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Lærer Crossroads 2006

Crossroads
English around the world
The USA
10 On the move

The USA

1 Welcome to America
2 Living the dream
3 A melting pot or a salad bowl?
4 The Heartland
5 The sound of America
6 You can really be someone
7 If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?
8 Over easy and hash browns on the side
9 Super-sized or super hungry?
10 On the move

On the move

The Flatirons, Boulder

© beklaus/iStockphotos
Skyscrapers in New York City

© Songquan Deng/Shutterstock

On the move

People tend to move quite often in the USA. Some move to find a better or a cheaper home, while teenagers and young adults often move to study or because they are changing jobs. The average American will move about eleven times in their life.

Rob and Tina have lived in various places in the USA. They have both visited a number of other states, as well. Listen to them talking about the differences they have noticed, and what they feel about their home town.

Part 1: Rob

Before you listen

When Rob finished school, he decided to move. Choose the reasons you think he gives for this.
Then listen to this conversation and find out if you were right.

Rob moved because he wanted to

work in a different state
get away from his family
go surfing
live in a larger town
study in the same place as his girlfriend
live close to the mountains

© Kemter/iStockphotos

Lindis:So, tell me Rob, where in the States are you from?
Rob:Well, I’m actually from Maryland, but I was born in New York and my family moved to first Connecticut – uh, I was a baby in New York – moved to Connecticut, then Philadelphia, but I grew up in Maryland. Sort of my formative years were spent in Maryland. A place called Potomac, which is a, a river that runs through Maryland, through D.C. and into the Chesapeake.
Lindis:And what was it like growing up there?
Rob:Uhm, I lived in s-, in I have to say a fairly privileged area. It was a very nice suburb of Washington D.C. And … beautiful place, had great friends, was lucky enough to go to a good school and uhm … Yeah, it was very predictable in a way, and safe. So I went to high school in Maryland and when I was, when I graduated, I decided to go west to school. And I had the, the urge to get pretty far away from where I grew up. For … (laughter) in a way to get away from my parents. And I mean, I uh, of course I respected them and loved them and all, all of that, but … t-, I wanted to get far away. And I, I visited when I was 18. Before I graduated high school, I visited Colorado, uh, Boulder and I just fell in love with the place. And uhm decided to, to go to school there, to college.
The campus is uhm, ringed by mountains, so you have the Flatirons and uhm, I just saw people mountain biking and, you know, running in the parks and I just- and I, the people I met were so nice and also they s-, the first thing they said was that there’s 300 days of sunshine every year so that kinda got me, too. So I just fell in love with it.
Lindis:What was it like moving from the east coast to the west coast? Are people very different?
Rob:Interesting. Cause I met a lot of people from different parts of the country. So I had friends from, a lot of friends from Boston, and uhm … on, and the west coast, California. But Boulder was a kind of melting pot in a way. But also the Colo-, the Coloradans were different from me in a way. They were sort of more … simple, I guess you could say. Or maybe more attached to the places they come from, smaller places that they came from around the state of Colorado. And since I think I grew up in, like I said, a privileged area, people were a little bit more uhm … I don’t wanna say spoiled but uh … (laughter) that might be the word for it.
Lindis:In what way were you spoilt?
Rob:Spoiled. I shouldn’t use that word, cause it’s kind of embarrassing but uh … I mean, I had, I had my sister’s car when I was in high school so that was sort of something I think most kids don’t get to, to experience. Uh, my teeth were taken care of. I had, I had braces and uh … I didn’t get everything I wanted, of course, but I think I, I was lucky, in the sense that I got things that maybe other kids didn’t get.
Lindis:Would you say that you are … patriotic?
Rob:Yes, I think so.
Lindis:And are you patriotic about America or the state you er, grew up in?
Rob:Uhm, I mean I think both, and I think I’ve travelled quite a bit around the world and I think the more I’ve travelled, the more I p-, the more I can look back and appreciate where I come from and sort of appreciate the diversity, cause I had friends from, with different backgrounds … Korean friend, an Italian friend, a Greek friend… uh, African-American friends. So I think that sort of uhm … melting pot kind of f-, uhm, idea is true. And also just uhm … the, the advantages I’ve, I’ve been given. And uhm … I just feel quite lucky to, and to live in a democracy, that’s not perfect but uh … y’know, I’ve always voted, I’ve always felt sort of political and … engaged, so I think, I think um, yeah … I feel proud to be American.

Now do Part 1: Getting the gist.

Part 2: Tina

Before you listen

Tina grew up in New York City. Which of these things do you think she noticed when she went to other
places in the USA? Choose from the list, then listen to this conversation and find out if you were right.

the food was different
people used cars more
children played outdoors more
people did not lock their front doors
people were more friendly than in New York
life was slower in smaller places
people talk about the weather more than in New York

© DRB-Images-LLC/iStockphotos

Tina:I was born in Brooklyn and uh, I well, spent most of my childhood in Brooklyn, so up until I was about 13, and it was fun! Uh, we’d play you know on the block and you’d play kickball and football and uh, you know, in the backyard we’d play basketball because we had a basketball net up, uh … We’d play tag, uh, freeze tag, team tag, on skates and running – it was great!
Lindis:When you decided to study, uh, did you stay in New York or did you go somewhere else?
Tina:For graduate school I stayed in the city. Uhm, but for undergraduate – so for my Bachelor’s, I went upstate New York, so, which is a very different from New York City. So most people don’t think-, when they think of New York, they only think of New York City, they don’t think about uhm … New York State, which is a large state, goes all the way up to Canada. Uhm, and uh … and that’s more, uhm, that’s different. (laughter) Uh …
Lindis:How is it different? Are the people different, or …?
Tina:People are different. The -, you know the buildings are much lower, it’s uh …, it’s slower, quieter, uhm … less to do.
Lindis:Have you been anywhere else in the States?
Tina:Oh, yeah, lots of places. I’ve been to Atlanta in Georgia, I’ve been to … different places in Ohio, uh … California, Texas, uh, Florida …
Lindis:And what kind of impression did these places make on you, coming from a big city like New York?
Tina:Well, one of the things that is uhm … common, I think, in all of the states, in all of the cities, is that everyone is friendly, right. So even in New York people are friendly, people are extremely friendly in New York. Uh, everyone is nice and everyone is friendly, but it’s, it’s you know, it’s different. So up in Ohio my uncle, uh, he doesn’t lock his doors.
Lindis Ever?
Tina:And so-, no, the doors are unlocked. Maybe at night when they go to sleep they’ll lock the doors. But during the day the doors are never locked so people come in (laughter), go out. Uhm, neighbors pass by and just open the door. “Hey, how are you?” (laughter) Uh … and so that’s, you know, common. And that happens also, uh you know, if you’re in the south. If you’re in Atlanta, uhm, you know people always have food, just in case someone comes by, uh … just to be hospitable, just to welcome people and make people feel comfortable uh when they, when they come over. Uh …
Lindis:Would you be given a whole meal or would you just get like a piece of cake?
Tina:It depends. You could have – (laughter) You def-, well definitely, you’re always offered something to eat i-, whenever you go to anyone’s house you’re always offered something, something to drink, something, you know, something. You know, in the south they like … food.
But yeah, it’s just different uh ... New York is a little faster, you know people are very much you know, they work long hours, they work out a lot, there’s, there’s a lot of moving, a lot of activity. Everything is you know is sort of intense, uhm. Whereas the other places, it’s a little bi-, bit more laidback, a little more relaxed, a little easier.
Uh … what else is there? That’s the other thing, most cities in America are driving cities, so people drive everywhere. Uh … And so, you know, there’s a joke that Americans have so many cars, you know, uhm … But you have to have (laughter) a car, but you have to have a car for every person in the family because the distance is so far to get to wherever you need to get to. So if you’re going to school, school is far from home, there’s no walking. And most places don’t have, you know, the public transportation systems. So you have to drive. Most c-cities are, are driving cities in the states, and I would say there are a handful of walking cities. And uhm, New York is a, is a walking city. Yeah, but everywhere else you have, you have to drive, you can’t survive without a car.

Now do Part 2: Checking details.

Part 1: Getting the gist
Part 2: Checking details
Your turn to talk

On the move