What Brings You Here? - Small Talk in English

[Music] excuse me do you speak english yes i do how can i help you can you tell me how i can get a subway ticket of course go to the vending machine over there i'm a newcomer here can you show me how to use it sure no problem first choose your destination and find the price on the map [Music] i found it this is my destination roppongi station i go in the same direction now choose english and hit the ticket button and choose the ticket price now insert the coins into the slot take your ticket

and go to the ticket gate tap your ticket and walk on through [Music] thanks a lot for your help i appreciate it you're welcome now we can go on the train [Music] are you from tokyo i was born and raised in osaka but i live in tokyo now have you lived here long about five and a half years now then you must know the city pretty well i know some areas like the back of my hand when i first came to tokyo i actually worked in roppongi for two years during that time i got to

know that neighborhood really well i can definitely give you some spots to check out there are a lot of cool things to do in roppongi that would be great do you go back to osaka often yeah a few times a year i have some family and a lot of friends there [Music] do you have any siblings yes i have a sister who is two years younger than me how about you i'm an only child where are you from i'm from chicago illinois and live in new orleans louisiana by the way my name is owen nice

to meet you owen my name's kay nice to meet you too kay that's a nice name how do you spell it kei so what brings you here are you on vacation no i'm going to teach english at an international high school for a year that sounds amazing welcome to tokyo you love it here thanks i'm sure i will how long have you been teaching i've been teaching for two years what made you choose japan to teach english to begin with japan is considered one of the safest countries in the world people are very polite and

helpful to others and i heard you have fantastic food [Music] that's true these are some of the reasons that made me come here i can't wait to get acquainted with the japanese culture and way of life exposing yourself to a different culture can be quite intimidating but nonetheless very rewarding i couldn't agree more can you speak japanese oh just a little i'm still learning do you live in roppongi no i'm just visiting some friends who live there which part of tokyo do you live in then i live in akasaka which is located north of roppongi

i live in an apartment i share with a friend it's a small apartment but it's nice and i have a beautiful view on the sixth floor do you like living there i enjoy it because everything i need is right outside my door shops bus station restaurants gym yeah sounds convenient it is you can beat the location what's something you don't like about your apartment i don't like that it's noisy all the time because i'm near the street and there are a lot of restaurants and bars in the area so i'll always hear some kind of

noise i've heard japanese people don't like foreigners very much you seem very friendly though well i am used to interacting with foreigners because i'm a hotel receptionist oh that's why you can speak english so well yes english mastery is a must for a hotel receptionist what do you like most about your job i like that i get to meet people from all over the world some of them are really interesting and what do you like the least about it i don't like that sometimes there are too many complaints or demands at the reception desk i

can imagine how hard that must be how do you get to work i usually take the bus to work how long does it take about 35 minutes do you have a driver's license i do but i don't have a car driving can become very stressful in tokyo and it takes too much time going to places for the most part you probably won't need a car in tokyo the trains and buses will get you wherever you want to go quickly safely and affordably where will you be staying i'll be staying in an apartment provided to me

by the school i was told it's about 10 minutes walk from the station here's my number if you need any help or recommendations just text me okay thanks actually i'm looking for somewhere for dinner tonight do you know any good place with really great food yes i know lots of great places to eat if you like i can give you a tour of the city a little later i'm free today that would be wonderful thanks [Music] thanks for the tour it was so great there are so many tourist attractions in this neighborhood that's right roppongi

is a very popular area in tokyo there are so many shops restaurants museums and movie theaters you can never get bored here what do you like to do in your free time i like going to karaoke bar sometimes and have fun with friends going shopping or strolling through gardens and parks and having a picnic there with my friends especially in spring the park looks beautiful when the cherry blossoms start to bloom i also like eating out at restaurants and trying new dishes that makes two of us this is one of my favorite restaurants [Music] they

have delicious food and very reasonable prices sounds good i'd like to try it out what is your favorite japanese dish it's okonomiyaki which is sometimes called japanese pancake or japanese pizza it's made with flour eggs cabbage pork seafood and topped with a variety of condiments you should definitely try it it's crumches i most certainly will do you like to cook or prefer to eat out both i guess i only like to cook practical stuff that doesn't take a lot of time can you cook yes i can but i can't guarantee it'll taste [Laughter] good do

you ever eat from street vendors yes i do their food is cheap and really delicious is it safe it's usually pretty safe so there's no need to worry about that [Music] do you speak any other languages besides english and japanese no i don't do you i can also speak spanish that's cool have you traveled much outside the u.s no this is my first time traveling abroad i have traveled much within the united states ever since i was a child i'd get in the car and travel with my parents i've visited a lot of states i've

been to china and philippines so far but i'd like to visit france one day oh me too france is a beautiful country with a lot of interesting things to see and do we seem to have a lot of things in common yes we do although we belong to different cultures an american novelist tom robbins once said that our similarities bring us to a common ground our differences allow us to be fascinated by each other [Music] thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel for more videos like this