstan.
So it was an interesting experience and the lake was amazing.
You went to Kyrgyzstan, though?
Kyrgyzstan, yes. That's awesome, because that is where I am going next month.
And you're going there to work, Rory, again.
Whenever I go anywhere, I work.
But yes, so I'm going to Kyrgyzstan to run a teacher training program and teach some classes.
Sweet, I'm going to be in the capital.
Yes, I will be in, I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly, I will be in Bishkek.
Sweet, I like Bishkek. Bishkek is a nice place.
Like with parks, but it's very hot, Rory.
Super hot. I will keep that in mind.
However, if anyone of our listeners is from Kyrgyzstan or has been there before and would like to make any recommendations, you are very welcome to do so.
Yes, people, this is your chance, okay?
Rory is going to Bishkek, so you can like pick him up from the airport, show him around.
This is your chance. Rory is coming, Bishkek.
Rory is coming. Maybe I'd like to organize a get-together with Rory in Kyrgyzstan.
Bishkek, people. However, remembering that I will be working there and I'm not there for a holiday.
Oh, on the subject of work, though.
Now that I'm done with Oxford, the class schedule will be open again.
You're very welcome to use the link, wherever it is, to sign up for those classes and to book them.
Yes, dear listener, you can get classes with Rory.
So, if you want to improve your speaking, your writing, listening, reading, so you can book a class with Rory.
The link is in the description.
And also, like listen to our episodes, okay?
Read the scripts and join our telegram channel.
So, we have our channel on telegram and there on telegram you can listen to our episodes all for free.
You can read the scripts, everything is there in one place for you.
You can comment, you can like our posts.
So, the link to our telegram channel is in the description.
And also, we have a chat where you can find a speaking partner.
So, if you want to practice your speaking with somebody, you can go to our chat and find your speaking partner to improve speaking for IELTS or just, you know, like chitchat.
So, the link is also in the description.
What about for you, Maria?
Do you have any plans for the future?
Hmm, let's see. Buy a new dress for the autumn.
I can get a new haircut. Yeah, continue my work, alright?
Because I teach IELTS teachers, so doing this and I'm planning to be even more fabulous.
Dear listen, for you, for Rory, for the whole world, I'm planning to shine even more and to kind of to spread my Maria charisma and knowledge and, you know, like love everywhere.
How about that? Things we can never have enough of.
Dear listen, thank you very much for being with us.
Okay, we do love you. We are super happy that you are with us.
Okay, keep listening, share our podcast with all your friends and relatives.
And we'll see you in our telegram channel, maybe in Rory's classes, alright?
Stay in touch on our Instagram as well.
You can just go there and Rory has his Instagram.
Thank you so much. Take care.
Bye bye.
