This episode’s vocabulary
Cheap
adj. — unwilling to spend money.
To present
verb — to give, provide, or make something known.
To bestow
verb — to give something as an honour or present.
Garment
noun — a piece of clothing.
Utility
noun — the usefulness of something, especially in a practical way.
Long-lasting
adj. — continuing for a long period of time.
Evidently
adverb — used to say what people believe is true.
Sentimental
adj. — giving too much importance to emotions, especially love or sadness.
Questions and answers
Rory, are you ready to rock and roll?
Yes.
Off you go.
Well, Scottish people are notoriously cheap and love free things. So I have a variety of things to choose from. But the one that always sticks out the most in my head, and usually in other people's sight is one of the scarfs that I got from my students in East Timor. It's a small island where I used to live. I don't think they're made on the islands, but everyone has one. And they're given us gifts to people who worked there for a while and contributed something. People also give them to their family members at various festivals. Since I had hundreds of students, I suppose you could say I contributed just a little bit, though probably not as much as I could now. I got the scarf itself at the farewell ceremony for myself and someone else who was leaving the same time I was. And I was presented with all of these things, well, with the scarf in particular, after I gave my speech, saying goodbye, and thank you for everything. Like it was a really cool experience, so I wanted to say some nice words to, well, to tell people thank you. It was actually one scarf of a massive pile of many that were bestowed on me at the time. But I like it because, well, this particular scarf is orange and green, and it really stands out. While it might not be the most fashionable garment based on the colour scheme, whenever I where I'm always reminded of my time there by the sea and in the mountains and, well, in the middle of the islands. It's a wonderful place, and the people are very generous. I think the gift reflects that quite well actually. It also has some utility since it does actually keep you warm in colder climes. And it's long-lasting as well, evidently, since I've had it for about five years now, which is almost as long as I've been a teacher. So I definitely think that this is something even though it's free. It's got a lot of sentimental value.
Do you usually get things for free?
Now that I think about it, I think it's about 50/50, to be honest.
Thank you, Rory, for your not free answer, because it's a premium episode!
The irony. -