1.5 Hour English Conversation Lesson

Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa  

from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Today,  I have a special guest, my husband, Dan. 

Dan: Hello. 

Vanessa: Today, we are going to be having a long  

English conversation, because over two years ago,  back in February 2020, we made this conversation  

and millions of you loved this and said that  it helped you to immerse yourself in English  

and have a fun time. Today, we are going to be  doing something similar. We'll be talking about  

at least 10, possibly more, topics. We'll be  giving our opinions and stories and ideas. 

Dan: Answers. 

Vanessa: Yes, whatever comes up  

along the way. There will be subtitles for key  phrases down here, but you can also click CC to  

get the full subtitles so that you don't miss any  words. All right, are you ready to get started? 

Dan: I'm ready. 

Vanessa: Let's do it.  

But wait, before we get started, like always, I  have created a free PDF worksheet for this lesson  

that you can download. Never forget what you are  about to learn. You can click on the link in the  

description to download this free PDF worksheet  today, and you will have a chance to answer all  

of today's questions too. Dan: 

Oo. Vanessa: 

Okay. Are you ready for question number one? Dan: 

Yes, I'm ready. What is it? Vanessa: 

All right. Question number one ... Dan: 

What is the meaning of life? Vanessa: 

Oh, that would be a good start. Topic number one  is family. I'm going to be putting the timestamps  

for all of these topics in the description, so if  you want to rewatch any of these sections you can  

easily skip to them. My first question is about  family, and that is what is an interesting fact  

about your family history? Dan: 

Interesting fact. Well, I don't know too much  about my mom's side of the family. I know they've  

been in the United States for a long time, but  they just didn't really keep any records. On my  

dad's side, on the other hand, I have a, well, I  had a particularly detail-oriented grandmother who  

would remember everything about her childhood. She  went back and looked at, I don't even know how she  

found documents about where they came from. Her  family was in Germany, near, I can't remember,  

I think it's Hamburg, Hamburg. Grandpa was also  from somewhere in Germany, and both of them  

just happened to move to eastern Kansas, which  is if you've ever been to Kansas, it's just corn  

fields and that's it. It's not a very beautiful  place, but somehow they ended up in Kansas. 

Dan: My grandma would always give lots of details  

about growing up there on the farm and how they  didn't have electricity. She would go on about  

these stories about, this is how she would  talk, one time, me and my brother Bern,  

we went to the backyard and filled up  the tin bucket with hot boiling water,  

and he took all the hot water, Daniel. Vanessa: 

She remembered it was a tin bucket. Dan: 

Yeah, and it was cousin Bern, and it  was Uncle Freddie, people like that.  

I think her father's name was Freddie. Vanessa: 

Oh, that's her son's name. Dan: 

Yeah. I don't know how interesting  that is, but it's the only  

cultural knowledge I have about my past. The  other side of the family, they just, we lived  

in Virginia a long time ago, and my great  grandfather was a coal miner apparently so  

kind of interesting, I guess. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think that's pretty cool though that  because in the US everyone has heritage from  

other places around the world and it gets lost  sometimes. In fact, that's what I was going to  

talk about too in a moment. That area in Kansas,  I remember your grandma saying that there were  

German-only churches. Dan: 

Oh yeah. Vanessa: 

So they would speak only German.  Did your grandma know any German? 

Dan: Very little. I don't think she knew a lot. 

Vanessa: I think that's kind of the generational thing,  

like her parents knew it. Dan: 

She's probably the last generation that spoke  German, or her parents were the last generation  

that spoke German. Vanessa: 

Yeah, but then for her she just understood  probably some German. That community was,  

for some reason, where lots of German people  moved to and that's where your family's from. 

Dan: Yeah. They went through a lot of  

really challenging cultural changes. There was a  lot of German mistrust and hate during that time,  

obviously, for reasons that we can understand. Vanessa: 

Political reasons. Dan: 

We were at war with Germany a lot, so I think  they were trying to scrub out a lot of the super  

German sounding things. Apparently our last  name was more German sounding at one point.  

I don't know how they said it, and speaking  German would certainly be one of those things. 

Vanessa: Yeah, so they tried to assimilate to  

life and that's similar to my ... Dan: 

Tell me about your family history. Vanessa: 

...similar to the interesting point I wanted  to tell you about. My family history is that  

on my dad's side, my great  grandma and my great grandpa, they  

are from around the area of Naples, Italy.  First, my great grandpa went on a boat,  

came to the US, married someone, had three kids. Dan: 

It was a good story. Vanessa: 

Then his wife died. Dan: 

Oh, that's the bad part. Vanessa: 

He had three kids and no wife and he's working,  I'm sure, a really difficult job. That was not a  

time when you could be a single father. Dan: 

This was in Pittsburgh, right? Vanessa: 

They were either in New York or Pittsburgh,  but by the time my great grandma came, they  

went to Pittsburgh. We're getting a little ahead  of ourselves. He wrote a letter to his mother who  

lived back in Italy, and he said, I need to find  a new wife. Can you help me to find a new wife  

from our hometown that will come here to live  with me and help take care of my three kids.  

His mom said, no problem. I'll find you a wife. I  got her. Here's her height. Here's her dimensions.  

Get a wedding dress for her. My great grandpa got  a wedding dress made in the US, the right size and  

everything for his future mysterious wife. We call  this a mail order bride. He basically ordered her  

in a letter like you would a package. Vanessa: 

I don't know what he did with his kids,  but he went to Italy, and as legend has it,  

one day he was in the house. They  were preparing things for the wedding,  

and he looked out the window and a woman walked  by, and he said, oh, that's the woman I want  

to marry. Dan: 

Who is that? Vanessa: 

Was that his mail order bride?  Nope, that was my great-grandmother. 

Dan: Was it her sister? The original woman's sister? 

Vanessa: One of the legends is that  

it was his, well not his sister ... Dan: 

Adds to the drama. Vanessa: 

But my grandma clarified. This was her mother.  She said, oh, he saw her outside the window. 

Dan: Just a random lady? 

Vanessa: Uh-huh. Well, this is all a little vague  

because this is going back quite some time. Dan: 

Excuse me, ma'am? Will you marry me?? Vanessa: 

Basically. She was taller than his other  supposed to be wife. He married her. Her name  

was Antoinette. He married her. She said, yes, I'm  going to move to the US with you, leave my family.  

She must have had a really tough situation, I  imagine. They were all farmers. I'm sure that  

was a really hard life, and that could give her  some hope for the future. In the wedding pictures,  

her dress is a little bit too short because  it was not supposed to be her dress. It was  

supposed to be the other lady's dress.  I'm glad that happened because otherwise  

I would not be here. Dan: 

That's Vanessa's origin story, really. Vanessa: 

Yeah. This lady, Antoinette, she moved to the  US. She had three kids and then her husband died,  

so she had six children in a new country. Crazy  story. She raised them. She's what we might call  

the matriarch of my dad's side of the family. Dan: 

Antoinette Manolfi. Vanessa: 

Everybody who is from that side of the  family knows her and reveres her. Oh,  

she was so amazing. Oh yeah, she just helped  us survive. We might say she was a survivor.  

She really went through a lot, and she  was the right person for the job because  

she made it work. Dan: 

Nice. Vanessa: 

Yeah. That's an interesting story about  my family. I'm sure everyone has those  

as well. I want to ask you the same  question. Let us know in the comments,  

what's an interesting story or an interesting  fact about your family history. We'd love to know.  

Let's go to question number two. This is about  childhood. I'd like to know what's something that  

you did as a child that you still do now. These  are kind of personal questions to start off with. 

Dan: Well, we laughed before  

this because she said everything. I am a little  bit, let's just say, youthful in my approach  

to life. That's the positive way to say it anyway.  Something that I directly do, especially now,  

because I have kids, is catching critters. Vanessa: 

Oh yeah. Dan: 

Catching critters and keeping them. I would  say critters are generally small animals.  

When I was a kid, I spent, I would say 50%  of my life trying to catch frogs, lizards,  

grasshoppers, snakes, bugs of any  kind, and I would keep them in cages.  

I would use nets to catch butterflies, terrariums,  aquariums, fish, anything like that. I caught and  

kept lots and lots of critters. There was probably  a five-year phase where we didn't do that very  

much. Funnily enough, even when we first got  married, and you're into this too, I don't know  

where she got this. Maybe it's infectious. Vanessa: 

We caught tad poles as kids. Dan: 

We would catch tad poles as just a married  couple. We'd go down to the pond and scoop  

in and get some mucky, gucky tad poles and watch  them change into frogs. It's the miracle of life. 

Vanessa: You know what? I have a  

distinct memory on our honeymoon, we were taking a  hike, and you saw, I think this was the first time  

I'd ever caught critters with you because,  I don't know, maybe when we were dating ... 

Dan: She didn't know what she was signing up for. 

Vanessa: Maybe when we were dating, we just  

weren't in those situations. I remember we were on  a hike and you were in a stream picking up rocks,  

and you were so excited. This is a good salamander  spot. There might be salamanders. Then you found  

one and I was so impressed. Dan: 

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Vanessa: 

How did you find that salamander because I caught  tad poles maybe like every summer as a kid,  

but I never caught salamanders or whole frogs or  fish. We had nets and caught fireflies and stuff,  

but I think you take it to the next level. Dan: 

Yeah. Especially as a kid, I took it to  the next level. One time I caught a five  

foot snake. I didn't even know what kind  it was, I just reached into the bushes.  

I didn't grab it the right way. I was like  swinging it through the air. That was probably  

the dumbest thing I ever did honestly catching  critters as a child. It extends beyond that too.  

I've always liked keeping fish. I love making fish  tanks and the environments. Obviously you can do  

that for frogs and reptiles. I have big dreams  for my son because he's also very into this. 

Vanessa: Oh yeah.  

He is crazed about his net and catching stuff. He  just loves that. I mean it's treasures in nature. 

Dan: Soon enough,  

our house will turn into a menagerie of critters. Vanessa: 

I just have one rule. I would ... Dan: 

Scorpions. Vanessa: 

I don't mind keeping frogs and lizards and fish. Dan: 

Snakes? Vanessa: 

But I don't want to keep any snakes. Dan: 

Oh, come on. Vanessa: 

I know a lot of snakes are harmless ... Dan: 

They're cute. Vanessa: 

... but I would rather the snakes live  under our shed than live in our house. 

Dan: That's more dangerous. 

Vanessa: Well, if they're not poisonous.  

If they're not venomous, then they can catch  rats and catch things and keep our chicken safe,  

that type of thing. Dan: 

That's what snakes do? Vanessa: 

Yeah. A lot of chickens ... Dan: 

They protect chickens. Vanessa: 

Yeah. A lot of people, and this  is getting a little deep ... 

Dan: Are chickens critters? 

Vanessa: I don't  

this so. When I think of a critter, I think of  crawling, like something that goes like k-k-k-k,  

like a little crawly thing. Dan: 

Am I a critter? Vanessa: 

That's a good question. I was going to say some  people, we have chickens, you might have seen  

this on our YouTube channel before, some people  purposefully have a rat snake or a black snake,  

a garter snake that lives in their chicken  coop, and they eat like one egg per  

two weeks or something. They don't eat that much. Dan: 

Is that good? Vanessa: 

They do it for protection. They're keeping rats  away. They're keeping other things away from the  

coop. There's a whole, let me tell you ... Dan: 

You want me to bring snakes into  our family, well, but outside? 

Vanessa: As long as they are outside,  

that's okay. I don't want snakes in my house. Dan: 

I have lots of good stories about snakes in  the house. One snake escaped in the house. 

Vanessa: Oh, don't tell me that. 

Dan: My mom found it under the couch months later  

and it was dead. Vanessa: 

Oh no. Yeah. Dan: 

It was one of those classic situations of  mom screams in the other room, and we're  

like what? What? Vanessa: 

You kids have that snake in here? 

Dan: Daniel,  

gee, what is this thing? That's what she'd say. Vanessa: 

Well, do you want to share also while we're  on this topic, your first memory, the frog? 

Dan: Oh my very first memory. 

Vanessa: Yes. This will drill in the point that Dan  

loves critters. Dan: 

Yeah. I caught a toad probably when I was  two years old and I was, for some reason,  

holding it off my deck and I dropped it down into  the bushes. I remember thinking, no, my toad. Then  

I went down to look for it and I couldn't find it. Vanessa: 

This is Dan's first memory in life. Dan: 

Yeah, literally one, at least as far as I know. Vanessa: 

Well, there you go. Dan: 

Yeah. That's the point of it? Vanessa: 

A lifetime of catching critters started  at a young age. Well, I think ... 

Dan: Yeah. How about you? 

Vanessa: For me? 

Dan: What do you still do besides catching  

lots of critters? Vanessa: 

I do catch tad poles still. That's fun. I  think the thing that first came to my mind,  

and I tried to think about just like the first  thing that came to my mind for each of these, is  

when I was a kid I loved to dig in the dirt.  My sister and I had two best friends who lived  

right across the street, and we spent hours in  the backyard just digging in the dirt. We built  

things in the dirt. We had little inventions. We  made homes in the dirt. We did so many things.  

Now I dig in the dirt, but I call it gardening. Dan: 

I think we have the wrong YouTube channel.  We just need to be covered in mud with like  

snakes and gardening. Vanessa: 

Maybe that will be YouTube channel ... Dan: 

Number two. Vanessa: 

Number two, Dan catches critters and  Vanessa digs in the dirt and gardens.  

I remember when I was in seventh grade at school,  we had a class, I think it was Home Ec., which  

is like home economics. You learn about cooking,  and sewing, and those types of things. There was  

a hygiene section where you learned how to take  care of your hair, how to take care of your nails.  

I remember specifically ... Dan: 

How to take care of your nails? Vanessa: 

I know. Dan: 

There's a class about that? Vanessa: 

Well, it was like how to, I don't know, some  people maybe don't learn that at home, like how  

to trim your nails and stuff. This lady was one  of those people that as a middle schooler, most  

middle schoolers just roll their eyes at, like,  oh, you think I'm going to do that? Oh, I'm not  

going to be like you, but she was our teacher. She  was telling us how to clean our nails and paint  

them in this type of thing. I remember asking ... Dan: 

Was it for ladies only? Vanessa: 

Yeah, we were split by gender, so there was boys  in one class, girls in the other just for Home  

Ec. I remember her saying how to clean  your nails and make them look nice. I  

remember asking in the class, I said, but  what if I always have dirt under my nails? 

Dan: You raised your hands and asked that? 

Vanessa: I asked that question. I was so  

naive. I always have dirt under my nails. I can't  get them clean like that. She looked at me like,  

what? Like I had three heads on my head. What?  Why would you have dirt under your nails? You're  

a seventh grade girl. I think after that ... Dan: 

Be proper. Vanessa: 

... maybe when I was in eighth grade or so I  had a phase where I stopped playing in the dirt  

and did other things. Now I have come full  circle and well, I took a shower recently,  

so my nails are actually clean, but they're  almost always full of dirt. Just like our kids. 

Dan: I'm sure you put in more  

effort to get the dirt out now. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Kind of. Sometimes it works, sometimes  it doesn't, but I have the same mindset as a  

seventh grader of, well, my hands aren't  going to be completely clean because ... 

Dan: You really do. 

Vanessa: ... I was just playing in the dirt.  

What's the matter with that? Dan: 

If you look at Vanessa's wardrobe,  I have more clothes than her  

half the time. Vanessa: 

I don't really care about those kind of things. Dan: 

Yeah. She's not you're a typical girly  girl. Let's put it that way. A girly girl. 

Vanessa: That's okay. 

Dan: That's my sister.  

Maybe we'll talk about her later. Vanessa: 

Okay. All right. Well, let's go to our next  question. But before we do that, I want to ask  

you, what is something that you did in childhood  that you still do now? Let us know in the  

comments. All right. Let's go to question number  three. Question number three is about hobbies.  

I'd like to know if you could wake up tomorrow  and magically have any kind of education,  

talent, or skill set, what would it be? Dan: 

Education or skill? Vanessa: 

Yeah, this is very broad. Dan: 

Yes. Well, when I think skill, I mean, I  think that I would want to be, and this is  

a little stereotypical, an athlete of some kind,  particularly a hockey player. When you are playing  

a sport and you really like that sport, you get  into the flow and you just live in that moment  

and you just have so much fun. I can remember  as a kid, one time I scored a goal to win the  

game in hockey, and that's just the greatest  feeling ever. Now, if you add to that, a big  

stadium full of fans cheering your name ... Am I  egotistical? I don't know. That would just be the  

ultimate thrill to score a goal and hear everybody  cheering. I would say, yeah, either an athlete of  

some kind or a performer. I think you get the same  kind of feeling if you are acting, if you're maybe  

a standup comedian and you're making people laugh. Dan: 

Even to a certain degree, I think  being a really great teacher,  

being a really great teacher probably gives you  that same kind of feeling of you're performing  

and bringing value and people are entertained.  If I were to have like, I wasn't thinking so much  

education, I was thinking more skills, so I would  wake up tomorrow and I'd be the best hockey player  

on earth. Vanessa: 

Wow. Dan: 

Maybe that'd be a little bit boring  just beating everybody right and left.  

I'm sure you still have to work though.  Yeah, I'd have great athletic prowess. 

Vanessa: Cool. 

Dan: How about you? What would you  

want to wake up tomorrow with? Vanessa: 

Well, I said something a little bit stereotypical  too. I had my primary answer and then  

a maybe cheat answer. I think if I  could wake up tomorrow with a skill,  

maybe I said something a little more realistic.  I said, I'd like to be able to play the ukulele  

really well. Dan: 

The ukulele? Vanessa: 

I don't play the ukulele. I play the flute. I  don't know. I just thought if I could have a  

cool skill, I mean, that's something that I could  take outside. I could be playing while the kids  

are playing. Dan: 

This is a very humble dream. Vanessa: 

Maybe it is. I didn't want to think for  too long about this. I wanted to give you  

my initial response. Yeah, I think it would be  cool. A guitar is pretty big to take somewhere.  

A piano would be amazing, but it's not quite as  portable. I just feel like sometimes when you're,  

I had this image, like you're sitting around  a bonfire and the sun setting and you're just  

chatting with your friends, just having a ukulele  and playing some music, oh, that just brings the  

atmosphere to a very warm place. Dan: 

You could play Wheels On the Bus for our children. Vanessa: 

I could maybe play Wheels  On the Bus in five minutes. 

Dan: That's the first song that comes to my  

head. The version we listen to, It's like  do, do, do, do, and I just hear ukulele. 

Vanessa: Yeah. Well, if you  

play the ukulele and you have any recommendations,  let me know in the comments, but my cheat answer,  

because I wasn't sure if it was a skillset or a  character trait, but I said unlimited patience.  

If I could wake up in the morning ... Dan: 

That's an education. Vanessa: 

... and oh, I guess you can learn patience. If I  could have unlimited patience with my children,  

that would be amazing, and with myself. Dan: 

They'd get away with you too much though. Vanessa: 

I don't know. I think you can be firm and also be  patient. It doesn't mean you have no standards,  

but I think that I would, yeah, just be able to  be a little bit, I think you're always a better  

parent when you are more patient. Dan: 

They certainly test the patience. Vanessa: 

Yes. Unlimited patience would be awesome. What  about you? If you could wake up tomorrow and have  

any education, talent, or skill set, what would  it be? Would it be speaking English fluently,  

or maybe it would be something else. Let us know  in the comments. Let's go to question number four.  

Question number four is about travel. I'd like  to know where is the next place in the US that  

you'd like to visit? Dan: 

Oh, I've got to travel in the US? Vanessa: 

Yeah. I wanted it to be a little more  specific and it might be interesting to  

some of our international students  to learn about places in the US. 

Dan: I'm joking because there are a lot of amazing  

places in the US, but I really love international  cities like Europe and Asia. I just think they're  

so interesting. Vanessa: 

I know. Dan: 

But the US has lots of beautiful natural  environments, so I would probably travel  

to Washington or Oregon. Vanessa: 

You know what? Dan: 

You'd say the same thing. Vanessa: 

My first answer was the northwest, Seattle,  that area, Oregon, and I crossed it off. 

Dan: Did you think that I was going to say that? 

Vanessa: No, I thought of somewhere  

I would rather visit first. Dan: 

Oh, I'm with you. Okay. Vanessa: 

I'd like to go there too. Dan: 

Yeah. The Pacific northwest because I've never  been there and it just looks so stunningly  

beautiful there, at least for part of the year.  It has really big mountains and really dense green  

forests, and it has the ocean as well. I really  love a landscape that has lots of rocky features,  

but also the ocean. That's one of my favorite  kinds of landscapes. I would probably go there,  

and it has really cool cities too. Seattle is  a really awesome city and you could jump up,  

I mean I've never been there, but it looks really  cool, and you can jump up to Vancouver as well  

and get that full Pacific northwest experience.  That's where I would choose. I could do lots of  

outdoorsy stuff. I could see a different side of  the country and even do some urban things as well. 

Vanessa: Yeah. That sounds like a fun place. In fact,  

one of my options too. Dan: 

Yeah. What did you choose instead? Vanessa: 

Well, I thought about that. Dan: 

Wait, let me guess. Grand Canyon. Vanessa: 

Close. Dan: 

New Mexico. Vanessa: 

A little more general. Dan: 

Arizona. Vanessa: 

I said I want to rent an RV and have a big  tour of the west, southwest, national parks. 

Dan: Oh this is a regional thing. 

Vanessa: Yeah, because there's so many  

amazing national parks in the west, southwest,  not even southwest, but just the west of the US.  

I think that would be an awesome two month journey  where you say I'm going to book a bunch of camping  

places and you're not having to like tent camp.  I think that might be a little too intense for us  

for two months, but in an RV with ... Vanessa: 

... Were intense for us for two months. But,  in an RV, it would still be in cool locations,  

maybe closer to the national parks,  and you get to see a lot. Because,  

two months ago, we went to Colorado,  in Colorado Springs and I'd never seen  

the Rocky Mountains or that area of the U.S.  And I was blown away. It is so beautiful. Yeah,  

I've been reading some books about that area  of the U.S., and historical fiction about the  

history there. And yeah, I'm fascinated. I think  that would be really cool to check out some of  

the history, check out some beautiful places.  We like hiking, so it seems like a good fit. 

Dan: Yeah. And it's very different  

from where we live now. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Surprisingly, so. Dan: 

Yeah. So, I chose the wettest part of  the country and you chose the driest. 

Vanessa: Yeah. Yeah. I think  

that was really shocking to me, when we  went to Colorado. It's super dry there.  

And I've been in dry climates before- Dan: 

And, Arizona is way drier. Vanessa: 

... Oh, I bet. Yeah, there's deserts there. Dan: 

Mm-hmm. Vanessa: 

But I feel like, being somewhere  like that, even though the U.S.  

is the same country, it feels so different,  that it does feel like you've gone almost into  

a different world when you visit different  climates like that and different geography. 

Dan: It is very  

easily could be many countries. Vanessa: 

Oh, it could very easily be. Dan: 

Maybe it should be. Vanessa: 

Many countries. So, I want to know for you, if  you live in the U.S. or if you got the chance to  

visit the U.S., where would you like to visit?  Where's the first place that you would like to go  

if you got to come to the U.S.? Let us know in the  comments. And, let's go to question number four. I  

actually meant question number five. Dan: 

Whoops. Vanessa: 

So question number five, the topic is food. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Something that we love. I would  like to know what is a food from  

your travels, our travels, that  you wish you could have again? 

Dan: Man, this is the hardest question,  

because we've had so many delicious meals in our  travels. And we just love different food as well. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: And this is very tied up in nostalgia for me too,  

because we lived in South Korea for three years.  And, the meals were so different from America,  

and distinct, and we actually enjoyed them. So,  now I can't get them the same way. So, if you  

go to a Korean restaurant in America, you're going  to spend a lot more to get something that isn't as  

probably as quality as what you'd get there. Vanessa: 

It's a different atmosphere, all of that. Dan: 

So I had a tough decision to make. So, I chose  a meal called [foreign language 00:27:46]. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: Which means three layered flesh in Korean. 

Vanessa: Thick bacon, basically. 

Dan: It's bacon. It's thick bacon. But,  

you would cook this on a grill in front of you  in a restaurant with lots of people and you'd  

hit a little bell and it goes dingdong. And then  waitress says, " [foreign language 00:28:05]." And  

she fills up your water. It's more a whole  experience than just the food. But if- 

Vanessa: If you finish your side dishes, they'll bring you  

endless amounts of other side dishes. Dan: 

... Yes. Endless side dishes. So, it's not really  just one thing, it's more of the whole experience.  

And it has a lot of nostalgia for us, because you  can't really get the same thing here. You can,  

but it's just not quite the same. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

And it was always delicious, especially in  South Korea. Even us, relatively thin people,  

we lost weight when we went to South Korea,  because it's just way less rich food in general,  

compared to American diets. And, we didn't have  very much money, so we didn't eat this all the  

time. We just ate it sometimes. So, that was  always a winner. And, I have to add another one,  

because we have traveled in Europe as well.  And, technically this meal is tastier,  

I'm thinking of... Can you guess? Vanessa: 

Cinque Terre. Dan: 

Yep. Vanessa: 

Cinque Terre. Dan: 

Yes. There was a seafood meal we ate in Cinque  Terre that had... I don't even remember what we  

ate, fish, pasta. Vanessa: 

I had a octopus. Dan: 

Amazing wine. Vanessa: 

And pasta meat thing. Yeah. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Crazy. Dan: 

And, that was also a good vibe. Nostalgic  experience. Because, when I think back to it, we  

did a lot of beautiful hikes on that trip. And  then, we ended in the last little town and ate at  

that restaurant and it was really delicious. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

So, it all worked out perfectly. Vanessa: 

Even if we go back there, it will be a different  vibe and different feel, because like you said,  

I think, food is really tied to nostalgia. So,  the atmosphere and you can't just eat the food  

separately from anything else. Dan: 

Bing bong. Vanessa: 

Yeah. We don't have bells on  the table to call the waitress. 

Dan: If you're Korean and watching this,  

you're like, "What's the big deal about that?" Vanessa: 

But for us- Dan: 

But for us, it's just so, "This is so funny and-" 

Vanessa: ... It was so great. And yeah,  

we love that experience. Dan: 

... Yes. Vanessa: 

Mine is- Dan: 

So how about you? Yes. Vanessa: 

... Very similar. In fact, yeah- Dan: 

Was it the same meal? Vanessa: 

... No, I thought about saying, not specifically  some [inaudible 00:30:22], but just eating  

outside. It's basically on a sidewalk, there's  little plastic tables and you're cooking this  

type of thing that Dan's talking about. But, the  one that I thought about was also in Korea because  

there's a lot of nostalgia. Dan: 

Is it [inaudible 00:30:37]? Vanessa: 

I almost said [inaudible 00:30:39]. Dan: 

I thought that too. Vanessa: 

I almost said [inaudible 00:30:40]. Dan: 

It's not always the best food,  but the environment was perfect. 

Vanessa: Yeah. But what I said also because I like  

the food so much is a meal called dak-galbi. Dan: 

Oh. Vanessa: 

And, there was a restaurant specifically the  restaurant that we went to often in Incheon, which  

was the city we lived in for the first two years  in Korea. And, our first week living there, it was  

my birthday in September. And, we went there  with a bunch of new friends. And, I had never  

eaten something like this before, where we sat  at a table, and they had a burner on the table,  

and they had all the ingredients  there, and it was uncooked chicken,  

cabbage, rice cakes, all of these things,  carrots, the sauce. It was all in this thing. And,  

the person who was the server was helping to- Dan: 

She tossed it up. Vanessa: 

... Helping to cook it. And we were  all just sitting there and watching  

it. It's very different from an American  hibachi experience. That's a similar  

experience or similar idea where someone is  cooking in front of you, but this was different,  

much more casual. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

And I remember sitting there for my  birthday, surrounded by all these  

new friends, in a new city, eating this food that  I thought was so exciting, and they're cooking it  

in front of us. And it is amazingly delicious. Dan: 

Mm-hmm. It was very yummy. Vanessa: 

And, that place is, yeah, full of so many  memories. So, whenever someone came to visit us  

from the U.S., or we made a new friend, we would  always go to that restaurant. And then, the third  

year we lived in South Korea, we moved to a  city called Suan, which is about an hour away.  

And, after that year, that restaurant closed. No. Dan: 

No. Vanessa: 

So, when this question says, something  you wish you could try again,  

this will always be just a wish. Dan: 

I'm sure that lady opened up  another restaurant, right? 

Vanessa: I hope so. I  

hope she is world renowned as amazing dak-galbi  restaurant, because we had dak-galbi also in Suan,  

and that was nice. That lady was super nice.  We talked through Google translate a lot. 

Dan: Yeah. Their dak-galbi was good too. 

Vanessa: Yeah, but there something about  

that first place that really- Dan: 

It had the nostalgia. Vanessa: 

... It has a special place in my  heart. So, that's what I would say. 

Dan: It is funny though,  

we would take Korean people there and  they'd be like, "Yeah, it's pretty good." 

Vanessa: But for us, that was- 

Dan: We're like, "This is so awesome." 

Vanessa: ... So fun. Yeah. Anyway, you can see,  

we get very excited about food. Now, maybe I know  why our children are also excited about food.  

They're crazed about food, so. Dan: 

It's because their kids. Vanessa: 

Yeah. But some kids are very picky. Dan: 

Well, that's true. Yeah, they do  like more food than average kids. 

Vanessa: Our kids love all this type of stuff  

just as passionately as us. All right. So I have a  question for you. What is a food from your travels  

that you wish you could have again? It might be  because it was good. It might be because of the  

vibe, and the atmosphere, and the memories, the  nostalgia, like what we talked about. Let us know  

in the comments what food you wish you could have  again, and we'll learn about food from around the  

world. All right, let's go to the next question,  question number six. I think we're on six. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Vanessa: All right, question number six.  

Question number six is about nature. This  is maybe a little silly of a question,  

but that's okay. Dan: 

We like critters, so that's okay. Vanessa: 

Yeah, as you can tell. So, this question is, if  you could have any defense mechanism of an animal,  

what would you have? So if you could  have that type of defense mechanism  

in your body or become you- Dan: 

In my body. Vanessa: 

... Yes. What would it be? So can we maybe  explain quickly what a defense mechanism is? 

Dan: Yeah, sure. So, a  

defense mechanism is something that an animal has  or uses a feature that protects it from predators. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: Or is a way to either get the predator  

to go away or escape the predator. Vanessa: 

So maybe quills on a porcupine, something like  this. And we can even say humans have a defense  

mechanism. We might use that emotionally. Dan: 

Oh yeah. Vanessa: 

To say, "Oh, why is he always making jokes?"  It's actually a defense mechanism because  

he experienced a lot of trauma in his  life, and joking, and laughing helps him to  

not feel so vulnerable. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Or something like this. It's a more of an  emotional thing. So you can have a defense  

mechanism as a human, but I want to know, in a  silly way, if you could imagine having an animal's  

defense mechanism, what would it be? Dan: 

Mine would be... This is  a little bit of a cop out. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: Flying. 

Vanessa: Oh. 

Dan: Because now we don't really  

associate flying with just defense, but  it can certainly be used as a defense,  

so a bird will fly away when you come near it. And  we were talking about it earlier and saying that  

flying probably evolved as a defense mechanism for  an animal to get out of the way from a predator  

really efficiently and effectively. Vanessa: 

Yeah, I almost said flying too for this one. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

It's a good one. Dan: 

So, I mean, but who doesn't want to fly? Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

I mean, of course then you  have to be really lightweight  

and you're probably not very intimidating.  And then, you have to be a bat or a bird. 

Vanessa: You could be an Eagle. 

Dan: But, if I could still be me and fly,  

then I would choose that. Vanessa: 

Yeah, just imagine, you're walking down a dark  alley, I don't know why you're walking down a  

dark alley, and then somebody dangerous  steps out and all of a sudden your wings  

open up and you fly away. Dan: 

Ooh, they pop out of my back like an angel. Vanessa: 

That's it. Yeah, that's it. I think there's  some X-Men or superhero or something  

that does that. Dan: 

Oh, yeah, probably. We  don't know about that stuff. 

Dan: Bird man. 

Vanessa: Bird man. Is that a- 

Dan: Or Batman, squawk man. 

Vanessa: ... Eagle man. 

Dan: Eagle man. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: Raven man. Robin man.  

Robin. Vanessa: 

California condo man. Dan: 

Blue bird man. Vanessa: 

These are all the birds we know. Okay, well- Dan: 

And we're not into superheroes, so. Vanessa: 

... Flying is a good one. I almost said that.  And you know what? I think, I have something  

different I'd like to share. But, I think for me  actually flying is probably more realistic. Not  

like I can actually fly, but because if I'm faced  with danger, I'm probably more likely to flee. 

Dan: Oh, yeah. 

Vanessa: Than to fight. So, we call this fight or flight.  

When you're in a dangerous situation, either  dangerous physically or dangerous emotionally,  

we say, "Oh, your fight or flight kicks in."  

So, either you fight and you try  to win or you flee. So, that's- 

Dan: Run away. 

Vanessa: ... The flight part. You're not actually flying,  

but maybe you try to run away from that dangerous  situation. And I think for me, that's more true.  

I'm more likely to run away from danger. Dan: 

Lady folk, in general. Vanessa: 

But I said something dinner... Dinner?  Different. I said something different. 

Dan: Food is still on her mind. 

Vanessa: Oh, food. I said something  

different. I said, a horny toad, which is actually  a type of lizard. A horny toad has something very  

interesting that they do. They, when faced with  danger can stop their blood flow to their heart.  

Their blood fills up in them and they shoot  blood out of their eyes at their aggressor. What? 

Dan: Into their aggressor's eyes? 

Vanessa: At least at their aggressor. And the blood  

isn't venomous or anything like this, it's just  shocking. So, I thought it would be hilarious. 

Dan: That would shock me. 

Vanessa: If, "Oh, hi, I'm Vanessa. Nice Vanessa."  

And then, somebody is a bad person and I just  went bzz and shot blood out my eyes at them. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Vanessa: I think it would be so shocking  

that I could be saved. Dan: 

Sure. Vanessa: 

But, maybe flying is something I would  realistically be more likely to do.  

Oh, I probably would fly away instead of  fighting. But, shooting blood out of your  

eyes if you're in danger? Dan: 

It's not going to win you a lot of dates. Vanessa: 

No. Dan: 

"Hey, baby." Vanessa: 

"Look what I can do." Yeah, but isn't that crazy,  that it's actually a lizard, but the horn toad  

can shoot blood out of its eyes? How in the world- 

Dan: And how does that even help it? 

Vanessa: ... Did even nature decide to do this? 

Dan: I don't know. 

Vanessa: I mean, it must be  

in danger in some ways that it goes away, it makes  stuff go away because of that. Anyway, crazy, so. 

Dan: The animal is just so disgusted,  

it doesn't want to eat it. Vanessa: 

I know. "You got blood shooting out of your eyes.  What?" So, I want to know for you, if you could  

have any animal's defense mechanism, what would it  be? There are many crazy things out there. There  

are ants that shoot acid, there are porcupines  that have quills. This is a great way to expand  

your vocabulary in a fun way. If you would like,  you can type into Google amazing animal defense  

mechanisms. And you'll see many lists of cool  things that animals do if you like that stuff.  

So I want to know, let me know in the comments,  what would you like to defend yourself with?  

All right, let's go to our next question. Dan: 

"Caw." Vanessa: 

Question number seven is about holidays.  

The question is, what is your favorite holiday  tradition? And I have a feeling that we might  

have the same one. Dan: 

We had to have. Vanessa: 

So do you want to say it at the same time? Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

On three? Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Okay. 3, 2, 1, Dan: 

Christmas tree. Vanessa: 

Decorating the Christmas tree. Dan: 

Yes. Decorating the Christmas tree. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Okay. Why don't you explain first? Why  do you like decorating the Christmas tree? 

Dan: Man. There's probably  

a lot of reasons. One primary reason is that  this is a tradition that our family always did. 

Vanessa: Mm-hmm. 

Dan: So it has a lot of nostalgia tied up into it.  

And we don't have a lot of other traditions that  our family always did. So there's Thanksgiving,  

which is, you have a meal and you talk about  what you're thankful for. And that's another  

big one. But, maybe it's just because you  put presents under a tree that, as a kid,  

you just can't get enough of Christmas. Vanessa: 

And now? Dan: 

Yes. And now, I really enjoy picking out a  Christmas tree. We're really nature-y. So,  

we get a real Christmas tree and I like the  smell of the pine. It just hits all of the  

right senses and feelings. And then, you get  to decorate it. So, your kids are excited,  

and you get to hang up all the stuff, and put  up the lights, and there's a whole process. And,  

it's funny because it's probably the most  useless thing that we do, but it's one of  

the best things. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think, even before we had  kids, this was a big deal for us. 

Dan: Of course. 

Vanessa: In our marriage,  

because yeah, it's something that you do with  your parents growing up. And then, for us,  

when we got married and we started doing  that with each other, it felt like,  

"Oh, this is our new life. This is us.  We're doing this together." And you're- 

Dan: We're starting the new generation. 

Vanessa: ... Yeah, our new traditions. We're doing this in  

our own way. Yeah, it felt different. I said that  for me, because when I was a kid, we didn't have a  

real Christmas tree, we had a fake tree. But even  in that, I was so excited about it. First of all,  

I'll set the stage, my mom popped popcorn. So, we  ate popcorn and it smelled great. We listened to  

Christmas music. Dan: 

Always good. Vanessa: 

And then, we all sat in the living  room, and because we had a fake tree,  

there's different fake trees, but the kind we  had, there was a stem in the middle and it had  

different holes and you could hook the branches  in and the branches had different colored rings  

on them, so you could see the big ones are on the  bottom. But, because these were closed in a box  

the entire year, they were flat. So, we  would all sit around the Christmas tree,  

bending the branches to look realistic. So, we  would bend each of the little branches on it and  

then put it in. And we'd look at each other's and  say, "Oh, that one doesn't look good." Or, "Oh,  

that was really great." Dan: 

This is all blasphemy to me. Vanessa: 

Because you always had a real tree. Dan: 

It had to be real. Vanessa: 

And then we- Dan: 

If there's not a fire hazard in your living room,  

it's not Christmas. Vanessa: 

... Yeah, that's a big reason why we had a  fake tree is because when my dad was a kid,  

they had a real tree. Dan: 

Oh, yeah. Vanessa: 

Maybe for one Christmas, I don't remember  if it was for longer than that. And they had  

a train set going around it so they could turn  on the electric train and it would go around the  

bottom of the Christmas tree, not in the branches,  but just on the ground, and it caught fire. 

Dan: Oh. 

Vanessa: And my dad said one of his first memories  

is him as a little kid, getting a cup of water and  throwing it on the Christmas tree fire. This is  

huge hazard. And there's so many warnings. Dan: 

I mean, I don't think so much anymore. Vanessa: 

Yeah, this is a big deal. Dan: 

Christmas trees are safe. Vanessa: 

Christmas trees are not safe, because they say  now, I think it's more known now that you should  

always keep water, so you have the Christmas tree  that's cut and you put it in a little basin of  

water, and if there's not water in there, the tree  will dry out and it will catch fire really easily.  

But, if it's filled with water, then the tree  is hydrated and it won't catch fire as easily. 

Dan: But also, 60s electronics, versus- 

Vanessa: Okay. That's true. 

Dan: ... Today's electronics. They're not  

going to catch fire the same way. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

Probably. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

Christmas trees are safe and the best. Vanessa: 

Dan loves Christmas trees. So, I remember,  yeah, we would do that, and then we would  

decorate the tree. And my mom always had one  ornament, which I now have that was the first  

ornament we put on the tree. Dan: 

Which one was that? Vanessa: 

It's the ball that has lots of  little beads on it. And it's got- 

Dan: Ball with beads. 

Vanessa: ... Ribbons, and knots, and stuff on it.  

We have it. Dan: 

Well, I love Christmas trees and  I can't remember this ornament. 

Vanessa: Oh, well it's in our house. 

Dan: That's good. It'll be refreshing  

this year to see it later. Vanessa: 

And, she put that on the tree and that  signified, we can start to decorate the tree.  

So yeah, we would decorate the tree together  and it was just a nice time to do that. 

Dan: How did you guys sit back and not decorate  

the tree right away? Our children are like,  "Bah, get all the stuff. Put it on right away." 

Vanessa: Yeah, we did the ornaments. We  

were busy doing the branches. Dan: 

Maybe because it's two girls versus two boys. Vanessa: 

I don't know. But, we did it and it was  fun. And I remember when we got married,  

that was my first real Christmas tree. We  went to a place and got a real tree and- 

Dan: That was your first? 

Vanessa: ... Yeah. 

Dan: Oh, we got the little one. 

Vanessa: We got a little tree. Yeah. 

Dan: That we planted later. 

Vanessa: Oh, yeah. 

Dan: That's another thing you can do  

sometimes in America, but it's more difficult. Vanessa: 

Yeah, you can get it with the root ball on  the bottom. The first year we were married- 

Dan: It's a lot heavier. 

Vanessa: ... Oh my goodness, it was  

so heavy. I remember it took three of us. Dan: 

It was three feet tall. Vanessa: 

Me, you, and your brother to take it  

out of the car and drag it into our house. Dan: 

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa: 

Because it was so big, but we wanted to plant it  later, we didn't want to just cut a tree down. So,  

we got this tree with a root ball,  but ever since then, we've just gotten  

a cut tree, and put it in our house, and  decorated it. And yeah, it's a lot of fun. 

Dan: Always a happy time. 

Vanessa: Yeah. Well, I want to know for you, what is  

your favorite holiday tradition? It might not be  about Christmas. It could be about any holiday.  

But, I want to know about your experience. Let us  know in the comments, what's your favorite holiday  

tradition? And we'll go on to our next question.  Question number nine is about sports and exercise.  

What is the most recent sport that you did? Dan: 

Well, this happened just about a week ago  actually. And it's the first time I ever did this  

outdoors. It was rock climbing. Is  this a sport? I guess, it's a sport. 

Vanessa: It's considered exercise. 

Dan: Yeah. And so, my brother-in-law is,  

let's just say, obsessed with rock climbing. And,  he's gotten pretty good at it lately. And so,  

he met us in between where he lives and  us. We live about eight hours away. And,  

we were in West Virginia, which has actually a lot  of good rock climbing. And we chose a spot and he  

had all the gear, he's got the ropes, he's got  the shoes, he's got the backpacks, he's got the  

harness, and all this stuff. And he actually...  Oh the helmet too. Don't forget the helmet.  

And, he geared me up to do it. And, I  was actually pretty nervous about it,  

and not because I'm afraid of heights actually,  he's more scared of Heights than I am.  

I think it's funny that he likes doing this  so much. He says every single time he does it,  

he's scared. Vanessa: 

Oh. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Interesting. Dan: 

But I'm not afraid of heights, so I wasn't really  worried about that. I probably should have been  

more worried about it. Vanessa: 

What were you worried about? Dan: 

I'm a perfectionist, or a completionist. So,  it really bothers me if I try something and I  

can't finish it. Vanessa: 

Ah, so you wanted to be  able to make it to the top. 

Dan: So, I knew I could probably do some easy stuff,  

but he's a lot better than I am. So, I knew  that he would be wanting to move on to something  

more challenging. And, I didn't really know if I  wanted to have to just watch, or try it and only  

get partway. In the end, I did do that. So, the  first one was a easy one. I don't think it was- 

Vanessa: I'll show you a picture here of Dan  

making it all the way to the top. Yes. Dan: 

... Yes. So, I do naturally have a good body type  for climbing. I'm lightweight. I climb a lot of  

trees. I like to hike and do all that stuff. So, I  can figure it out. But, the hand strength is just  

on another level to rock climb. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

And so, I did the easier one and I made it to the  top. But, all the other ones, I made it partway.  

And, I actually remember, we were with  another guy too, his name was Jim. And,  

Jim was really inspiring, because... And don't  worry, this was totally safe. There was a rope  

tied to the very top. They call it top climbing?  Top rope? I don't remember the terms. There's a  

lot of terms in rock climbing. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

And so, he was tied to the top and if you fall  that will catch you right away and it's not a  

big deal. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

But, for me, if I fall one time doing that, I'm  like, "All right, I'm done." That's how I feel.  

But he fell probably 15 times on a climb and  just kept on trying, and trying, and trying,  

and he made it to the top and I was like, "Wow."  And, when he got down, I said, "I have to try  

a lot more than I would, because I just  saw him persevere." So, it's a very good  

perseverance sport. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

So, I tried, and tried, and tried, and I got one  third of the way, because it was really difficult.  

It's called crack climbing. And there's just  a crack in the wall. And, you got to put your  

hands there. And, just- Vanessa: 

That's so hard. Dan: 

... There's nothing except for a crack and  little tiny ledges. So, their experienced,  

so they got up the first part really easily.  So, the girl who was with us, she said,  

"Yeah, that was tricky." But, I  was stuck on the first part for...  

It felt like 20 minutes, it was probably more  like 10 minutes. They just got up that part. But  

it was literally just a little thin rock you had  to put your fingers in, barely any foothold. But,  

I saw Jim fall, and fall, and fall, and I  kept on trying and I finally did it. Yes. 

Vanessa: Wow. Man, that is not up my alley at all. 

Dan: Yeah. Brad asked me... Brad's my  

brother-in-law. He said, "Do you think Vanessa  would ever do this with you?" And I was like- 

Dan: Brad's my brother-in-law. He said,  

"Do you think Vanessa would ever do this with  you?" And I was like, "I don't think..." I can't  

imagine you wanting to do that. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I don't like heights like that, and I feel  like I can't just do something like that like you.  

I would need to go to the climbing gym and feel  comfortable with it, because at least for me,  

that takes a lot of upper body strength,  your abs, your arms, your fingers. I think  

maybe for you, you were able to make it to the  top of the easier one and halfway up or a third  

of the way up the other ones because you're not  afraid of heights and your strength is distributed  

differently than mine. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

But I think for something like that, I would need  to massively feel more comfortable with heights  

and go to the gym in advance. Dan: 

The girl who was with us was the best one there. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: She was  

amazing. Vanessa: 

I bet. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

I mean, you can practice that and do it. Dan: 

Women can definitely do it. Vanessa: 

Yeah. That's the cool thing. Dan: 

She was kind of like spider monkey, though. Vanessa: 

Going everywhere. Dan: 

She hadn't had any children yet. Vanessa: 

Yeah, maybe. Dan: 

Children does a number on  you. I speak from experience. 

Vanessa: Yeah? In any case, I think that seems like  

the kind of exercise or sport that I would need to  practice in advance before going outside to do it,  

and inside where there's, I don't  know, maybe more predictability- 

Dan: Mats. 

Vanessa: ... or practice, that would be better for me. 

Dan: I thought it was more fun outside. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: Because I've done climbing gyms before,  

and it's okay, but outside's a whole  adventure. It did take forever though. 

Vanessa: Yeah. You have to hook up everything. 

Dan: We did four climbs and we were there all day.  

You're watching other people go, and also one  person has to be the... I forget what it's called. 

Vanessa: Belay. 

Dan: Belay. Yeah. One person's holding you,  

making sure you're not going to fall down, so  they actually hold you up from the other end. 

Vanessa: Cool. 

Dan: I don't know all the terms,  

but you can imagine it, right? Vanessa: 

Yeah. It seemed like cool camaraderie  too with everybody who was there. 

Dan: Yeah. That was probably the best part. 

Vanessa: As in we all went together,  

and then I went on a hike with Dan's sister  and our kids and Dan's parents. We were  

at the same place, but hiking instead. But we were  going back and watching them too. It seemed like  

everyone who was in this area climbing just was  chill. They were all the type of perseverant,  

motivated type of person, who's like, "I'm  going to climb this rock," a personal challenge. 

Dan: It's a culture, for sure. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: Yeah. One guy walked up and there was a climb,  

they all have funny names, and he was like, "Did  you do chalk line? Cool, bro." It was totally- 

Vanessa: Trying to size each other up. 

Dan: Surfer vibes. 

Vanessa: Yeah. I could see that. Well,  

sounds like a fun time, even though it was hard. Dan: 

Oh, it twas very hard. Very hard. Vanessa: 

Bonding together. Dan: 

Yes. How about you? Have you  tried any sports recently? 

Vanessa: Yeah, I was trying to think about this,  

and the answer is not really, but- Dan: 

Baseball. Vanessa: 

I was going to say baseball. Dan: 

Really? Vanessa: 

Because our four year old, almost five year  old, maybe by the time you're watching this  

he'll be five, our five year old son has been into  hitting the baseball with a baseball bat lately.  

In June, we visited Pittsburgh when Dan went- Dan: 

Rock climbing. Vanessa: 

... rock climbing. After that,  we went to a baseball field with  

Dan's sister and their cousins and some  family, little kids. We tried to kind of  

play a baseball field. Dan: 

Tried. Yes. Vanessa: 

There's bases, and we were all hitting. The kids  hit, we hit, and I've always liked hitting a  

baseball. I think it's pretty fun. Dan: 

That's when you realize how many  rules there are in baseball. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: "Don't run with the bat." "First base is over  

there." "No, you have to stop on the base." "Wait,  he's going to throw the ball to you." It's like,  

forget about it. Just let him hit the ball. Vanessa: 

Yeah. It was really funny to see our son hit  the ball. He was just so excited that he hit it  

that he was holding onto the bat and he ran to  third base. Like, "No, no, no. That way drop the  

bat. Go that way." Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

We were just having fun. Yeah, it was fun,  and I like hitting. Yeah. I've always liked  

hitting a baseball. Even though it wasn't  organized, like an actual organized sport,  

I think that was still a sport. It  wasn't too much exercise, but it was fun. 

Dan: I have a funny story about  

baseball. Can I share it? Vanessa: 

Yes. Dan: 

When I was a kid. Vanessa: 

Go ahead. Dan: 

When I was a kid, I played baseball up until  coach pitch, which is where the coach is pitching,  

not the players. Then I started getting  scared of how fast the ball was coming.  

At least back then, that's how I felt. But one  time I was the first baseman, and in baseball,  

it's a very slow sport, right? For kids, you  just start getting distracted when they're not  

hitting the ball and you're just waiting out  there. So, I was pretending to be Darth Vader  

with earth fader with my glove over my face.  I was literally standing on first base going,  

and the player hit the ball  and hit me on the glove,  

and we totally missed the play and it was  because I was pretending to be Darth Vader  

on first base. Vanessa: 

There you go. Dan: 

That's my story. Vanessa: 

Wow. Dan: 

That's why I quit baseball. Vanessa: 

Oh, man. Dan: 

Actually, that's not why. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

It's because I would practice with my  brother and he would throw really hard and  

I didn't want to get hit by the ball. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I mean, I don't blame you. Dan: 

Baseball. Vanessa: 

I wouldn't want to get hit by a baseball either.  In the US, it's pretty common for kids to do,  

they call it little league, so there's different  stages, and one stage might be like a parent is  

throwing the ball to the kids, or it's sitting on  a tee, it's sitting on a little stand and the kids  

just have to try to hit the ball. Then the next  level might be another player is throwing it, or  

then the coach is throwing it as you get more and  more advanced. So, it's kind of working you up to  

being a better player. Dan: 

To the majors. Vanessa: 

To the majors. Well, that was your first  answer, right? You wished you could be  

a famous sports player. Dan: 

I'd take the best baseball player,  

or just really great. Vanessa: 

Cool. Okay. Dan: 

Yeah. Any sport. I love sport. Vanessa: 

Well, I want to ask you the same question. What  was the most recent sport that you've played?  

It could be an organized sport like baseball,  or it could be something that's just more  

exercise, like- Dan: 

Like rock climbing. Vanessa: 

... rock climbing, but some people might  say it's a sport. Let us know in the  

comments what's the most recent sport you've  played, and we'll go on to our next question.  

Question number 10 is about electronics. This  is another hypothetical question. If you could  

invent any new electronic device,  what would it be and what would it do? 

Dan: When I first  

was thinking about this, I thought gadgets,  like a new toaster that never burnt the toast. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: But I think when I think of  

noble uses for electronics, I think of the medical  field. My electronic invention would be a tiny  

robot that kills cancer. Vanessa: 

Oh, okay. Dan: 

A cancer killing search and destroy robot. Vanessa: 

Wow. That's noble. Dan: 

I think they might be working on this. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I don't know much about that field. Dan: 

I think there is some kind of tiny robot,  for lack of a better word, that can find  

certain diseases or cells in the body. You know,  I do not have a background in biotech at all,  

but I would almost guarantee somebody's trying to  figure out how to get tiny robots that can find  

and kill cancer in people. Vanessa: 

That sounds great. Dan: 

That would be probably the best  use of an electronic gadget. 

Vanessa: Mine is very selfish compared to that. 

Dan: Yeah, because  

nothing sucks more than cancer, I  think. This is just the worst thing. 

Vanessa: Yeah. Well, if you are in biotech or if you are  

a cancer related doctor or surgeon- Dan: 

Send me your number and I'll tell you my plans. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Let us know. Does something like this  exists? Is this something that's in the works?  

Yeah. Never know. Dan: 

Yeah. How about you? How many cancer destroying  things are you creating in your spare time? 

Vanessa: Oh, sorry. Mine's very selfish.  

I was thinking more personal. In our house, to  go to our deck, we have a sliding door. There's  

a glass sliding door, and then there's a screen  that you can just push through. It's a magnet,  

you can just go through it. But in the summer, we  try to keep the glass sliding door closed because  

there's air conditioning in our house and it's  super hot and muggy, humid outside, so we don't  

want that air to get inside. We want it to stay  cool inside. We go in and out a lot in our house.  

With young children, it's kind of tricky  to get them to keep that glass door closed.  

It's also kind of heavy. Dan: 

The sliding door. Vanessa: 

Yeah, for them to pull it open is okay, and then  they bust through the screen door and they're  

outside like, "I'm going to go do something,"  and they don't think about the glass door.  

And for me too, sometimes if I'm carrying  something, I have to open the door.  

My electronic gadget would be a button  that you can push that would open the door,  

and then automatically within 30 seconds, it would  close the door, so you have time to go through  

and it would close. It might be sensor  by your body, so if you're still  

in the doorway it wouldn't close, but  that way it would always close behind us. 

Dan: Couldn't you just use in the grocery  

store where it automatically opens? Vanessa: 

Yeah, something like that. Dan: 

A sliding automatic door. Vanessa: 

But people don't have that in their house. Dan: 

Oh. But it's only a matter of money. Vanessa: 

I mean, maybe we could get something  like that installed in our house now,  

but I was kind of envisioning, I imagine people  who are handicapped or in a wheelchair, maybe they  

have something like this that's automatic. Dan: 

Probably. Vanessa: 

I'm sure it's a big system you have to install.  It's probably a lot of money or kind of a hassle,  

but I'm sure there's some kind of system. Dan: 

Well, we could go to a closed down grocery  store, and every time it opens, it says,  

"Welcome to Aldi." Vanessa: 

As in we would take Aldi's doors? Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

And put them in our house, and it would have a  speaker that says, "Welcome to the grocery store,"  

every time we open our house's doors? Dan: 

It'd be the most charming thing  we could possibly add to our home. 

Vanessa: Maybe we could have it say,  

"Welcome home, Vanessa." Dan: 

Oh, yeah. Programmable. Vanessa: 

I don't think I would like my doors to talk. Dan: 

And it also takes off your hat. 

Vanessa: Wow. 

Dan: With an arm. 

Vanessa: Maybe it also feeds you food and gives you water. 

Dan: And it's a conveyor belt too,  

so you don't have to walk through it. Vanessa: 

And maybe it is also your brain,  so you don't have to think. 

Dan: And there's another arm that  

puts a soda in your hand. Vanessa: 

That's weird. Yes. I would like our glass sliding  door to be closed more easily so that it is not a  

personal hassle or an annoyance in our home. But  I must say that Dan's cancer fighting robots are  

probably a better idea. Anyway, I thought  about this question for about 4.2 seconds. 

Dan: And I thought of it for four minutes. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: To be fair. 

Vanessa: Yeah. So,  

maybe if I thought about it for four minutes  I would've come up with a better idea. Anyway,  

what about you? What kind of new electronic gadget  would you like to invent, and what would it do?  

Let us know in the comments and we'll go to our  next question. Question number 11 is about money.  

I'd like to know what is something that you  can justify spending more money on and why? 

Dan: Yeah. Justify. I mean, probably speakers. 

Vanessa: We always talk about speakers. 

Dan: I'm kidding. I like audio stuff a lot.  

I would say maybe once a year I just start  looking into some audio equipment or some kind  

of electronics, usually. I'm like, "Vanessa, do  you think we could?" She's like, "No, we have 10  

speakers," or headphones or something. You know? Vanessa: 

We talked about this in past videos. Dan: 

Yes. This is not actually  my answer. I said property. 

Vanessa: Oh, okay. 

Dan: Yeah, because I know for sure  

we want to have another property. Vanessa: 

Like in the woods? Dan: 

Yes. We would like to own, it might  just be land, but maybe just a cabin.  

This is a little bit nostalgic for me because  my grandfather actually gave my parents  

or I guess gave us access to a very simple cabin  that we would go to in the mountains in Colorado,  

and that was our little escape  from the hubbub of normal life  

going to that cabin. Vanessa: 

No electricity, no plumbing. Dan: 

Yes, but it has to be like that. It has to be  off grid, basically. I mean, it had electricity. 

Vanessa: Oh, yeah. 

Dan: But it didn't  

have running water. Vanessa: 

Ah, that was a thing. Dan: 

I mean, I think I'd take  electricity. That's kind of nice. 

Vanessa: That is nice. 

Dan: I don't know. We'll debate the details later, but  

I know for sure I want to have some more property.  You can always justify it by saying, "Well,  

this is an investment too. You can always resell  it." Usually with property you'll at least make  

back what you bought it for. Vanessa: 

Hopefully. Dan: 

Especially in this area, it's always growing,  

so I can make a lot of justifications for  why we need to own many beach homes. I mean- 

Vanessa: Mountain- 

Dan: ... mountain homes. 

Vanessa: ... cabins. Yeah. When you were a kid- 

Dan: Many. 

Vanessa: ... you would  

just go to the mountains with your mom  and siblings and play in the woods and  

catch critters. Dan: 

Yeah. There was acres of land there. There wasn't  as many critters as I would've liked there. 

Vanessa: Oh, yeah. 

Dan: But there was a pond and there  

were dragon flies and fish. Vanessa: 

Oh, that sounds fun. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

I think that's a beautiful childhood too, being  able to do stuff like that. We go hiking a lot,  

but there's something special about staying there. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

In the cabin and you go back to the same place,  maybe different seasons, and get to know the  

seasons there. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

That's cool. Dan: 

Yeah. The best thing about the cabin that we  had was it had a loft. It doesn't seem very safe  

thinking back to it, because my memory of it is it  was like a plywood deck hanging from the ceiling. 

Vanessa: Did it have a- 

Dan: It was hanging down, and you climbed a ladder up  

to it. It had plywood walls, but there were gaps  in the walls too, where you could just jump down,  

which we didn't jump down. But what we did was  because it was a one room cabin, if my parents  

were there with some friends or my grandparents,  they would play cards, and they would send us to  

bed, but we could hear everything, so we'd spy on  them and we'd drop stuff down on them and stuff. 

Vanessa: That sounds fun. 

Dan: Yeah. That was fun. 

Vanessa: Wow, so maybe we can recreate this  

rustic experience. Dan: 

We need a loft. Vanessa: 

Do you think it would be just as fun as  an adult? Because you were a kid doing it,  

do you think that- Dan: 

To sleep in the loft? Vanessa: 

Well, for us, because we're adults now, so  having this rural experience, would it be as  

fun for us as it would- Dan: 

I think it would be. Vanessa: 

... as for kids? Dan: 

Yeah, because one benefit of being in a place like  

America and the United States is that you can  usually find some place that is very rural  

and quiet. Vanessa: 

Quickly and close. Dan: 

We live close enough to a highway  and stuff that it would be nice to  

just only hear the birds chirping. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think that's really possible. I mean- Dan: 

And get away from electronics and stuff. It would  have to be an intentional, this is not a place  

where we have a TV, for example. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think you can drive about 20 minutes away  from our house and be very much in the woods. 

Dan: Yes. 

Vanessa: But anyway, that's a  

specific discussion for another time. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Cool. So, you'd like to have- Dan: 

More property. Vanessa: 

... a cabin, and that would be a investment,  an investment that you could justify.  

Well, I think for me, when I thought about this,  I thought more of something that we already do  

that we have justified spending more money on, so- Dan: 

Garden boxes. Vanessa: 

I spend too much money on the garden. That's true.  

These are the world's most expensive tomatoes. Dan: 

We are now a small scale farm. Vanessa: 

That's not what I was saying, but that  is true. I thought of something more  

in our daily life. I think this is different for  everyone depending on how much money you have. At  

some point in our marriage, we bought the cheapest  food. This is all that we could afford and  

that was it. But then as we made more money, we  wanted to intentionally buy better quality food. 

Dan: We prioritize it. 

Vanessa: Yeah. So, instead  

of just buying expensive food, we wanted to buy,  especially we kind of made an intention to buy  

better quality animal products specifically. In  the US, you have a lot of options. You could buy  

organic carrots or conventional carrots, and  not so much that I'm thinking more about meat  

and yogurt and cheese and milk- Dan: 

Where the creatures are involved. Vanessa: 

Yeah, because in the area where we live,  there's a lot of options for buying  

local grass fed beef, for example, where  there's a farm down the street and it's  

much more expensive than buying the cheapest  beef at the grocery store. But for us,  

as we've made more money, this has been  something that we justify spending more money on.  

If we didn't have money, then I would not spend  money on that, because that wasn't a priority. 

Dan: It would be hot dogs and canned tuna. 

Vanessa: I mean, maybe not hot dogs, but some beans  

or just rice, something very simple. Dan: 

Rice and beans. There you go. Vanessa: 

Yeah. You can live off of that. Lots of people  do. But for us, this has been something that  

we have been intentional about.  When we buy milk, we try to buy  

good quality, not just expensive, but either  local milk or something that's whole milk,  

grass fed, something local, these types of things.  We have our own chickens, so those are certainly- 

Dan: They're free range. 

Vanessa: Beautiful quality eggs. But this  

type of thing, because I feel like it is directly  impacting the farming world and the animal's life.  

We are not vegan, we are not vegetarian,  but I don't like conventional farms and  

factory farms, big scale farms. Dan: 

From the standpoint of the animals? Vanessa: 

From a lot of standpoints, the environment,  animals, all of that, maybe you're eating  

too much meat, but I completely understand that  if you don't have much money, you buy food. You  

just have to buy the food that you buy and you  have to survive. Then as you make more money,  

you make different choices about what you buy.  For us, that's been increasing the quality of  

the animal products that we buy for a lot of  different reasons. But anyway, that's something  

that I can justify spending more money on. Dan: 

Yes. Better food. Vanessa: 

Yeah. That's something that we've chosen to  spend more money on over time. That is probably  

different for you. Let us know in the comments  for you, what is something that you can justify  

spending more money on, maybe in the future, like  Dan's answer, some cabin or property, you could  

justify spending more money on that, or maybe it's  something that you already spend more money on,  

like my answer. Let us know in the comments.  I'm curious. What are your financial priorities?  

Let us know in the comments, and let's go to the  next question. Question number 11 is about games.  

We like games. Dan: 

Games. Are they fun? Vanessa: 

Yes. Dan: 

I don't know. Vanessa: 

I would like to know what is a game that you  play that you're very competitive about. The  

word competitive means you want to win.  You feel serious, you can still have fun,  

but you want to win. Dan: 

The real question for me is what is a  game that I don't feel competitive about,  

because I have a game switch in my head. I  start playing a game and I'm like, "Strategy on,  

let's win this thing," and I feel very competitive  about it. I would say, especially any game that  

has strategy where you can actually make  decisions that will really impact the game,  

there's a lot of games that are just roll the dice  and it's random chance. It's a little easier not  

to be competitive about that. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

Like when I played shoots and ladders  with my son the other day, 100% luck,  

which he didn't necessarily understand. He was  like, "Look, I'm going to jump over the slide." 

Vanessa: You can't jump over the slide. 

Dan: That's not part of the rules.  

But that was very interesting that he  thought about that himself. But anyway, yeah,  

the question is, what am I competitive- Vanessa: 

Yeah. Give an example of some games,  because maybe our students too would like- 

Dan: What am I super competitive about? 

Vanessa: Yeah. Maybe they'd like some  

examples that they could play. Dan: 

A recent example is there's a game called  Code Names, and it's one of the best games  

ever, I think. Vanessa: 

Actually, I have a YouTube video where Dan and I  play this and I teach you how to play it and teach  

you vocabulary along the way. Dan: 

Is very challenging, it scales,  so if your group is very smart,  

they'll play it very smart. If your group is  dumb, it plays to the level of the players.  

I've had to train myself not to get competitive  about this game, because for example, we first  

played this. We literally went to bed  that night and had an argument about it. 

Vanessa: "But why did you say this thing?" No,  

I meant that." "How could you not get this?" Dan: 

Yeah. It feels really bad  to lose that game, I think. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: So, that one really got to me.  

The last time we played, I have to usually tell  myself I'm not going to get super competitive.  

I'm just going to have a good time, and if I  lose, that's okay. I have to prep myself because  

I really like to win games. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Yeah. Dan: 

Actually, I've gotten better with that over time. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think Code Names is a good  one for English learners. One that  

we play often or we play maybe three  times a year is Settlers of Catan. 

Dan: Yes. 

Vanessa: You can play the simple version of sellers  

of Catan, or you can use the expansions. Dan: 

We go a little crazy. Vanessa: 

The original game, it might take one and a half  hours, but the way we play, sometimes it takes  

five hours, and it can be very intense. It depends  on who you play with. I've played this game with  

people who are so serious that they are not fun  to play with, as in if you set the dice down,  

they'll say, "Oh, your turn's over. It's my  turn now." "What? Give me some slack. Cut  

me some slack." But when we play with us, and  the people we usually play with is Dan's sister  

and her husband, Brad- Dan: 

That's the only people we play with now. Vanessa: 

Dan rock climbed with, yeah, when we play with  them, we're all competitive, but we're nice. 

Dan: We're lighthearted at the same time. 

Vanessa: Yeah. We have a good  

time still. Sometimes at the end of the game,  when it's about two o'clock in the morning- 

Dan: We've gad arguments though. 

Vanessa: Okay. We've had big  

arguments, the four of us about it. But  when it's getting really late at night,  

everyone's really tired, and we know we have to  wake up early with all of our kids, so it gets a  

little more stressful. But that's a fun one. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Those are neither- Dan: 

You feel competitive about that? Vanessa: 

I feel competitive about- Dan: 

You're a quiet competitor. Vanessa: 

I feel competitive about those games, but I  feel most competitive when I play Carcassonne. 

Dan: Oh,  

just against me? Vanessa: 

Against you, mainly because- Dan: 

You beat me a lot too. Vanessa: 

That's why. Dan: 

I don't like it. Vanessa: 

Because I have probably a 50% chance of winning.  

A lot of games, depending on what they are, if I  play them with just Dan, I either won't win often  

or it'll be like 30% of the time I'll win. But  with Carcassonne, I win about 50% of the time. 

Dan: It's not just luck. 

Vanessa: It's not just luck. There's a lot of  

work and strategy. If you miss up a move, you  can lose the entire game, and your three hour  

experience is lost. I like Carcassonne a lot  because of that. It's fun to me, I can win. 

Dan: We can play one on one. 

Vanessa: We can play just us,  

and I think that's a good... there's not many- Vanessa: 

Play just us, and I think that's a good ...  There's not many good strategy games that you  

can play with just two people. It's based off of  a city in France, Carcassonne, the same name. And  

the game looks like that city. Dan: 

You build city walls and roads and stuff. Vanessa: 

Yeah. It's quite fun. There's  also expansions on that.  

That can make it longer. Dan: 

Theo would love that game. Vanessa: 

I think he could play it. Dan: 

Yeah. We got to play that with my son. Vanessa: 

Yeah. That'd be fun. Anyway. Dan: 

He's going to like games too. We're  going to get in a lot of family arguments 

Vanessa: About being competitive. Actually. He played  

Settlers of CATAN Jr. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Which is the kid's version. Dan: 

He did amazing. Yesterday. Vanessa: 

Yesterday, for the first time  and you were playing with him. 

Dan: I helped him a lot, but he still got it. 

Vanessa: Cool. That's a new  

phase in parenting. When we can- Dan: 

He's not even five yet and he still sat through  turns and listened to the rules and he looked at  

the little chart and figured it out and stuff. Vanessa: 

That's cool. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

That sounds fun. I would- Dan: 

It was impressive. Vanessa: 

I like little kid stuff, but I really like- Dan: 

Big kid stuff. Vanessa: 

... playing baseball with your kids or playing  Settlers of CATAN with your kids. Stuff that I  

enjoy too. Like for example, we're going to an  aquarium for our five year old's birthday. I like  

aquariums and this isn't something that's just for  kids. It's for us too. And it's for his birthday.  

So a new stage of the ... Dan: 

The giant critter museum. Vanessa: 

That's Dan's favorite. Dan: 

Yes. Vanessa: 

Anyway, that was a little detour. So I want to  know for you, what game do you feel competitive  

about? Or maybe you are a non-competitive  person. You play a game and you're like,  

"I can win. I don't have to win. It's okay." Or  maybe you are super competitive. Let us know in  

the comments what's a game you feel competitive  about and we'll go to our next question. Question.  

Number 13 is about celebrities or maybe they  don't have to be celebrities. Interesting people. 

Dan: Famous people. 

Vanessa: This is a common- 

Dan: Infamous people. 

Vanessa: ... question, common conversation question  

to spice things up. I'm having a special  dinner party. Who is someone dead or alive  

who you would like to invite? Dan: 

Yeah, I feel like I've answered  something similar to this recently. 

Vanessa: Oh, okay. 

Dan: And I give this answer a lot,  

so I'm very current. I just want to know  what's going on in the world now. So I would  

just invite the current president. Okay. So Joe  Biden, I would actually take Donald Trump too,  

just because I can't believe these people exist  and are so annoying and dumb. I want to see what  

they're really like. Are they really as ridiculous  and empty as they seem? Are they faking it? I want  

to ask them tough questions and see if Joe Biden  just falls asleep in the middle of dinner, or if  

Donald Trump just ... I guess he seems pretty ...  Yeah. He'd probably just blow if he ate something.  

But yeah, I want to get into their heads or try  to, and just see how ridiculous they are in real  

life. Because again- Vanessa: 

You're just curious. Dan: 

I live my life and then I see these are the people  running the country and I just can't put that  

together and it makes me feel upset usually. Vanessa: 

They don't seem like real people. Dan: 

Yeah. They're not. Vanessa: 

So having a dinner conversation with somebody can  bring out the real them, the real inside look. 

Dan: Sure. Oh yeah. That's another key  

element. I'd get them really drunk. Vanessa: 

Okay. Dan: 

Got to spike their drinks a little bit  more. And this is not what I'd really do,  

but this is the hypothetical world where I get  Donald Trump at my dinner table or Joe Biden. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Dan: Joe Biden would just fall asleep. I'm  

convinced. He's old and just not with it. Vanessa: 

Okay. Well. Dan: 

But he'd probably share a lot of  information if you got them tipsy. 

Vanessa: That would be very interesting. 

Dan: Yeah. Just how close are your fingers  

to the nuclear buttons, Mr. President? Vanessa: 

Do we want to know? Dan: 

No. Vanessa: 

Well, I feel like for my answer to this  question, I chose to go much more personal.  

And that's usually when I think  about this question, I always  

think that more. Dan: 

This is the difference between you and me. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Because if I met with the  current or past presidents of the US,  

I don't know what I would do with that  information. Okay, so this is what they're  

like now, what do I do? Dan: 

Share it to the world. Vanessa: 

But I think- Dan: 

Nobody'd believe you. Vanessa: 

I would be very interested from a personal  standpoint to meet, on my question number one I  

mentioned Antoinette Menifee, my great grandma who  came from Italy. I would be very interested to sit  

down and have a conversation at dinner with her. Dan: 

That would be very interesting. Vanessa: 

What kind of woman is she  that she met a random man,  

moved to another country, left her family,  never saw them again and raised six children in  

the US? And here we are. Dan: 

I have a question. Vanessa: 

I'd be very interested. Dan: 

Would you go back in time or would she come  to current time in this hypothetical universe? 

Vanessa: She would come to current times. 

Dan: So you want to show her the future? 

Vanessa: I wouldn't show her  

anything. I would just be eating dinner with her  and she would have her entire life experience.  

Okay. So I don't want her to be like, so  maybe it doesn't matter 90 years old when she  

can't remember things, but I don't want her  to be 30 years old and she hasn't had a lot of  

experiences yet. So this is a magical question. Dan: 

60? Vanessa: 

I don't know. Dan: 

How long did she live, anyways? Vanessa: 

I don't know. I met her when I- Dan: 

You did? Vanessa: 

There's a picture of me on her lap as a baby. Dan: 

Oh. Vanessa: 

So she lived at least till like 1987,  1988. I don't know how old she was,  

but I'm sure she was- Dan: 

She was probably pretty old. Vanessa: 

She had a lot of life experiences and I'm always  curious about what life was like back then. And  

I think it would be a personal touch to be  like, "Oh, this was someone who is part of me  

and some roots." Anyway, that's  my answer. So I'm curious for you,  

if you had a magical dinner party, who would you  like to invite someone dead or alive? Let us know  

in the comments. I'm curious to see what you  have to say and let's go to our next question. 

Vanessa: The 14th question is about  

pets. What kind of pet would you like to have? Dan: 

What kind of pet? If I could have any pets. Vanessa: 

If you could have any pet. Dan: 

In the world. Vanessa: 

Yes. Dan: 

That I don't already have. Vanessa: 

Well, we have chickens. Dan: 

We have cats and chickens. Vanessa: 

Tadpoles that turned into frogs, cats.  Do we have anything else at the moment? 

Dan: Well, okay.  

I can think of one ... Vanessa: 

A caterpillar. Dan: 

... that does not really fit our family. Vanessa: 

Okay. Dan: 

And it is a smart dog that doesn't bark too much. Vanessa: 

Our child hates barking dogs. Dan: 

Well, I hate barking too. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

But I really like dogs to a degree. Certain dogs  I really like, because I just feel like humans and  

dogs, they really are man's best friend. But when  I think about how much work a dog takes and it's  

like almost taking on another family member. Vanessa: 

Oh yeah. Dan: 

And it just doesn't really fit. Not to mention  

our oldest son is extremely afraid of dogs. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

And he really, really does not like them. Vanessa: 

Yeah. If you have any tips about how to help  kids feel more comfortable with dogs without  

traumatizing them, I need some help. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Let me know in the comments. Dan: 

We're working on. It. It's a work in progress. Vanessa: 

Yep. Dan: 

But also, I don't think you  like dogs as much as I do. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: I don't think you would put  

it on a bucket list. It's almost a bucket list  thing for me to have a dog someday. A cool dog,  

like a Border Collie or an Australian Shepherd.  Something that's noble, smart, fast, cunning and  

difficult to keep. Because border collies are  notorious for needing lots and lots of exercise. 

Vanessa: Yeah. If we were farmers,  

maybe. We worked on a farm. Dan: 

We're getting there. Vanessa: 

But we have a big garden. We worked on a farm in  the south of France and they had a Border Collie  

that was so fun and so smart. Dan: 

You could see the intelligence in that dog's eyes. Vanessa: 

Oh yeah. That dog was amazing. But that  dog was living in the perfect place. It had  

endless stimulation, endless exercise. Dan: 

Never went inside. Vanessa: 

That dog could work there. Yeah. It was great.  But I think it's also smart to know what animals  

don't fit your life. And for us, at least  at the moment, we have a lot of smart, fast  

running around creatures in our house  called children. So we're at our capacity. 

Dan: Yes. Yeah. And there's also more  

dogs that I actually dislike than like. There's  a lot of dogs I'm just like, "No, thank you."  

Small yippy dogs, no. No, thanks. No. Vanessa: 

It's not your style. Dan: 

Not my thing. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

It'd need to be bigger, smarter, noble, cunning.  These are the words that come to my mind when I  

think of a cool dog. Vanessa: 

Okay, yeah. A dog that helps you in  some way too. A working dog, maybe. 

Dan: Sure. That's not even necessary.  

Just one that can catch a Frisbee. Vanessa: 

Oh, that sounds fun. Cool. Well,  our kids are getting there.  

Did you have another one? I thought  you said you had a second one. 

Dan: Oh, well, so I also said some fish. 

Vanessa: Oh. 

Dan: Like a giant fish. 

Vanessa: What's giant mean? 

Dan: This is- 

Vanessa: Like a whale? 

Dan: Both of these are unrealistic.  

Because you said any pet. Vanessa: 

Yeah. It's okay. We can dream. Dan: 

When you get into the aquarium world. Let me  tell you about the aquarium world. You can get  

pretty detailed and intense about it. And there  are some really cool fish. There's one, I think  

it's called a arowana. Vanessa: 

Okay. Dan: 

I want to say, and they can get like this big. Vanessa: 

What kind of tank do you have to have? Dan: 

They're shiny and they can be gold or red,  but they'll literally sell for $10,000. 

Vanessa: What? And you probably have to  

have a tank the size of this room. Dan: 

And you need a big tank. Probably  not the size of the room. 

Vanessa: Oh my goodness. 

Dan: I wouldn't want to spend money on it.  

I'd never bring myself to spend money on it. Vanessa: 

You can't justify spending money on it. Dan: 

If somebody just gave me the supplies  and the fish, I'd set it up and be happy. 

Vanessa: Okay. That's a good dream. Yeah. Like my dream. 

Dan: Yeah. How about you? 

Vanessa: I said- 

Dan: A dinosaur. 

Vanessa: No, I said a cow. 

Dan: Oh. 

Vanessa: Yeah. I think it would be cool to have a cow, but- 

Dan: Daisy. 

Vanessa: The only way I would have a cow is if basically  

I was just the owner and someone else came every  day to milk the cow. Somebody prepared, took care  

of the cow. I don't want to take care of it. Dan: 

And in this scenario you're a noble woman. Vanessa: 

Yes. Dan: 

Living in her manor. Vanessa: 

Yes. And I would say, "Go take care of my cow  down there." Basically. I just want lots of milk.  

Lots of milk- Dan: 

Free milk. Vanessa: 

... to make ... It's not free.  There's a lot of work into a cow. 

Dan: Okay. Not so free. 

Vanessa: I have to pay the person  

who takes care of the cow. Dan: 

You're not touching udders. Vanessa: 

Having endless amounts of yogurt, cheese, milk,  that's from your fresh dairy cow. That's cool.  

But it's also extremely hard. Dan: 

They poop all over your yard. Vanessa: 

Well, I don't even need to keep it in my yard. Dan: 

So do the chickens. Oh. Vanessa: 

It would be on my farm. 

Dan: Oh. 

Vanessa: It would be  

in someone else's farm and  I would just own that cow. 

Dan: On your manor. 

Vanessa: But there's actually,  

I was thinking about this the other day, we stayed  at an Airbnb that was a farm and they have some  

cows and horses and chickens and they have a milk  sharing program where you can buy part of the cow.  

So you're not actually like I buy the leg of the  cow, that kind of thing. They're saying, if you  

buy part of the cow, the ownership of this  cow, you will get a certain amount of milk  

per month from that cow.  So it's what I'm thinking.  

You don't have to do any work, but you get the  milk. Yeah. And you pay for it. But it's local  

and it's going back to justifying, spending  more money on high quality animal products. 

Dan: We could just do that. 

Vanessa: We eat a lot of yogurt and I hate  

to buy all the yogurt. We buy a bulk big yogurt  container, but we go through so many of those.  

We eat yogurt a lot. Our kids eat yogurt a lot. Dan: 

Our kids love yogurt. Vanessa: 

Yeah. I think that if we had something  like a milk sharing program, we would,  

or I would be more inclined to just make some  yogurt in the Crockpot or something and have  

that at home. Anyway. Dan: 

That's a very Vanessa answer. Vanessa: 

That's a dream. Dan: 

A cow that you don't want to take care of. Vanessa: 

No, I don't want to take care of it. Dan: 

Those people that had the cow at the  Airbnb, they looked really tired. 

Vanessa: They said- 

Dan: They had three cows,  

two cows? Vanessa: 

They said the word we would use to describe having  a cow is relentless. They said rain or shine,  

sick or not. Dan: 

You got to milk them. Vanessa: 

Christmas or Thanksgiving, any day, twice a day,  they have to go to the barn and milk that cow. 

Dan: Yeah. And it's just two people there. 

Vanessa: Yeah. They didn't hire anyone to  

help them, so they never get a vacation, which  they could hire someone to help occasionally. 

Dan: I will just say- 

Vanessa: Anyway. Not my style. 

Dan: I saw a twinge of regret in her eyes  

when she was talking about this decision. Vanessa: 

Yeah. They loved those cows and they took  good care of them. But they're like, "Oh,  

this is relentless." Dan: 

Yeah. Because in their previous life, they  weren't ... Well life. Jobs or careers,  

they weren't farmers at all. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

They made a conscious decision to go back to  

farming. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Anyway, that's my answer, a cow. Dan: 

That could be you. Vanessa: 

That could be me. We'll see.  Anyway, what about you? What pet,  

if you could have any pet in the world, or any  animal really, it doesn't even have to be a pet,  

what would you have? Let us know in the comments.  And we'll go to our final question. Are you ready? 

Dan: Ready. 

Vanessa: Let's go. The final question. Question number 15.  

We've made it this far is about books.  Something that's a love of my life. The  

question is- Dan: 

And not as much mine. Vanessa: 

Yeah, so I'm very curious what  you have to say about this.  

What is a book that you would recommend  everyone read because you loved it so much? 

Dan: Yeah. My answer's definitely a cop out here. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: Because I don't read that much. And  

the most I ever read, we had a book club and it  basically required me to read. And I like reading  

a lot. I just don't do it. I find myself listening  to something or watching something first.  

So my cop out answer is some parenting book. Vanessa: 

Oh, okay. Dan: 

So the one that comes to my mind is called  Peaceful Parenting, but I don't think it  

specifically has to be that. It just has to be  something that is not too modern, but not just  

handed down generationally, like, "I just do what  my parents did." Something intentional, training  

people basically how to be better, kinder, gentler  parents for their children. How to talk to them  

better. There's a lot of strategies and tips you  can get for talking about or talking to children.  

And the book also needs to have like a lot  of what's that child psychology informing it  

scientifically because the more you learn about  children, the more you learn that they are  

developing at different times and rates and  you might think they can handle something,  

but in reality, their brains literally can't  handle it. So that gives you more patience. 

Vanessa: Yeah. 

Dan: Because there's a lot of people,  

a lot of parents who just think their kids are  stubborn or just want to yell at them for things,  

but they don't really get the full picture  about the child's development and their needs. 

Vanessa: Yeah. Yeah. 

Dan: So that's my answer even though  

it's not really one specific book. Vanessa: 

Don't worry. Dan: 

I have other books that I really enjoyed, but  maybe aren't as relevant to people. One that came  

to my mind is called Educated. Vanessa: 

Oh, that was an interesting book. Yeah. Dan: 

But that feels really relevant to me because I was  homeschooled. And so this girl was homeschooled,  

but in a really bad environment. And so it's that  story basically of being extremely sheltered. And  

basically even in that terrible environment,  there's almost pros and cons to it.  

It almost made her stronger in some  ways, even though it was awful. 

Vanessa: That's an interesting story. 

Dan: That was a very interesting book to me. 

Vanessa: Yeah. I would say for the parenting books,  

I have an Amazon link. Dan: 

She's got a list for you. Vanessa: 

I do. It's a Speak English With Vanessa Amazon  book storefront. So I've chosen a bunch of books  

that I recommend because I've made a lot of videos  about books on this channel. So in the description  

of this video, you can see the Amazon link for  my book recommendations and there's different  

folders. There's children's books, there's  beginner English books. If you've never read  

a book in English before, this is what I recommend  reading there's intermediate books, there's  

nonfiction books. Vanessa: 

And in that children's book section are books for  children, but also parenting book recommendations  

that have really impacted us and have been  useful in our lives. For example, a book called  

Hunt, Gather, Parent. There's another book  called Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids. And if you  

have more than one child Peaceful Parent, Happy  Siblings is amazing. We've read a lot of these  

styles of books. And I think it's just changing  your mindset about how to respect your child,  

but also still be the authority. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

Anyway, like Dan said- Dan: 

It's a tough balance. Vanessa: 

... some psychology as well. So there's a  lot of recommendations. If you click on that  

Amazon link and you would like to dive into the  world of a better relationship with your child, 

Dan: Especially if you got kids out there. 

Vanessa: Oh yeah. Or you are interacting with children.  

Anyway, it's very insightful. My recommendation  was also on a similar nonfiction route. Because  

I've read a lot of fiction that's personally  made me feel passionate about different topics.  

And I love reading fiction and diving into  different worlds, especially historical  

fiction where you're learning about something in  history. But I would say the book that made me  

within the last two years, the  most passionate, can you guess? 

Dan: Something about Native Americans? 

Vanessa: No, I do read a lot about native Americans  

though. Is a book called Digital Minimalism. Dan: 

Oh yeah. I thought you were talking fiction. Vanessa: 

Yes. Which is- Dan: 

Or nonfiction. Vanessa: 

Oh, this one is not fiction. Dan: 

This is nonfiction. Vanessa: 

It's ironic because we are here  sharing this on social media. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Vanessa: But if you feel like you  

look at your phone too much, or if you feel like,  "Why did it seem like life was so much more simple  

in the 1990s?" Dan: 

It was. Vanessa: 

This is a wonderful book to read, Digital  Minimalism. It confirmed everything that I  

suspected or that I thought about, especially  about phones, but about media in general. 

Dan: Technology. 

Vanessa: But it gave a better  

plan for what to do because you can't just  cut out YouTube from your life. I need- 

Dan: I don't know about that. 

Vanessa: You can't cut out Vanessa's videos. When I need  

to, for example, do something with the garden,  what do I do when I don't know? I Google it. I  

watch a YouTube video. It's very useful in many  ways, say for education or even for entertainment,  

but this book helps you to have a good plan so  that you are the one in control of your media use.  

It's not just social media. It could be watching  the news all the time. It could be listening to  

podcasts all the time, whatever it is. I feel  like this book helped me to create a better  

plan for myself so that I felt more in control.  So I highly recommend this book because I feel  

like it's ubiquitous that everyone, especially if  you're watching this on YouTube in some way ... 

Dan: Struggles. 

Vanessa: ... uses technology more than they would like. 

Dan: Yeah. 

Vanessa: And technology's not a bad thing. 

Dan: It's a modern problem. 

Vanessa: Yeah. It's just something that can easily  

get out of hand, which is a great expression. Dan: 

So do you have any fiction books though? Vanessa: 

Oh yes. But that is ... Dan: 

Recommendations? Vanessa: 

... a whole nother rabbit hole. Dan: 

Yeah. Vanessa: 

I would recommend if you want to read- Dan: 

We didn't mention fiction. Vanessa: 

Yeah. Dan: 

You got to say one thing at least. Vanessa: 

Well, I do recommend watching my videos  about fiction book recommendations. 

Dan: She's got a whole video  

about it right here. Vanessa: 

I have four videos. Dan: 

Or is it here? Vanessa: 

Three videos I think so far about book  recommendations. If you would like to  

watch my video about books to learn about  America. So they're American books about American  

culture or they're books that are popular  about the US. There's books I mentioned about  

beginner English books. If you've never read a  book in English before I made a video about those.  

Nonfiction books, I think I did an advanced  book video as well. There are a lot. So I  

will put those links in the description. Please  dive into that if you're interested in reading.  

It's something I'm passionate about, so  I'm always happy to share more about it.  

And I'm glad this last question was something  that is so exciting for me. Yes. Well,  

thank you so much everyone for  joining us today for this very,  

very long conversation. Dan: 

Yes. We hope you enjoyed it. Vanessa: 

Yes. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you  can dive into it a little bit deeper if you would  

like to download the free MP3. I mean not MP3,  PDF. It's been a long morning making this video.  

If you would like to download the free PDF  worksheet for this video, there is a link in  

the description. You'll get access to all of the  questions, some of the key sentences that we said,  

and if all goes well, next week I will be making a  video specifically focusing on some key vocabulary  

from this video. We'll expand. I'll be explaining- Dan: 

Dive into our ramblings. Vanessa: 

Yes. Explaining some of the key expressions that  we talked about in this video. Not all of them,  

but the ones that I deem the most important.  So stay tuned next week. You can download the  

PDF today and then join me next week to dive into  the vocabulary a little deeper. Well, thanks Dan. 

Dan: You're welcome. 

Vanessa: This has been a journey this morning. 

Dan: Many questions. 

Vanessa: Many questions. 

Dan: Many answers. Did we solve the meaning of life? 

Vanessa: Oh, that's a  

good question. Let us know. Do you think we solved  the meaning of life? What is the meaning of life? 

Dan: I think we did as best we could. 

Vanessa: If you made it to the end of this video,  

I would like to give you a little ... Dan: 

High five. Vanessa: 

A high five, and also a little surprise. Dan: 

Oh. Vanessa: 

If you made it to the end of this video  in the comments, I want you to write  

blue water bottle. And when I see that in the  comments, I'll know you finished this video  

because you wrote blue water bottle. Dan: 

You saw the blue water bottle. Vanessa: 

Oh, it's here. Okay. Well that's our little  secret nugget at the end of this video. Thank  

you so much for joining us. And I will see you  again next Friday for a new lesson here on my  

YouTube channel. Bye. Dan: 

Bye. Vanessa: 

The next step is to download the  free PDF worksheet for this lesson.  

With this free PDF, you will master today's lesson  and never forget what you have learned. You can be  

a confident English speaker. Don't  forget to subscribe to my YouTube  

channel for a free English  lesson every Friday. Bye!