It was a hot and steamy Monday night, but most nights lately are. Well, they're hot and steamy. Monday still only comes once a week. Anyway, it was hot and steamy, and I was recovering from a mildly frustrating day of small children going wild and bigger children being unresponsive. I was up in my living room, playing my guitar, feeling much more relaxed than I had earlier, when suddenly James appears. He tells me that the director wants to talk to me. I was concerned, especially as I didn't feel that that day was anywhere near my most effective at work. Maybe it showed more than I thought. Thoughts such as these assailed me as I made my way down the dark stairway.
We entered the school, and like the stairway, all was dark. The only light appeared to be coming from a small lamp in the director's office, next to her computer. She sat silhouetted at the table, watching us approach. Or, at least I assumed she was watching. She was silhouetted, so it was hard to say for sure. We arrived in the office and she motioned for us to sit. As we sat she said something in Korean to James. It was short, and I'm assuming to the point, because afterwards there was silence. No translation. No speaking whatsoever. We sat there, looking at one another, and when that became too much, at other, random, things. The director said something to James, again. He nodded, then asked something. She turned around and pulled a thick envelope out of a drawer. She faced us again, tapping the envelope against her fingers, looking at me and smiling. I was thoroughly baffled, and slightly scared, at this point.
Then the phone rang. I jumped a bit. The director answered it, said a few quick things, then got up and left without saying another word to us, taking the envelope with her. I asked James what was going on. He said not to worry, that everything is being sorted out, but wouldn't elaborate further. I still didn't even know what needed to be sorted out.
The director returned. She strode rather purposefully into the office, resumed her seat and placed the envelope, which seemed to have gotten even thicker, on the table. She smiled at me and slid it across the table to me. I looked at her, then at James, then at the envelope, then at my shoe, then at her again, and shrugged. I took the envelope. The envelope stuffed to capacity with cash.
She said something to James, who prompted me to count, "to make sure its all there." I was still a bit confused, but it suddenly dawned on me. I was getting paid! I had figured that wasn't going to come for another week or so at the earliest. The whole Mafia payola scene still had me a little off balance, and I wasn't at all sure what was in need of sorting out ealier, but I went ahead and counted it. It was all there. A full months pay, in cash, in an envelope. A good way to end a moderately bad day.
The following day (today), I went to distribute that cash to those fine institutions that temporarily funded my education. It was either that or my first born son, and really Keegan, you don't want to live at the bank. No toys, and they frown upon arts and crafts with the currency. So they get my money instead. Getting it to them was a process, to be sure. I had to fill out transfer forms, try to remember the address of my bank (who remembers that stuff?), some running back and forth between the bank and my house for ID, bank addresses and such, and a whole bunch of other fun stuff like that. Thankfully, after a half hour or so that was over.
On to teach. Teaching today was much better than yesterday. One of my favorite things about student workbooks and textbooks is the use of names for people. I love it when somehow they happen to stumble across the name of someone I know. Now, I'm not talking about just a first name. That's nothing. But when a first and last name come together, it's pretty cool. Especially when it puts that person in a scenario they could never possibly be in. In this case, we have one Nocash Jones (not someoneI know, if anyone is curious) being interviewed by the police who are looking for his best friend, one Mary Cleaver. It seems she's on the lam in Australia for unknown crimes. How is old Nocash these days anyway, Mary? Hope you're enjoying Australia.
Well, back to that hot and steamy business mentioned earlier. I also mentioned that this was the rainy season in a previous update, right? Yeah, well, what I thought was the rainy season before was actually the tail end of a typhoon that apparently killed some people in the north part of South Korea and a couple of others in Japan. The rainy season itself arrived a few days later. I was a little suspect of how that storm didn't count as part of the rainy season, but I was assured that "the real rainy season" was starting a few days later, specifically on Thursday the 24th. It's nice to know the weather is so well scheduled here. Well, we're now nearly a week into the "real" rainy season and really, it should be called the cloudy and humid season. Or even more simply, the wet season. There has been very little rain, but one still ends up soaked right through when they go anywhere outside the 5m radius of a strongly blowing fan. Actual rain would be quite nice right about now.
So, once again we are up to date. One final thing though, I got a few responses about the email with the addresses in it. After discarding the ones that laughed at my feeble attempts to get entertaining packages in the mail, there were ones that pointed out that not everyone has Korean language settings on their computer, so that version of the address turned out rather strangely. I'm going to try again on this blog thing (those of you who don't view the blog will now get my addresses emailed to you a second time). Likely the same thing will happen, but it's worth a try, plus it gives my address more exposure and thus the higher likelihood of someone sending me something. So here they are again, my addresses in English and Korean:
Teacher Steave
c/o ELC Foreign Language Institute
Milyang City, Gyeongsangnam-do
Sammoondong 219-26 (4F)
South Korea
627-805
교사 스티브
배려의 E.L.C. 외국어학원
경남 밀양시 삼문동 219-26번지 (4F)
남한
627-805
And there you have it. Until next time...
Steave
Oh yeah. I mentioned something about troubles seeing the blog site. I haven't heard back from anyone saying they're having a problem, so I'll assume it's just me. I can still post, and that's good. But if anyone is putting up comments, I can't read them. That doesn't mean stop doing so, but maybe you could email them to me as well as post them? That'd be super. Thanks
*** edit ***
it's been pointed out by my Korean friends that I had spelled Steave wrong in Korean (which I thought was funny as they had spelled it wrong in English, but its not my name anyway, so no matter). Instead of ㅅ팁 like I had before, its 스티브, which if you are familiar with the way Korean reads, turns a one syllable English name into a three syllable Korean name (seh-ti-beh, with the accent on the middle syllable, as they say it). So yeah, I sure wrote a lot for such a minor correction. But don't forget to mail me stuff!!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Sunday, June 27, 2004
17: Singing and cleaning
Well, my weekend has come and gone. My place is actually clean for the first time since coming here. It feels pretty good. The showerhead system here makes for an easy time cleaning the bathroom. Just a quick wipe with cleaning product, then spray the whole room down. It's perfect.
As for actual fun stuff, I went out with Edward again on Friday night, forgoing our usual Saturday ritual. We went out again for Korean BBQ. It was good, but not as good as last time. We had the spiced pork last time, this time just plain pork. The sauce was different and less tasty, and there were less side dishes and such. Oh well. We were joined by a new person by the name of Pah Mi-Yung. I had gotten so used to people introducing themselves to me by their English names, plus it was very loud in there, that I thought she said Pamela. I was corrected very quickly. She doesn't have an English name, which I think is great, to tell the truth. She does have a nickname, though, which apparently means "I like to drink" in a mix of Japanese and Korean. It was true, as she easily out drank Edward and I in both soju and later, beer.
Along that topic, we followed food by going next door to the pub. We were joined by Ivy, from last week, whose Korean name is Mi-Dong. Later, another person joined us. I never got his name, but I did learn that he is 23 years old. Mi-Dong left early to do some studying and the nameless guy had to go do something, but the rest of us (me, Edward, and Mi-Yung) decided that some karaoke was a good idea.
Karaoke in Korea is slightly different than your typical karaoke at home, and much better if you ask me. Every group gets its own room to sing in. That way, you don't have to sing in front of the entire bar, just your friends. There are way more songs listed, too. However, sometimes certain songs won't work, such as the entire Beatles catalog except for Yesterday, due to copyright laws. It's interesting to see songs like Ms. Jackson and St. Anger on the karaoke list. We had some good drunken singing fun.
So yeah, yesterday was a recovery day, today was a cleaning day and that catches us up. Last week was so fast. A good one, though. Hopefully I'll have more like that.
Steave
As for actual fun stuff, I went out with Edward again on Friday night, forgoing our usual Saturday ritual. We went out again for Korean BBQ. It was good, but not as good as last time. We had the spiced pork last time, this time just plain pork. The sauce was different and less tasty, and there were less side dishes and such. Oh well. We were joined by a new person by the name of Pah Mi-Yung. I had gotten so used to people introducing themselves to me by their English names, plus it was very loud in there, that I thought she said Pamela. I was corrected very quickly. She doesn't have an English name, which I think is great, to tell the truth. She does have a nickname, though, which apparently means "I like to drink" in a mix of Japanese and Korean. It was true, as she easily out drank Edward and I in both soju and later, beer.
Along that topic, we followed food by going next door to the pub. We were joined by Ivy, from last week, whose Korean name is Mi-Dong. Later, another person joined us. I never got his name, but I did learn that he is 23 years old. Mi-Dong left early to do some studying and the nameless guy had to go do something, but the rest of us (me, Edward, and Mi-Yung) decided that some karaoke was a good idea.
Karaoke in Korea is slightly different than your typical karaoke at home, and much better if you ask me. Every group gets its own room to sing in. That way, you don't have to sing in front of the entire bar, just your friends. There are way more songs listed, too. However, sometimes certain songs won't work, such as the entire Beatles catalog except for Yesterday, due to copyright laws. It's interesting to see songs like Ms. Jackson and St. Anger on the karaoke list. We had some good drunken singing fun.
So yeah, yesterday was a recovery day, today was a cleaning day and that catches us up. Last week was so fast. A good one, though. Hopefully I'll have more like that.
Steave
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
16: I Want to Hug Everyone
And so again, I'm updating far earlier than I expected to. It's amazing how one has more to say when one does more stuff, isn't it?
Tuesday was a pretty nondescript day, so I'm not really going to get into it in detail. So, without detail, I woke up, sat around, went to teach, came home, ate, chatted on messenger, read, went to bed. The details of what I chatted about and what I read are of no importance to most, thus I'll keep them to myself.
Wednesday started out much the same. Classes were a bit more pleasant than Tuesdays (I've actually always had a problem with Tuesdays and Thursday, they grate on me for some reason), but for the most part the day was also pretty nondescript. After classes, though, a shift in the usual took place.
Edward showed up immediately upon my leaving my last afternoon class. He left work early for a dentist appointment and stopped by to say "hi" afterwards. A rather frustrating conversation, for me anyway, took place between Edward, James, Cathy (the other Korean teacher) and the director (who is no longer Cindy, but no one knows what she's decided on for an English name, and as she does not wish me to call her Mrs. Kim, she shall simply be the director). There were motions towards the power for the computer, my name, the miming of running, and laughter. When I asked what had been said, no explanation was offered and the topic was changed. I was baffled and a bit irritated to tell the truth. There wasn't much I could do though. Anyway, I had my evening class later, so I figured it would be a quick "hello" with Edward and he'd go home to dinner with his family, and I'd go upstairs to my noodles and tuna then prepare for class. This was not the case.
Instead, Edward invited me to go and have dinner with his family at his mother-in-laws house. I was a little intimidated by this, but readily agreed. It was all quite good. I don't know why I was intimidated. I should just know by now that the people here are friendly almost to a fault and that the food is awesome. I've decided that dried octopus in hot pepper paste is one of my favourite dishes. However, despite the warnings that almost everything is going to be very spicy, nothing ever really is. It all tastes quite good, but the warnings about spice seem a bit much. Every meal someone tells me, "oh, that's spicy, maybe have this instead" or some approximation of that, but so far nothing has even been remotely spicy. I blame Debb for this. Yes, Debb, you. You've ruined my taste buds forever.
Anyway, after dinner, Edward and I went for a walk along the river (if I didn't know otherwise, I'd think he was courting me). All along the path that circled my part of town there were speakers playing marching music. It was rather interesting. Certainly it kept us walking at good, steady pace. During this walk, Edward explained to me the reason that those trees I mentioned in an earlier update were fenced off with a path through them. Apparently the Korean pine tree is in need of protection, but people want to be able to walk or jog past them. Thus, a fenced off area with a path through the middle and around the outside. Later during the walk, Edward got a call on his cell phone from the director telling him that the evening class was no more. All the students had pulled out and I no longer was needed to be there at 9:00. This wasn't just for that night, this was the end of that class. For the time being, my evenings were now free. So, Edward and I decided that this news was deserving of going and having a beer. Seeing as I had no one to teach that night, a beer sounded good. Circular logic is so much fun.
So we went to a bar, had a couple of pints and talked politics. I explained Canadian politics to him, at least to the best of my ability, and he explained Korean politics to me. I told him what the dominant political parties in Canada were, their names and basic ideals. He gave me the names and ideals for the Korean ones. I'm pretty sure something was lost in the translation because the English names of the three main political parties in Korea, by his translation, are the Democratic Labor Party, the Grand National Party, and the We Want to Hug Everyone Party. Seriously. This is a direct quote. Apparently, the We Want to Hug Everyone Party is currently in power. I'd vote for them. They sound nice. We talked about our political points of view after that, me being a leftist, he being middle of the road, but leaning slightly right. We agreed that we each have our points, but we'll never agree completely. It's all good. Then we went to our respective homes.
So, that gets us to now. I'll be back out with Edward on Friday. It seems going out with Edward gives me some good stories, so expect more soon.
Steave
Tuesday was a pretty nondescript day, so I'm not really going to get into it in detail. So, without detail, I woke up, sat around, went to teach, came home, ate, chatted on messenger, read, went to bed. The details of what I chatted about and what I read are of no importance to most, thus I'll keep them to myself.
Wednesday started out much the same. Classes were a bit more pleasant than Tuesdays (I've actually always had a problem with Tuesdays and Thursday, they grate on me for some reason), but for the most part the day was also pretty nondescript. After classes, though, a shift in the usual took place.
Edward showed up immediately upon my leaving my last afternoon class. He left work early for a dentist appointment and stopped by to say "hi" afterwards. A rather frustrating conversation, for me anyway, took place between Edward, James, Cathy (the other Korean teacher) and the director (who is no longer Cindy, but no one knows what she's decided on for an English name, and as she does not wish me to call her Mrs. Kim, she shall simply be the director). There were motions towards the power for the computer, my name, the miming of running, and laughter. When I asked what had been said, no explanation was offered and the topic was changed. I was baffled and a bit irritated to tell the truth. There wasn't much I could do though. Anyway, I had my evening class later, so I figured it would be a quick "hello" with Edward and he'd go home to dinner with his family, and I'd go upstairs to my noodles and tuna then prepare for class. This was not the case.
Instead, Edward invited me to go and have dinner with his family at his mother-in-laws house. I was a little intimidated by this, but readily agreed. It was all quite good. I don't know why I was intimidated. I should just know by now that the people here are friendly almost to a fault and that the food is awesome. I've decided that dried octopus in hot pepper paste is one of my favourite dishes. However, despite the warnings that almost everything is going to be very spicy, nothing ever really is. It all tastes quite good, but the warnings about spice seem a bit much. Every meal someone tells me, "oh, that's spicy, maybe have this instead" or some approximation of that, but so far nothing has even been remotely spicy. I blame Debb for this. Yes, Debb, you. You've ruined my taste buds forever.
Anyway, after dinner, Edward and I went for a walk along the river (if I didn't know otherwise, I'd think he was courting me). All along the path that circled my part of town there were speakers playing marching music. It was rather interesting. Certainly it kept us walking at good, steady pace. During this walk, Edward explained to me the reason that those trees I mentioned in an earlier update were fenced off with a path through them. Apparently the Korean pine tree is in need of protection, but people want to be able to walk or jog past them. Thus, a fenced off area with a path through the middle and around the outside. Later during the walk, Edward got a call on his cell phone from the director telling him that the evening class was no more. All the students had pulled out and I no longer was needed to be there at 9:00. This wasn't just for that night, this was the end of that class. For the time being, my evenings were now free. So, Edward and I decided that this news was deserving of going and having a beer. Seeing as I had no one to teach that night, a beer sounded good. Circular logic is so much fun.
So we went to a bar, had a couple of pints and talked politics. I explained Canadian politics to him, at least to the best of my ability, and he explained Korean politics to me. I told him what the dominant political parties in Canada were, their names and basic ideals. He gave me the names and ideals for the Korean ones. I'm pretty sure something was lost in the translation because the English names of the three main political parties in Korea, by his translation, are the Democratic Labor Party, the Grand National Party, and the We Want to Hug Everyone Party. Seriously. This is a direct quote. Apparently, the We Want to Hug Everyone Party is currently in power. I'd vote for them. They sound nice. We talked about our political points of view after that, me being a leftist, he being middle of the road, but leaning slightly right. We agreed that we each have our points, but we'll never agree completely. It's all good. Then we went to our respective homes.
So, that gets us to now. I'll be back out with Edward on Friday. It seems going out with Edward gives me some good stories, so expect more soon.
Steave
Monday, June 21, 2004
15: More Cultural Collisions
So, I realize it's only been a day since I last blogged, but I feel I have more to add, thus I'm back.
Music will one of two topics in today's update. The other will be the assumptions that go with Korean people dealing with me (and likely other North Americans), and vice versa.
First, the music. I was out grocery shopping today, and it was your typical music playing in the background. You know the stuff; forgettable, bland, generic, lite-pop junk, but with Korean words. Then comes this song. It's not unusual at all to start. Just another boring song. Then the chorus hits. It takes me a second to realize that it's a Korean version of Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop." It's absolutely note perfect. Then back to the unmemorable verses, followed by the chorus again. It's so unusual. Later, I went out to a pub on my own (I'll get more into that in a bit). The music was basically the same as that heard at the grocery store, minus the Cyndi Lauper rip. Instead, I hear this song that's a seamless blend of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart," R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," and "Some Totally Forgettable Crap" by Boyz II Men, all sung in Korean with the occasional English line dealing with "the condition of my heart." All it told me was how easy it is to write such songs and make a lot of money. But I think I knew that before. Why I haven't cashed in yet is undetermined.
Now to topic two, which happened at the same time as part two of topic one. I went out to a pub by myself for the first time since arriving in Korea (I know, it's been a month, but it's a bit intimidating). I made the horrible mistake of leaving both my notebook and Lonely Planet guide at home. This would haunt me for my entire visit. I sit down, and am immediately asked, "How many here?" My answer is, "One," with appropriate index finger raised to ensure all is clear. Immediately after my answer I am asked if I speak Korean. My answer is, "Aniyo," or simply, "No." When the time comes to order, I get myself a big-ass glass of beer and randomly point at a menu item in my price range under "side orders." My big-ass beer arrives, and it really is quite large, along with some popcorn and some square-shaped pretzel-like things coated in sugar. I drink my beer and nibble on the nibblies while trying to find something to occupy my eyes. There's a TV, but it's under a populated table and I feel self-conscious looking that way. Next time, I get a window table and/or bring my notebook. Luckily, my food arrives quickly. It turns out that I just happened to point to the only thing on the menu that was printed in English, the pork cutlet. Strangely, I remember seeing it, but on a different page from that which I ordered from, thus I know that's not what I actually ordered. It was under "entrees" and I specifically ordered from the "side orders" portion of the menu. If I had managed to say something during my ordering, rather than just point, I would put it all down to a translation problem. But I pointed at an item. I'm fairly certain it wasn't a pork cutlet with sides of arrowhead-shaped chicken nuggets, mexi-fries, crinkle-cut fries, and a horrible looking coleslaw topped with what I can only guess was some sort of thousand island dressing and ketchup. I can only assume that they assumed that I would not want whatever it was I pointed at, being a foreigner and all, and gave me their most "western" meal. I only have myself to blame, really, for not bringing my trusty Lonely Planet guide with my for assistance. I'll remember it for next time, which is likely later this week. The beer was ordered successfully, though. Ah, the universal language of beer. Where would I be without it?
So, in conclusion, I have to say, you were right, Steph. Going out tonight did give me a decent story.
Steave
PS More great spell check fun, Cyndi Lauper was recommended to be cyanide lover. How nice.
Music will one of two topics in today's update. The other will be the assumptions that go with Korean people dealing with me (and likely other North Americans), and vice versa.
First, the music. I was out grocery shopping today, and it was your typical music playing in the background. You know the stuff; forgettable, bland, generic, lite-pop junk, but with Korean words. Then comes this song. It's not unusual at all to start. Just another boring song. Then the chorus hits. It takes me a second to realize that it's a Korean version of Cyndi Lauper's "She Bop." It's absolutely note perfect. Then back to the unmemorable verses, followed by the chorus again. It's so unusual. Later, I went out to a pub on my own (I'll get more into that in a bit). The music was basically the same as that heard at the grocery store, minus the Cyndi Lauper rip. Instead, I hear this song that's a seamless blend of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart," R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly," and "Some Totally Forgettable Crap" by Boyz II Men, all sung in Korean with the occasional English line dealing with "the condition of my heart." All it told me was how easy it is to write such songs and make a lot of money. But I think I knew that before. Why I haven't cashed in yet is undetermined.
Now to topic two, which happened at the same time as part two of topic one. I went out to a pub by myself for the first time since arriving in Korea (I know, it's been a month, but it's a bit intimidating). I made the horrible mistake of leaving both my notebook and Lonely Planet guide at home. This would haunt me for my entire visit. I sit down, and am immediately asked, "How many here?" My answer is, "One," with appropriate index finger raised to ensure all is clear. Immediately after my answer I am asked if I speak Korean. My answer is, "Aniyo," or simply, "No." When the time comes to order, I get myself a big-ass glass of beer and randomly point at a menu item in my price range under "side orders." My big-ass beer arrives, and it really is quite large, along with some popcorn and some square-shaped pretzel-like things coated in sugar. I drink my beer and nibble on the nibblies while trying to find something to occupy my eyes. There's a TV, but it's under a populated table and I feel self-conscious looking that way. Next time, I get a window table and/or bring my notebook. Luckily, my food arrives quickly. It turns out that I just happened to point to the only thing on the menu that was printed in English, the pork cutlet. Strangely, I remember seeing it, but on a different page from that which I ordered from, thus I know that's not what I actually ordered. It was under "entrees" and I specifically ordered from the "side orders" portion of the menu. If I had managed to say something during my ordering, rather than just point, I would put it all down to a translation problem. But I pointed at an item. I'm fairly certain it wasn't a pork cutlet with sides of arrowhead-shaped chicken nuggets, mexi-fries, crinkle-cut fries, and a horrible looking coleslaw topped with what I can only guess was some sort of thousand island dressing and ketchup. I can only assume that they assumed that I would not want whatever it was I pointed at, being a foreigner and all, and gave me their most "western" meal. I only have myself to blame, really, for not bringing my trusty Lonely Planet guide with my for assistance. I'll remember it for next time, which is likely later this week. The beer was ordered successfully, though. Ah, the universal language of beer. Where would I be without it?
So, in conclusion, I have to say, you were right, Steph. Going out tonight did give me a decent story.
Steave
PS More great spell check fun, Cyndi Lauper was recommended to be cyanide lover. How nice.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
14: The gills are coming in nicely, despite the itch
Since we last met, it's been raining. Not an occasional drizzle, but four straight days of downpour. Today the sun came out. That only made the moisture worse. Heavy humidity is never a pleasant thing. The river is suddenly running very high and very muddy. I was told the rainy season was coming. I didn't put much stock in it. I was told the same thing in Mexico, but it only really rained once (it was torrential, to be sure, but still only one night). I'm told it's supposed to rain fairly heavily for approximately a month. I know I can handle it, that's no problem. I do make Vancouver my home, after all. The rain here doesn't cool things off at all though. It remains very warm, and becomes very wet. It's uncomfortable. As well, it appears that the roof leaks in a few spots, most notably over what looks to be a fuse box. That's a little scary. Nothing bad has happened as yet and all people are aware that should be aware.
Related to the rain are the mosquitoes. No travel log would be complete without some mention of the local mosquitoes. Those here are not large. They're not that plentiful, either. But their bites result in bumps the size of a quarter, or bigger, which stand out from the skin a good half centimeter and itch something terrible. I recommend avoiding the mosquitoes here.
In other recent news, teaching is still plodding along. Friday was no fun. A kid cried again in my class (the same one as last time). He was throwing other kids pencil cases out the window and I made him stop. I don't like making kids cry. Sometimes, teaching is no fun.
Went on a quick hike up a mountain during a break in the rain on Saturday morning. I got some pictures, hopefully they'll turn out and I can get them onto this for you all to see. After that, I went out for dinner with Edward. We were joined by very nice lady by the name of Ivy. The food was a tasty seafood soup. Korea appears to be a seafood lovers dream come true as it is plentiful and cheap. They brought out the soju during the meal. I was far better prepared this time, which only means that I knew what was coming, not that I could avoid it.
I learned during conversations during the meal that in Korea, I would be considered 31 years old. I'm not completely sure how that works, but they assured me it's true. Since I was born in 1974, I'm 31, not 29 like I thought. I left Canada as 29 year old Guy. I'll return as 31 (or maybe even 32 by then) year old Steave. I knew coming to a different country was going to require some adjustments on my part, but I didn't think I'd end up 2 years older with a different name. Who knows, I may even look different when I get back.
Until next time,
Steave
Related to the rain are the mosquitoes. No travel log would be complete without some mention of the local mosquitoes. Those here are not large. They're not that plentiful, either. But their bites result in bumps the size of a quarter, or bigger, which stand out from the skin a good half centimeter and itch something terrible. I recommend avoiding the mosquitoes here.
In other recent news, teaching is still plodding along. Friday was no fun. A kid cried again in my class (the same one as last time). He was throwing other kids pencil cases out the window and I made him stop. I don't like making kids cry. Sometimes, teaching is no fun.
Went on a quick hike up a mountain during a break in the rain on Saturday morning. I got some pictures, hopefully they'll turn out and I can get them onto this for you all to see. After that, I went out for dinner with Edward. We were joined by very nice lady by the name of Ivy. The food was a tasty seafood soup. Korea appears to be a seafood lovers dream come true as it is plentiful and cheap. They brought out the soju during the meal. I was far better prepared this time, which only means that I knew what was coming, not that I could avoid it.
I learned during conversations during the meal that in Korea, I would be considered 31 years old. I'm not completely sure how that works, but they assured me it's true. Since I was born in 1974, I'm 31, not 29 like I thought. I left Canada as 29 year old Guy. I'll return as 31 (or maybe even 32 by then) year old Steave. I knew coming to a different country was going to require some adjustments on my part, but I didn't think I'd end up 2 years older with a different name. Who knows, I may even look different when I get back.
Until next time,
Steave
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
13: My Oxymoron
Every time I start to think, "Hmm, yeah they speak a different language, but really things aren't that different from home," some small thing is seen or heard that causes me to realize that many things are very different at their root and just appear similar most of the time.
Good examples from past updates are pubs, traffic, and the kitchen/bathroom in my apartment. Along this line of thought, I want to relate a couple of other occurrences I have witnessed, two I have noticed throughout my stay, the other an event that happened in class.
The first has to do with school here. First of all, everybody wears uniforms from middle school through high school. It doesn't appear that elementary school children wear them. My experience with uniforms and school is the opposite. Only a select few (an unfortunate few, in my mind) are required to wear uniforms at Canadian schools. You all know that. Everybody does here. It has nothing to do with going to a private or religious school, it's just how things are done. As well, kids never stop going to school throughout the day. Once public school is over, kids go on to extra classes their parents signed them up for, be that English, Taekwondo, math, or anything else extra study is needed for. From early morning until midnight in some cases, kids are at school. They go to public school on Saturday for half a day, then on to extra classes. Sunday is the only day off of public school, but extra classes are there to take up that time, too. It's pretty scary. I'm sure not every child goes to school seven days a week, but there are many that do.
The second observation is that friends hold hands wherever they go. It is not uncommon to see two fifteen year old boys walking through town hand in hand. Same goes for girls, or friends of the opposite sex. How great! There's nothing more positive than seeing an open declaration of friendship. It's something not seen in Canada, at least not very often.
The third one was a bit odd. I went to class yesterday, the day was pretty normal. When I got to the class of kids, there was the sound of a bird chirping. I figured one of the kids brought some sort of bird toy. It was no toy (but ironically, the boy who had the bird decided the week before that his English name would be Toy). In a small plastic bag was a baby chick, wrapped in newspaper. In itself, this was not too strange. Kids like animals and sometimes will bring one to class. The fact that it was a baby chick and not a puppy, or some other more pet-like animal, was a little a bit odd to me, but not beyond my capacity to deal with. However, the fact that this bird was a bright hot pink really confused me. Is it normal for a baby bird, and I'm pretty sure it was a chicken, duck, or some other kind of future poultry, to be this colour? I suppressed my confusion, taught the kids the words "bird", "baby", and "pink" and got on with my alphabet lesson.
Anyway, despite the above things, or more accurately, regardless of them, this week has been my most comfortable one yet here. I feel far better about my classes and my ability to instruct. I am more comfortable with my surroundings, with the fact that I am going to stick out wherever I go and with the mutual lack of understanding when talking to people. As well, I am especially pleased with a small change in my teaching schedule. My night class (9:30-10:30) is now shared among three of us and we've set it up so that every third night one of us teaches it and the other two get the evening off. I like that. And the class itself is good, too. So teaching a full hour of it is no problem.
Ok, I've rambled long enough. You'll likely hear from me again on the weekend.
Steave
Good examples from past updates are pubs, traffic, and the kitchen/bathroom in my apartment. Along this line of thought, I want to relate a couple of other occurrences I have witnessed, two I have noticed throughout my stay, the other an event that happened in class.
The first has to do with school here. First of all, everybody wears uniforms from middle school through high school. It doesn't appear that elementary school children wear them. My experience with uniforms and school is the opposite. Only a select few (an unfortunate few, in my mind) are required to wear uniforms at Canadian schools. You all know that. Everybody does here. It has nothing to do with going to a private or religious school, it's just how things are done. As well, kids never stop going to school throughout the day. Once public school is over, kids go on to extra classes their parents signed them up for, be that English, Taekwondo, math, or anything else extra study is needed for. From early morning until midnight in some cases, kids are at school. They go to public school on Saturday for half a day, then on to extra classes. Sunday is the only day off of public school, but extra classes are there to take up that time, too. It's pretty scary. I'm sure not every child goes to school seven days a week, but there are many that do.
The second observation is that friends hold hands wherever they go. It is not uncommon to see two fifteen year old boys walking through town hand in hand. Same goes for girls, or friends of the opposite sex. How great! There's nothing more positive than seeing an open declaration of friendship. It's something not seen in Canada, at least not very often.
The third one was a bit odd. I went to class yesterday, the day was pretty normal. When I got to the class of kids, there was the sound of a bird chirping. I figured one of the kids brought some sort of bird toy. It was no toy (but ironically, the boy who had the bird decided the week before that his English name would be Toy). In a small plastic bag was a baby chick, wrapped in newspaper. In itself, this was not too strange. Kids like animals and sometimes will bring one to class. The fact that it was a baby chick and not a puppy, or some other more pet-like animal, was a little a bit odd to me, but not beyond my capacity to deal with. However, the fact that this bird was a bright hot pink really confused me. Is it normal for a baby bird, and I'm pretty sure it was a chicken, duck, or some other kind of future poultry, to be this colour? I suppressed my confusion, taught the kids the words "bird", "baby", and "pink" and got on with my alphabet lesson.
Anyway, despite the above things, or more accurately, regardless of them, this week has been my most comfortable one yet here. I feel far better about my classes and my ability to instruct. I am more comfortable with my surroundings, with the fact that I am going to stick out wherever I go and with the mutual lack of understanding when talking to people. As well, I am especially pleased with a small change in my teaching schedule. My night class (9:30-10:30) is now shared among three of us and we've set it up so that every third night one of us teaches it and the other two get the evening off. I like that. And the class itself is good, too. So teaching a full hour of it is no problem.
Ok, I've rambled long enough. You'll likely hear from me again on the weekend.
Steave
Sunday, June 13, 2004
12: On Display
So, since my meaningless midweek posting last time, I've had some fun.
Thursday wasn't much, other than trying to survive a group of hyped up seven year olds intent on destroying my sanity. I got through it.
Friday's classes were basically the same. Those kids, yikes... How does one keep a rambunctious Korean child, or seven of them, in check?
After classes on Friday, James (aka Mr. Ahn, aka banana mayonnaise man) took me out for beer. I've come to realize that I can never keep up with the average Korean when it come to drinking. They just don't stop once started. This drinking trip, at a place called "Western Bar," was highlighted by the group of Koreans across the bar repeatedly lunging at each yelling "FUCK YOU" at the top of their lungs (and Keegan, if you're reading this, remember that saying that to anyone will get in a whole lot of trouble. No fun).
Early Saturday was spent being stupid to Debb online (sorry again about that, Debb). Edward came by and took me out for lunch. We had ramen noodles (which I've been living off of recently) and Korean sushi (Gimbap). Korean sushi is different than Japanese sushi in that instead of seafood it uses ham and fried egg. It was not at all what I expected.
Later, Edward and I went to get dinner, which is quickly becoming a Saturday ritual. We went to this wonderful restaurant which served seafood and a variety of mushrooms cooked right on your table, It was the best meal I've had yet, even beating out the Korean BBQ from last week.
After dinner we went for the requisite drinking. We went to two pubs, the second of which Edward tried valiantly to get a group of girls to let us join them. He was both extremely drunk and completely unsuccessful.
I noticed tonight some interesting things. Korean pub culture is not that far different from Canadian pub culture. There are some minor differences though. The food, for one, is odd. It seems one is required to order something to eat while they drink and this generally consists of a whole dried animal from the sea, an intricate fruit plate, or bits of canned fruit floating in a giant bowl of watery yogurt. Another difference is the ubiquitous use of scissors to cut all large food into smaller portions. There are more, but I can't remember them right now.
As well, I feel the need to point out that while I was wandering about with Edward today, I felt like I was on display. I am the only foreigner in town. Thus, everyone must either say hello to me, point and giggle at me, or feel extremely shy about even looking at me. It was almost like being a celebrity, but one that no one actually knows. It is strange.
And that catches us up to mow, with me sitting at my computer past midnight typing up a new update for you all. Enjoy!
Steve/Guy/Steave (as they seem to want to spell it here)
Thursday wasn't much, other than trying to survive a group of hyped up seven year olds intent on destroying my sanity. I got through it.
Friday's classes were basically the same. Those kids, yikes... How does one keep a rambunctious Korean child, or seven of them, in check?
After classes on Friday, James (aka Mr. Ahn, aka banana mayonnaise man) took me out for beer. I've come to realize that I can never keep up with the average Korean when it come to drinking. They just don't stop once started. This drinking trip, at a place called "Western Bar," was highlighted by the group of Koreans across the bar repeatedly lunging at each yelling "FUCK YOU" at the top of their lungs (and Keegan, if you're reading this, remember that saying that to anyone will get in a whole lot of trouble. No fun).
Early Saturday was spent being stupid to Debb online (sorry again about that, Debb). Edward came by and took me out for lunch. We had ramen noodles (which I've been living off of recently) and Korean sushi (Gimbap). Korean sushi is different than Japanese sushi in that instead of seafood it uses ham and fried egg. It was not at all what I expected.
Later, Edward and I went to get dinner, which is quickly becoming a Saturday ritual. We went to this wonderful restaurant which served seafood and a variety of mushrooms cooked right on your table, It was the best meal I've had yet, even beating out the Korean BBQ from last week.
After dinner we went for the requisite drinking. We went to two pubs, the second of which Edward tried valiantly to get a group of girls to let us join them. He was both extremely drunk and completely unsuccessful.
I noticed tonight some interesting things. Korean pub culture is not that far different from Canadian pub culture. There are some minor differences though. The food, for one, is odd. It seems one is required to order something to eat while they drink and this generally consists of a whole dried animal from the sea, an intricate fruit plate, or bits of canned fruit floating in a giant bowl of watery yogurt. Another difference is the ubiquitous use of scissors to cut all large food into smaller portions. There are more, but I can't remember them right now.
As well, I feel the need to point out that while I was wandering about with Edward today, I felt like I was on display. I am the only foreigner in town. Thus, everyone must either say hello to me, point and giggle at me, or feel extremely shy about even looking at me. It was almost like being a celebrity, but one that no one actually knows. It is strange.
And that catches us up to mow, with me sitting at my computer past midnight typing up a new update for you all. Enjoy!
Steve/Guy/Steave (as they seem to want to spell it here)
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
11: Stage Two of the Culture Shock Phenomenon
So, I really haven't done anything since the last posting except listen to the Flames lose, teach my classes, eat and sleep. I've definitely entered the reclusive stage of culture shock. This is a rather quick movement through the stages, really, so I expect to be fully adjusted in just another couple of weeks (I may, however, be entering the delusional idealistic stage instead). I also intend on remedying this reclusiveness by returning to wandering around. I bought some film for my camera, so I'll be able to take pictures. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out how to post them on here, plus I have no known access to a scanner at present, so I won't be able to share them as yet. As well, I haven't taken any yet. I'll probably start tomorrow, though. We'll see.
Teaching is going well enough. I think my students might actually be learning something from me, which is good, as I was unsure about that last week. The classes keep getting switched up with missing teachers, new students, etc. It's a good thing I react well to change.
I have been invited out again for dinner on Saturday with Edward. He seems to like me and want to get me out to enjoy Korea. Ok, I'll go along with that. We're apparently going to a Korean mushroom and seafood restaurant. He has warned me that it is spicy. So far, everything that I have been warned of being spicy, hasn't really been, but I'm sure one of these times it will surprise me in a painful way. I'm looking forward to it. You'll likely hear about it in my next update.
Hmmm, this update was really short and pointless, wasn't it? Oh well, enjoy it anyway. Why? Because I said so.
Steve
PS I love spell check! It just prompted me to replace Korean with Kenny, and Hmmm with hammy.
Teaching is going well enough. I think my students might actually be learning something from me, which is good, as I was unsure about that last week. The classes keep getting switched up with missing teachers, new students, etc. It's a good thing I react well to change.
I have been invited out again for dinner on Saturday with Edward. He seems to like me and want to get me out to enjoy Korea. Ok, I'll go along with that. We're apparently going to a Korean mushroom and seafood restaurant. He has warned me that it is spicy. So far, everything that I have been warned of being spicy, hasn't really been, but I'm sure one of these times it will surprise me in a painful way. I'm looking forward to it. You'll likely hear about it in my next update.
Hmmm, this update was really short and pointless, wasn't it? Oh well, enjoy it anyway. Why? Because I said so.
Steve
PS I love spell check! It just prompted me to replace Korean with Kenny, and Hmmm with hammy.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
10: Creeping Death (aka Soju)
Friday was a good day. I listened to the Flames win in overtime then had a great day teaching despite a last minute change thrown at me. One of the Korean teachers couldn't come in, so I had to teach full classes instead of splitting them like we usually do. It went remarkably well. I taught the class of one boy to play Go Fish using flashcards and spent the hour with the other kids class playing with paper, scissors, glue and ribbons. It was fun. My evening class was pretty good, too. I wrote up some conversational scenarios with grammatical errors and got them to read them and fix the mistakes. A good day altogether.
Early Saturday was mostly uneventful. I was woken up again by city wide announcements, which I found out later were inducements to get people to vote in a local election (thus the politician in an earlier update. It's all coming together...). Then I sat at the computer for a while, attempted to go for a walk but it was just way too hot.
Edward came by later and we wandered around, then stopped at a place for Korean BBQ (or Bulgogi as it's called in Korean). It was so good. I think I want all my food cooked on a grill in the middle of the table and wrapped in a leaf. One leaf tasted a lot like mint. I was told it was called Getnib (or something similar). I found that intriguing as it sounded a lot like catnip, which is a kind of mint. Edward assured me it wasn't catnip. It was so tasty. While eating, we had some beer. Then shared a bottle of soju, which is a powerful little rice beverage, but acts all innocent. It tasted pretty good. We drank it fairly quickly. Then we had more beer. We finished dinner, and I was feeling a bit tipsy, but less so than I expected. We decided to go for more beer. We went back to "Loss Time" and had said beer. It had been a good 30-45 minutes since the food and soju, so I figured any effects would already be evident. I was wrong. Like a wave, drunkenness washed over me in an instant. I couldn't keep my head up. I couldn't make myself understood. I don't remember much after that.
I woke up this morning lying face down on top of the covers of my bed, still fully clothed, including shoes. I felt awful. I went to get some water and discovered a trail of bread crusts around my rooms. The rest of the loaf of bread was on a chair and very squished. I have no idea how this happened.
It's now a quarter to four, and I'm feeling much better, despite having listened to the Flames lose in overtime and hearing what sounded like a bomb alert siren. I still don't know what that was about.
In conclusion, I recommend extreme caution when drinking soju. It's insidious.
Until next time,
Steve
Early Saturday was mostly uneventful. I was woken up again by city wide announcements, which I found out later were inducements to get people to vote in a local election (thus the politician in an earlier update. It's all coming together...). Then I sat at the computer for a while, attempted to go for a walk but it was just way too hot.
Edward came by later and we wandered around, then stopped at a place for Korean BBQ (or Bulgogi as it's called in Korean). It was so good. I think I want all my food cooked on a grill in the middle of the table and wrapped in a leaf. One leaf tasted a lot like mint. I was told it was called Getnib (or something similar). I found that intriguing as it sounded a lot like catnip, which is a kind of mint. Edward assured me it wasn't catnip. It was so tasty. While eating, we had some beer. Then shared a bottle of soju, which is a powerful little rice beverage, but acts all innocent. It tasted pretty good. We drank it fairly quickly. Then we had more beer. We finished dinner, and I was feeling a bit tipsy, but less so than I expected. We decided to go for more beer. We went back to "Loss Time" and had said beer. It had been a good 30-45 minutes since the food and soju, so I figured any effects would already be evident. I was wrong. Like a wave, drunkenness washed over me in an instant. I couldn't keep my head up. I couldn't make myself understood. I don't remember much after that.
I woke up this morning lying face down on top of the covers of my bed, still fully clothed, including shoes. I felt awful. I went to get some water and discovered a trail of bread crusts around my rooms. The rest of the loaf of bread was on a chair and very squished. I have no idea how this happened.
It's now a quarter to four, and I'm feeling much better, despite having listened to the Flames lose in overtime and hearing what sounded like a bomb alert siren. I still don't know what that was about.
In conclusion, I recommend extreme caution when drinking soju. It's insidious.
Until next time,
Steve
Friday, June 04, 2004
#9: Short, yet rambling
Well, for days two and three of teaching I felt much more at ease. There were no crying children, the shy people were less so and I just plain had more of an idea of what I was supposed to be doing.
Outside of teaching though, I have done absolutely nothing the past two days. Seriously. I bought some household supplies, I ate, slept, and talked to my computer people. I'll break out of that on the weekend I'm sure. I think it all has to do with this being my first week of teaching.
On a side note, I was woken up this morning by what sounded like a general announcement for the entire city. The only word I recognized was the one for the name of the province Miryang is in (Gyeongsangnam-do). So, something is happening in this province. I looked out the window. No one was running around screaming, crouching down low and covering their heads, heading for bomb shelters or otherwise panicking, so I can only assume the news was, if not good, at least harmless.
This is also a good time, seeing as this update is so short, to share my views on how people drive here. It's controlled chaos. Pedestrians seem to have the right of way. Drivers will stop for them. The roads, and sometimes even the sidewalks, are shared fairly equally by all. As for the car to car relationships, I'd have to say they're dominated by polite aggression. Do you want to turn left onto a busy road? Well, gradually creep out into the intersection until the oncoming traffic has to stop for you. It's different than Mexico, where its just plain chaos and lanes are ignored, people go at whatever speed they deem necessary, etc. Here people very politely make it known that they are going to do something, then do it. Also, very few intersections in Miryang have traffic lights, so the above applies to many major intersections. Cars just slow down, look around, then creep into the intersection. It's fun to watch, really.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I think I'm finally getting used to sitting in a room with people speaking Korean and referring to me, gesturing at me, etc., but never translating to me what they were talking about. I think it might be a little like being in a zoo.
Crocodile Steve
Outside of teaching though, I have done absolutely nothing the past two days. Seriously. I bought some household supplies, I ate, slept, and talked to my computer people. I'll break out of that on the weekend I'm sure. I think it all has to do with this being my first week of teaching.
On a side note, I was woken up this morning by what sounded like a general announcement for the entire city. The only word I recognized was the one for the name of the province Miryang is in (Gyeongsangnam-do). So, something is happening in this province. I looked out the window. No one was running around screaming, crouching down low and covering their heads, heading for bomb shelters or otherwise panicking, so I can only assume the news was, if not good, at least harmless.
This is also a good time, seeing as this update is so short, to share my views on how people drive here. It's controlled chaos. Pedestrians seem to have the right of way. Drivers will stop for them. The roads, and sometimes even the sidewalks, are shared fairly equally by all. As for the car to car relationships, I'd have to say they're dominated by polite aggression. Do you want to turn left onto a busy road? Well, gradually creep out into the intersection until the oncoming traffic has to stop for you. It's different than Mexico, where its just plain chaos and lanes are ignored, people go at whatever speed they deem necessary, etc. Here people very politely make it known that they are going to do something, then do it. Also, very few intersections in Miryang have traffic lights, so the above applies to many major intersections. Cars just slow down, look around, then creep into the intersection. It's fun to watch, really.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I think I'm finally getting used to sitting in a room with people speaking Korean and referring to me, gesturing at me, etc., but never translating to me what they were talking about. I think it might be a little like being in a zoo.
Crocodile Steve
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Log #8: Two teachers and an octopus walk into a bar...
So once again, immediately after uploading the last posting, my new buddy Edward arrived and took me out. This time, it was a pub called "Loss Time." On the inside, it was just like any pub I might find at home. I was immediately comfortable. Edward ordered us some beer and some munchie food. All Korean pub food is apparently some sort of dry appetizer type thing. Edward decided that the dried octopus would be good. That sounded interesting. I was expecting strips of octopus, possibly battered. Instead what arrived was basically a whole, small octopus, dried and slightly warm. We tore it into manageable strips, dipped them into mayonnaise or hot sauce and ate. It was chewy, but tasty. It was octopus jerky. We spent the evening drinking beer, talking about sports and girls. How male bonding.
The next day was my first day of teaching. First came listening to a rather frustrating hockey game, then came the anxiousness as to what I was going to do. When I got downstairs to meet the other teachers and plan for classes I discovered that another class had been added to the schedule. Just one student who needed his basics like the alphabet and greetings brushed up before moving on to the next level. So, I would now be teaching three classes of a half hour each right in a row. I needed to prepare.
The first class went ok. He was much further ahead than I had been led to believe and I quickly ran out of material to teach him. The last 10 minutes of that class were a struggle, but I got through. Now I know his level and can better prepare for today's class.
The second class was more difficult. It was again just one student, a 15 year old girl who was quite shy and had trouble looking at me without giggling. My goal was to assess her conversational English abilities so I asked her basic questions about herself some of which she understood others she didn't, and had her ask me questions too. She was very quiet and her answers were quite short so it was another very long half hour.
The third class was a group of 5 seven year olds and one 40 year old lady. There were some difficulties in communication, and one of the little boys ended up crying because he didn't understand, but all in all, the class went ok once he settled down.
After that intensive hour and a half I was really hungry and craving pizza. I went to one place and, despite being the only customer in the store, was completely ignored by the guy working there. So, I went to another place. The staff was quite nice and helpful. While sitting inside waiting for my pizza I was accosted by yet another middle aged drunk guy who insisted on talking aggressively to me despite the fact it was obvious I didn't know what he was saying. He was getting more and more agitated until the pizza place staff had to kick him out. I just wanted to back to my rooms and eat/hide for a while.
I had one class left, two late high school girls, but it was a breeze. We were giving them a preliminary English comprehension test to see what their level was. No teaching involved at all for that class, at least for that night.
And now it's Wednesday morning. I feel a little better prepared for classes today, at least mentally, I still have to decided what to bring and all that. I should go do that.
Steve
The next day was my first day of teaching. First came listening to a rather frustrating hockey game, then came the anxiousness as to what I was going to do. When I got downstairs to meet the other teachers and plan for classes I discovered that another class had been added to the schedule. Just one student who needed his basics like the alphabet and greetings brushed up before moving on to the next level. So, I would now be teaching three classes of a half hour each right in a row. I needed to prepare.
The first class went ok. He was much further ahead than I had been led to believe and I quickly ran out of material to teach him. The last 10 minutes of that class were a struggle, but I got through. Now I know his level and can better prepare for today's class.
The second class was more difficult. It was again just one student, a 15 year old girl who was quite shy and had trouble looking at me without giggling. My goal was to assess her conversational English abilities so I asked her basic questions about herself some of which she understood others she didn't, and had her ask me questions too. She was very quiet and her answers were quite short so it was another very long half hour.
The third class was a group of 5 seven year olds and one 40 year old lady. There were some difficulties in communication, and one of the little boys ended up crying because he didn't understand, but all in all, the class went ok once he settled down.
After that intensive hour and a half I was really hungry and craving pizza. I went to one place and, despite being the only customer in the store, was completely ignored by the guy working there. So, I went to another place. The staff was quite nice and helpful. While sitting inside waiting for my pizza I was accosted by yet another middle aged drunk guy who insisted on talking aggressively to me despite the fact it was obvious I didn't know what he was saying. He was getting more and more agitated until the pizza place staff had to kick him out. I just wanted to back to my rooms and eat/hide for a while.
I had one class left, two late high school girls, but it was a breeze. We were giving them a preliminary English comprehension test to see what their level was. No teaching involved at all for that class, at least for that night.
And now it's Wednesday morning. I feel a little better prepared for classes today, at least mentally, I still have to decided what to bring and all that. I should go do that.
Steve
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