What the ESL?!

Nate finally makes it to Saigon with his family and a few days later finds himself amid a fresh outbreak. The topic of conversation this week is a deep dive comparison of Vietnam’s two most populous cities and what makes each tick. At work, the two discuss traditional pathways to getting their series picked up and learn a lot from the podcast Script Notes.

A long delayed trip to San Francisco is finally made by Stephen Hoan in a post pandemic America. Stephen is interviewed in a room on of the top floors of the Marriot in Union Square. Tired from a long day of exploring and following the foodie Bourdain path, the friends enjoy a nastalgic trip down memory lane. Topics covered: Hanoi racism, fitting into another culture, the Hanoi music scene.

It's vaccine time and Jimmy and Nate compare the United States and Vietnam's overall reactions to the pandemic. At work the two explore the protagonist's motivations for being in Vietnam, which leads them down a rabbit hole about adopting children in Vietnam and distant unknown relatives.

What do you do when your parents come to visit you halfway across the world.?These seasoned expats discuss parent friendly options for Hanoi and Vietnam as a whole. At work, the show creators look at some DIY show creation options.

From slightly boozed up in episode 6 to sober/hungover in episode 7 the two writers get serious about their deadlines and the goal of the series they are trying to created. Other topics covered include being hungover with a toddler, best/worst ESL teaching moments and drunk posting on social media.

An interview with long term Hanoian expat Whalen falls through, so the boys do a deep dive into alcohol and racism that exists in the expat community. The boys also reveal some of the tech tools that they are using to make both the show and the podcast a reality.

Hey, women aren't notches on a belt. After Jimmy gives a long defensive non-answer about how many women he's dated, the two conduct their first interview. Bill George discusses his love of Vietnamese football and what motivates him to travel all over the country to folllow it. He also gets deep about teaching and the difficulties of being a manager in the ESL industry.

Nate recounts a delicious meal of grilled raclette cheese as Jimmy drools on his keyboard. The two experienced bikers go over the finer points of motorbike culture in Vietnam and some of the close calls they've had over the years. Their work on the series this week is a look at how season one ends. After all, if you don't have a clear idea of where you want to be, how do you know which way to go? I don't know, something like that.

Things get deep when Jimmy and Nate discuss the recent rise in anti-Asian violence in America. After briefly touching on the fact they both have Vietnam map tattoos, the two get to work. This week, the boys read the first five pages of their pilot.

After trying to remember what life was like 16 years ago, the dynamic duo think about their most and least comfortable locations in Hanoi. Following this, the two engage in a series of hypothetical situations with the characters they've created. How well developed are these characters? Will they stand up to the rigorous test?