In every episode, we encourage you to send us messages with any questions you might have about life in Canada or the English language. We’ve received lots of great questions, so in this episode, Harp and Andrew dive into the Culips mailbox to respond to some of your messages!

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

* To have all your bases covered

* A buffet-style party

* It’s just a matter of doing something

* Funner

* Camera-shy

* A learning curve

* FAQ

* A working holiday visa

* To dodge a bullet

Sample transcript:

Andrew: So, Harp, how’s it going? What’s new with you?

Harp: It’s pretty good. I had a very, very busy weekend. I hosted a dinner party slash birthday party for a really good friend. And it was pretty exhausting because I had to cook dinner for 22 people.

Andrew: Wow. Twenty-two people? Harp: Yup.

Andrew: And you hosted them all in your apartment?

Harp: Yup.

Andrew: Wow! That is a lot of work.

Harp: Yeah. So obviously, I don’t have an apartment big enough to seat 22 people. So, we did kind of a buffet style. I did Mexican taco night. So, it was pretty cool.

Andrew: That sounds really good.

Harp: Yup. It was pretty good. Thank God one of my best friends is a chef, so he helped me out a lot. I’ll be honest.

Andrew: Yeah. Well, you need it when you have that many people over.

Harp: Yup.

Andrew: Were you able to hang out with your guests and chat with them a bit?

Harp: Yes. I was. ’Cause that’s the good thing about tacos, is that you can do most of the prep before, so when people are there, it’s just a matter of quickly reheating things.

Andrew: For sure. Very cool.

Harp: Yes. So should we get started with today’s episode?

Andrew: Yeah. Today, we have a Chatterbox episode. And this is where we discuss current events or interesting things. We just chat.

Harp: Yup. And today we’re doing a very interesting episode that we’ve called The Culips mailbox.

Andrew: Yeah. So, you know how every episode, we encourage you to send us emails and messages on Facebook? Well, a lot of you have. And we are going to respond to some of these messages in this podcast.

Harp: Yes. I think we should get started. So the first question is from Ji Sun in Korea. And she asked us, “I was just awarded a working holiday visa, which will allow me to work in Canada for a year. I want to go to either Vancouver or Calgary. Which city do you recommend?” Oh, good question, Ji Sun. What do you think, Andrew?

Andrew: Well, this… You know, I’m a person that can talk about this with some authority ’cause I’ve lived in Vancouver and in Calgary. But I think it depends on what your goals are, right? Do you wanna come to work and just to experience living abroad? Or do you really, really wanna learn English? Because I think if you’re from Korea, and you go to Vancouver, you will probably just end up hanging with a lot of Koreans and speaking a lot of Korean. But if you go to Calgary, you might, you know, speak a little more English.

Audio/Learning Materials: Culips English Learning Podcast