쓰레기 분리 등에 대한 영어 스몰톡

Q. Is it mandatory to separate the garbage in Korea?

Yes. the Korean government forces people to recycle their garbage. Korean are law-abiding citizens. I think Korean is brainwashed from an early age and it becomes a habit. Compared with Korea, other countries don't care about recycling. When I was in the US, I was shocked to see American not separating their garbage. I think they have a big land, so, they don't feel any guilt. I was wondering how their government was handling the garbage by the policy.

 

* law-abiding 법을 잘 지키는

* be brainwashed 세뇌당하다

Q. Do you smoke?

I haven't ever smoked. While I was growing up, I was brainwashed that smoking was bad for health and especially, for women. So, I was strict about not smoking. I didn't dare to try. But, my mind has changed. I'm enough old. I'm not afraid that it can be damaging to me. I'd rather try it once than do nothing.  

 

* dare to: 감히~하다.

Q. What do you usually do when you visit a cafe?

Normally, I sit in the cafe, drinking a cup of coffee and looking around at people who walk into the cafe. I like seeing people coming to a cafe. Looking around at strangers itself is fun to me without special things. You know what I mean. Anyway, I'm a coffeeholic and I always have morning coffee instead of having breakfast. I prefer to drink coffee with some dessert. I bet cookies go well with coffee. After meals, my friends and I walk into the cafe and take turns in paying the bills. This is a rule between me and my friends.

 

* take turns in ~ing : 교대로, 번갈아~하다.

* go well with : ~와 잘 어울리다.

Q. Have you ever gone backpacking?

Yes, When I was 20. I left for OZ. It was right after the 9.11 terror. OZ is the one of countries that everyone wants to visit. I happened to meet three foreign girls and spent about 9 months traveling the whole OZ. It was the best memorable trip. The sad thing is I don't keep in touch with them. At that time, there was no social media thing. Sending and reading emails was the only option I had communicated with them. We ended up drifting apart. Backpacking might be an enjoyable and very special trip. But, bear in mind that backpacking could put you in danger. I had an incident in OZ. I was withdrawing some money from ATM and two guys were trying to attack me and take away money from me. Luckily, a guy ran into us and save me. That was one of the worst things in my life. 

 

* 사이가 서먹해지다, 자연스럽게 소원해지다 drift apart

* ~을 위험에 처하게 하다 put ~ in danger