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Band Trip

Alex talks about a trip he took with his band in college.
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Todd: So Alex you were saying that you took trips, band trips.

Alex: Yes, sir.

Todd: OK, so why don't you talk about a band trip.

Alex: OK, let's see. The band trip we went to Florida, Disneyland actually. It was a lot of fun. Actually getting the money for the band trip, I had to fundraise a lot, and that was just a big humongous problem, cause, I don't know, the band organization was kind of disorganized, anyway, so the band trip, we went to Disneyland. It was a lot of fun, but we ended up playing frisbee all the time because we had nothing better to do really, and to tell you the truth I like Disneyland, but it's kind of kiddish to tell you the truth, um but it's a lot of fun. We actually, where did we march, Epcot.

Todd: Oh, the Epcot Center.

Alex: Yeah, we marched around the Epcot center an hour or a half or so.

Todd: So how long was the trip down there?

Alex: Oh, we actually, we flew so, it wasn't that long. A couple of hours at most. The funny part is, half the band isn't, they hadn't flown before the actual trip so everybody was kind of nervous. It was kind of funny, but yeah I made a lot of friends. It was very interesting. I mean I got made of, made fun of, excuse me, in school, because you know the whole marching band, band geek, whatever but it was a lot of fun. You make a lot of friends and you just get out there and do what you like and it's a lot of fun.

Todd: Oh, that sounds like a fun trip. So when you were at Disneyland did you see Mickey mouse?

Alex: Yes, I did.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

fundraise

I had to fundraise a lot for that band trip.

When you ask people or companies to give money for an event you are 'fundraising.'  Sometimes they just give the money or sometimes you sell things and the profits go towards an event. Notice the following:

  1. The school wants the children to fundraise for the new library.
  2. All the children are fundraising for the choir trip to Florida.

humongous problem

Getting the money for the trip was a humongous problem.

'Humongous' means really really big, so a humongous problem is really really big. Notice the following:

  1. You have has some humongous problems in your life recently.
  2. Transportation is a humongous problem in this city.

ended up

We ended up playing Frisbee all the time because we had nothing better to do.

What you 'end up' doing is what you actually do, regardless of what the original plan was. Notice the following:

  1. We ended up buying a new car a few weeks ago.
  2. What kind of pie did you end up making.

kiddish

I like Disneyland, but it's kind of kiddish.

If something is made for children it is 'kiddish.' Notice the following:

  1. The birthday party was kiddish for a fifteenth birthday party.
  2. I thought the movie was a little kiddish.

made fun of

I got made fun of in school because of that incident.

When people 'make fun of' someone else they say things about that person to make other people laugh. Usually making fun of someone is not a nice thing to do, but sometimes with close friends or family it is a sign of affection. Notice the following:

  1. Do your brothers make fun of you?
  2. She got made fun of a lot when she was younger.

Vocabulary Quiz

fundraised • humongous • ended up
kiddish • make fun of
  1. The kids at school are going to this stupid shirt.
  2. My bedroom decorations are kind of for me now.
  3. I just going home after work because I was really tired.
  4. These hamburgers are . There's no way I can eat the whole thing.
  5. Our team almost $10,000 for charity.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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