Episode 38: Coffee Break 5 - Finish the Sentence

Today Donielle and Khrystyna play a spontaneous and silly game of Finish the Sentence. From revealing their dessert alter-egos and dream homes to unexpected exotic pets, you’ll hear fun stories, personal quirks, and plenty of laughter. Grab a cup and join in! 

Show Notes

Transcript

Donielle: Welcome to Coffee and Conversation for ESL listening. I'm Donielle. 

Khrystyna: And I'm Khrystyna. So, grab a cup and join the conversation. 

Donielle: Well, hello. Welcome back to our new studio…kind of 

Khrystyna: woo-hoo. I feel very fancy today. 

Donielle: I know! Well, we hope we sound better today because we've got some new equipment and we're not experts in the old technology department, so we're kind of making our way. 

Khrystyna: We're getting there. We're getting there. 

Donielle: We are, we are. 

Khrystyna: This is really cool. 

Donielle: Yeah. So, okay. Today we have for you guys a coffee break and a new game, new activity, and this is called Finish the Sentence. 

Khrystyna: You know what? These games can just go wrong so quickly sometimes. It’s kind of dangerous.

Donielle:  I know. It is. Anything terrible, we can cut it out. 

Khrystyna: That's okay. You know what, I feel like sometimes we have to live on the edge and that's what it is. 

Donielle: That's right. Live dangerously. Yes. Yeah. Yep. Okay. So the idea of this game, it's not really a game, but it's just a silly little fun activity--what we're gonna do is give the beginning of a sentence. And then we are going to finish the sentence with our own thoughts, our own ideas, how it relates to ourselves individually, and we're gonna try to make it as personal [slash] interesting [slash] funny, whatever. We'll see what we get. 

Khrystyna: Just the usual.

Donielle: Yeah, the usual. We don't know what we're doing. 

Khrystyna: That's part of the fun. 

Donielle: Oh, yeah. Yep. As you said, live dangerously, right? 

Khrystyna: That's right.

Donielle: Okay, so we've each come up with a list of question starters, we've got them numbered, and I am just going to call out a number and you're going to read your question and give us your answer, and then we'll chat about it.

All right. [Drum roll]

Ready to go. Please share with us number four on your list. 

Khrystyna: Oh, this is a good one. Number four on my list is: if I were a dessert, I'd be… and I might have to tell people the backstory to this too, but, but my answer is, I would be some sort of a layer cake. That has some mousse and some fruits and some nuts.

Donielle: Fruits and nuts, for sure. Fruits and nuts. 

Khrystyna: So I think that's what I am. A little nutty, a little fruity. 

Donielle: And lots of layers to your personality, right?  

Khrystyna: So layers. So, the backstory to why we were laughing with this question is I asked my husband this question, right? Finish the sentence about me, and his answer was vanilla ice cream cone. Oh wow. And I looked at him and I was like, that's the most boring ice cream you could find out there. I was like, that's not me. I'm more interesting than that. And he looks at me like, well, you wanted me to tell you what dessert you are. And my favorite dessert is ice cream vanilla cone. Like, oh man. 

Donielle: Aww, sweet.

Khrystyna: Like I can’t argue with that.

Donielle: It's a little simple, but you know what? Guys are kind of simple with their dessert tastes, aren't they? 

Khrystyna: Yeah. That's what my husband likes when we go out for ice cream. He gets vanilla waffle cone. 

Donielle: Yeah. That's actually not bad though. I mean, if you get good vanilla ice cream, it's good.

Khrystyna: It is good. Yeah. Yeah. So would you answer this question too? 

Donielle: I could. Hmm. I haven't thought about it, but if I were a dessert, it would… you know what? Whereas yours is layers and complicated and I can imagine this big production, beautiful thing, right? Mine would have to be like a hot mess somehow like…a dump cake!

Khrystyna: No, no, no, no. That that can’t be right. No 

Donielle: No, I'm just thinking because you're so organized and neat and I'm just kind of like, eh, if it tastes good, I don't really care how it looks. 

Khrystyna: Organized and neat. Wait, are you, hello? Have we not met? 

Donielle: Come on. 

Khrystyna: I think your dessert has to be something fruity that has a little chili pepper in it.

Donielle: Oh, yeah. Okay. A little, little spice. Yeah. Alright.

Khrystyna: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Definitely. Yeah. Something bright and sweet and citrusy, but with a little chili pepper in it. 

Donielle: Yeah, it's sweet, but you gotta be careful at the end. That's hilarious. 

Khrystyna: Oh gosh. All right, so how about I pick one of your questions.

Donielle: Okay. What number? 

Khrystyna: How about number two? 

Donielle: Ugh, this is the one I was hoping you wouldn't ask because No, because I don't really have a good answer. I don't even know why I put it on my list. Uh, it's so hard. If I could live anywhere, it would be… 

Khrystyna: Oh, that is a hard one. 

Donielle: Yeah. And I really struggled with this because I picture myself [in] a lot of different places. It's got to be warm. It's got to be friendly. It has to have good food. 

Khrystyna: Yeah. 

Donielle: That's a must. Nice people. So I don’t know. Hopefully I don't change my mind on this, but I'm going to say Italy for now, and I'm going to say like maybe Sicily or something like on the water, you know, warm. 

Khrystyna: Yeah. That sounds wonderful. 

Donielle: Yeah. So we'll see. I'm not going to, to Sicily, but I am going to Italy  in a couple of weeks. I know, I know. So, um. Yeah, maybe I'll have a more specific answer for you than that. 

Khrystyna: Sounds good. You know, and it's kind of funny too, when you think about favorite places or where you want to live, you think of it as like, oh, where did I travel to? Right? Yeah. Something that's related to vacation or trip you took that you had such a good experience. 

Donielle: And of course, I'm just picking a place I haven't even been yet. 

Khrystyna: You never know.

Donielle: Ah. Oh, well. All right. Okay. Oh, so now I need to pick one for you. Right. 

Khrystyna: All right. 

Donielle: I should pay attention to which numbers I've said already. I said number… No, I said four first, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. please read me number eight. Okay. 

Khrystyna: Oh, you're gonna like this one. Okay. If I suddenly turned into a cat, the first thing I would do is… 

Donielle: yes?

Khrystyna: Nap. 

Donielle: I kind of thought so. I kind of don't need to be a cat for that either. 

Khrystyna: No, but when you nap as a cat, it's cute and nobody's surprised. And that's what you're supposed to do; now when you're a grown woman, people living in your house when you nap, it's kind of like, oh geez. 

Donielle: Yeah. Like, what are you doing sleeping in the middle of the day? And it's so funny 'cause like my husband, you know, the cats are pretty much sleeping all day long. You know how that is. And if I move around too much or I speak too loud[ly], sometimes he'll say, shh, be quiet. The cats are sleeping. And I'm like, what? They don't have a job to go to.

Khrystyna: Nice, nice. And the thing is like, they don't care if you're moving around too much or talking. I'm like, they'll sleep. So nah. Yeah. 

Donielle: They might lift their head, kinda look at me and be like. All right. That's it. Go right back to sleep. They don't care. 

Khrystyna: Yeah. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So that would be my first thing. Good to be cat.

Donielle:  I'll say. Yeah. 

Khrystyna: All right. I'm gonna pick a number for you now.

Donielle: Okay. 

Khrystyna: How about…number seven? 

Donielle: Number seven. Okay. The exotic pet I wish I could own. And by exotic I just mean something that's not typical. Something that's like a wild animal that you wouldn't normally keep as a pet. So the exotic pet I wish I could own is a skunk.

Khrystyna: Oh my gosh. What? What?

Donielle: I love skunks. They are so cute. Yes!

Khrystyna: Okay. I mean, yes, they're cute. I agree, 

Donielle: They're adorable. 

Khrystyna: But they stink. 

Donielle: Well, you know, this has been done before. People have had them as pets, and you have the little gland or whatever it is that makes the stinky stuff right. You have it removed, and then you've got a perfectly harmless pet. I've heard they make good pets too.

Khrystyna: Really? 

Donielle:

Yeah.

Khrystyna: I mean, they seem like they're social animals, right? So they would… they like to… I mean, and I've seen some videos and I read some things that like they will go to people and, you know, if they're not threatened, especially the little ones 

Donielle: Oh, so cute. 

Khrystyna: But I mean, the only thing I, you know, associate with skunks is when my dog goes out and one day she came back and she smells so bad. We had to try to figure out how to get that smell out of [her fur]. 

Donielle: Did you use tomato juice? That's what they usually say. 

Khrystyna: I did not. We were fortunate that the groomer we usually take her to was available that day and they were able to take her in. 

Donielle: Please, please take her. Do your thing. 

Khrystyna: Yes. I was pretty desperate on the phone. I was about to start crying. They felt so bad for me and like, just bring her in. We'll figure it out. 

Donielle: But then she had to go in your car? 

Khrystyna: Yeah. I had a lot of towels that covered my seats and all that. It's just because it was on her. The house didn't smell. 

Donielle: Oh, okay. It was just her. 

Khrystyna: It was just because on her, it, like it was in her face or something like that, but yeah, it was not pleasant. Yeah. And then the, you know, the outside smells bad too, and oh well.

Donielle: Yeah. But if you take that out of the equation, they are so cute. 

Khrystyna: They are cute. They are very cute animals. I agree with that. 

Donielle: Yeah. Alright, so next question for you. How about number one? 

Khrystyna: Oh, this is a good one. So, the number one question is the best smell in the world is…. I have two. Two best smells. 

Donielle: Okay. I bet we're gonna agree on one of 'em. I have a feeling, 'cause that's on my list too. 

Khrystyna: Oh, okay. Yeah. So freshly baked bread, 

Donielle: That's it! 

Khrystyna: And freshly cut open grapefruit. 

Donielle: Really? 

Khrystyna: Oh, I absolutely love the smell of fresh cut open grapefruit. And I, I think it's, it's a memory thing too, because when I was little, my grandma, when we used to live in the same house with my grandma and my aunt and my little cousin. So my parents would buy grapefruits in winter because that's when they were in season, and we would always cut grapefruit and we would hang out with my grandma and she would sing and she would, oh, like she would peel the grapefruit segments and feed us.

Donielle: Cute!

Khrystyna: So, it was just that memory. Every time I cut open a grapefruit, I can see that, like for some reason I have that picture in front of me. So, oh, I love the smell of grapefruit, so, yeah. 

Donielle: Yeah, it's funny too, like smells can really have that connection to memory. 

Khrystyna: Oh my gosh. 

Donielle: Once in a while I'll get a whiff of something and immediately, I'll have a memory of something that I connect it with and it's strong. Really. Wow. 

Khrystyna: But with the fresh baked bread, sometimes if I have people come over. I'll bake bread before that because oh, the house will smell divine. Oh my gosh!

Donielle:. That's true. Or you know, like sometimes when, realtors are gonna have an open house and they like to have you bake some cookies or something. Yeah. 'cause they come in and it's a very welcoming smell. 

Khrystyna: Yeah. Oh yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Do we have time for one more? Maybe? 

Donielle: Yeah, let's do one more. 

Khrystyna: Okay. Okay, so why don't you give me your number six. 

Donielle: Okay. People always assume I… and the first thing that came to my mind about that one is that, well, you know, because I'm a vegetarian, this is not a very interesting question, but okay. Because I'm a vegetarian, people automatically assume all I eat is salads. And I'm like, look at me. Do I look like I am just eating salads every day? 

Khrystyna: Yes, you do. But I know you don't eat salads every day. 

Donielle: I mean, I like salad, but salad is not a meal. I mean, unless you really put a lot of stuff in it.

Khrystyna: Well, I feel like nowadays it could be a meal. 'cause you're right. People put so much stuff in that salad that it's like, well, where's the lettuce anymore? 

Donielle: Who needs that? Oh yeah. I've had some really great salads and I make good salads with chickpeas. All different crunchy things, veggies and fruits and you know, lettuce is just there to kind of, you know, make a showing just to say it's there.

Khrystyna: I showed up. 

Donielle: Yeah. You know, 

Khrystyna: That's awesome. 

Donielle: Just the obligatory, leaf of lettuce or two. 

Khrystyna: Oh, it sounds good. Salad sounds good right now, actually.

Donielle: Yeah, it does sound good. All right. Let me ask you one more. Let’s say, how about number six? 

Khrystyna: Hmm, number six for me. Oh gosh. Okay. My secret talent is… oh my gosh. 

Donielle: Can't wait. 

Khrystyna: And I actually had to ask my husband about this one because I was like, I don't know what secret talent would be about me. You know? but apparently, I'm really good at making this hedgehog sound…

Donielle: What??!

Khrystyna: that sounds like this…[Khrystyna makes hedgehog sound]

Donielle: I wouldn't even know what a hedgehog sounds like. 

Khrystyna: So now you know. It was a secret talent. 

Donielle: Actually, there was another question. A useless talent that might have been on there too. 

Khrystyna: Oh, absolutely. I mean, who needs this talent? Tell me please. 

Donielle: Oh my gosh. That's hilarious. Well, now I know what a hedgehog sounds like, wonderful. Actually, going back to my earlier question, that's another animal I would like as a pet. 'cause they're so cute.

Khrystyna: Oh, they're adorable. And you know what, in Ukraine, they're just on the street. Sometimes you'll be walking down the street like in the middle of the town and you might see a hedgehog coming out and crossing the road. They're so cute. So, I remember when we were kids. My parents had a cabin and we caught a hedgehog once right outside of our house. And we put him in a little basket and threw some little apples in there. They are, they're absolutely adorable. They're so, so cute. 

Donielle: Yeah. We don't have them here.

Khrystyna: Ah, that's true. 

Donielle: You don't see them here. I don't even know if you can have 'em as a pet. It may not even be legal, but they certainly are not native to this area. I had never seen one, like for real, in life, until I went to England and I got so excited. You know, like the weirdo that I am, I'm like, oh, look at the hedgehog!!

Khrystyna: They are adorable because here, like in the United States, they have porcupines, right? 

Donielle: They do. And I don't really see those too often either. They're probably in the woods or something. 

Khrystyna: Yeah. Hiding from people. So, it makes sense. Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Alright, 

Donielle: Well, this was a lot of fun and we had some interesting questions and funny answers. So, I hope y'all had, as much fun with this as we did. You know, we're always having fun no matter what dumb thing we're doing. 

Khrystyna: That's true. Can’t argue with that. 

Donielle: Uh, you know. All right, well, so until next time, here's to good coffee, good vibes, and great conversations. 

Khrystyna: Cheers. 

Donielle: Cheers.