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Paige: You are listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.
Ian: And I'm Ian Kennedy.
Paige: And today we're going to talk about weird, strange facts that are around the world in different countries that are not very common. So again, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Okay. So, Ian, one of the weirdest ones that I just read was about Greece. And so, in Greece, as you know, has one of the oldest cities—Athens—they have the Acropolis which is this ancient monument. And so, they banned women from, I guess, both genders, wearing high heels while touring the Acropolis. which seems like a very unnecessary law, given its ancient ruins that are probably super rocky and have tons of cracks, but I guess tourists were thinking, “Hmm, I should wear high heels while I tour that.”
Ian: Yeah, it seems a little silly that somebody would wear those but dang, I'm disappointed now. I was going to bring my high heels to Greece when I visit next. But that makes sense because the monument’s so old—thousands and thousands of years old—even though you wouldn't think that people would go visit the site in high heels, obviously they do it so that's why it's a law. But yeah, I guess, the idea is because the structure is so delicate and so old. They want to protect the structure as much as possible and having high heels, those pointy tips can really damage the rocks, damage structures. So, I think it makes sense, even though, probably most people don't consider doing it in high heels.
Paige: Well, it is funny. I mean, I guess strange people are everywhere because I've done hikes and I've seen women wearing like wedge stuff and I'm like, you don't just wake up and just do a hike. You prepare and that's what you thought to wear? You're like, “Ooh, I'm going to wear wedged heels while I climb this mountain.”
Ian: Yeah, questionable footwear choice that's for sure.
Paige: Yeah, but it's all about fashion, Ian.
Ian: That’s true. You got to look good.
Paige: For the Insta(gram).
Ian: Yeah, I'll be damned if I don't look Instagrammable at every moment. So, I found an interesting one of these strange laws that exist in a country. One that I read was that in Victoria, Australia, it's actually illegal to fly a kite. And it actually says it's illegal to do anything in public that might annoy or offend other people. So, let's say you're in a park, and you're playing a football game or a soccer game, and people around you don't like it, they're getting annoyed, they can actually call the police and report you. So, I guess it's not just limited to flying a kite, but it seems pretty uptight to me.
Paige: My thought is like what you said for the last law. It's like, what story caused that law? There must have been some kite incident where it hit someone in the eye and killed them. I don't know, something pretty intense to have a law written about flying kites.
Ian: Yeah, exactly. That is one of these things you think about these really obscure laws and you think something really weird or something really crazy must have happened for this to even have become a law, right? It's interesting to think about. I wonder what happened? I wonder who killed who with an accidental kite flying accident?
Paige: Okay, another one I saw that, I think, would probably be abused a lot, especially nowadays, was that in Sri Lanka, you can't take a selfie with a Buddha statue. Which, given how many people take selfies, especially when they're traveling, I feel like a lot of people would probably abuse this. And they said that in Sri Lanka the fine can be up to jail time, so it's like not even monetary. You can actually go to jail for it.
Ian: Wow, that's pretty serious.
Paige: Yeah, for taking a selfie.
Ian: But I kind of like it, though. I think the selfie is sometimes abused, so maybe it's a little harsh that they threaten with jail time. It's a little crazy, but I like some sort of consequence if you abuse the selfie use. But yeah, I get it. I mean, it's a religious respect kind of thing so, I understand it, but yeah that's a little intense. Go to jail for taking a selfie, you're in the cell with other inmates who are in there—prison—and all these horrible acts and you're like “Yeah, I'm in for taking a selfie with the Buddha.”
Paige: Right? Yeah, I sell heroin. Similar.
Ian: Yeah, right? Yeah, you might not have the biggest street cred. Yeah, I guess I get it, but it's actually interesting that more countries don't do that considering how many religious countries exist in that area of the world too. But, I guess, they're just different levels of seriousness.
Paige: I would like that law to apply in most countries or limit to one selfie per visit.
Ian: Yeah right, have a limit on it or something. That could help.
Paige: Yeah, it's funny, I went to Mexico, recently. And I normally don't do tours and I did a tour, and, you know, I'm with a group of thirty people. And some people are just so into selfies. You're like “Really, this is the same thing we just saw. Do we need, like, ten more of those?”
Ian: Yeah, overdoing it for sure.
Paige: What are you doing with all those photos?
Ian: So, I read another interesting one that’s in Germany. So, you're familiar with the Autobahn?
Paige: Mmhmm.
Ian: So, the Autobahn, for our listeners, in case you don't know, the Autobahn is a highway in Germany that has no laws for the speed limit, so you can go as fast as you want. But the law that exists on this highway is that it's actually illegal to run out of gas. The way the German law sees it is, if you're driving a car then you have the capability as the driver to have enough gas in your car, and that's your responsibility. And so, if you run out of gas, it's your fault. You should have been more responsible and, furthermore that, walking on the highway is really unsafe for people. Leaving your car on the shoulder of the road is very dangerous for everyone, so it's a safety thing—I get it. But it's really funny that a highway that has no restriction on the speed, you can go 150 miles an hour if you wanted, that it has a law such as running out of gas becomes illegal. You can go as fast as you want. No problem, not illegal. But, running out of gas? Yes, it’s illegal. So, it’s a pretty interesting way they've done the laws in this particular case.
Paige: Yeah, like you said, I think it makes sense because even on a normal highway being on the shoulder is scary. I can't imagine on a highway where people are going 150 miles per hour, I mean, that's so dangerous. Have you ever run out of gas before?
Ian: I haven't, actually. I don't think I ever have. I've always been super close to it, where I thought my car was probably running on fumes, and I barely made it to the station. But I don't think I've ever fully run out of gas on the highway. Have you?
Paige: No. I mean, I could see if you're a tourist and you don't know the area. And you're driving really fast, which means you're burning gas more, maybe because I feel like it's not very common to run out of gas.
Ian: I feel like not anymore. I feel like you have to be somewhere really rural or really out somewhere like out in the country to where you're really far away from gas stations. Because, for the most part, you have the warning gauges, you usually have enough to where you can make it somewhere.
Paige: Yeah, it would be pretty embarrassing. I feel like if I ran out of gas, I probably wouldn't tell anyone.
Ian: And just a quick reminder, if you are interested in taking private classes with Dynamic English, go ahead and check out our website at dynamicenglish.cl and there you can sign up for private classes in your apartment, in your house, in your office. You can even now take classes online—sitting on your couch, you can log on and practice English. It’s very easy. So, if you're interested, check us out also on social media through Facebook or Instagram.
Paige: Okay, I have a good one. This one, I also think should apply in most countries. In Venice, which is a city in Italy, it is illegal to feed the pigeons and you can receive a fine up to seven hundred Euro which is about 650,000 luca. So, a pretty hefty fine—that's a lot of money.
Ian: Yeah, but I really like that law. You know me, Paige, you know that I am not a fan of pigeons, especially. I think they're rats with wings, as I describe them. So, for me, they drive me crazy, and here in Santiago, there's a fair amount of them—there's a decent amount. So, I go sit on a bench somewhere and I get hounded by all these birds. So, I think it'd be a good idea for the fine on this. I can't stand either I see people that put food in their hands and let the pigeons fly up onto their body. I don't like that at all.
Paige: We gotta start lobbying in Santiago to get this law.
Ian: Yeah, the anti-pigeon movement. But yeah, I mean, I would be cool with that to keep people from feeling incentivized to feed the rats with wings—get rid of them.
Paige: I agree, I'm not a big pigeon fan but I would say your hatred for pigeons is equal to my hatred for seagulls. I hate because, at least in the city, cities are kind of chaotic already, the pigeons just kind of add to it. But on the beach, you're trying to relax, you want to chill, have a beer and the seagulls are there and it's so annoying. They're trying to steal your sandwich and just won't leave you alone. I hate seagulls.
Ian: Me too.
Paige: That should also be a law. You can’t feed seagulls.
Ian: Let’s start the anti-seagull- pigeon movement. See if we can get some steam behind us.
Paige: Let’s go get a GoFundMe. We'll have a change.org form. After this podcast, we'll send you the links.
Ian: I like it. Yeah, we'll start Venice's law here in Santiago, start it going, that'd be great. So, here's another one, here's the last one I have. So, in Brazil, I read that it's actually illegal to go into any building—like any public building—with a helmet or face covering on. And the reason for this is because in Brazil, at least in the past, there have been so many robberies by bikers’—people that go into a building with their helmet on with their motorcycle waiting outside to rob people. So, the idea of making it illegal is someone has to remove their mask or their face covering so that they're not anonymous, right? So, that people can recognize them, their face is clear, and so, they won't have the incentive to do the crime or to rob people. We know that Brazil has somewhat of a high crime rate with these kinds of robberies, so I think this one actually makes quite a bit of sense. But it’s something I didn't think about before at all, that you could get fined or sent to jail for just having a helmet inside of a building somewhere. So, it's one of those things you better remember to take it off before you go in somewhere. You don't want to have a problem.
Paige: I think after hearing about that law if I was in Brazil, it's almost like a warning sign if you see someone with a helmet in a store. It's almost like shit’s going to go down—this is a robbery. Where in the US, I would not be like that guy wearing the helmet is suspicious.
Ian: Yeah, it's not something you really think about until you put yourself in that position or in the shoes of that country, or what could happen. That's probably, honestly, why we see so many of these seemingly strange laws in all these different places because, you know, they're strange for us or for other people because you don't have that cultural context, right? So, maybe if you lived in one of these places, the law wouldn't seem strange to you based on the circumstances or based on the way you live. But for people who don't live in that country, it could be something really strange like some of these ones that we're talking about. So, I think a lot of it has to do with culture and perspective you just don't consider until you look at these kinds of questions.
Paige: Yeah, I mean, there was one, just to relay back to Chile, that on September 18th, it's illegal not to fly a Chilean flag.
Ian: Oh yeah, that's right.
Paige: And, actually, you can be fined for not flying a flag, which I was like, wow. I mean, you know it's supposed to be because it's a national holiday, it's patriotic. I get it but it's kind of crazy that it's mandated by law.
Ian: That is pretty crazy.
Paige: And I think people here if you traveled from Chile or anywhere to the US, I think they would be pretty shocked by our gun laws. I think those are definitely culturally different from those countries.
Ian: Definitely. It's just what you're used to pretty much,
Paige: Yeah. So, again everyone, these are just a few that me and Ian picked out but maybe research some more, practice your English, talk with friends about it, and sign our petition to make it illegal to feed seagulls and pigeons in Santiago/Valparaiso area.
Ian: So, I think it's a great initiative. I'm 100% behind it. Get the annoying birds out of Chile.
Paige: So, everyone, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. Thanks for listening.
Ian: We'll see you next time.
Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.
Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:
1. to ban (verb): to prohibit; restrict; to make illegal.
a. The Singapore government decided to ban chewing gum in 1992.
2. high heels (noun): shoes with tall, thin heels.
a. Wearing high-heels at the Acropolis is banned.
3. delicate (adjective): easily broken or damaged.
a. The glass is very delicate, so please be careful.
4. wedge (noun): another name for high-heel shoes.
a. I wouldn’t recommend wearing wedges on the mountain.
5. questionable (adjective): doubtful; possibly not wise.
a. Going to the beach during a rainstorm is very questionable.
6. I’ll be damned (phrase): I cannot or will not do something.
a. I’ll be damned if I have to eat any more of that disgusting food.
7. Instagrammable (adjective): visually appealing to be used on Instagram.
a. She wants to look Instagrammable in every photo she’s in.
8. uptight (adjective): strict; serious.
a. My math teacher is so uptight. I don’t think I’m going to like his class.
9. obscure (adjective): not clearly expressed or understood.
a. The obscure rules make it difficult for tourists to know what is legal.
10. monetary (adjective): money; currency.
a. The payment is usually monetary.
11. harsh (adjective): severe; critical; harsh.
a. The environment of the desert is very harsh for most people.
12. street cred (noun, slang): short for street credit, meaning to be well-respected in a particular area.
a. He has a lot of street cred for all the crazy things he has done.
13. shoulder (noun): the area of a road or highway that is on the side.
a. It’s very dangerous to walk on the shoulder of the highway.
14. fumes (phrasal verb): the very last remainder of gas or fuel.
a. My car was running on fumes when I found the gas station.
15. rural (adjective): not urban; outside of a city; less populated area.
a. People in rural areas don’t worry about big-city problems.
16. gauge (noun): an instrument that measures the amount of something.
a. The oil gauge is telling me that we need to stop for a repair.
17. pigeon (noun): a type of bird that is common in most urban areas.
a. Pigeons can be found in almost every major city in the world.
18. luca (noun, slang): Chilean word for $1.000 Chilean pesos.
a. The bus ticket to Valparaiso only costs three luca. Let’s go!
19. hefty (adjective): large; significant.
a. The hefty penalty made the criminals regret their decisions.
20. to hound (verb): to harass or bother.
a. The pigeons in Santiago hound me every time I go to the park.
21. can’t stand (something) (phrase): thoroughly dislike something; can’t support something.
a. I can’t stand listening to bad country music.
22. to lobby (verb): to try to win the influence or help of a politician for an issue.
a. There are many groups that lobby to politicians every year for what they want.
23. to incentivize (verb): to make someone want to do something.
a. We need to incentivize them if we want them to do a good job.
24. chaotic (adjective): crazy; out of control.
a. The situation was chaotic and no one knew what was happening.
25. to chill (verb, slang): to relax.
a. I just want to chill at my apartment this weekend.
26. to get some steam behind someone (idiom): to increase strength or energy for something.
a. We will get some steam behind us once we can rest and get something to eat.
27. anonymous (adjective): unknown.
a. The anonymous person left a note for the police.
28. shit’s going to go down (informal phrase): a phrase used to express that something serious is about to happen, usually a physical fight or something violent.
a. As soon as someone throws a drink, you know shit’s going to go down.
29. to relay (verb): to receive and pass on a message.
a. She told me to relay the message to you.
30. shocked (adjective): surprised or upset.
a. She was shocked to hear the terrible news.
31. petition (noun): a formal written request, usually signed by many people to appeal to authority regarding a certain cause.
a. The petition to improve the working conditions is getting a lot of support.
¿Alguna vez has sentido curiosidad por saber cómo es estudiar y vivir en Holanda? En este episodio 181 de tu podcast favorito, Coffee with gringos, seguimos a un Chileno que estudió música y vivió en Holanda, también compartirá sus pensamientos sobre las diferencias culturales entre Chile y Holanda. No te pierdas esta inspiradora historia de un Chileno que vivio y estudió en el extranjero! 😲
Read the full transcript here: https://www.dynamicenglish.cl/coffee-with-gringos-podcast-clases-particulares-de-ingles/episode-181-chileno-viviendo-y-estudiando-en-holanda-paises-bajos