Callie Anderson teaches practical English at a Michigan winter festival, ordering corn dogs and elephant ears while demonstrating how to ask about payment methods and handle cash or digital payments. She covers winter activities like ice fishing and snowmobile racing, comparing Korean and American winter traditions.
Yeah, I'll just take the price tags off them and then whenever you're ready to come back just get my attention. And if you do want a hand carrying them out I can help you guys carry them.
Hello everybody! If you visit the US during the winter months chances are you're going to encounter some cold weather. This year even warm weather states like Texas, in Florida, in Georgia got some snow. So today I am going to teach you some cold weather English. Today I am at a big festival in in northern Michigan called Tip-Up Town. I'm all bundled up because the weather is freezing cold, but there are a ton of people here ready to enjoy the festival. It's my first time attending. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm very excited because today is actually the 75th anniversary of this winter festival. I have my button which grants me entry to the festival, so let's go see what they have in store for us today. The first event we came to see is called the Polar Plunge. Every winter the lake freezes over and they cut a hole in the ice and people who are crazy enough to sign up for this jump in the freezing cold water. Actually, I did this years ago when I was in high school. One time is enough though. I will never register to participate in this event again. The craziest part is that people pay to do this. I know cold plunges are a thing in the health and wellness world now, but I'm shivering just watching them. I'd have to have a lot of drinks before jumping in that water. We're already making a pit stop back at the car because someone— I don't want to mention any names— cameraman did not dress warm enough. I can tell he's not used to Michigan winters like my mother and I. I'm from Busan. My mom and I are dressed in layers, but the cameraman isn't even wearing boots. I came prepared with mittens, a hat, HeatTech, thick warm socks, boots, scarf. Good thing we packed some backup boots in the car. We'll take care of you, cameraman. Whoops.
Warm gloves.
So cold. Now you look like a northern Michigan boy. We're taking a break and warming up in the car.
All right, you babies. At Tip-Up Town last weekend, it was -8. So today being, um, what, 28? It's a heat wave.
Wow, Mom is throwing some shade. Mom is shaming us.
Oh, Hong, how you gonna ice fish and go on a snowmobile?
Pitiful.
Pitiful.
You wore swim trunks under your Heat Tech? Yeah, I thought I was gonna jump. That's not gonna happen. You had some high aspirations for today, huh?
Are you warm yet? Let's hit it! Gaja!
Mom's off-roading it. She's fearless. Oh ho! It's actually not too bad out. It's just when you get some of that wind, then it gets bitter cold.
Cover your face!
You look like the Abominable Snowman. Excuse me, do you take card?
We don't take card, but we do take cash, PayPal, Venmo. Okay, okay, thank you.
You want the mushroom?
Yeah, I'll just take the price tags off them and then whenever you're ready to come back, just get my attention. And if you do want a hand carrying them out, I can help you guys carry them.
We scoped out all of the food trucks here and we decided to go for a classic food option at any festival: a corn dog and an elephant ear. An elephant ear is basically a large piece of fried dough with sugar, so it's a very sweet, fatty dessert, but they're very popular at fairs here. Callie, I'm Adrian. Oh my God, yeah, you took off your glasses! I recognize you! That's so funny. I just ran into a girl that I attended college with. That was cool. Would not expect to run into someone I know up here since this is not my hometown. Small world. Hi there. Hi. Do you take card? I do. 3 corn dogs, 1 elephant ear, and I'll take a Pepsi. Can I have a lemonade too? 43 in total.
Okay.
And there's a dollar on the card, so it'll be 44. Okay, no problem. Thank you so much. Yeah, we'll have to show you once we— I'll go for the mustard. They're so good.
They're really good.
We came in the warming tent and it actually feels really nice in here. Tastes very similar to hot dog. I like the lemonade too. Perfect thing to wash it down. Wow, aww, cute! So cute! Woo! We went in slow motion. Oh my gosh, I can't get up though. I can't get up. As you can see, there are some fish hanging on this board behind me, and that's because they do an ice fishing contest. Actually, that's why this festival is called Tip-Up Town, because tip-up is the name of the device that they use while ice fishing. If you hook a fish, a flag goes up. That way you know you've caught one. This looks like the biggest one so far, but there's a few more coming to the board now, and I think they took first place. We just came to watch the snowmobile races. I could hear them revving their engines as soon as I got out of the car. We're actually walking on the big lake right now. So there's water underneath of us. I think the ice is pretty thick but there are a few areas that are a bit slushy. So it kind of scares me even though I know it's very safe. There's even cars and big trailers parked out on the ice. But if I see anywhere with some slush, I'm staying far away. I don't want to do an unintentional polar plunge today. Snowmobiling is a very popular winter sport here, and they're doing drag races on the ice. It's crazy how fast these things go. They're also a lot louder than I expected. It's really fun to watch. We had a lot of fun at Tip-Up Town. But my nose started running, my hands were numb, and I feel like I got frostbite on my toes. So we came home, I made a hot chocolate, and I'm snuggling up under a blanket. Maybe I'm not cut out for Michigan winters anymore. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure to check out the pinned comment and to take your English learning further, check out our membership options. Bye! Stay warm!
