0:02
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Leo Alves podcast.
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And in today's podcast episode, I have a guest with me.
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He is someone who's been on before, but that was about f four years ago now.
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Um so it's been a while and I decided you know what?
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It's time it's time it's it's it's time for you to come on again.
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Um he is a a friend of mine, he has come to stay with me here in Portugal as well.
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So
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You know, I was like, how how have we not had a follow-up episode?
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It's overdue.
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Um anyway, I won't say too much.
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I'll let Austin introduce himself, what he does, where he's from.
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Um
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who his uh favorite I guess Marvel MCU character is and and and and shit like that and then we'll go from there.
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Anyway, over to you Austin.
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Who is Austin Chan?
0:47
Yeah, so my name is Austin Chan.
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I am a personal trainer slash online coach of nine, almost ten years.
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I'm based out here in New York City now, but
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So where I'm from, I'm from all over the States.
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I was born in Iowa, grew up in Hawaii, went to Oregon for school, and then as of most recently moved.
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to New York City about two and a half years ago.
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Absolutely love it here.
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I think this is like the right place for this current phase of my life.
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And
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Yeah, that that's pretty much it from like a quick intro of me and then my favorite Marvel character would for sure be Iron Man.
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Austin’s favourite Marvel character
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Oh really?
1:22
Are you are you still very much uh watching
1:26
Like the MCU, because I remember we spoke about it like four years ago on your podcast.
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And I'm gonna be honest, I was like a a casual, like I was a massive casual, but I didn't
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I don't know why at the time I didn't really say anything, so I wasn't I don't think I needed to, but I remember uh some of what you were saying I didn't totally get, but this
year, no, like the past I would say year and a half, I've been slowly going through it all
1:50
So is it something like you ever read the comics or are you just like the TV shows and movies?
1:56
Mostly the TV shows and movies.
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The comics, not much, a tiny bit, but nothing where if someone spoke to me I'd be able to probably entertain it.
2:04
But like very very casu like yeah, just a tiny bit with the comics.
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I don't want to say not at all, but a tiny bit.
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But yeah, the the movies and the series is what I've been slowly going through um over the last year and a half with my wife.
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Gotcha.
2:19
Yeah, I never got into the comics.
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Like even even as a kid, I just it just never is something that will uh like I got into the realm of.
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And I
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Only really like started falling into like when like the OG what was it called the phase phase one back in 2008 when like Iron Man, Captain America, all these initial all
the initial Avengers came out and then I think
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Just like a lot of other people, we like closely followed everything.
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All the movies that came out were super hyped.
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And then after phase one, it sort of just dropped off.
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And I think that was in combination with COVID and everything that was happening.
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And then they started doing a bunch of spin-off of these shows.
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And then I followed along for a little bit.
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And then eventually I just fell off because there's just way too much stuff to follow.
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Austin and Leo’s problem with the MCU
3:02
And then you had to
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It almost felt like you had to follow along this series to understand what's happening and take the next one.
3:09
And then I think it just got too laborious
3:12
to have to follow every single little thing and then they were trying to do spin-offs of this, spin off of that, and then some were really good, but then some were also
terrible.
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But I think the last thing that I watched was probably
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The recent Thor movie came out?
3:28
Oh wasn't that a while ago?
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I think so, but was that the last major thing came out or was did something else?
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No, since then there's been like
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Captain America.
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But like the Falcon is now Captain America.
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Again, with the Red Hulk, there was Fantastic Four
3:48
Oh yeah yeah.
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There was Thunderbolts.
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I ha I think Thunderbolts is the only movie I haven't seen yet.
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I know I think there was like one or two more, but I'm not remembering now.
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So there's been quite a bit.
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I think the last four movie came out a while ago.
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And I you know what I'm gonna say, like I don't really like the way Marvel have like
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made four just a bit I think almost you could say cringy.
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Like he he in like his first few movies that he was in, including his own like he was like this like
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Just like this almost immortal godlike figure and then like as the as the MCU was go MCU was going on, I don't know, they just
4:29
They almost made him a bit of a meme.
4:33
Like wait, wait, sorry, who were you talking about?
4:35
Four.
4:36
Four?
4:37
Ah, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah.
4:39
Yeah.
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So I don't know about that, but
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Yeah.
4:42
Mm-hmm.
4:42
Yeah, that's kind of how I feel and I've heard from critics where it they they you can yeah, you can see it in all the characters that they write.
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It's almost they they try to make them
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Like have have like the hero part and the other side, but then they always try to force some humor and then they try to make everyone funny, which then like then it almost
starts to feel like every single character kind of feels the same and they're always like these like jokey witty
5:09
like characters which is which is funny in some aspects but also at the same time if you want each character to have its own personality and depth like you should not be
trying to make it
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every character the same.
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Like it's fine if Thor is not funny.
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Like it but then other characters can come in as like a comic relief.
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I think Marvel try and force that a lot with their movies.
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Like a bit of like humor but it's like the shit humor
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That's just it doesn't really land.
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It's just you can f tell it feels a bit forced.
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I think the Marvel series are really good because the Marvel series
5:42
No, I haven't seen all of them.
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What I've seen is like a lot of the ones that were made for Netflix are like the Defenders type of world, like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones.
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um The Punisher, Daredevil, uh I am Fist.
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Like they don't force crap humor into that.
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And like you can tell it it just feels better.
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Like it's uh it's darker, it's like grittier.
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Um
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And uh I think I think what they had going with those, and I know it's not made for Netflix anymore, but yeah, I think they were really good.
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Um the low-key series I thought was quite good.
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Uh as well, like I thought that that was quite good.
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But yeah, like the series they don't really force this humor, but in the movies, like it's always like, yeah, I even say it to my wife, it's like, oh dear.
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And they they're back at it again with the just crap like jokes that they have to force into every movie and it's just I don't think I've even cracked a smile.
6:34
Uh any yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, it feels too forced and it it feels like they're just writing like the same stuff over and over again.
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And then every movie just kind of feels like rinsed and repeated.
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I don't know if that has anything to do with who they hire for the directors and all of that.
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But I think there's only like a handful of them that just do direct the Marvel movies.
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Uh I'm not totally into it.
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Uh into that side.
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Like I'm not totally certain, but I know certain directors have come and gone, like there was been like pay disputes, etc.
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So I I don't I'm not entirely certain, but um
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What I know is what I I do agree with you how like they were I think they were just going too ham on their releases for a while in like the last few years where it was almost
like a quantity over quality thing.
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And I think they lost a lot of people with that.
7:23
Um I do think it seems like from what I'm hearing it's like they're s they're starting to get that now and they're starting to relax on the amount of quantity they're
putting out and prioritizing quality again.
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Um like the Spider-Man movie coming out this year and uh the Avengers movie coming out this year.
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So it's getting a lot of uh attention
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And then I think there's either like a Punisher movie coming out or a series coming out.
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I can't remember which one this year as well, which um I don't know if you've seen any of the Punisher, but that's really good as well.
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I only see I've seen season one and then like his cameos in like the Daredevil series as well.
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And those were really good.
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Um so I'm looking forward to that.
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The greatness of the Daredevil series
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Mm, okay.
8:02
Yeah, yeah, I was looking to get into that because I I saw him in the Daredevil and he's actually like a really good character.
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Have you seen Daredevil series?
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I what am I on?
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I think I'm on season four or something right now.
8:14
Oh I haven't I've seen one term three.
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I haven't seen four and five yet because I'm trying to Oh wait no is four the the one that came out recent
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It's like the bought born again.
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No, season th so on Disney Plus they did a four and a five, which is like
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A born-again part because they kinda almost I think I heard they almost wanted to redo it entirely, but a lot of people were like, no, no, no.
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Like one, two, and three were really good.
8:37
You can't redo it entirely.
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So you're gonna have to build from there.
8:41
No like there's a four and five and uh it was like five that came out recently.
8:48
Oh okay, okay.
8:49
That's probably the one that I saw like a bunch of marketing for.
8:52
Yeah, yeah.
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But um yeah, I'm happy that they're relaxing a bit because a lot of what they were putting out like you can tell like there's this weird face as well, because as I was going
through all the movies
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Um and I was watching trying to watch it in chronological order where I feel like you can see like the quality just declined a bit, like the storytelling.
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Um and it just it just didn't feel as good.
9:16
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
9:18
Yeah, but I did see the trailer for the new Spider-Man movie.
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I'm pretty stoked for that.
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It looks good.
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And I heard Daredevil and the Punisher in it.
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I don't know if that's true.
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Yeah, I think in the The Punisher I did see him in the trailer.
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I don't know about that though.
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Maybe that could be a surprise thing.
9:33
Yeah, maybe.
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Spider Man Noir releasing
9:39
Oh, okay.
9:40
Yeah.
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Wait, who who's gonna play Spider-Man here?
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It's someone who's quite well known and he's completely slipping my mind.
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Nicholas Cage?
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Make this cage.
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I think so.
9:54
Like let me I want to give ahoo oh is it based off of the the multiverse thing?
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Yeah, Snicker.
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Oh, he play he plays like the middle aged Spider-Man.
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It's like a Spider-Man set like back in like I don't know
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In like the nineteen hundreds.
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Oh no oh no um the the no the noir thing?
10:16
Yeah, Spider-Man Noir.
10:18
Ah okay.
10:21
Yeah
10:23
Yeah, which um I don't know how you feel about that.
10:26
I'll I'll I will be watching it.
10:28
Yeah.
10:29
Yeah, I think it'd be a cool concept.
10:31
I couldn't I didn't expect Nicolas Cage to be playing Spider-Man
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Yeah.
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Although no, didn't he voice it in Spider-Man the Multiverse?
10:41
I haven't seen Spider-Man the Multiverse.
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Oh, it's set in 1933
10:49
Yeah, we'll see how it goes.
10:51
Um did you have any other like really geeky Marvel stuff to bring up before I move on to a different subject?
10:59
No, I don't think so.
11:00
That's pretty much it.
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Yeah.
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But yeah.
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Um let's see how everything goes.
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This is gonna be out for obviously forever, like this podcast episode, so in a few years people will be like, oh, they're speaking about that trash
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That came out with such high hopes.
11:15
Mm-hmm.
11:16
Yeah.
11:16
Yeah.
11:17
No, yeah, no, that was rubbish guys
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And it's sorry to let you guys.
11:20
No, I'm actually looking forward to Doomsday.
11:22
Um Fantastic Four was really good.
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Yeah.
11:24
Um well actually I enjoyed it.
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I don't know how other people felt, but Fantastic Four was quite good.
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Have you seen that?
11:30
Yeah, it was okay
11:32
The movie oh I liked it.
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Yeah.
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But yeah, with uh Doctor Doom being the villain, I think that's quite cool.
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And I'm quite curious to see how they uh
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Um how they um make um like because obviously it's the same actor that played Tony Stark.
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I'm quite curious to see how they I'm quite curious to see how they approach that.
11:55
Mm-hmm.
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Yeah.
11:57
Yeah.
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Marvel are going to pretend like almost at like
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It's a completely new person.
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But knowing Marvel, I don't feel they're not gonna do that.
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Like I know knowing Marvel they're going to make some sort of like link.
12:14
Yeah, that's fair.
12:17
And then they can't just be like, oh, he's a totally different guy.
12:20
Yeah, yeah.
12:20
Who who who will pretend has never existed before and then not play Iron Man for about 10 years or 15 years.
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But anyway, I know you went to Colombia recently.
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Austin’s trip to Colombia
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Oh yeah, I did.
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Yeah.
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How was Colombia how long were you there for?
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I was there for about two and a half weeks.
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Oh wow, that's a wow.
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How was it?
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Yeah, it was so it was awesome, honestly.
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It's like at face value, like you hear about all these stories of like
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South American countries are being like dangerous and crime ridden and all that and I think that like that's partially true, especially if you go to if you go and seek out
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certain things like you go and seek out like sex and drugs and all that like you're gonna run into trouble because that those are just like sketchy
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industries in the country.
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But if you for the most part stay in like the touristy areas, practice just safe habits.
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Like don't like go around waving your phone and don't go around attracting attention.
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and inviting and wanted trouble, I think you're gonna be fine.
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Like there are people who there's still probably millions of people who visit the that country like every year.
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And it's like one of the hottest like tourist destinations right now.
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Now in the world.
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And so my trip specifically though, I flew to Medellin and then stayed there for four nights.
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And then I'd actually have a friend who lives there.
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And so we hung out for a little bit and showed me around.
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Oh.
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Yeah.
13:43
Yeah.
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And then Medellin was was awesome.
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It's the city with like the perfect weather because of the way that it just sits in the valley.
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And so every day is just temperate and you can walk around t-shirt shorts and it doesn't feel too hot or too cold.
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And then I went down to Celento, which is like the middle part of Colombia, which is the the coffee region where they grow a lot of coffee.
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And so bought a lot of coffee, went on a coffee tour, and then also went on the the Valle de Cocoro, which is a valley with like the cocoa trees, which is like the tallest
palm trees in the world
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So yeah, that was a pretty incredible experience to see in person.
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And then went down to Neva, which is where where my friend lives, and then also hung out with him again.
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And showed me around his hometown.
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And that was a bit more slow-paced, not like a ton to do.
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And so it was nice to just live life like a local and just hang out.
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Yeah.
14:41
Yeah, actually.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I was gonna say uh went up to Boko Ta after that, stayed there for a couple of nights, and then from there I did take a trip out to the Amazons, which is that was a pretty once
in a lifetime
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experience.
14:56
Yeah, that's awesome.
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And finished in Cartagena.
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Okay.
15:00
And you've been to South America twice now?
15:03
Yeah, this is my second time.
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Last year I went to Brazil, this year Colombia
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Yeah, you're you're quite well traveled, I think.
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You've been like going abroad quite a lot over the last few years, which is quite cool.
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Um
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What I I would say, like I'm sure that with that has come like a lot of observations in regard to let's say how like pe how people live abroad.
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London being a diverse food city
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Yeah.
15:29
Well, abroad, if you don't live there, like how people live in other countries compared to let's say the US or in the or the UK.
15:37
I I know you've never been to the UK.
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Maybe someday and you can try our
15:41
Um I know your I know you you like to banter English food and I was going to make an English food I was going to make an English food joke, but you know what?
15:50
I won't.
15:51
Because it that's actually I w that is actually exaggerated online, believe it or not.
15:55
But London is a very good food Yeah, London is a good food city.
15:59
Okay.
16:00
Yeah.
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Like But here's my thing, can you can actually find like that type of food though in London, right?
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Like if you go out of your way to look for it.
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Or is that more in like the rural areas, like the more suburban or rural areas?
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Like what?
16:12
Like the online like to make it clear to the listener, you mean like the online taking like the piss
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culture out of like just not very good English.
16:19
Yeah or like what's it called?
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The that disgusting looking it's like the eel pies and like the the green gravy.
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Stuff.
16:26
Like it looks like that's actually a dish in in England, right?
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Um obviously, like I said, like a lot of it was just exaggerated online for like comical purposes and ha ha ha.
16:37
Sometimes it's funny.
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Um
16:39
Uh yeah, you could, you know, if you go looking for it, like you'll find it.
16:43
But like that's like in America, like if I looked for something like I saw canned chicken.
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Like do you know like but like a whole chicken in a can like in America like do you know what I mean?
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Like so if you look for that stuff like but it's funny but it's so it it's a stereotype, honestly.
16:57
England
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I know if you're from the UK and you're hearing this, you're gonna agree with me because you know, but then if you're abroad and you've always heard that funny
stereotype but you've never actually been, you're just gonna think this guy's chatting shit.
17:09
But like England like does have quite good food if you go looking for it, especially in London.
17:14
Like l London's like one of the biggest cities in the world.
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We have like I think one of the some of the most five-star like Michelin ranked restaurants
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So like if you can't find good l food in London, like it's definitely a skill issue.
17:26
It's like finding good food in New York.
17:28
Like how the fuck can you not
17:32
Right.
17:33
Yeah.
17:33
All jokes aside I've heard New York and London are very similar.
17:36
And if it is similar if it is similar in terms of diversity, I'm sure you'll find really good food.
17:41
Yeah.
17:41
Like you can find good food.
17:43
I'm sure like you can find bad food in New York.
17:45
It's like the same.
17:46
Like like the same way, but like yeah, no, London's got good food.
17:49
And as long as you don't go to like those touristy destinations, um, where there's like tourist traps and they probably charge you like three times the price for like
this just like bang average meal
17:59
Then you'll probably leave it with a bit of a bad taste in your mouth, pun intended.
18:03
Um but then uh no, like otherwise you're gonna you're gonna be good
18:07
Um but yeah anyway, we have gotten way too s well I got way too sidetracked there.
18:10
Austin’s observations of going abroad versus the USA
18:11
Like I'm sure you've noticed a lot of observations of let's say how people live abroad compared to let's say the US
18:17
Um I think it'd be quite cool to discuss some of those differences.
18:21
Maybe why you think maybe the US in general struggles like has let's say higher levels of obesity, like maybe like lower like
18:30
I think it was a declining life expectancy for a while, although I think it started to stabilize.
18:35
Um like maybe why you think maybe those factors are at play in the US compared to
18:40
I guess you traveling abroad as you as much as you have over the last few years to various different destinations.
18:46
And uh maybe you can list some of those destinations and uh and then maybe I don't know discuss there
18:51
Yeah, I'd say in recent years I've traveled abroad to like Southeast Asia.
18:57
I went to Vietnam last year, and then like we said, I went to Brazil, Colombia
19:03
this year and then went to Europe I went to Portugal and Spain to visit you.
19:08
That was a couple years ago at this point.
19:10
And
19:11
very high level observation from someone from someone who's a foreigner in these countries.
19:16
I'd say the biggest thing that I've noticed between
19:20
between the US and then these countries uh as it relates to like obesity and health reasons
19:27
So the biggest thing is probably just portion sizes.
19:30
Like I I go abroad I'm someone who eats a lot.
19:32
I like I I actually like the American portion sizes, so that's something I miss when I go abroad.
19:36
But I can understand that you go to another country and you have portion sizes that are smaller and it's like
19:42
It's well it's been well shown in in research that if you have less food put in front of you, you are going to eat less.
19:49
And then because of that, that's going to lead to less obesity rates and people just eating less overall
19:55
And another thing would be I think people just generally are like more exercising exercise focus and like walk everywhere.
20:03
Cities are generally just built to be more walkable.
20:06
And then even in places where people don't walk as much, like I noticed in especially in like the southern part of Vietnam with like everyone just on motorcycles, uh,
that like
20:15
Still people are like have health more than like the the forefront of their mind.
20:19
Like they're still focused on like eating healthy and just trying to stay active.
20:23
I see sometimes I'll see like public spaces in the parks.
20:26
They have like these free gyms that you can just go and use.
20:29
Uh which is something here in the US is very hard to find.
20:33
But then for sure Columbia, I saw like a bunch of free gyms outside.
20:36
Like every
20:38
Every week they there's this park in Medellin that they completely shut down and you can go and jog and you can go and like bike down.
20:45
And so for sure there's a more of an emphasis and focus on health in these other countries.
20:51
And I think
20:52
Also, like elephant in the room that like when you go about in other countries, especially compared to the US, the focus on work culture is just not as big of a thing
21:04
Like people in the US, they that's like the common phrase everyone likes to say that people in the US often work to live, whereas other places they no, no, the US lives to
work, and then other places they work to live
21:17
And essentially what that phrase means is that the US, like we focus so much energy and parts of our lives into working and growing our careers and
21:28
And just putting down the forefront of our minds that we often prioritize that and then sacrifice other portions of our lives for work and progression and their
careers and everything.
21:36
But other countries, work, yes, work is a non-negotiable part of life and it is part of people's lives where they show up every single day.
21:45
But at the same time, there's not as much of an emphasis on that people
21:49
will take breaks without a second thought, people will take vacation without a second thought.
21:53
And if they have to prioritize other things, they'll be like, okay, the work isn't your work is important, but it's not like the end all because that the most important
thing
22:01
on their schedule.
22:02
And so I think there's just and because of that, there's just this more relaxed pace, I feel, especially, especially living here in New York.
22:10
People are just always constantly on the go.
22:11
And they're constantly trying to focus on getting the next thing, getting to work.
22:15
And then lunch is seemed as like something you just have to scarf down food really quickly.
22:19
Whereas especially in South America, like people are very much focused on like
22:24
Cooking like good quality meals.
22:27
If you're taking lunch, you take like the full hour, you take even taking a little bit of extra time where you can actually truly sit down and like enjoy your meal.
22:34
And I've even watched this social media post on how
22:38
Peep people say like in and I've noticed this in person too that in Colombia and in Brazil, you go to the grocery store and the frozen section does not have that many
options.
22:46
Whereas here in the US, you go to the frozen section
22:48
You can get any type of meal that you want frozen and ready to go.
22:52
And I've heard the the base reason for this is because people in South America, they focus on like quality foods and like
22:59
Actually, sitting down cooking and it and having a high quality meal is seen as a very important thing.
23:05
And that's something that you should like really take the time for.
23:09
And it's not something you can just skim over and like scarf down real quick.
23:14
Yeah, I would say yeah, it's that's very accurate as well.
23:18
I would I would agree with all of that based on uh my observations as well.
23:23
Yeah, I think um
23:26
I feel like the UK is a bit guilty of some of what you said about the US as well.
23:32
Um maybe
23:34
not so much on the work life culture, but sometimes how like food can be almost like just something you get done.
23:35
The work/life balance in the USA
23:40
It's like just get it done, get it out of the way, like just scoff it down, move on to the next thing that you have to do
23:46
Um but yeah, the US is definitely like I think really like guilty of that, you could almost say.
23:53
And definitely like the work culture, hustle culture.
23:57
Um
23:58
I know like workers in the US have a a lot less rights compared to many other nations across the world.
24:09
Like I think and I could be wrong about some of this, but like I think paid time off, um, like different rules about sick leave.
24:16
I think you can like I think you're allowed to get sacked on the spot in the US, whereas a lot of other countries
24:23
You're not allowed to for you that's not allowed to happen.
24:27
Uh like there's a lot of uh legal things that would have to happen first.
24:31
Um
24:32
Yeah, so I definitely I can I can see where you're coming from with a lot of that with uh yeah the you know folks in the US working no living to work
24:43
And uh and then where you're noticing that it's otherwise the other way around uh around the world.
24:49
And I think um did di do you know if the the life expectancy has steadied out in the US?
24:55
Is that something you've even learned
24:56
I don't I don't know.
24:57
No, honestly no, I haven't looked too much into numbers.
25:00
Life exercise.
25:01
Yeah.
25:02
I'm gonna check that out now.
25:05
Um yeah
25:07
Yeah, but for sure the the workers' rights and especially I mean I'm a personal trainer in New York City, so I work with a lot of people based in New York.
25:14
And you know, a lot of the people come to me with a lot of problems like
25:17
Oh, like I have a tr I have trouble with eating because they'll be like I s often skip lunch because I work right through lunch and then there's just literally no balance
and they
25:26
So yeah, I start work at like 8 a.
25:28
m.
25:29
in the morning and then I don't finish until like 8 p.
25:31
m.
25:32
or even sometimes closer to midnight.
25:33
And it's just these
25:35
crazy demanding jobs that people literally have to sacrifice their health and they have to sacrifice other aspects.
25:41
Whereas you go abroad and like this is not a thing.
25:44
People like are encouraged to take time away from work and actually have that balance.
25:49
Yeah.
25:50
Um okay, so I've just checked it.
25:53
It turns out the life expectancy was declining for a few years
25:57
From 2019 to 2021 and then it started working its way up since then.
26:01
Um back up since then.
26:02
Um I also wanted to ask your opinion on like the
26:10
the like the medical culture what's the what's the word like healthcare situation out there in the US like I don't wanna like
26:18
First of all, I want to make it clear, like, I don't want this episode to be like uh a poo-poo on the US type of episode.
26:23
Like the US has a lot of like pros to it as well.
26:26
You know, um I'm like there are
26:28
A lot of cool things in the US.
26:30
Like you guys have Pop Tarts.
26:32
Uh but otherwise no I'm joking.
26:34
I'm joking.
26:35
We got Pop Tarts, we got McDonald's dude
26:38
There's there's a lot of like genuinely like the US has has a lot of genuinely cool stuff as well.
26:43
Like I think like for example um the sports culture in the US is very admirable.
26:48
Like I love the way how I like the system how like
26:50
youth athletes will, you know, make their way to pro.
26:53
And I like the uh the seriousness with like college level sports.
26:57
Like I think all of that is really cool.
26:58
And you know, I've just picked a random thing out, but there's many other things as well.
27:01
But I I guess this is just
27:03
the way that the discussion has naturally gone down.
27:05
Um but yeah what's your view on like the healthcare culture uh as or like the situation I guess compared to where other places are visited?
27:06
Austin’s opinion on American healthcare
27:16
I yeah, so I was I mean I haven't first had gotten to first hand experience the healthcare system in other countries like you know knock on wood.
27:23
Fortunately I haven't gotten seriously injured or had to go to the hospital or go to the doctor in other countries.
27:30
Uh and but from what I've heard and for it from people who have and people who post on social media about recounting their experiences and then also just me living in the
US as that someone who participates in the healthcare system here.
27:44
Long story short, it is like pretty jacked up.
27:47
Yeah, there's just so many things wrong with it in terms of like
27:52
There's basically no regulation as to how much drug companies, hospital, doctors can can charge you.
27:58
And then oftentimes there's just so many layers to it that I I don't even know all the layers and uh this is just me fearing from
28:05
like through the grave friend from other people who talk about like being in the healthcare system who who work in the healthcare system and who also have had more
in-depth like
28:14
participation like people have who have had to go through the healthcare system more because of their they've had medical issues or health problems.
28:21
But it's just there's just so many layers on top of it between
28:27
And then a lot of times the doctors prescribe you medicine.
28:30
They don't even know the price.
28:31
And so it's it's not even revealed to them until they make the purchase and then they prescribe you
28:36
like medicine and then on top of that the these healthcare companies who do charge us for insurance it's these crazy high premium plans who like barely cover you stuff
and barely give you the
28:48
the the like the minimal coverage and then when anything does happen we have something called a deductible and so because because if you don't pay as much into the
system then that means they won't cover you as much and so a lot of times these
29:03
Plans with high very high deductibles, you have to pay like the first 10 or like 15 grand out of pocket.
29:10
And then after that, they they'll start covering you.
29:13
for that so it's like after you've paid 10 000 or 15 000 of your own money then they'll start covering more and so this is they say it's for like emergencies so like if you
were to pay for like a life saving surgery
29:24
Yeah, the you you wouldn't have to pay as much, but at the same time, you still have to take out 10 to 15 grand of your own money.
29:32
And especially now with the cost of living crisis and people just don't have enough savings, like one
29:38
tiny accident that might not be your fault can put you into crippling debt that you'll never be able to pay off.
29:43
And so because of this, the believe the statistic is that like medical debt is the number one debt in the United States and most citizens are facing that.
29:52
Okay.
29:53
And how do you feel about that personally?
29:57
Personally, I think I mean I think it's just fucked up and we need to do something about it.
30:01
But with the current state of politics and where everything is at, I don't s foresee change.
30:06
anytime soon.
30:07
Hmm.
30:08
Yeah.
30:09
Yeah.
30:10
I uh yeah probab probably not.
30:13
There's probably a lot of other things that it seems like uh politicians
30:18
At least in power right now, I'm going to want to prioritize instead.
30:22
Um So J d did you have anything else you wanted to say about anything?
30:28
Uh uh uh in regard to anything about that before I asked the next question?
30:34
No, it's just yeah, it's just the the messed up healthcare system.
30:38
I wish we had something similar to to other countries in terms of like a single payer system.
30:43
But then obviously the now we're getting to like the politics discussion where at the end of the day it's like our politicians just lack the political will and they
don't want to do stuff to help the people.
30:54
They'd rather
30:56
appeal to their wealthy donors who are in who are often in these farto consumer farto the pharmaceutical industries who like pay them lots of money to turn down any sort
of build.
31:06
change.
31:07
I can't even argue with that.
31:09
Um like I said, just so this doesn't end up sounding like some anti-US episode, what is something you feel like was quite uh is quite good or positive
31:13
What Austin appreciates more about the USA after travelling
31:19
within the US that you feel like you appreciate more after traveling uh abroad to various different countries and continents over the last few years?
31:30
Hmm.
31:31
Good question.
31:32
I'd say in terms of just like for what if like the US just being one of the like the more developed like Western countries that it just having like basic infrastructure
like I don't have to
31:44
Like like when I turn on and go like get hot water or like the electricity is like working 100% of the time and it's like system.
31:51
I mean you can argue that certain places
31:54
still are like below the curve.
31:56
But I'd say the majority in the US you still have access to a lot of basic infrastructure and basic services.
32:02
Like you don't have to worry about the electricity going out or you don't have to worry about not being able to drink from your tap.
32:08
Yeah, it's just like basic stuff like that.
32:09
Like I go to and then so like certainly also cultural things.
32:12
Like if I go to a restaurant, I'd I I'm sure you remember this like if you go to any restaurant in the US, first thing that they do is set you a glass of tap water
32:21
Whereas like you go abroad in other countries, you have to order like a bottle of water, you have to order like sparkling water or something.
32:27
And this is just something that I I take for granted here because yeah, I'm expecting a glass of water so I can at least like hydrate myself, especially after a long day of
just running
32:35
of just running around and exploring the city and all that.
32:38
And like I just don't it's just the extra friction of I don't mind paying for bottle water, but it's also the extra friction of like why do I have to pay for this one
32:45
Hey, I'm used to going to a restaurant back home and they just serve me a glass of water.
32:50
Uh and I'd say also just culturally the the US, and I've heard this from a lot of people
32:58
as well that generally people in the US just have a different mentality when it comes to just being like entrepreneurial that people are just
33:07
naturally are driven and that if they have an idea they're not afraid to speak about that ideal and they if they have some sort of like business pursuit or some sort of
hobby that they want to pursue, there's just
33:19
There's no fear of like being judged and people and they just want to I'm gonna go out and do this thing.
33:24
I don't care who whoever thinks about and then as a result, they're much more willing to take risk and sort of like quote unquote stand out from society and stand out from
the crowd.
33:34
Yeah, I 100% agree.
33:36
I think that's another big positive about the US.
33:38
Like there is definitely more that um I think that there's definitely like a more of an entrepreneur
33:39
The entrepreneurial mindset being less common in the UK
33:45
style mindset and I would say that's also more widely accepted whereas I think for example where I'm from in the UK that's more like
33:53
That's not as common and it's more I think almost either immediately like shut down or not taken seriously or I don't want to say laughed at, but it's just yeah, it's not
really taken as seriously.
34:04
Um yeah, people don't really just
34:08
I think generally speaking, like think in that direction as much.
34:14
Um, I don't want to sound like I'm a hating or anything.
34:16
It's just a genuine observation where people I don't know.
34:18
It's just not something
34:20
people will I think you like consider is the right word.
34:24
Uh whereas in the US it's like more common like oh I've got an idea I'm gonna try it.
34:28
Oh it didn't work out well.
34:29
That's all right.
34:30
I'll I'll try the next thing or it just wasn't for me and you know
34:33
I'll I'll do you know, go back to like a nine to five.
34:37
Um whereas in the UK I just don't think really people really entertain the idea at all.
34:41
And when it is brought up, I think people kind of like almost
34:44
Um I think it's quite easy for people around you to almost shrug it off as well.
34:48
Um or or just not like take what you're going to do that seriously.
34:54
Why I I don't know.
34:55
I actually don't know.
34:56
Yeah.
34:57
But yeah, I do like that about the US for sure.
34:59
Yeah.
35:00
Would you see in the in the UK are people still like equally like as encouraging?
35:04
Because I'd say in the US
35:05
Like if you have I have a telling an idea that my friends say like, yeah, dude, you should go for it.
35:09
Like worst thing can happen, doesn't work out, and you like find something else.
35:12
But like do you feel like
35:14
If you were to go to like your same friend social circle and like say like you just pitch an idea, you're like, hey guys, I've been thinking about starting my own business
and doing this, like would people have the same level of encouragement?
35:26
The thing is I haven't lived in the UK for uh quite a few years now.
35:29
Um so there is that.
35:31
But and I think obviously like
35:34
With with speaking quite generally here because ultimately it's going to depend on who you surround yourself with, right?
35:40
But I do think generally speaking, like from my experience, Americans are more like quite like
35:46
outgoing, more sociable.
35:49
Um like they're like, yeah, dude, like you got this, man, let's go.
35:53
Whereas in the UK it's more like, uh, alright then.
35:56
That's yeah, that's why yeah, why not?
35:58
Yeah, go for it.
35:59
Like like a bit more like
36:03
I don't even think they mean anything by it.
36:05
I just think it's a more cultural thing.
36:08
But and yeah, like that's just generally speaking.
36:11
like of course you are going it depend yeah you are gonna find I I I just think people in the US is just a more normal thing to do and try and pursue and then
36:21
It's just not as common.
36:23
Um whether or not people will like support what you do there.
36:28
Probably.
36:29
I do feel like Americans are more enthusiastic about supporting the
36:33
Uh I d I do generally speaking.
36:36
Um What's your favorite thing?
36:39
Uh was there anything else you wanted to say before I asked maybe the last question?
36:44
Uh no, no.
36:46
What's your favorite thing about living in New York?
36:47
Austin’s favourite thing about living in New York City
36:50
Oh my favorite thing.
36:51
I'd say the
36:54
diversity even though DI you know like some people I guess DI but yeah that's I like that a lot about London as well.
37:03
Yeah
37:03
Mm-hmm.
37:04
Yeah.
37:04
Yeah, like I can literally take the train, go anywhere, try any food from around the world, and I I have done that.
37:11
And then also just like my and like my friend group just so diverse where people from all over the country and all over the world.
37:18
And the fact that I like every day I I can have the opportunity to interact with someone from around the world and just for me I'm I'm huge into that.
37:25
I'd love learning about other cultures, other countries.
37:28
other other people and just seeing like a different lens on how people experience life and how people just go through the like the daily habits.
37:38
And this is also something that I've been discovering more as I've
37:41
As I've traveled the world too, where you go to other countries and you're like, wow, this they have been here for hundreds of years and this is their way of life.
37:49
And like the way it's like we're so similar in some senses, but we're also so different in a lot of
37:55
as to how we approach life at the bad idea that if they were all human.
38:00
Yeah, I agree.
38:00
I feel like quite similar about London.
38:03
It's just like, yeah, so many and I think that's that's one thing I'm very grateful to have grown up around, like so many different types of people from so many different
walks of life.
38:11
Cause um yeah, I think it's something you genuinely genuinely learn to like
38:16
uh uh appre appreciate once you've grown up and you're like wow there that was actually quite good for me um to be around you know so many different people from so many
walks of life uh
38:29
I think it can only be a net plot positive when you've grown up and you've got like so many all those different experiences
38:37
um from having grown up in and around that.
38:41
Uh like with the food, the cultures, the people, the friends.
38:46
You name it.
38:47
Um was there anything else that we didn't mention from throughout this podcast episode that you'd quite like to mention before I wind it down?
38:54
Because I know you have to go soon.
38:56
Yeah, yeah.
38:57
No, I think I think we're good
38:58
Yeah.
38:59
Okay.
38:59
Well, where can people find you?
39:02
Where to keep in touch with Austin Chan
39:02
You can find me.
39:03
I'm most active on Instagram nowadays, so you can follow me on Austin Chan Fitness.
39:08
And uh yeah, I think that's my most active platform.
39:10
platform.
39:11
I do upload I try to upload weekly YouTube videos now.
39:15
I just go on Reddit and like answer some questions from R slash fitness.
39:19
But I'd say those are the two main platforms that I'm consistently uploading and just active on.
39:24
Okay, nice.
39:26
I will uh link your Instagram and YouTube channel in the show notes of this podcast episode.
39:31
I've got like that's where I put all the links.
39:33
So
39:34
If you want to, as the listener, if you want to you know check out any of the links, you can just click in the show notes.
39:39
Otherwise, Austin, thank you very much for hopping on today.
39:45
I appreciate that.
39:46
And uh otherwise take care.
39:48
See you around.
39:49
Yeah, yeah, of course.
39:51
Yeah.
39:51
Let's go, America.
