Japan vs. Thailand

Natalie: Hey, Todd. Let's talk about countries.

Todd: All right. Let's do it.

Natalie: You live in Japan right now.

Todd: Yes. That's right. I live in Japan. I teach English in Japan.

Natalie: Oh, cool. Tell me, what's expensive in Japan?

Todd: Well, Japan is a very, very expensive country. Transportation is very expensive in Japan. Train tickets are expensive. Also, sometimes, taxis are expensive. Even buses are expensive.

Natalie: Wait. You don't have a car in Japan?

Todd: Actually, I do have a car. That's funny because in Japan, cars are very cheap. Cars are cheap but taxis are expensive. It's crazy.

Natalie: That's so weird. In the U.K., where I'm from, taxis are really cheap, but to have your own car, it's so expensive.

Todd: Wow. That's strange.

Natalie: I'm really interested in Japan. Tell me, what's beautiful in Japan?

Todd: Oh, Japan has lots of beautiful things. The temples are very, very beautiful. The nature and the scenery are beautiful as well. There are beautiful forests, beautiful lakes, beautiful beaches, and even beautiful buildings.

Natalie: Cool. What is difficult about living in Japan?

Todd: Well, Japanese is difficult. Reading Japanese is very difficult. Writing Japanese is difficult because Kanji is difficult. Kanji is the Japanese character.

Natalie: How many characters are there in Kanji?

Todd: There are about 2,000 characters. It's difficult to learn all the characters, all the Kanji. It's very hard.

Natalie: Wow. I bet that's really tough. Tell me, what's fun about living in Japan?

Todd: Well, there's many things that are fun about Japan. The people are fun. They're very nice. Teaching English in Japan is fun. The students are very nice. Day-to-day life in Japan is fun and exciting. I live in Japan, but you live in Thailand. What about Thailand? What is expensive in Thailand?

Natalie: Well, Thailand is a really cheap place to live, but some restaurants are really expensive. For example, if you go to a American restaurant, that's very expensive, but if you go to street food carts, they're really cheap.

Todd: Yeah. The street food is very delicious.

Natalie: It's amazing.

Todd: Speaking of food, what Thai foods are really delicious?

Natalie: My favorites are Pad Ka Prao. This is pork. It's spicy with rice and chili. I also like Tom Yum Goong. This is like a soup, but it's very spicy. It usually comes with shrimp and mushrooms, ginger. I usually get some rice.

Todd: Yeah. I love Tom Yum Goong. It's really, really good. What is difficult about living in Thailand?

Natalie: I think that transport is a very difficult part of living in Thailand. If you have a car, the roads are very busy. It takes a long time to get anywhere in the city. I usually use the subway or the skytrain system, but these get really busy in the morning. When I'm taking the train to work, there's usually so many people on the train at the same time. Sometimes, it actually makes me late for work.

Todd: Yeah. The trains in Japan are really busy too. What is fun about life in Thailand?

Natalie: Good question. I really like the people here. Thai people are so friendly. They're very fun. They always like to hang out.

Todd: Yeah. Thailand sounds like a nice place to live.

Natalie: Yeah. It's a great place to live, actually.