Hello everyone! Welcome to E-com Monthly Intro to American culture.
I'm Heather.
And I'm Marcellus.
It's good to see everyone.
It's summertime, it's July, getting nice and hot.
Marcellus, can you tell me which American holiday is this month?
Uh, this month, the American holiday is the 4th of July.
That's right, Independence Day and...
That's right.
How do you celebrate in America?
Well, in America, typically we celebrate the 4th of July, or Independence Day, by having a barbecue in the park.
Yeah, that's right, and we watch fireworks and...
That's right.
Really good time with your friends and family.
Maybe have watermelon and watermelon seed spitting contests.
Oooh, we never did that, but... Yeah.
Really? Oh yeah.
That sounds like a really fun thing to do actually.
It is fun.
Yeah, usually my family during the 4th of July, we, again, get together, we have a barbecue in the park.
We also play with fireworks ourselves.
We get firecrackers and sparklers and all kinds of fun things.
And we kind of just have a big family gathering.
Yeah. It's all about family and friends and good food and fireworks.
That's right.
Yeah. Well, is everybody ready?
Let's begin.
Okay, this month our cultural topic is safety in America.
Now, for this month, we have three key words that you should be aware of.
The first one is: 911.
The next one is: belongings.
And then the last key word, and perhaps the most important key word, is: prevention.
Now, let's begin with the first one, 911.
911 is the most important number you need to know if you visit America.
And why is it important?
Because it is the emergency number you use to call the police, to call the fire department and to call the ambulance.
If there's a fire, if you are injured, or if you want to report a crime, you only use one number and that number is 9-1-1.
That's right, it's a very important number and sometimes,
actually, I've heard in Japanese, people talk about September 11th...
Ah, that's right.
Saying, 9-1-1, but actually, we call it 9-11.
That's right.
Because 9-1-1 is only the telephone number for emergencies. Yeah, 911.
That's right. So don't forget that, very, very, very important.
Yes.
And that reminds me, speaking of 911 and crime, that takes us to our next key word.
Belongings. Okay, so, maybe in Japan, it's pretty safe and you're pretty comfortable just to put your belongings,
your bags and your things, just on the floor and maybe you don't pay attention and you're not very careful.
But, in America, we have to be very careful with your belongings.
That's right.
Always keep them close.
And always keep a watch on your belongings.
And if you have a bag, hold it carefully.
Don't just put it on your elbow, on your arm, and be careful, because someone might take it if you're not looking.
And if you're holding it not tightly, someone might take it off of you. It's called a snatching.
That's right. Now, we're not telling you this so that you're afraid of going to America.
Most people in America are very friendly, like us.
That's right.
And there's not a situa-, it's not a situation where everyone's trying to steal your bag.
But, as my mom once told me, it's better to be safe than sorry.
And, so, that brings me to the next key word, which is prevention.
How do you stay safe?
And Heather mentioned one very good idea for prevention and that is to make sure you have an eye on your belongings.
In other words, make sure you know where your belongings are and that you can see them.
Don't leave a laptop on the restaurant table and then go to the bathroom and come back,
because your laptop will probably be gone.
Another good idea for prevention is, never count large sums of money in public.
If you do that, what happens is, you become a target.
So if there is a bad person near you, if you're counting 100, 200, 300, the bad guy will say,
"Oh, that guy, he's got a lot of money. I'm gonna wait for him and then I'm gonna get it."
So, there are things that you can do to prevent crime.
If you are in the city in America, try not to be alone walking down the street really late at night.
And always stay on a road that's well-lit, where lots of people can see you.
Anyway, I'm Marcellus.
I'm Heather.
And that's the topic for today.
That's all for today. Thank you for watching our videocast.
It's July and the summer is coming, it's getting warmer and summer vacation is coming,
but you're gonna have a break soon, but please don't take a break from studying English.
That's right.
Keep working hard. Yeah, so, that's all for today. We'll see you next time.
Bye-bye.