Views #1180 | Intermediate (B1)

Rave Scene

Peter talks about the rave and trance dance scene in South Africa.

Jana: I didn't know you were into dancing.

Peter: Well, yeah, just a little bit I guess. I used to go dancing quite a bit. I was part of this group of friends and we used to follow the rave scene in South Africa.

Jana: Wow.

Peter: And we used to actually go on these trance parties and there was a small dance or actually a music company that organized these events and they were all outdoor events and some of them would last a whole weekend so you would pack your camping gear and this dance would be or this trance party would be held outside, out in a forest or somewhere in the mountains or on a beach sometimes and these would sometimes last into the next day and the following day. People would come and go and the music would be non-stop basically.

Jana: Wow, so would you go every week or...?

Peter: No, not every week that's too much I think. It's too energy costing but it was so much fun really because it's just such a break from normal work routine and you get out into nature and it's the just the music and it's just nature. If you wanted you know to take a break you could wander off and find a quiet spot to rest and be with friends and eat something and relax and sleep maybe and then wake up and slowly join the party again and just carry on. People of all walks of life would come and join. Like professional people that wanted to break out or people that are kind of part of the hippy scene. I guess it was still going in some ways so yeah they would just drift in and out. It was really a lot of fun.

Jana: That sounds fun and what kind of music would they play?

Peter: Mostly trance music so people that liked trance music would be, yeah, they would really go but the music, I don't know if you know trance music?

Jana: Not really, not that familiar.

Peter: It varies. There's a lot of, of course most of it's electronically based, so DJs would be able to control the tempo of the music and at some points the music would shift and change and like usually through the night there would be a different kind of phases of the music and DJs would take over and take over from each other so the music would change and the influences that they bring to the music would also change. Yeah, yeah, it's really, really good.

Jana: It sounds really interesting. I've never been to that kind of party so it's very different.

Peter: It was good. People would come, there would be little food stalls and some people would even bring their kids or whatever. It was very open, very friendly and people basically did what they wanted.

Jana: So it's like a music festival.

Peter: Yeah, I guess you could say that a little bit. Yeah, yeah.

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

wander off

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You can wander off and find a quiet spot to rest.

When you 'wander off', you walk in one direction because you see something interesting. Notice the following:

  1. My dog always wanders off when I take him outside.
  2. She has a really bad habit of wandering off in busy places.

carry on

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Just carry on.

When you 'carry on' with something, you continue doing it. Notice the following:

  1. She can carry on shopping for hours.
  2. You can just carry on playing video games all day.

all walks of life

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People of all walks of life would come and join.

People from "all walks of life" are people with different backgrounds. Notice the following:

  1. Teaching English around the world lets you meet people from all walks of life.
  2. My friends come from all walks of life.

break out

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Professional people that wanted to break out would come.

Here, 'break out' means to escape from your normal boring routine. Notice the following:

  1. He is a very serious businessman during the week, but every Friday he really breaks out.
  2. It takes her a while to break out and feel comfortable.

drift in and out

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They would just drift in and out.

When you 'drift in and out' from some activity, it means that you participate and then go away and then come back, all in a very casual manner. Notice the following:

  1. He is usually kind of distracted during conversations and just kind of drifts in and out.
  2. She never stays with one person very long at a party. She usually just drifts in and out.

 

Vocabulary Quiz

wander • carry • all walks
breaks • drift in
  1. She is usually very serious, but can be really fun when she out a little bit.
  2. I don't usually buy anything at the mall, but I like to off and look at things.
  3. Our company has people from of life.
  4. My friends and I can on talking for a long time.
  5. He likes to and out of the crowds and just watch people.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

 

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