Guest: Mike (martial artist, amateur pizza chef, trekkie, math teacher)
[Currently the time stamps are just estimates]
Phill 00:00
So, I've had the honor of calling this guest a friend since Windows XP was still new. Over the years, our friendship grew more and more. Thanks to Star Trek, video games, sociology, teaching, bad movies, and just a great mutual respect for one another. We have been able to become really close friends. It feels like we grew up together, even though we first met after college. I would like to welcome a hero I call by their first name, Mike. What's going on, man?
Mike N 00:29
Phill, it is an honor to be here with you. Thank you for having me on your podcast, and Hello, everybody. And thank you for listening.
Phill 00:36
Yeah, awesome. All right. So yeah, you know, as we spoke about this before this podcast, the main thing about this podcast is, you know, for language learners, to just hear, you know, the regular conversation between two friends and also just to celebrate, for me to celebrate my friendship with people that are in my life that I really respect and and look up to. So yeah, you're one of those people. So thank you for doing this. So yeah, I'd like to just kind of talk about, you know, the Mike before we met man. I know because we didn't meet until later in life until our 20s. So yeah, man. What? What were you doing before you met me?
Mike N 01:27
Thanks, man. Well, well first of all, before I begin with that, I you know, you talked for a second there about, you know, just having respect and admiration I want to let you know, the feeling is more than mutual and honestly, you know, the fact that we are friends and you know, I consider us family is just one of the best things that could have happened in my life. So thank you again,
Phill 01:43
Back at you man.
Mike N 01:43
I just want to make sure everybody knows that that just what an awesome guy you are. So-
Phill 01:48
Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
Mike N 01:49
Just. Yeah. You know that they are lucky to have you. They're lucky to have you on this on this podcast. So, pre meeting you. Um, you know, so I grew up in San Diego. Which is in the southwest of the United States in a state called California
Phill 02:05
Where's that I had ever heard of that state before.
Mike N 02:07
Oh, California is on the west coast. It's on the west coast of the United States, the most Western State of all, you know, you know, actually, you know, what most people will know San Diego because it is just south are actually most Japanese will only know San Diego because it is just south of Orange County, which is home to a very special place called Disneyland and, you know, home of a very influential person called Mickey Mouse. And so yeah, so we're just about an hour south of Mickey and the Magical Kingdom. And I so it's like, I grew up in San Diego and actually did go to Disneyland several times. You know, growing up, my parents were, you know, they worked a lot and you know, that was their, that was their treat for us was to take us to Disneyland, you know, maybe once every couple of years or so. So I have a lot of fond memories of that but But growing up was at a pretty, I think a pretty standard childhood. You know, my parents both my parents worked they were immigrants from, from Vietnam after the Vietnam War. So, you know, we came to the United States you know, and and I was born here, went to school here and everything and and yeah, no school was cool was pretty normal for me. I you know made friends, you know, and and all that stuff I would say you know when I was growing up a lot of the things that really influenced you know who I became- it's odd I actually growing up was very yeah, I guess I could say I was very ashamed of my Asian heritage. I was one of the few, one of the very few Asian kids who went to my-went to the schools that I went to, but with that in mind, it was so so actually so some of the ways that I expressed my shame in my in my Asian heritage were like I would- I would never eat Asian food.
Phill 04:05
You know? Wow, I didn't know that. Okay, yeah,
04:06
eating rice was a, it was just something that I really didn't want to do. I really didn't want to eat rice. I didn't want to eat the Vietnamese dishes that my parents prepared. Instead my my childhood was growing up eating hamburgers get
Phill 04:20
Really?
04:21
Donuts, pizza with all kinds of all kinds of you know, just junk food
Phill 04:26
Good ole American food
Mike N 04:27
Very American hot dog, chili dogs. And it's funny actually American food and growing up in San Diego. We are very close to a country called Mexico and so a lot of Mexican food. So- Okay carne asada burritos, nachos, all that stuff. That was that was me growing up. You know, so yes, it was weird. You know, and it's funny because when I was growing up that aspect of my Asian heritage I was very much ashamed of and I and and it's funny because at the same time, I was really into Japanese cartoons, anime. I was and then I enrolled in a kung fu school which is Chinese. And so I feel like I lived this kind of life of contradiction, where I was ashamed of my of my Asianess this on some levels, but in some ways I was probably the most Asian person I could have ever met, you know, and I don't you know, and even into college when I was when I um when I was there and I'll get into this in more detail when I was driving a sports car inspired by a very particular Japanese cartoon you know, so it's weird,So it's it's this weird kind of- kind of life that I've had I guess that's that would be the weird thing.
Phill 06:03
But yeah,
Mike N 06:04
yeah, but
Phill 06:05
Well, yeah, yeah gone so
Mike N 06:06
Well, Yeah, but- but yeah, but growing up so honestly like the first Japanese anime that I loved and I didn't even know that I didn't even know what anime was. I just, I just liked this cartoon because it was really cool. So in America, it was released as a show called Robo Tech, which is about a pilot and he gets into an airplane that can transform into a giant robot. And, of course, this this air this giant ship crashes into an island. And eventually, they go to war with this alien species. In Japan. If you don't know what cartoon or animation I'm speaking up already because you're too young and I'm describing something that is ancient. This is a show called Macross in Japan. And it was just such a wonderful show. In fact, I've watched- I even watched it recently as an adult and I and I remember thinking man, now I remember why I liked this so much and and I finally got to watch it and it original Japanese form. And it's good like it's it's it's it's a it's a drama it's it's interesting, the characters were good they were developed and they dealt with very real things like, you know, like jealousy and you know and death and fighting and we call in English we call it PTSD, which for post-traumatic stess disorder
Phill 07:21
Yeah, I don't mean to laugh but the way you discribed it
Mike N 07:24
Yeah, and they- and they deal with those things in this show which was meant for, at least in my generation, kids and it was a very good show I loved it. So from there I got into the more mainstream ones like Dragonball Z. And and of course, my favorite Japanese anime of all time Initial D
Phill 07:41
Yeah, that's the Mike I remember meeting.
07:43
Yeah, that is the one in that and initially will probably permeate throughout this entire podcast. So you'll come up and I'll just mention it now. But it will it'll come up again because it's actually influenced a lot of my life. But anyway, apart from the Japanese anime I got into Chinese Kung Fu at a very young age because my dad wanted me to study martial arts, um, you know, nowadays there's like the Muay Thai in the MMA and the good suit which honest I swear to God, it didn't exist back.
Phill 08:10
No, yeah it was really different
Mike N 08:11
Back when we were younger I'd never heard it. Yeah, I never heard of it back then
Phill 08:13
It was really niche in the 90s
Mike N 08:16
Yeah. I mean, at the time, in my era, it was just like Taekwondo, Karate, or Kung Fu and that was all kind of what we had. So, you know, I'm we're watching Bruce Lee movies and growing up on martial arts cinema and, and just watching all kinds of like, cool, you know, you know, you know, it's interesting Asian role models and Asian like, almost a superhero like people.
Phill 08:38
Yeah
Mike N 08:38
But at the same time again, I go back to I was so such ashamed of my of my heritage. I don't know what that was all about.
Phill 08:43
Yeah, it's really interesting.
Mike N 08:44
Yeah. Yeah. You know, and so, you know, of course, I played video games as a kid, you know, like, honestly, the two most influential ones that I can think of right now or easily, it's Final Fantasy. You know, like, I play I've played, you know, from I've, well, I haven't played 1 through 3 but I've play from IV all the way through XIII. And then, and then and then Mega Man, like, I love that game. You know, like, I played one through seven and then I played all the X series and, you know, they got, you know, the exercise progressively got worse but whatever. It's fine, you know it's all good. You know, they're funny to laugh at because the voice acting is pretty terrible.
Phill 09:18
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we both connected over that. Over the years is just bad- I don't wanna say bad because people put their hearts- their hearts into it, but just kind of projects that are made that don't pan out, I guess as well as as they were intended.
Mike N 09:34
Yeah.
Phill 09:35
We've always appreciate- We've always had like a strange appreciation for that.
Mike N 09:39
Oh, you know, and it's funny because I've talked about it with a bunch of people and I've always wondered why why do you and I and other people- why do we appreciate it so much when things turn out so- You know like like they put their- you're right they put their heart and soul into and they really are doing their best.
Phill 09:55
Yeah
Mike N 09:55
but the product turns out to be something you know, like-
Phill 09:59
What's the word, "Something that's left to be desired"?
Mike N 10:02
"Something that's left to be desired." Yeah, kinda like aspects of my personality at timesWe'll get into that conversation too.
Phill 10:09
Yeah
10:11
But what I think what I think you and I appreciate about it is that the work is genuine.
Phill 10:17
Yes, yes
10:18
You know, like, you can tell they tried their best. It's just- it's just terrible. You know, You know, like, it's almost like, like, if we were to film, like a fight scene.
Phill 10:28
Exactly.
10:29
If you and I were to make a movie, we would be thinking, "Oh," we have this in mind. "It's gonna look like a Jackie Chan movie. It's gonna look so cool." But it ends up looking like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation?
Phill 10:37
Yes.
10:38
You know, and it's just like, you know, "What are we doing?" You know,
Phill 10:41
Yeah, I think, you know, we- I think it's a kind of an empathy. Like, we really can empathize with the creators, because we can see ourselves that passionate about something.
Mike N 10:51
Mm hmm.
Phill 10:51
And maybe we've done you know, we've done various things in our lives that various projects and, you know, it's kind of like wow, you know what, they were trying trying to do
Mike N 11:00
Yeah, yeah
Phill 11:01
But it just didn't didn't work out. But you know it. You just laugh and you just kind of you're not laughing- Yeah, I think we really laughed at it. We just kind of laughed at the result. Yeah, you know, 'cause Yeah, I know what you mean
Mike N 11:15
Well, now here's something interesting is that is that there was a movie called Samurai Cop and it was so bad and I showed youn clips of it, right? And it was so bad. But when they came up with Samurai Cop 2 it wasn't as funny even though it was just as bad. And I'm convinced that it's because they became self aware.
Phill 11:36
Yes.
Mike N 11:37
of the terribleness.
Phill 11:38
Yes. Yeah.
Mike N 11:39
And they tried that-
Phill 11:40
they tried to replicate it. Yeah.
Mike N 11:42
And you're just like what you know, just let it happen. Like it was so organic The first time you know that it that it was naturally funny versus the second time when they're trying to make it happen. You're like, now we're trying too hard.
Phill 11:53
Yup. Yeah, I think I think this says a lot about you know, authenticity and I think we can talk about it later too just our appreciation of, of just like media in general, but especially science fiction media,
Mike N 12:06
Yeah,
Phill 12:07
you know, if it's not done authentically enough is trying to be cool or trying to be be too self, you know, like trying to be too preachy. It doesn't work. Oh, you know? Yeah.
12:18
No, and I am totally guilty of this. Like I you know, there have been times when, like, so I teach, I'm a math teacher in San Diego. And, you know, I, you know, whether it's true or not, I am known as a funny math teacher. And sometimes, like, I'll teach like my first grade class, and I'll and a joke will happen just naturally and it'll just flow and the class will love it. And then I'll teach the same class again, like, say, my second or third period and I will try to run that joke the second time. Every time it happens.
12:47
It doesn't work, man
12:48
It sucks. It's terrible isn't worth the least Yeah, it's the least funny thing in the history of least funny thing. Yeah. And and it's just, you know, like, I'm just like, okay, no, don't just let it- organic is best. Yeah.
Phill 13:00
All right well cool man well thanks man like we know we went from zero to you know warp three there but it was thanks for sharing so much about you know your your childhood and especially you know talking about this kind of- I don't even know a good good proper word but this just kind of like dueling identities like because you were not you know- you know you're not wanting to really connect with your Vietnamese identity but still, you know, wanting to still actively connecting with different Asian like whether the media or I guess food or or you know martial arts. So, alright, so let's kind of fast forward to right before you you you you came to Japan and when when we first met because I know that you were very proud of working at- was a SeaWorld.
Mike N 14:02
Yeah
Phill 14:03
and
Mike N 14:04
And Costco
Phill 14:05
Yeah, that's right. So yeah. So if, yeah, can you can you tell me a little bit about that experience and kind of what led you to, you know, to come to Japan? Like what? What? Yeah,
14:20
Sure, sure. And so, you know, so when I was in university, I, you know, I went to San Diego State University for my undergraduate degree. And when I was there, I worked at I worked at SeaWorld for the first couple of years. So I actually had my job at SeaWorld from when I was in high school, my my second year of university, and then I ended up leaving that job for a higher paying one. And as all college jobs go, they're usually pretty poorly paying. But I got a job at Costco, which, which is actually a great place to work, you know, and I'm assuming that's true even in Japan. And so, but yeah, I got a job there. But you know, but it was a lot of fun. I made pizza for a living and I still you use those skills today, which is
Phill 15:01
Yeah, man you make a mean pizza man.
15:02
Yeah, yeah, pizza. It's a fun thing to make. And so, um, and so no, but when I was when I was in San Diego State, I was a sociology major, very similar to very similar to Phil. And actually, what am I saying very similar, the same. I don't know why I don't know why I said that. And so, um, and so now as part of our sociology degree, we had to take what's called three upper division, extra curricular, not extracurricular, general ed, three extra general ed classes that were outside of sociology. Okay, and so I took one on it's weird I took it was technically an anthropology class, but I guess if you look at anthropology and sociology, very sure, yeah, they're almost the same. And so um, so this class happened to be a Japanese society class. And at the time, I was back into anime I, you know, I phased in and out of anime, you know, it was it was sometimes it was cool sometimes it wasn't but at this time back in 2003 I was huge anime fan and the greatest anime of all time is none other than Initial D; takes place in Gunma prefecture about a guy who delivers tofu up and down a mountain and he learns how to become a Street Racer because of it- because he drives with a cup of water in his cup holder and he doesn't spill the water while he's drifting. It's pretty cool. And so, so no, I love that show. So I took this Japanese society class. And it's funny because the professor, I think he was probably on his way to retirement because he was, you know, he was a good teacher, but he was kind of lazy. And so hang on, hang on, sorry. I think my car alarms about to go on. Sorry, some guy just drove by and his motorcycle and it was really loud. And so if you heard those beeps back there, that was probably my car. I'd like to set off an alarm. Say so the professor. He was he was on his way to retirement. I think he was kind of checked out. And so we watched a lot of movies in the class and a lot of documentaries on Japan in Japanese with English subtitles, which was kind of cool. But but the last week we were supposed to have a final and it turns out I don't think He wanted to create a final So instead what he did was he brought in representatives of a program called JET which is the Japan English- Oh JET Japan exchange and teaching program. Yeah. And they came in they told us about the program which is basically you- once you graduate from university, you apply for it you can go to Japan and teach English to to Japanese students. And so- so that was my junior years I could not apply for this. I wasn't graduating yet. But the next year, I remembered the program and so I heard that they were doing a recruitment fair at San Diego State. So I went to the to the classroom, saw the saw the recruitment fair, got the application, applied for apply for everything followed the instructions to a T. And and to this day, I swear I must be the first person in JET Program history to ever specifically request for Gunma prefecture be the place that I am placed because it came up in my interview and they said I- and the person the person interviewing, "Why said, Why did you specifically request Gunma because no one ever requested them and no one's ever even heard of Gunma." And I was like, "You know what, there's this really cool anime..." you can just rewind back to that time index when I talked about it and stuff like that. I described that thing to a T. And, and so so I got in and so I got the job. I was very, very fortunate and very, very honored to get the job. And in 2005, when I graduated, you know, I ended up being able to have the opportunity and the honor to move to Japan. Got got into Gunma because I'm sure it's because I asked for it.
Phill 18:37
Yeah, you definitely the first but you were not the last, man. Like like after you came, man. It was tough.
Mike N 18:47
You told you told me that I was like a generation before my
Phill 18:50
Yeah, you were
Mike N 18:50
I think like the only- I think I might have been the only person in Ghana to have ever heard of it Inicial D when we were ALTs together.
Phill 18:57
And nowadays, I guess it's kinda played out. Now but definitely in the 2010s definitely, definitely
Mike N 19:04
I think it hit critical mass. I mean, there were so many video games based off of it. The anime was, you know, was still going and the comics were still going. And the and the car culture was was still pretty. And it was odd because when I was in Goodman, Isesaki where you and I met, there were quite a bit of souped up car so I could see why Gunma was the influence for that show, you know, even like the minivans were
Phill 19:26
Yeah, I forgot what they were called
Mike N 19:27
Awesome, like, "Okay, yeah, cool." Yeah. So then fast forward to 2005, I packed my bags after I graduated from San Diego State with a degree in sociology, came to gunma you know, stepped off the plane started sweating immediately because it was July. And it's odd because you're sweating while it's raining, which is something that never happens in San Diego. And, and yeah, and then and then got placed Ichiritsu high school where were we met for the first time you were I said pi in that in that Cool.
Phill 20:00
Yeah, man Memory Lane, man. Yes, man. So yeah, so, you know, we we met in Japan, and we definitely connected about, you know, sociology and it was, um, and at the time you know, there weren't many Americans, I think in Isesaki if I'm if I'm correct, then you me and then like, like Paul and Joe
Mike N 20:30
Paul came later later and Paul and Joe
Phill 20:31
Yeah
Mike N 20:32
And that's it yeah
Phill 20:33
Yeah and I think the jet the JET Program culture at least in Guma maybe you know, I don't know the places but it's definitely you know, it's it's different you know because people from different countries, different interests you know,
Mike N 20:50
I mean even different cultures I mean even though we all speak the same language I mean you know, we also read everything humor, you know and yeah like that.
Phill 20:57
So, you know, we were we definitely connected through our interest not only in video games because I think you know, more or less everybody at that time was aware of video games. But uh definitely I think we really connected through start start Star Trek, right?
Mike N 21:16
I agree.
Phill 21:17
Yeah and you know you you had man you you had all the DVDs man that was-
Mike N 21:23
We used to watch them on my computer
Phill 21:25
Yeah man so you know so what what got you 'cause I- okay I'll just kind um maybe if you don't think people listening don't know Star Trek is which is positive possibility. So like Star Trek is is a show created in the 60s originally right? Yeah Yeah you know that's like with Dr. Spock and all these things and if you have seen recently in the past, you know, decade they made some movies with- starring some you know, popular people I can't remember his name the doctor Chris Pine was Kirk Chris Pine and the Marvel guy. He was Kane. Kahn sorry, he was Kahn.
Mike N 22:11
Oh, Dr. Strange. Yeah.
Phill 22:12
Doctor Strange
Mike N 22:13
Bennedict Cumberbatch was was Yeah,
Phill 22:14
Cumberbatch. Yeah. So you know, so, they released released a bit originally that that show started in the 60s. And I never liked the original anyway. But the show
22:24
it had its moment. I mean, there were some episodes that were pretty good. You know, overall, it was kind of dumb.
Phill 22:29
Yeah, I could never it was just, you know, is too old for me. But, um, what- What, yeah, what we connected with the next generation, that kind of the, the reboot? Right, you know, 20 years later, they, you know, rebooted the series. And it was just cool. It was, it was cool. But at that time, especially in 2000, you know, then Deep Space 9 was awesome as well.
22:53
Oh, my God. We can go for days that can make up probably a day that we could even talk
Phill 22:59
But um, you know, at, especially at that time, mid 2000s you know, the, you know, geek- geek culture or whatever you wanna call it was not popular. It was not cool to like, sci fi. It wasn't cool to read comics. You know what I mean? Like, I think nowadays people pretend like, people pretend that they always liked Spider-Man. They always liked you know what I mean
Mike N 23:28
I've been into that? Yeah, yeah. Yes. It's, it's almost like someone who doesn't wear a mask, and then suddenly, like, out of nowhere, decides to wear a mask and says, I've always been about masks. Yeah.
Phill 23:39
So,
Mike N 23:40
I don't know who that could be but you know,
Phill 23:42
So yeah, I think you know, something that we were really able to, you know, connect connect with. And, you know, I think, you know, people might- today looking at from today's lens, they're like, everybody knows what Star Trek is or what, you know what I mean, but at that time, at that time, like if you- if two people were like, "You know what Star Trek is?" like, "Oh shit," like, "cool!" right? You know what I mean?
Mike N 24:06
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Phill 24:07
You know, so
Mike N 24:08
Especially if the other person liked it.
Phill 24:10
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So what what got you went to the to (Star Trek:) The next generation?
24:14
Oh man. Okay, so actually, um, okay, so I remember so I was friends with with someone in middle school and he was going to go see Star Trek: Generations the movie, which came out in 1994/1995. And I remember like, I didn't have anything better to do that weekend I was like, you know, star- and at the time I was part of that mainstream crowd that wanted to be cool and and wanted to say, "Oh, no, I'm not into that geeky stuff." But I said, "You know, he's my friend. I'll go watch it with him, you know, who knows whatever." And I remember just really liking it like it was fun. And actually, in retrospect, the movies kind of it's kind of, you know, kind of hokey but
Phill 24:51
yeah, when you're teenagers.
Mike N 24:52
Yeah, but when you're but when you're when you're like in sixth grade, it's, it's it was neat. I was like, oh, wow, this is really interesting stuff. So I started watching the next generation When it would come out on reruns on TV, but I will say my love of Star Trek never- didn't really come to mass until Deep Space Nine. And that there was something about that show. That was just so good. I mean, you know, like, of course, you know, you know, Phil, you and I reminisce about main character all the time Captain Sisko played Avery Brooks. Yeah, yeah. And he is, you know, he was just the lead of that show. And he carried that show, you know, in so many ways. And the rest of the cast was just developed in such a way like it. Like what I think that you and I connected over, especially over Star Trek Deep Space Nine is that Star Trek Deep Space Nine is sociology.
Phill 25:42
Yeah, yeah, you're right.
Mike N 25:43
It's a study of the human condition. Yeah, we understand.
Phill 25:47
On a space station. It's true on the space station.
Mike N 25:49
Where Yeah,
Phill 25:50
Different cultures,
Mike N 25:52
Multiple race, multiple cultures. There's racism in the show. There's, there's
Phill 25:57
classism
25:58
Yeah, debate. There's all kinds of And it's so it was just so well written and and and so yeah I mean like I feel like the study of that was really what got me into Star Trek when I started watching it I was like, "Man, this is really deep stuff." that they deal with in this show and and I'm not going to go out and say that I was mature for my age and that's why I like it because I was definitely immature in many many ways for my age and I probably still am but but but in that sense like I I really felt like the show was just ahead of its time I mean the way it
Phill 26:33
yeah i mean you know
Mike N 26:34
characters and stuff like that you know?
Phill 26:36
Yeah cuz um yeah, 'cause you know, it definitely was especially if you go back and watch it- because there's this there's like two camps right i think you know, I want to get too deep into this is about you know, Star Trek, but yeah, there's two camps as people that say you know, the, the Babylon five people like ours. It's a rip off about Okay, okay, fine, you know, whatever. I mean, I don't know But it's not as bad advice. It's not as you know, whatever. I tried watching it, but it just didn't, didn't hold my attention. Like, I mean, it's not Yeah, it's kind of weird. Yes, it's not, it's not my cup of tea. But, you know, fair, fair enough. And then a lot of people will, you know, people that are really, really like looking at it from, you know, the standpoint of today, you know, still critique it, you know, for what it was, by today's standards, right. It's like, "Oh," this, you know, "they could have explained this issue this way," you know, that "they didn't, they should have fleshed-" but you know, it's like, Look, this is this is the the mid mid mid 90s. You know, what I mean? You know, like, you know, yeah, the like is, you know, the term like presentism right, you like try to look look through today's lens. And, you know, I mean I and it's good to to have these conversations. But yeah, you're right. It was ahead of its time. It I think was ahead of its time, and even watching it years later.
Mike N 28:04
MmHmm.
Phill 28:06
You know, I just appreciate what they tried to do kind of like we talked about in the beginning of, of this episode, you know, seeing, you know, laughing at a project, you know, or something that you know, that people are trying to do. Yeah, it's not it's not happening. But I think when it comes to Deep Space Nine like it, it hit it, man. Like it was
28:35
It did what it wanted to do.
Phill 28:36
Yeah, it did what it wanted to do and it did it really well.
28:39
You know, honestly, you could watch some of the episodes today and find them relevant.
Phill 28:44
Yeah,yeah, definitely.
28:45
And it's like, and that show ended in 1999. Yeah. Yeah. So So I mean, the fact that that show can still be relevant 21 years after the fact is, it's pretty I think it's pretty, pretty amazing. So I think that's definitely where you and I hit our mark on that one we, we connected over and over over those shows right there
Phill 29:04
Yeah. Yeah. Because you know it that we, you know, we laughed about it we we empathize with the characters and yeah man just want to say thanks for that because, you know, like, if you look at if you look at it through the lens of today, you know, you can watch any show at any time you know, you can just torrent it or whatever but back then, you know like torrenting was wasn't really that popular or that accessible. Like you you only can torrent certain things like not everything was available. So like, you know, you had went out of your way you had all the DVDs. You know-
Mike N 29:42
I had my sister send them from San Diego.
Phill 29:43
Yeah, yeah, man, it's amazing, man. So yeah, thanks for you know, just sharing, you know, sharing those moments with me.
Mike N 29:51
I mean, it was definitely mutual. I mean, honestly, like the best parts of it. Were- were actually it's funny like, as much as we love the show. Some of the best parts was actually just Just was actually just, you know what I remember is making the pizza with you. Yeah, getting the chicken nuggets ready getting the cookies all from Hitachiya. Yeah, getting it all ready cutting up the peppers in the sausage and putting it in the thing. Yeah, you know, and then that one time I picked the pizza off of the top thing and it actually had gone bad. Because they put all the ice on the bottom.
Phill 30:18
Oh, man.Yeah, that that shop?
Mike N 30:21
Yeah, yeah, at the one farmers market. So that was that. But then I swear some of my favorite times watching that show was not actually about the episode itself. But it's when something would happen. And you would just go sideways you'd be "Like to rewind it! Rewind it! Let me see that again!" that was probably like some of the fun and now that I said I can't think of an example off the top of my head.
Phill 30:42
Yeah, I know, you mean. Yeah, yeah.
Mike N 30:43
but- but that like, oh, like so what- like the times that like- like Riker would get mad.
Phill 30:49
Oh, yeah
Mike N 30:50
You'd always he would always say it would always almost on cue. You'd be like, Oh my god, you rewind it to see that again. And we've watched the same clip like three or four times because it was just so funny. Yeah. You know, like it is almost like, I'd be laughing because your laughter is contagious. And you know, just like that is probably what I take away the most from watching that show with you is- is the time that you would say, "Hang on dude go back to that."
Phill 31:14
Yeah. Yeah. Because that- you could tell that the actors were so self-aware about what you're up to. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, how they act like how Riker sits down in the chair like he Yeah,
Mike N 31:27
'cause he's so tall, right?
Phill 31:29
He lifts his leg over something? Or like when he jumped kick the guy with a worm in his neck, whatever.
Mike N 31:35
Yeah. I was wondering, like, what were they trying- Were they trying to make him look like a Kung Fu guy or something or what?
Phill 31:43
Yeah, man. No idea. But All right, cool, man. Yeah. So there, man and we, you know, we have lots of good memories in Isesaki. Oh, man teaching and I think Yeah, we'll come back to this. But um, Something else I wanted to talk to talk about before we, you know, kind of fast forward into the future a little bit is, you were there were a few things that you did that I thought was really cool. One was that we kind of spoke about was Kung Fu.
Mike N 32:15
Oh, yeah.
Phill 32:16
And also, you know, you really enjoyed, you know, making movies. Right? And
Mike N 32:24
Oh yeah
Phill 32:24
Yeah. You really into like photography for a little while.
Mike N 32:28
I forgot about that. Yeah, it was. Yeah, that was my thing for a while. Yeah.
Phill 32:32
So yeah, can you just can share, so yeah, if you want- whichever one you want to talk about first, but um,
32:37
That's hilarious. Only- until you brought up I totally actually forgot that I had made all those things. I don't know why it's, you know, just not that they were bad memories, but I just, I it's been so long since I've, since I've seen any of them. But, um, but now that martial arts was really really cool. I- you know, like I said, I- was you know, when I was living in Japan, it was really cool. You know, I used to do this and now I almost feel embarrassed for that past version myself but I used to I used to go out to Bunkakaikan and a parking lot near my near- near our apartment right because we live close to each other. Yeah, and I would practice in the middle of the night
Phill 33:10
With the Kendo sticks, man.
33:11
Yeah, with my Kendo sticks using them as swords and stuff like that. You know? Okay, so do you. Okay, so actually do you know why I did that?
33:19
No, no,
33:20
Like out and out in such a public area. Okay, so it so this is gonna sound it's funny. It's gonna sound so dumb now, but when I was watching the first Star Wars movie, so not Star Trek, but Star Wars. So we're talking about Jedis and stuff now. So for all those listening who- you know, one of my pet peeves is when people get them mixed up. And so, in the first episode of Star Wars, I'm talking about the prequels with with you know, Jar Jar Binks and Anakin Skywalker. There was Darth Maul, who I still to this day believe he is probably one of the best bad guys I've ever seen. He had one line in the whole movie, but just he had this menacing stare. But at the end, he had this amazing fight scene with Obi Wan And Qui Gon at the end, and he had the double-bladed lightsaber
Phill 34:02
Yeah man it was the coolest thing ever, man. Back in the day
Mike N 34:04
Absolutely. I thought that was, that's probably the best Star Wars fight in the history of Star Wars. And so, but the way that actor was discovered was he was actually just practicing out in the park and some guy saw him and casted him. And so my dream in Japan was to be practicing out in the Bunkakaikan and then have some guy or some gal see me and say, "Hey, you're pretty good. Why don't you come and be in the next rendition of of Super Sentai?" which is Power Rangers in the United States. You know, I had this fantasy that I would be discovered and then get to be the guy in the suit. Yeah, and get to fight you know, like all kinds of monsters and the Power Ranger or the Super Sentai suit, and stuff like that. So I don't know if you ever knew that about me. But that-
Phill 34:50
No, I didn't know I would-
Mike N 34:51
Obnoxiously practice.
Phill 34:53
I would have told you not to go to the Bunkakaikan parking lot and go to a bigger park, man.
Mike N 34:57
I know right? We're practicing out in the countryside here, Who's gonna discover me, right? But yeah, so that was actually that was my secret fantasy. But that is why I would practice out there, I think but, but, but no but- but because of that I you know, during my three years of living in, in Japan, I was able to meet up with my kung fu school when they would go to China and Taiwan to compete, and I actually went twice to compete out there. And it was just a lot of fun. I, you know, and I, you know, we competed and it was a lot of fun, and I had a good time, but, but just being able to go and experiencing different different countries was, was really good. And this going back to the beginning of the interview, you know, my exposure to Japanese culture, and then Chinese culture and eventually going to Vietnam. You know, when I was in Japan, gave me a good sense of, you know, I don't want to say pride because because I don't want to sound like nationalistic or anything like that. But it gave me a it gave me a sense of, you know, like, yeah, I am, I am proud to be Asian, you know, like, I think that you know, now I have I have no I have no qualms about admitting that I'm Asian and eating Asian food and all kinds of stuff. So it's because of those experiences though. But those are definitely life changing for me. And that was the kung fu but the movies, man, that was I don't know how I Oh, you know what? You know what? That's how I got into it. Do you remember watching that one? Power Rangers episode with me with all the Red Rangers?
Phill 36:21
Yeah, yeah.
Mike N 36:22
And then remember that one guy who was like, he was such a bad actor, and he was saying like, "We're not gonna let you bring back serpent Tara!"
Phill 36:31
I think so.
Mike N 36:32
Okay, so fun fact, he's in jail.
Phill 36:35
Okay
Mike N 36:35
Yeah, he stabbed a guy with a samurai sword.
Phill 36:38
Oh, yes. You sent me the article, I think. Yeah, a couple years ago
Mike N 36:42
Like that guy he's gonna get released soon but but on good behavior. But yeah, it's that guy, that bad actor. So I don't know why. I just I, you know, it's it's, it's our affinity for bad things right or for bad acting. And so I just that scene and his acting really resonated. With me, so I just put that episode and I clicked down all of his lines and I tried to make a rap song out of it.
Phill 36:46
Yes, I remember this. Yeah, I remember this, man.
Mike N 37:07
Remember that? Yeah, you had to make a rap song out of it. And then, and then because of that, I realized I was pretty good at editing this stuff.
Phill 37:12
Yeah
Mike N 37:13
Yeah. So then so then that's how it kind of took off. And then eventually, when I when, you know, I was transferred to the middle school, you know, in my second year in Japan, that- when I transferred there, I was on the tail end of it of the art teacher who left to go to Miyago I think, well, where did Jeff teach? Was that Miyagi high school?
Phill 37:33
Yeah, I think so yeah.
Mike N 37:34
And so um, so he went there, so they needed someone to take over their editing of the film. And I said, I think I can do this and I showed them a couple of my things and they said, Wow, you're not bad. So then that so it's a what became what was originally a hobby became kind of like my second thing at the middle school. So that's how I got into the Film Editing. I haven't edited anything in like, nine years. I
Phill 37:59
I think you still got it, man. You- 'cause you made- you have your YouTube cooking.
38:03
Oh, I do. Yeah. Just kidding. No, that's not true. I edited something about a month ago. So, what am I saying? Yeah, I forgot about that. Yeah.
Phill 38:12
Alright, cool, man. So yeah, one more thing about that. So you worked in the Vietnamese restaurant and I think you know, so you I think you have a kind of a culinary skill.
Mike N 38:24
Oh my god, I thought about that too. I did, yeah.
Phill 38:27
So that's a kind of an artistic thing about you as well. Like, you know, you make a mean salsa, they make a really good salsa and stuff every time you come out here to visit and stuff. So So yeah, man, can you just talk a little bit about that as well like, because it seems that you kind of mentioned before you by coming to Japan, you were able to, you know, make amends with yourself about your Vietnamese identity. I think possibly, especially by working at at that- at that store, you seemed like you really wanted to connect to to make a connection with the people who work there.
Mike N 39:01
Oh my god, you're bringing up so many things- so many wonderful memories by the way that honestly, I totally forgot about working at that that Vietnamese restaurant. Oh my god, I don't even know how I found them out. Like I think I was just riding my bike one day and I rode by I was like hit Vietnamese writing so I walked in and there is that one coming through. No, no, Hang on. Hang up. That might be my car. Can you pause this for a second?
Phill 39:45
Yeah,
Mike N 39:46
so Oh, they just they could you hear that? Yeah, when you open the door, I think. Okay, okay. Yeah, so they just Okay, so let me know when we're leaving. Yeah, we're good. We're good. Okay, cool. Okay, so working out that working out. That'd be Vietnamese. restaurant. Yeah, I think I was just riding my bike one day. And I had actually just come back from a trip to Vietnam, this, was back in 2006. And so I'd just come back from Vietnam with, you know, my I met my mom and my sisters and my friend Jesse, over there. And, you know, what's funny is that when I was in Vietnam, and that was my first time ever back there, I spent the Christmas of 2006 all the way through the New Years, leading into 2007 there. And I don't know what it was, but when I, when I landed in Vietnam, and just watch- just seeing it- and I experienced again, when I went for the second time this past summer, or last year, seeing all of them, and they're so poor over there. They're, you know, like financially, they're just poor, you know, people work out of their houses and they they're scraping off a living. I don't know why but my heart really just went out to them. And I was like, these are, you know, I, you know, I don't want to sound preachy here and then that but it's just like, you know, these are my people here, you know, this is, this is where my parents are from, and I should be proud of this. And so- It was odd because when I was there back in 2006, you know, I can understand a lot of Vietnamese. But again, back to my childhood, I was trying to distance myself from all things Asia, so I never I refuse to ever speak the enemies to my parents. But when I was there, I started picking it back up pretty quickly and stuff like that. So anyway, back to Isesaki, I'm riding my bike, and I see this Vietnamese restaurant. So I go in and I order something and I speak Vietnamese to them, you know, at least in my broken version of it, which is not still to this day, not that good. But, yeah, it's um, but I, you know, because of the language and because of the shared identity, you know, there was this connection. And so I asked him, I said, you know, "Would it be okay, if I volunteered for everyone every once in a while to help out?" And they and they, they said, "Sure." And and so it gave me a chance to make- and now that I'm saying it out loud, maybe that was in my own way trying to seek redemption for
Phill 41:58
Interesting
Mike N 41:58
my childhood. And, but honestly, like when I was there, you know, developing the culinary. I mean, you call it skill, like I call it luck. But, you know, because a lot of times when I'm preparing something, all I'm doing is praying. And so and so, you know, I my enjoyment of cooking came from when I was working at SeaWorld and when I was working at Costco because I worked in food services for like six years, my life, but but then when I was there, you know, they taught me how to make you know, like basic stuff, they didn't let me do anything complex. So I made sandwiches and I made spring rolls and stuff like that. And so and it was just a lot of fun. And I think for me, cooking and hosting parties- So it's weird because because like, I don't know how many people would actually agree with this, but I do find this to be who I am. I'm an introvert. It's hard for me to just strike up a conversation with anybody. I very, very high. hard for me, because, you know, like with with most people now, Phill for you, I we clicked automatically.
Phill 43:07
Yeah, yeah yeah.
Mike N 43:08
you know, but but I feel like like even like even at the get togethers like that, you know that you and I have when your mutual friends come in and I don't know them I'm always like, like when I first met Nick or Brian for the first time it was you know or is it Johnny?
Phill 43:21
Yeah, Johnny yeah, yeah
Mike N 43:22
Yeah, it's hard because I don't wanna, you know, get into territory that's going to make them uncomfortable. So I don't really know what to say. So I tend to just kind of hang back a little bit. My- so the reason why cooking is so appealing to me is it allows me to, it's gonna sound really really awful, it allows me to appear social, when I'm not talking
Phill 43:43
Interesting, okay.
Mike N 43:44
And so because I'm busy preparing stuff. It gives me a reason to not talk to anyone, and make a fool out of myself, while still appearing to be engaged in the events of the party.
Phill 43:59
Interesting.
Mike N 44:00
And so that has always been kind of like my my escape, I suppose. So to be at a party and not have to worry about looking- saying something that's going to get me in hot water you know, because, you know we you and I hung out a lot and I was there were times when I would just pop off and say something where I- you know, looking back you know, what is it I'm 37 out of 15 years ago yeah, I'm like, "Did I really just say that?" You know it's one of those things where if there's an afterlife you know after we die and we get to see our lives and TV there's gonna be so many times when you put in my face and my Paul and it's a lot of it's gonna be when I was in my 20s and so yeah, so the cooking allows me to just have people over enjoy their company then interact with each other and still be a part of it even though socially I can be a little bit stange at times. And by the way, dude, I still I still hold out for hope that you're going to come here to San Diego because honestly you you need I need to smoke a pulled pork for you. Man, yeah. And have you tried because I think I am pretty good at that.
Phill 45:03
Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, man, you know, I think it's- I think it's a skill man, I think it's in you just in 'cause like even when he showed me your videos that you did of cooking and stuff for your students and stuff and like yeah man, "Mike- Mike really-", you know, "he really likes cooking. He's, he's-" it's a talent man that not everybody can do it. You know, it's kind of like, you know, grow- like gardening and stuff, you know, like,
Mike N 45:27
a lot of fun. I mean, and when I was living in Japan, I got to learn how to make a bunch of- I wouldn't know about a bunch, but I was a I learned how to make. Like, I think my greatest Japanese cooking achievement is okonomiyaki I- you know, to this day, I can flip an okonomiyaki without breaking it. I have not yet broken yet. On flipping it, having said that, now that I've said that, I'll probably break the next one. I have successfully flipped every single okonomiyaki without breaking it. And so yeah, that's my that's my claim to fame. Right there in Japan. Awesome, man. All right, man. Well, so we've been talking about like 45 minutes. And we spoke about so much of the past and so much about, you know, it's kind of your life trajectory. And thank you so much for sharing and everything. So, yeah, man, so after, you know, cooking and doing Kung Fu, doing video editing, you know, what are you doing now? Something that is irrelevant to all of those.
Phill 46:31
Even sociology?
Mike N 46:34
What does a person- and this is actually- the this is actually the jet dilemma, right is that is that after three to five years or one to five years of servicing yourself onto the program. There is this notion and people- I hate when people talk about this but but it does need to get brought up but when they say you're gonna come back from the JET Programming, you're gonna have no skills and you have no blah, blah, blah and I'm thinking come on and seriously like you can, you can learn something new So, um, my, you know, so when in my third year, I knew I was coming back home, they had just actually extended our contract.
Phill 47:07
Yeah. To the five year yeah, that's what I did.
Mike N 47:09
Yeah, but- but I swear by the third year, I was so burned out, I just don't I didn't think I could handle a fourth or fifth year. And, and so as much as I loved Japan, I just didn't think I could handle it. And I was I was turning, you know, I was turning 25 and I need and I just wanted to, you know, get started with something else. So, I was thinking, "Okay, so what do I want to do?" So I, I said, You know, "I think-" as many as many times as I actually fouled up in the classroom, and I and No, God only knows how many how, how bad of an ALT I probably was. It's okay, I can own that. It's fine. You know, like, because I attribute that to learning, you know, like, like how much I learned how much I had to learn. And by the way, Phill, I was going to try to find a way to seamlessly tie this in, but since I can't, I will force it in. You helped me understand that. I had a lot learn
Phill 48:00
Really?
Mike N 48:00
When I was 22, you, you have been such an incredible mentor, to you know, and honestly, I wasn't always the most appreciative, you know, when you would not to show me things I almost I almost felt insulted because I thought who is this guy telling me how to live, bla bla bla, but at the end of the day, you know, you really, you know, like, a lot of my success that I have now as a teacher, I do a tribute to you. You know, like, like, I would say, my and again, I don't want to sound arrogant, but my popularity among the students and stuff like that, a lot of it is because, you know, the stuff that I learned from you, and so, and and, you know, so I really have you to thank for it. And so a lot of my blunders as an ELT, you know, and you helped me, you know, evolve and learn into into someone who I think is a successful math teacher. But yeah, so I, I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a degree in sociology in which most people will go to law school or whatnot. So I said, You know, I think I want to be in the classroom somehow I want to be involved in education. And so actually my first thing was to take the it's called the GRE the graduate requisite exam. And I took it in Tokyo actually. And, and I scored quite well on it got immediately placed, you know, in a couple of different- What am I saying? No, I didn't, I got placed in one place. I only apply to one place. Sorry, that I was thinking something else. I see I just edit that out. So I don't sound like a complete self contradicting fool. I, I got I applied back at San Diego State, went to grad school was going to get my master's in sociology, wanted to wanted to become a professor. After my first class, after my first day of orientation of the master's program and learning what I could do with a master's in sociology, I ejected right away and said, Nope, this is not for me. I'm not going to become a professor talked it over with my friends and family. realized that you know that I just want to be a teacher so I decided to become a high school teacher, wanted to know what I was going to teach so with a degree in sociology I said, Well, what can I teach naturally would be history or something. But in the states having a history or English credential doesn't get you very far in terms of jobs. There's so many applicants for one for one thing for one position. So I said, Well, what can I teach? You know, I can you know, the, the in demand fields or math sciences, special education, special education, I'm, I will full on admit I am not good at it. It's not for me, science. I am too messy of a person. I cannot clean up after labs, especially if they're dissecting stuff. There is no way I'm going to clean up after them. And so I said, Let me try this math thing. Let me see. Like I scored well on the math on the GRE, which is, you know, which you know, is fine. And so, yeah, so I tried it out. I took these these two tests called the C-set, which is the California credentialing battery to become a teacher. took me three times to pass To pass Oh no, sorry two times to pass the first test
Phill 51:03
Oh, well better than your your driving test here in Japan. I know let's not bring that ever again and so took me three times to pass the the second test. And then that gets you the entry level credential to teach math and most schools don't have you teaching anything higher than the the basic levels of math. So that was good enough for me to be a math teacher. Um, did my student teaching, got a job in the middle of a recession got laid off, got another job in the middle of recession got laid off. And then I ended up getting- Yeah, I know that it was just like this in and out and I was thinking, Man, I am never going to find a permanent place. But then I interviewed at a school called del Norte a high school in San Diego didn't get the position. And that's okay. You know, and it's funny when when bad things happen to you. It's always easy to dwell on the bad stuff, but, and I'm not a proponent of everything happens for a reason. However, in this case, the fact that I lost my job at the previous two places and I didn't get hired at Del Norte a, I ended up getting hired in the same district at a school called Westview. And to be honest, the mentors that I ended up getting there who ended up helping me become a passing the third, California test battery to become a calculus teacher, which is the highest level of math in our, in our district. You know, all those bad things that happened to me before I realized that they are actually the best thing that could have ever happened to me, because I don't think I would have encountered the same mentorship that I have at Westview. And now I teach calculus, we call it calculus BC, which is the which is in the college level, it's the lowest level two of calculus, you know, that you could take and it's the highest level of math in our district and, I'm gonna brag for a second here. To this day, I've I've never had below a 96% pass rate on our Advanced Placement national exam well, so all those kids get get college credit for taking my class after they pass the exam and actually our results for this will come out in two days. So now that said, I've never dipped below 96% Well, you can as you could as blame it on the current situation if you do.
Mike N 53:08
Yeah, I'll blame it on Yeah, I'll blame it on COVID, yeah. But yeah, so so I'm a calculus teacher now. And
Phill 53:14
Wow.
Mike N 53:15
And it's a lot of fun. It's to me, it's the best job in the world. I you know, uh, you know, it's, um, I get to interact with students every day. And and actually, it's my I teach the, I teach our academic success class also for students who are just coming into the school who struggle with math because that was me when I was in high school I- I struggled immensely with with math. And so I feel like I can give them a person they can relate to. And so I teach- so it's funny like I am, I think I'm the only teacher in our department who teaches the absolute lowest level. And then I also teach the absolute highest one.
Phill 53:46
Oh, that's cool, man.
Mike N 53:47
So it's kind of neat and I enjoy both equally, equally but differently. There's so much fun, the kids are great. You know, the the lower end kids, the ones who are in the integrated- integrated academic success class. They just appreciate understanding stuff. Even unde-, they appreciate understanding the basics. The kids at the high end, they really appreciate how this math is applied in real life. And so they both they, but they bring an equal level of appreciation. And, and I think being a sociology major, I tend to come up with examples and analogies that my colleagues they just wouldn't think of.
Phill 54:24
Okay.
Mike N 54:25
And so I think that makes me unique among the department. And so it's just, it's just a fun gig. And I'm also I'm also a department chair in our, in our department. So yes, it's me and another, and another guy, Bruce. We, we run our team and so that I became department chair after four years of working at Westview. So yeah, so it's, it's been a great ride. Honestly, I'm still going.
Phill 54:49
So Wow, man, so we talked for almost an hour. And yeah, I would, you know, try to keep the podcast about an hour maybe a little bit more, but um, yeah, some Yeah, as you know, I'm a learning advisor and, and I always- when I speak with students we do something called an intentional reflective dialogue. And I think this is. Yeah, I IRD. so it's just like, you know, thinking reflectively But yeah, I'd like to ask you a kind of a reflective question to yourself and maybe some of the listeners who are, you know, language learners or, or not just somebody that's listening. So, Mike, you now, right, if you were to go back in time to, you know, the mic when of 2005 and also the Mike, you know, in his childhood that wasn't proud of his, you know, Vietnamese identity, what, what advice would would you give both of those individuals who happen to also be to be you. So that 2005 Mike, what would you say? You know, something positive, nothing, you know, like, you know, you know, don't beat yourself up or anything.
Mike N 56:11
You mean you- mean you don't want me to tell myself, "Don't worry, you will definitely fail the driving test." So what advice would I give to myself? I would say, "Listen more, you don't know everything, and it's okay to not know everything. But but bring an open mind because you need because you can, you can learn, you can learn as much as possible but, but when people offer you advice, assume best intent and that they really are trying to help you."
Phill 56:46
Okay
Mike N 56:46
And that and that would be it. You know, I feel like I needed to be in my 20s especially on the JET Program. I needed to learn how to be a better listener. Because you and all the other guys you guys were really trying to help me and I don't and like I said, I don't know if I always appreciated that.
Phill 57:00
Yeah, you know, I know we all appreciated you, man.
Mike N 57:04
Thanks, man, yeah.
Phill 57:05
Yeah. All right. So yeah, how about little Mike?
Mike N 57:08
Yeah. Ah, okay. So actually, what's funny is that to my childhood, so, I would say that, you know, I don't know if I give myself advice because because I don't you know, you and I actually, it's funny you and I watched the butterfly effect together.
Phill 57:24
That's right, man.
Mike N 57:24
So when you know when you know, when you change one thing, yeah, you know, who knows what's gonna happen? I would actually say, you know, whether you believe it or not, you know, I would say I understand right now, you feel ashamed of your Asian heritage, you feel like you don't want to be person and all this stuff. What I want you to know is that there's a version of you in the future that really is proud of who you are, and is proud of where you came from. You haven't met this person yet. But when you do, look back at all the experiences that led you to be this person. And appreciate them.
Phill 58:02
That's some deep stuff, man. That was your Sisko moment, man.
Mike N 58:11
But but it's true. I mean, I- it's funny I happen to have I have these conversations sometimes with my kids where when they're telling me like, like, you know, maybe I'm just not a math person this this isn't for me and I tell them I say no, there's a version of you that actually got a five on the AP exam. And you you just don't know that person yet. But when you when you- when you meet them, you will you'll appreciate all the hard work you've done. Yeah. And and you'll know that it was worth it. And so, yeah, and so that and that is what I would tell my younger self is I would say, you know, you know, don't change a thing, keep doing what you're doing, but just know that there will be a point in time when you are going to be proud of who you're supposed to be. And, and you know, and yeah.
Phill 58:48
Awesome, man. Yeah, man. You should but you should uh, you should be a learning advisor too, man.
Mike N 58:52
I would love it man. Are you kidding me?
Phill 58:54
Like if you take one of our courses, man, we have these online courses, man. But yeah, I'll talk about that later. But um, Alright man, so, yeah finally the final final kind of final topic or question you know, so can you speak any other languages even a few words other than English? If so, please share.
Mike N 59:15
Sure. So growing up in San Diego I can speak a little bit of Spanish and then living in Japan I can speak a little bit of Japanese so let me just get myself ready here. So in Spanish, [...] Yeah, so that would be that would be me introducing myself in Spanish, okay. And then in Japanese, okay. This one's going to be so harsh [...] And I don't know if I can go any further than that.
Phill 60:03
That's awesome man. Any Vietnamese can you do a little bit of Vietnamese as well?
Mike N 60:07
Oh my gosh. Okay, so, so [...] Yeah. And I don't know how to say math so I can just say Hi, my name is Michael I'm a teacher. And that's it.
Phill 60:31
Yeah. Awesome, man. So wow man, you got three languages man 4 including English. Yeah.
Mike N 60:37
And none of them particularly well.
Phill 60:39
Yeah, but it's, you know better you know, how many people can can introduce themselves and in more than one language, you know?
Mike N 60:46
Yeah, you know, I you know, I can do that in Russia and also go for it, dude. Yeah, yeah, I can say [...]
Phill 60:55
Awesome and not in Russia.
Mike N 60:57
Yeah, and I can say [...]
Phill 61:03
What's that mean?
Mike N 61:03
Which means you- which means, "We have mutual friends from Cuba" I learned it from watching spy TV shows Burn Notice Michael Weston has to go undercover.
Phill 61:16
That's right man, yeah.
Mike N 61:17
I can say things like how much did they pay you you know what did you tell them I say all that stuff I can say you know you know- I can say all- I can say all the useful stuff I guess.
Phill 61:29
Well alright, man. Thanks so much but I definitely want to have a part two and we can talk about your your 24 obsession as well.
Mike N 61:38
Oh my god. Yeah, that's like no the fun show, yeah.
Phill 61:44
What are my Thank you so much, Mike. You're one of the- one of my heroes that I quote by their first name. And yeah, man. Thanks and I hope to have you back soon.
Mike N 61:55
Me too, brother. I thank you for having me. It is an honor to be on this podcast and yeah and part of this program so, yeah, thanks for having me.
Phill 62:04
Okay man, Live long and prosper, man.
Mike N 62:07
Live long and prosper.
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