英語趣味課堂：爺爺-Grandfather

Todd: So, Conrad, you were saying that you have a grandfather and your grandfather is ninety-seven.

Conrad: That's right.

Todd: Ninety-seven!

Conrad: That's right Todd. I think he was born in 1910.

Todd: Man!

Conrad: Yeah, ninety-seven years old and still driving.

Todd: Wow! He's still in good health.

Conrad: Yes, he's very healthy, and like I said he drives. He lives by himself. My grandmother passed away a couple years ago, and yeah, he basically can do anything he wants still.

Todd: Man!

Conrad: I mean, he still loves poker. He does that probably at least once a week.

Todd: He plays poker. Wow!

Conrad: So he's pretty sharp, still.

Todd: Does he just play for fun or does he play for money?

Conrad: Both. But usually money. I guess I should say always money.

Todd: Always money? Really?

Conrad: Yeah, he likes gambling.

Todd: Well, what else can you say about your grandfather?

Conrad: Well, you know, he's been through some tough times. During World War II he was interned along with my parents when they were babies, so he lost his... he had a business going in Stockton, California. He lost his business, his house, interned, so he made it through that. He came back out of camp and started a new business, was successful again, so I'd say he's been through a lot but he's made it through. He's made it. He's made a successful person out of himself.

Todd: So many people might not know what the internment is. Can you just explain briefly?

Conrad: Sure that was during World War II. Some people felt that the Japanese Americans who were born and lived in Japan on the West Coast were a threat to the other people around them so they decided to intern them and put them into camps. Pretty much these camps were located in the most desolate place that could be found. Sometimes a place where they used to store horses or something, and I visited one just last winter, and yeah, in the the wintertime it's extremely cold and they had to endure some very hard conditions for I think it was for about four years.

Todd: That's terrible.

Conrad: Yeah, it was pretty tough.

Todd: Back to your grandfather, how would you describe his personality?

Conrad: Well, he's still very cheerful. He's a pretty conservative person. I remember him once telling me - this is back I think the first time I voted for Reagan - and he was saying like, just talking about voting and he said, "Always vote for the older person because experience is the most important thing you can have." Yeah, so his thinking is rather on the conservative side.

Todd: Well, sounds like a great guy.

Conrad: Yeah, he is Todd.