📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you used a map (e.g., paper or electronic)

This episode's vocabulary

Semblance (noun) - a situation or condition that is similar to what is wanted or expected, but is not exactly as hoped for.

To nestle (verb) - to be in, or put something in, a protected position, with bigger things around it.

Flats (plural noun) - land that has no hills or mountains.

Surrounding (adj.) - that is everywhere around something.

Chaotic (adj.) - a state of total confusion with no order.

Track (noun) - a path or rough road that is made of soil rather than having a surface covered with stone or other material.

Pedestrian (noun) - a person who is walking, especially in an area where vehicles go.

Hindsight (noun) - the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened.

Questions and Answers

M: Ha-ha, well, I had a great time when I went to Italy and my friend and I were trying to find a gym that we were looking for. For a bit of background, I went to stay with some friends in Naples for a few weeks at the start of the year and teach it at their school. Since it was a working holiday, I wanted to have some semblance of a routine. So I wanted to find a gym nearby, neither of the friends that I was staying with go regularly, so they had no idea where to find one. And they start hunting around and asking your colleagues. And after a few days, someone at school sent us directions to find a place and we went hunting for it. You think it would have been a fairly straightforward experience. However businesses in Naples are very informal with their directions and business information. So it felt like we had to go into the back of beyond to find the place. But sure enough, there it was sort of nestled amongst some flats. Apparently, it's a family-owned business. So it looks like it's flats on the map, or at least on Google Maps, which is what we were using. But in actual fact, it's this really big place with everything from yoga studios to weight rooms to, I don't know, cardio, cardio installations, I suppose. To say more about where it was exactly, we weren't in Naples proper, but one of the surrounding townships called Aversa. It's pretty rough and ready, like a lot of towns in the south, but it has everything you need to live reasonably well. Though, I wouldn't like to live there long term due to things like the weather and the pollution. The streets are also pretty chaotic, which is actually the reason why we use the map to begin with. Aside from that, it was a fairly standard process of just following the directions and trying not to be put off by all the signs from the surroundings that we were actually on the wrong track, trying to find the place. When it comes to how I felt about how it went, well, the map aspect wasn't too big of a deal. It was more of the stress of remembering the route and avoiding being hit by cars. Italian drivers in the South have an interesting relationship with pedestrians and follow the rules. In that, they tend not to see them until the last moment. If I had to do it again. I think I'd have had more confidence where I was going since it seems so obvious in hindsight.

M: And what about your friends? Were they okay using a map?

R: They were less okay than I was but we made it through in the end.