Daegu Amusment Park and Korean Costco

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to an amusment park with my director and his family. It was actually supposed to include the other teachers, but they had previous plans. So it was just me, my director, his wife, and little boy.
The amusment park was located in the city of Daegu, 2 hours away from my city. We got there around lunch time, but didn't eat until later. Frist we had to decide what kind of pass we wanted. There were 3 differnt kinds of passes. There was just the entry fee with no rides included, there was the big 5 which allowed you to go on 5 rides of your choice, and there was the all day pass that allowed you to go on all the rides all day. I chose the big 5 because my director's wife doesn't like roller coasters and my director only got the big 5 also and I don't like to ride coasters on my own.
This is the entry sign. The name of the park is Woo Bang Tower Land.
This is Min Jae, Jennifer, and me at Woo Bang Tower Land. Note the funny looking dog bushes behind us.
The park was small. It was funny because there were outdoor escalators because of the park being on a hill. The first ride we went on was a roller coaster simular to Canada's Wonderland's bat roller coaster. It was the first roller coaster I had been on in about 5 years. It was good, but the ride ended with an abrupt stop, not like the roller coasters in Canada that kind of give you little stops before the final stop.
After at roller coaster the director's wife took her son on a children's ride. On the ride you could make the plane go up and down with a handle. The little boy, Min Jae, kept making the plane go up and down and the director's wife, Jennifer, didn't like it very much. It was cute to see them on the ride together.
This is Min Jae and his mother on the plane ride.
After that it was time for lunch. I had bulgolgi, a beef stirfry on rice. It was good. Then we went on another roller coaster called the camel back. It was sort of like the Canada's Wonerland's great Canadian mindbuster. It was fun. Then we went on a roller coaster called the hurricane. It was sort of like the Canada's Wonderland's dragon flyer only with only one loop upside down. This was also quite fun.
By that time it was late in the afternoon and there was one last ride that the director wanted to take his son on, the fluke water ride. It was like the Canada's Wonderland's fluke ride when they had it years ago when I was younger. Apparently last year Min Jae was just a little too short to go on, but this year he was able to go. The line was very long and it took us about 45 minutes to get through. Jennifer was scared of the hill, but she made it through. Min Jae was scared, but he didn't show it at all. He just sat with his father and was expressionless and very quiet.
As we were heading to the car, we stopped for Min Jae to go on these rolling animals that you pay for. Then the children can drive it around for 2 minutes or so. It was cute to see Min Jae riding the zebra like animal.
The picture on the left is of Min Jae and his mother on the zebra car.
The picture on the right is of me, Min Jae, and Jennifer on our way out of the park. The yellow pointer hand that Jennifer has is a toy that is used in a game that you try to get a person to not look the way that you point. If you do then you get a knock on the head, if you don't then it's their turn to get you to look the same way you point.
Overall it was a good day. There really wasn't much more to the park besides the tower, the jurassic park museum, and the aquarium, but you had to pay extra to go and see those. I was happy with what I went on. There are apparently a few other amusment parks in Korea, but the big ones are by Seoul. Maybe I will get there sometime.
After leaving the amusment park, we went to Costco. Yes, there is Costco in Korea. It's nice because then you can buy some of the not so common food items there, for example, Jelly Belly Jelly Beans. So I signed up for a membership because it is transferable into Canada when I leave, very nice.
It was nice to go shopping and find some foods that I couldn't buy in Jinju. I was able to find marble cheese, salsa, Campbell's soup, snack mix, Dr. Pepper pop, construction paper, and Downey faberic softener. It was nice to get these items. I would like to go back there in a couple of months to do some more shopping.

House Comparison

I've been meaning to compare my previous house and the house that I'm in now, but haven't really had the time until now.
Well let's start with my previous house. To me it was small. It consisted of one room and the bathroom/laundry room. Let's start at the door. When you walk in the door there was my kitchen and the coat rack in a little 'hall.' I had a two burner gas stove to cook on. There were cupboards for food and under the sink were the pots and pans.
This is the kitchen area of my previous house looking in from the main area.
From there was the main room. The main room was my living room/bedroom/dining room combination. It had a bed, television/VCR combo, a little folding table, the small fridge, and a large dresser. There was the biggest picture window that could possibly be put into the room, with bars (because I was on ground level), and a fence that went up half of the window so no one could see in. The house didn't come with curtains, so I had to buy some because the sun shone in my window very early in the morning.
This is the main living area at my previous house looking in from the door.
Then there was my bathroom. The smallest one I've ever been in. In it was the washing machine, that took up one quarter of the bathroom, literally. As you can see it was a small bathroom. My shower was connected to the sink and I had to shower between the toilet and the washing machine. The water drained in the middle of the floor. When I did laundry my bathroom would flood with about an inch and a half of water because it too drained into the bathroom. So that was my previous house looking in from the main area.
This is the bathroom from my previous house.
My current house is a little bigger, at least I think so. When I got there, there was a lack of shelfs. I bought two of them to put things on, one by the door for the toaster oven, rice maker, and Snowball's things. I had bought 2 others for the last house so they fit in nicely. This house is 3 rooms. There is the kitchen/living room/dining room/bedroom, the bathroom, and laundry room. Starting at the door, when you walk in you see the kitchen area. There is a two burner gas stove, at first there was only a one burner gas stove. Under the sink is still the pots and pans. There is a drying shelf beside this area. There is the fridge, a larger one than the last house, on one side.
This is the kitchen area in my current house looking from the main area.
Then there is the main area. I have a television, VCR, and my DVD player (from Canada). The bed, a dresser, and a coat rack with all my clothes. I have a folding table, that I bought also. There is a shelf that has all my movies on it too.
This is the main area of my current house looking in from the kitchen/door area.
The bathroom is bigger than the last one, but it's still small. The shower still comes from the sink, but it doesn't flood when I do the laundry. It's nice to have a window also in the bathroom. At the previous house there was no window, only a fan and the bathroom took forever to dry.
This is the bathroom in my current house looking in from the door/kitchen area.
The laundry room is small, but that's okay, at least it's a laundry room that doesn't flood my bathroom. Both houses I've had to hang a line across the room so I can hang up laundry. I have a drying rack, but it only holds so much.
This is my laundry room in my current house looking in from the bathroom.

Korea's Famous Island: Jeju

So this past weekend I went on a trip with my friend Sonja. We originally wanted to go to Taiwan, but prices went too high too fast and we couldn't afford it. Then we thought about Jeju. It was closer and cheaper. We didn't think that it was going to be possible because this was the Korean thanksgiving (or Chusuok, I think that's how it's spelt). On the holiday Koreans travel to their families and have a special celebration.
So we went to Jeju. We had a later flight and when we arrived we had to take a bus to the place where we would be picked up. When we were picked up we went to the hotel and left our stuff there. After we went for dinner. We met a thrid member who would be touring with us. His name was John and he was a Canadian also. We had dinner at a little Korean restaurant. After dinner we went for a little shopping/walking around on our own. It was nice.
The next morning we were off at 9:30 AM. First we went to the ocean. We walked to a rocky ocean side and walked on this hill made of rock. The water was beautiful! It was an awsome aqua blue colour.
This is Sonja and I at the ocean shore on the rock hill.
From there we went to pick up 2 more people coming on our tour. They were 2 Russian men who were in Korea to train Koreans to work Russian helicopters. Once we picked them up we went to another ocean shore to look at what they call hexigonal rocks. They were formed from lava flow a very long time ago. The rockside looked like the lava flowed down a hill over and over again after cooling each time. It was very interesting to see. There was also a cave that we were not supposed to go into because the rocks from the top could fall down at any time. It didn't look too stable anyways.
This is the hexigonal rocks that were made by the lava flow.
After that we headed to a crator of a volcano that had erupted hundreds of years before. It was interesting to see because it was all over grown with foilage and it was so deep. We stood at the top of it and were able to look into the crator. Very cool!
From the crator we went to the ocean side again and we were able to go swimming. The water was so warm and beautiful. The white sand and the black lava rocks made it seem that we were in the tropics. We were given goggles and snorkels to use and we could see the small fish and little creatures on the bottom. It was very nice. I, however, tried to get from one area to another and slipped on a lava rock and cut my toe pretty bad. It is okay now, but at the time it hurt like crazy. After swimming for a while I looked around at the tiny crabs walking around and at the shells on the shore. It was nice and relaxing. We all ended up getting too much sun and got sun burns.
This is the area that we went swimming at.
After swimming, we went to a botanical garden. We were able to see all kinds of plants, trees, rocks, caves, and birds. What was very interesting to me were the tangerine trees. Even though they were out of season and the oranges were green, it was my first time to see an orange tree of any kind. The kiwi trees were also very interesting because I've never seen them before. We walked around and talked about different things and between discussing the surroundings, we talked about various things. It was nice to be able to talk with other people speaking English from Canada.
The caves were really cool, literally. It was very nice and refreshing to walk through the caves because they were cold. I had never been in a cave before, so this was really neat for me.
After the caves we had dinner. It was Korean food, but Sonja and I shared something that wasn't spicey hot. It was good. After we looked at the birds and then headed back to the hotel. I was beat so I just stayed in and rested.
The next morning we were off again. This time the Russians were not with us, but we had some people from Malaysia and Singapore. We first went to a waterfall. It was the only waterfall on Jeju that falls at the ocean shoreline. It was a fresh water waterfall going into the ocean. It was very pretty.
This is me by the waterfall.
After the waterfall we went to another shore that had black sand. The black sand was from crushed lava rock. It was really cool looking. We walked along the shore and came to a raft that was to be pulled by a rope. We got on and enjoyed a nice little ride. The water was a jade green.
This is the black sand. All the rocks that you see are different colours. I found pink, red, black, grey, purple, and yellow. It was very interesting. I was told it was because of the different minerals in the rocks.
From the little raft ride we went to a bonsi garden and looked at all the different bonsi trees. There were also tangerine trees, all out of season still. We joked that when the tour guide brings other people here he should tell them that the oranges are limes and not oranges at all until they turn orange.
This the green tangerines. It's too bad that they were out of season. It would have been a nice little treat.
After that we had lunch, Korean again. This wasn't bad at all because it was one of my favourites, galbi, pork with seasoning.
After lunch we went to what is called the lonely rock. It's a huge rock that looks like a woman praying. The story goes that the woman is praying for her husband to come back and he ends up dying at sea and he is the flat rocks close by. It really does look like what the story is if you look at the rocks just right. We walked around and got some really cool pictures on the rocks.
This is our tour group. John is on the left, behind him is our tour guide Victor (a Russian who speaks Korean and English and does these tours), then me, and Sonja on the right.
After the lonely rock we went to a green tea farm. We were able to see the green tea fields and try some green tea. I don't fancy it too much, but it was okay.
After the green tea place we went to the mysterious road. This road is one of those roads that pulls you uphill when you should be going the opposite way when you turn your car engine off. It was neat to see. I have never been to the one in Canada.
After that our last stop was the rocks that look like a dragon along another shoreline. It was made of black lava rock. It was interesting to see. From there Sonja and I headed to the airport to catch our flight. That ended our trip to Jeju. It was nice, but I wouldn't call it too relaxing because of all the walking and going places.

The Life of a Korean Student

When I think back to my school life I always thought life was hard with all the school work at times, but looking at my school life after being here in Korea for a while I realize I had it easy. In Canada elementry to high school you go to school from around 9:00 AM to about 3:00/3:30 PM and that's it. If you were on a school team you might stay after school for an hour or two and if you took piano lessons or some other instrument you would go to that. However, here in Korea, students go to school at 7:30 AM or so and finish around 3:30 PM if you are in elementry school. If you go to high school you might stay until 10:00 or 11:00 or later. After school students go to various acadamies. It could be art, piano, English, math, Chinese, taekwondo, or some other subject that I have no knowledge about. They might go to 3 or 4 of these after school. It's so crazy!
I've been told that the reason for this pushing for learning is because if one parent finds out that their child is behind in a subject because they don't attend an acadamy, they feel ashamed and embarassed. It's something that a parent can take pride in to know that their child is near the top of the class in a subject, but also because they are getting there through extra schooling. I think that parents probably hand out about $600 or $700 a month on all these different acadamies.
Getting into college is also a huge deal here. Depending on the university that you go to will depend on what kind of job you can get after. The better and well known universities are the best and will help you to get a good job. If the person hiring you for a job went to the same university as you, that's even better. So when it comes time to write the tests for university, the students are very stressed and there is a high rate of suicide because of the pressure. I'm glad that education is not pushed on students in Canada the way it is here in Korea. Don't get me wrong, there is pressure in Canada to get good grades, but it's not as extreme as it is here in Korea.
I wonder what life would be like for these children if they didn't have to study so hard and had the time to play and have fun after school. I wonder if the students would be happier and less stressed as they are now with things, or if it wouldn't change and they would continue to feel sad and oppressed.

Korean Army

I just thought I would make a little note about the Korean army, while I have it on my mind. It seems so different here than in Canada with regards to the army because, in Canada, there is not an ever present fear of being invaded.
Since being in Korea I have felt that Koreans are a little fearful of an invasion, as they have been invaded quite a few times in their history. Korea has quite a large army and most men over the age of 25 could be required to fight if necessary because they have all been required to go into the army. It's a law that at some point in a man's life he has to go into the army and do service. Being from Canada, where it is not a requirement, but an option, this seems very strange to me. I don't think that I would want to stop my life to have to go into the army for a period of time.
When I went to Asan, for my spa trip a while ago, the train was filled with men in the army. They were moving to different bases or something because groups of them would get off at certain stations. There had to be over 100 of them on the train that day.
Sometimes I wonder if some of the children's shows are geared to get them interested in the army at a young age. I wonder if it is a way of engraining the fact that they need to join the army at a very young age. The children sometimes act like they are shooting each other in a war game.
It was kind of funny one day when Susan and I were walking and we saw a tree that had bark that looked like army uniform colours. It was so strange and a comment was made that even the trees were prepared for anything.
This is a picture of the tree that has bark that looks like army uniform colours.

Korean Church Vs. Canadian Church & My Adventure in Finding an English Service

Something that I have noticed as a big difference between churches here in Korea and churches in Canada is the acceptance and welcoming level. I'm not sure if it's just because I've only gone to a couple of different churches in Canada or if it's because I havin't been a new member at a church in a very long time and have forgotten what it's like to be new in a church. Anyways, I thought it was just the church I was going to that made the people more accepting and welcoming because I had not been to a different Korean church, but today I went to a different Korean church and was welcomed very warmly by everyone. I think it was a bigger welcoming than at the church that I have been going to for a while now. I don't think that my church in Canada welcomes people into the church to the same extent that the churches here in Korea do. Here in Korea, the new people are invited to a room, after the service, and they get to meet the pastor and are given a little drink and some times a little gift. In Canada, you might get a little gift, but most of the time the new people don't get to meet the pastor right away (at least to my knowledge). Also there doesn't seem to be a very big welcoming from the congregation the same way that there is in a Korean church. The welcoming in a Korean church is almost overwhelming.
I think this makes me change my attitude toward how I'm going to try and welcome people into the church when I go back home to Canada. I want new comers to feel as welcomed and accepted as I have felt in the churches here in Korea.
So, on my search for finding a church that offers an English service I was told about a church that is close to my house. I went there this morning on my own, not even a Korean to translate. I was immediately welcomed with very warm smiles and the ladies at the door tried to talk to me in Korean. One lady was quick to grab one of the young adults, English name David, to come and translate for me. It was very nice and very unexpected. So David translated the service for me and then after service was very nice to 'take me under his wing' and show me where to go and help answer any questions that people had. I ate lunch and as I did many people came up and said hi and asked where I was from and where I worked. It was very nice.
After lunch there was time to sit and talk with people. I was amazed at the amount of people who spoke English and were able to carry on a short, if not long conversation. At the other church there are maybe a hand full of people who speak English and even few who can carry on a conversation. So people just kept on coming up and talking with me. It was very nice. They all want me to come back to the church and continue to attend church there on Sundays. I think I might just do it because it's closer and a little smaller and there are more people who speak English. The only thing is that there is no English service, but they did have one a couple of years ago. Maybe they will start it up again because of me. Who knows...

The On Going Struggle With a Class that Won't Talk

I mentioned in a previous post about the struggles of teaching and that one of the classes that I teach doesn't like to talk very much. Well I still don't know what to do with this class. The class used to have 6 students, but has gone down to 5, as one of the students moved up a level.

Let me give you some background on these students. These students are in middle school and have been studying English for a while and are at a low intermediate level (meaning they can speak and understand English enough, but still need to study lots). I have been teaching 3 of them since I arrived at the school and the other 2 have just started in the last 2 months. When I first came to the class I noticed that it was extremely quiet and I had a hard time getting them to answer the simplest questions. At first I just thought that it was the text book and that it was too boring for them. However, we finished the text and I got a text that I thought would be good for them with very interesting topics. Well nothing has changed, if not things have got worse. It's not that they are not understanding the text, because I asked the head teacher about it and she said that they have studied it previously.
So I'm kind of stuck with this class. I ask them questions, very easy ones, and the usual answers I get are 'I don't know,' 'Sleeping,' and 'Let's play a game.' Every class with them is like torture for me because I end up standing there staring at them hoping for them to answer my simple questions. It's very awkward. They always just want to play a game or do nothing.
I asked the head teacher what I should do with them and she doesn't know either. She says that they should practice speaking in class because with me they can get real conversation and good practice, but they don't want to do any of that.
I actually just found out yesterday that one of the students, one of the newer ones, enjoys my classes. I thought this was impossible because she is one of the most quiet students in class. I found out that she is scared to talk in class because she doesn't want to be wrong, but when she does say something she is surprised that I understand her. This made me so happy, because at least she is understanding and wants to talk, she is just shy. I found this out through her mother, who came to talk about her daughter to the head teacher.
So this gives me a little hope for the class, but I still don't know what to do and how to go about making them speak. It's so hard.

Typhoons (Or So Called Hurricanes in the North American Area)

So much talk of hurricanes these days over the news on CNN, but there isn't much coverage of the typhoons that have been coming this way, but that's not the real topic of this entry. The reason for this is to talk about my experiences with the typhoons.

To start off, the only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is where it forms. If the storm forms over the Atlantic Ocean it's called a hurricane and if it forms over the Pacific Ocean it's called a typhoon. So, this year has not been so bad for Korea with typhoons, but poor China, Japan, and Taiwan have had their share of typhoons in the last month or so. Actually there was a big typhoon that was headed this way the end of last week and the start of this week. On Monday I woke up to crazy wind and a very cloudy sky that looked like it would rain at any moment. Well the wind kept up all day and I found out there was a typhoon headed this way. That night it rained and was very windy, but not too bad. The next day was just windy and the storm went up north and missed Korea.

Anyways, that wasn't anything compared to the two that I experienced last year around this time. Those typhoons actually came to Korea. I remember the rain was so hard and the wind was so strong that I was soaked within 2 minutes of being outside with an umbrella. The thunder and lightening were crazy also. On days like those a lot fo students don't show up for class because it's too bad to go outside. On that day I ended up taking a taxi after beening outside for 10 minutes, but by that time I was soaked through my shoes. The typhoon lasted about 2 and a half days and then the sky was clear and the wind had stopped.

So these have been my experiences with typhoon, but they are nothing compared to what hit the USA with hurricane Katrina. I'm sure that the typhoons could get as bad as Katrina, but they never hit Korea with that force.

Free Stuff With Purchase: 'Service'

One thing that I found out early when coming to Korea is the vast amount of free things that you can get when you buy at certain stores. I have gone into places where you can buy facial cleansers and makeup and the such and when you pay for your things you get free samples or if you buy more you can get extra free things. Some of the things that I have got for free are a makeup bag, creams, cleaning pads for you face, a cell phone key chain mirror, and a beach bag. I have quite the collection of things to send to Brazil to my missionary friend, Debbie who I worked with when I did ministry there.
Not only do the facial stores give stuff away, but also the pet stores. When I bought Snowball I was given a leash, dog treats, and dog toys. Every time I buy an outfit for her I'm given a bag of dog treats. Each time I leave her at the pet hotel they give her some special food. Even if I buy a bag of treats for Snowball I'm given an extra bag of treats. It's quite nice of them, but now I have so many extra treats and Snowball will get fat.
Also when I go to the movies I'm given a scratch ticket that I can get 1000 won (or the equivelant of $1) off on my next movie. Even if I give them a coupon, they will give me another and it's always the same discount. It's nice, when you go to the movies each week.
Another place that you get free things is when you go to the Christian book store to buy something. The man there usually will give me a pad of paper or a little stack of song cards, not that I can read them, but it's a nice gesture.
Even when a student comes to my school new, if they are young, they are given a backpack for their books. On children's day everyone was given a t-shirt with the school logo on it.
So most places that you go you can get something for free. It's quite nice.

Cell Phones: Also Known as 'Hand Phones' by Koreans

Cell phones are a must in Korea, or so it seems. Everywhere I go someone has a cell phone or is talking on one. I thought that it was bad in Canada, but here it's 10x worse.
I do have to say that the cell phones here are very high tech. I have not seen a phone that could do as much as the phones here. There are cell phones that do the normal calling and internet access, but there are also ones that do pictures and actually are a digital camera and the size of a small camera. They have phones that are small, that you can fit in the palm of your hand, half the size of a cell phone. There are others that are very thin, maybe about 1 cm in width. There are some that download music and become an MP3 player and there are also cell phones that you can get that have a wireless ear piece so that you can be across the room and answer your phone by a touch of a button on the ear piece.
Not only are there cell phones, but there are many attachments that you can add to your cell phone to make it more interesting. Some of the things are cell phone covers, that come in all kinds of designs, and others are little key chain like figures that you can get in anything.
The cell phone companies also have certain deals that you can get. One of them is to have a land line set up to your cell phone so that if you don't answer your land line phone the call is transfered to the cell phone. It's quite interesting.
Commercials on tv are quite amusing and catch your attention right away. There are celebrities who are used on the commercials to promote all the different things that cell phones do and all the newest types that come out onto the market. I think of all the commercials that I watch the cell phone commercials are the ones that I understand the most, besides the beauty products. You really don't need to understand what is being said when actions speak everything on the commercials.

Weekends

I have to say that when you don't have anyone to hang out with on weekends they can get very boring. A usual Saturday would consist of waking up late and then calling Susan to see what she is up to for the day. What would follow would be to get together with her later in the day and go shopping or catch a movie. After that it would be time to go home. A usual Sunday would consist of getting up and getting ready for church, catching a taxi to church or walking, depending on how early I get started. Sitting through a service that is translated for me by Ok hee, maybe staying for lunch or heading home after service. After that would be a rest until it's time to head out for Bible study. Bible study lasts about 1 hour and then going out with Susan for supper and possibly a movie, if we didn't watch one the day before. Then it's time to go home.
However, this schedule changes if Susan and I decide we want a change of scenery and we go to Masan or Busan for the day. Then Saturday becomes an early morning and a bus ride to wherever we go.
Without Susan here in Korea and no other foreigner friends in the city, weekends are boring and all I do is sit home and watch tv. There really is nothing to do. I don't like to go to the movies alone and who wants to travel all by themselves. It's not as fun as sharing the experience with someone. I just hope that there is a friend who comes along soon so I don't have to stay too many weekends alone in my house.

The Language Barrier

So on thing that I have had to get over while in Korea and any of the other places that I have traveled to where I don't speak the language is having to deal with people not understanding me and me not understanding them. This has been a constant struggle while in Korea because learning Korean is extremely difficult. I have learned a couple of words to get me by, but for the most part I don't understand very much.
The hardest time when I wish I spoke the language fluently is when I have a difficulty or needing help with something. I will either try to understand them through actions or I will end up calling one of my Korean friends or my director for translation. Sometimes I feel like a burden to these people, but they are the ones who say to call them if I ever need help with anything.
I the lady that I bought Snowball from has started to learn a couple of words in English to help explain things to me. It's very funny to go into the pet store now and get Snowball washed and if I'm having a problem with her (like her skin problem) the lady will help me get the medicine that I need. She is very nice and always wants to take me out for lunch.
When teaching I find that some of the students with little English revert to Korean and they expect me to understand. This can be very difficult for me and them. If there is a problem and it is not resolved within a minute or so I go to the head teacher and ask her what the child wants. I think the students think it's funny at times to speak Korean and then watch my reaction to not understanding them. Something that can be annoying is for the students to say something about me, and I know it's about me because I hear my name, but I have no idea about what they are saying because I don't understand enough.
The words that I have learned so far are 'hello,' 'thank you,' 'give me (please),' 'here,' 'back gate,' 'I don't understand,' a couple of numbers, some foods, how to get to my house, how to get to my old house, and some words that are what we call Konglish (Korean and English mixed to get a word). I usually have a Korean write down directions for me so I can just show the paper to the taxi driver.
I have tried to find time to learn a little more Korean, but there is just not the time or the people to teach me at a time that is good for me and them. I will probably not be able to learn much more than I have already learned.