Observations

First of all, I want to get your opinion on what you think this is. So take a look at the picture to the right and then leave a comment using the link below this post.

Now, let's get onto some other stuff. We have lots of pics of lots of things for you. And if you're good, next time I'll even put up a video clip for you! Anyhow, let's go. A couple weeks ago I looked down the sidewalk and saw Santa hanging from a noose in the shopping district. As I walked down to mourn for him, I saw another Santa flying straight sideways a little further down the street. I'm not kidding, here's the pics!

Talk amongst yourselves. I'm all verclempt.

Ok, I'm over it. Next we have an ice skating story. Ok, it's not really a story, but we did go ice-skating. An ice-skating rink opened in front of Seoul City Hall on the 6th so Jen and I went down there to check it out. We rented skates and fell repeatedly for an hour all for JUST OVER A DOLLAR!! That's right, we RENTED SKATES! Neither one of us fell. We are surprisingly good skaters. Who knew? Oh, and while we were there a famous Korean lady showed up and everybody took her picture....so....I did too! I'll give you a million Won if you can tell me who she is.


In other news, the Chiefs lost their 7th straight game and are in peril of finishing the season with the lowest winning percentage in my lifetime. If the Chiefs don't win one of their next two games they'll lose 12 games in a season for the first time since 1978. I know, that was only two years before I was born, but almost thirty years ago.

Let's see, Christmas is past here in this Dyck household, but we're gonna go to America and help our families celebrate this week and next. We won't be able to see your comments until the day after Christmas, but don't let that stop you from making them!

Merry Christmas EVERYBODY! Please remember that it's a season for celebration, not a season for stress. Enjoy your families and if you get a bit overwhelmed with what you're doing, just stop doing it! It's more important for you to find pleasure in your relationships during this season. Have an extra conversation instead of making an extra batch of cookies. You'll enjoy yourself much more. Take care everybody. Feliz Navidad Prospero Ano Y Felicidad!

I Knew I Should Laugh, But Wanted to Cry!

So, as the holidays approach we all know that life gets busy! It's been so fun to shop for Christmas gifts, decorate the house, and most of all . . . PACK for home!

Christmas baking has proven to be a little more difficult this year - for several reasons. One - the ingredients. I start by looking for it in the grocery store. The problem I have there is most everything is in Korean - so I look at the packaging, sound out the Korean word if I can, and guess! There are a few baking shops with American products - the problem there is usually the price.

Problem #2 - Baking tools. I brought a few things with me (some of my favorite Pampered Chef.) But what I didn't think about was that Korea isn't into big desserts, so everything is TINY. I have a regular size muffin pan, and a regular baking sheet. 13 x 9's = don't exist. Bread pans = I have the mini ones. I have a pie plate, a 9 x 9 square pan, and can get round ones. Bundt and springform pans = out of the question! (unless you want the individual size.)

So, in the midst of finishing a semester and preparing for the holidays the schedule has been a bit hectic - typical this time of year. In my lack of planning I realized at 10 o clock the other night I hadn't made the promised sugar cookies Cory was going to take to his class. So I acted quickly and began to mix up a batch that I had successfully tried the week before.

Grabbing my mini-cookie cutters I was prepared to come through with sugar cookies after all. After fighting a bit w/the dough (that is supposed to chill overnight) I put in the first batch. The dough didn't taste quite right, but I thought maybe I had bought the wrong flour in my latest guessing game at the grocery store.

When the first pan was done I asked Cory's opinion. They were sweet - but had some unrecognizable "flair". Yes, it seems that my cookies contained GARLIC POWDER!

So, here's my excuse. The vanilla here is a powder, not a liquid. And so in the spice rack there are 4+ powders that are white. The bottoms are labeled, but apparently I didn't check it when I pulled it off the shelf. And so, rather than send the kids garlic sugar cookies (which they very well might have loved) I trashed the dough and Cory had to go buy something at the store. (And they don't sell sugar cookies, or any Christmas cookies here, for that matter.)

The next day, I laughed.

We Did IT!!!

WORLD'S GREATEST COFFEE!! Ok, not really, but it's a funny line anyway. We are pretty pumped tonight, because we took a huge step into becoming Koreans! Check it out!

That's right boys, we ordered pizza!! OVER THE PHONE!!! It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. They just asked for my address and I tried to tell them with my thickest Korean accent. (it's pretty easy, just add an "uh" sound after every consonant and finish every sentence with "yo" or "mida" and you're good to go.)

I am so glad that you could celebrate this moment with us! If you'd like to send congratulatory cards or gifts, you can mail them Dominos-uh, Big-uh Brick-uh Building-uh, Ilsandong-Gu, South-uh Korea-mida. They'll know where to find me-yo.

I Miss My Dryer!

How many of you line-dry your clothes? I have never done this in my life, with the exception of camping trips, but that's way different.

Anyhow, I've discovered over the last few months that a dryer does way more than dry your clothes. If you don't believe me, go for a month without drying your clothes and see where you find lint on your body!

It's not just the softer fabric that comes out of the dryer, or that the clothes are SOOOO warm when they come out (making you feel nice and toasty), or the fewer wrinkles that can keep the iron in the closet for weeks on end, or even the fact that the dryer can return your clothes to their original size. I think the biggest thing that gets into my crawl about line-drying clothes is the thing that gets into my crawl! LINT! It's just uncomfortable! I'm not sure about my wife, but I've never had so much in my life! :)

Now, before you start thinking this is a negative post, let me tell you it's not. I'm not complaining about not having a dryer, I'm simply looking forward to the time when we can dry our clothes with a sweet drying machine! It will be awesome. I will definitely never take a dryer for granted again.

November Pics

Here are a few of our latest pictures for you to enjoy!

I Just Can't Help Myself!

The last two days here have been so cold! This morning when I went to work it was 22 degrees! I was just sitting here e-mailing a friend that I don't know WHAT we're going to do when it gets really cold. And then, it happened!



Cory was minding his own business watching Kansas City play football. (They are going to lose, but he doesn't know that yet.) And out our huge 10 foot high window I saw . . . SNOW! Huge flakes! I let out a large gasp (which usually scares him because he thinks something is wrong) and ran to the window! We don't have the most scenic view - but I just had to share these pics!

Bloggin' Hash

What the heck is bloggin' hash? It's a bit like Northland's "Mrs. Kimbrough's Casserole." There are some good ingredients, some nasty ingredients, and some "so-so" ingredients. Throw them all together and you get something that looks like a decent breakfast, but you're not sure if you should love it or vomit. (No offense Mrs. K.) By the way, most people hated it, but I kinda liked it. Anyhow, let's get down to business. I'll give you several snippits and pics today with stories about each of them.

1. Two weeks ago I lost my wallet. What was inside? My DL, Alien Registration Card, Credit Card, ATM card, LG discount card, Social Security Card, countless business cards, 35000 Won, some receipts, and various member cards (Delta, Blockbuster, Continental, etc.). What does this mean? I don't know. I was pretty upset about the whole thing. I had that duct tape wallet for almost two years! It was quality!!
It's not like I left it somewhere, it just fell out of my pocket while I was riding a bike to meet Jen. Five minutes later, I walked back to the place where it fell out and found only a few business cards and the most important thing, my Hunter's Safety Card. The wallet was gone. At least I'll be able to hunt when I go home. :) I've been able to replace most things without too much loss. The Driver's License and Social Security Card will prove to be a hassle, I think.

2. This weekend while I was out with Jen, I left my water bottle setting on the shelf of some store. I don't know where I left it, but it's no longer my bottle.

3. A few weeks ago Jen and I tried to go to an English service at a church we had already visited. This particular service was in a different area of the church. Although we found the church perfectly, we couldn't find the room that the service was in. Since it was already 45 min. into the service, we decided we should probably just leave. We ended up doing some Christmas shopping after we got coffee and sat beside the Chunggi Chun River for a bit. See picture.

4. Koreans hate this number, it rhymes with death.

5. While we were out that day, we did some Christmas shopping for our parents (successfully, I might add). As we were walking around I saw this guy and thought this was really funny. He's wearing chaps!
Now, before you jump on my case, let me tell you that I didn't realize that he was most likely homeless until after I took this picture. I felt so bad for him. If I could have given him my pants without embarrassing my wife, I would have. There is a surprisingly large number of homeless people in Seoul. Most of them CHOOSE not to work, but some don't have a choice. I wonder what we can do for them.

What number are we on? 6. That same day of shopping we saw this! The long arm of Bojo reaches halfway around the world. We stopped in the biggest bookstore I've seen in Korea and found these books. They had a whole shelf full of them. Go figure.

7. Don't worry, we're almost finished. This past weekend we went hiking up in Bukhansan National Park. It's beautiful AND close by. It took us 30 min. to get there and four hours to hike around in it. We barely scratched the surface! We climbed and climbed, and then we climbed down. It's beautiful up there. Here are a few pictures of our trip.

Well, that's about all I have for you. Oh wait, there's one more thing. I was looking around for my phone last night. (There's always a sinking feeling in my gut when I do that.) Anyhow, the search ended when I pulled the phone out of my cargo pants which were still in the washing machine. (My gut sank even lower.) I let it set out all night, put in my spare battery this morning, and called Jen's phone just to make sure it worked. What a relief. Three blunders in two weeks would be unforgivable. Let's keep it at two.

If you have any fun ideas to do inside on a butt-cold weekend, let me know. Today was below freezing most of the day. We would like to stay in when possible in conditions like these. Let me know what you do when it's cold.

Happy Pepero Day!

I know, I know . . . we haven't updated the blog in so long! Ok, maybe it's only been 2 weeks, but it seems like a long time ago! So, where do we begin?

In America on November 11 we celebrate Veteran's Day, a day to honor and remember those who have fought for our freedom. Here in South Korea they celebrate quite a different holiday.

Apparently, because the date can be written 11/11 some middle school girls in Korea sometime in the early 90's were reminded of 4 sticks of Pepero. They exchanged the snack hoping that they would be as tall and slender as a stick of Pepero. In reality, most people believe that the company who produces this cookie stick dipped in chocolate created the holiday as a marketing ploy. Either way, I've decided I like the stuff!

It's celebrated mostly by young people and couples. Cory and I both received gifts of Pepero from some students, and I bought him a few boxes myself. While researching Pepero Day I also found that the custom here in Korea on Valentine's Day is for the woman to give to the man - not vice versa. Cory was quite happy. This will be the 2nd Valentine's Day in a row he has gotten out of it - claiming he doesn't know what to buy!

In general, we are both doing well. We both get cold quite often - our schools haven't turned on the heat yet. We are both keeping busy with classes and I still feel like I'm scrounging around to come up with flavorful American foods. Unfortunately we won't have much of a Thanksgiving celebration this year. The holiday is not recognized in Korea and most of the traditional things we eat aren't accessible. So - maybe meatloaf this year!

Odae Mountain

This past weekend our friends Sophie and Joe took us a few hours south of Seoul to a National Park. Although the leaves haven't all quite turned colors yet, we were able to enjoy some beautiful fall weather! Actually, we FROZE! We didn't hike as much as we thought we would, but we had a great time. Cory and I also celebrated our 3 month wedding anniversary on Sunday - so it turned out to be a great weekend to get away. Hope you enjoy the pics.

It's always amazing what you find in another culture

One of the vocab words for my students this week was "honey." So as we asked what the Korean word for it was, my students would say "yago." I would turn to my co-teacher and she would nod in agreement.

Later, Jen and I were talking with Sophie and Joe and they explained that "yago" is actually the Korean word for "self," (like "I" or the prefix "ego") but many older Koreans also use it as the word for their spouse. So they are in fact calling their spouse "self" or in essence "part of me."

Hearing that reminded me of Genesis 5:1 which has amazed me since I first understood what it said. It reads (loosely) that man and woman got married and God called THEIR name Adam. God sees married couples as one person. I assume that this is kind of the same way we see God too, 3 in 1.

In God's eyes, the most realistic name I could call my wife is "self" or "me." If I can beat the concept into my brain, I'm sure Eph. 5 will be much easier to follow. I'm gonna try calling her "me" and see how she takes it. You try it too and see what happens. Let me know their reaction!

Our Latest Adventures

We have just finished a full week of school and a full weekend working at an English Festival! It's Sunday night and I'm beat! :) We're back to school tomorrow and in full swing until DECEMBER! We'll try to keep you up to date!

God Bless the Web

Last week we were able to hook up to the internet via our own line (instead of mooching wireless off our neighbors). In addition to this we picked up a webcam and speakers. All of this combined gives us the opportunity to chat with anybody in the world for free. The options vary, but all are free, and free is GOOD!

Throughout the last few years, I have picked up a Yahoo! Messenger account under my email address corydyck@yahoo.com. One of my students made a Windows Messenger account under the email address dyckonabike@hotmail.com. And I just picked up a Skype account with my yahoo address listed above. I've never used Skype before, but it can't be too much different from the other two. Our screen name on Skype is coryandjendyck.

So what are the options? Well, if you don't have a webcam or microphone, we can just instant message. You would be able to see us, but we wouldn't be able to see you. Good for you, bad for us. If you have a webcam but no microphone, we could see each other and instant message.

The best option (the one we used with my parents the other day) is for all of us to have webcams and microphones and speakers so we could see and talk to each other and not have to type anything at all!!

The best part about all of this is that you don't have to pay for anything but your internet connection (unless you mooch that off of your neighbors). We can talk audibly over the internet at no cost! It's amazing!

Anyhow, that's my blurb for today. Thanks for reading, keep the comments coming. I love to hear from you guys, and I think Jen does too. Shoot, all.

A Little Bit Of Culture

Happy Chuseok! We just finished celebrating our first Korean Thanksgiving. We enjoyed some time off school and went and did some sightseeing around Seoul. We got to visit several historical places while here and some modern sites as well.




I had written a blog about a week ago and intended to post it, but my conscience got the best of me. (Or maybe it was Cory.) I was going to complain about all the difficulties we're having because we're foreigners. It just makes some things a little more complicated - like banking, phones, internet, and . . . communicating! :) Also, in my case, it is hindering my shopping! Going to the grocery store is quite an adventure - I can't read 80% of the labels! Learning to read Korean won't help until I can understand what I'm reading! My other shopping problem is my feet. They're too big. No one sells above American size 8 . . . ok. Not "no one" - just hardly anyone! :) I 'm thinking about coming up with a Top Ten List of things we can't find . . . just for your amusement. Deoderant and shoes for Jen are at the top!




We've been able to travel around Seoul using the subway and bus systems quite freely. There aren't great maps here, just women directions - you know "turn right at the big department store and left at the big tree." Put that in Korean with a few hand signals and we're really confused!

Write us when you can! We miss being able to keep in touch with people. Our families most, I think. As we figure things out that should get better, I think.

Keep in touch and write us when you can!

Getting My Feet Wet.

As much fun as I thought I would have going out and getting lost in Korea, it's really not all it's cracked up to be. Keep in mind that we haven't actually seen anything but our town (Goyang) and Seoul. So we're tickling the armpit (geographically, not qualitatively) of Korea without really exploring the rest of the body. I want to go see some of the other stuff around here, but we'll have to wait for the piggy bank to get back to market shape before that happens.

We have gotten to see some pretty sweet stuff, as you can see below. We've also been to the underground. Not the subway, the black market. Okay, I don't really know if it's black or not, but there are tons of shops in just a little bit of space and everybody sells electronics. It looks shady even if it's not. Anyhow, what I'm talking about is a place called Yongsan. It's heaven for anybody who loves technology. I am becoming a bit of a gadget lover, so I was pretty pumped that we got to stop by there last week. I picked up a presenter mouse for class, some RAM for my laptop, a new DVD burning drive for my laptop (installed for free) all for less than two hundred dollars. (I had to stop and think about that real quick, but it's true.) It's a pretty happening place. I might go back down there sometime and pick up some software. I have a DVD burner, but I don't have a program that will convert home video to DVD format, unless I'm an idiot (entirely possible).

Anyway, enough about all that. I want to say that I miss you guys. I'm not sure exactly who all reads this, but I'm thankful for you. We've only been here really for three weeks, but I have been missing you a lot lately. I'm glad Jen is here with me, otherwise I'd probably be miserable. I look forward to hearing from you all. My email is up in the "About Me" section of this page. I can forward things to Jen also. Alright everybody, Shoot.

Aussie Accents and Crackers

We are in the midst of our Orientation in the city of Suwon, which is South of Seoul. We are staying here all week with all new English teachers from the Gyeonggi Province. There are almost 200 of us "Native English Speakers" from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, and South Africa. It's unbelievable how many different types of people we have met!

One of the funniest things is the several Koreans we've met who speak fluent English - with a DISTINCT Australian accent! You just don't expect it to come out of their mouths!



We've spoken about our friends Sophie and Joe from Ilsan, where we live. Here's a picture of their family. They've been SO helpful in so many ways! Joe is hilarious - and somehow while we were out with them last weekend Cory managed to teach him the slang term for white people. As we walked around a busy shopping area everytime Joe would see some white foreigners he would proudly state "there's some more crackers!"

Here's a few pics from while we toured Insadong, Myeungdong, and Namdaemun (the main gate fortress wall of Seoul).

Settling In

We arrived in Korea a week ago Thursday but our apartment wasn't going to be available to us until the following day. We stayed w/my Korean friend I met in Guam (Sophie & husband, Joe) the first night and then she took us around some the next day. There are several nice stores which have almost everything from clothing to furniture to bedding to groceries. Since we didn't bring much w/us besides clothes, I, Jen, was anxious to start finding some things to make our apartment a home.












Our apartment is in an awesome location. As a newly married couple w/no kids, we couldn't ask for more. We are in the center of the city and right outside our window is one of the nicest shopping areas in town. LaFesta is the 2-3 blocks to our right and to our left is a block of restaurants. Both areas are bricked streets for walking only - no cars. At night our apartment is lit up by all the street signs outside. Noise is only a problem w/the windows open - but so far we've only done that occasionally. It's cool enough most days for windows, but during the weekends it's too noisy.

There are so many American chains here - you'll see more later (we've been exploring Seoul already) - but in our immediate area are multiple Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, Pizza Huts, as well as a Dominoes, Papa Johns, Uno's, Bennigan's, and more I can't remember. So when in need, there's plenty of American food around. Most of those restaurants have an asian twist, but the pepperoni pizza at Dominoes tasted great!

Back to the house - after shopping around we've found some bedding, although sheets here are almost impossible to find. I almost called Guam and asked for someone to hit Ross for me! :) (We managed to find a fitted sheet at a place in La Festa - just across the street.) We've picked up a few odds and ends like pillows and a bamboo plant and our friends Sophie & Joe have been very gracious. Joe brought us a gum tree that's about 4 feet tall that improves the view in our apt as well.













All in all - it's coming along. We are gradually getting unpacked, but are both very happy with our new place. As time goes by we hope to add some furniture to what the school provided us with. Our "American" home in Korea is coming along well! But we do have the traditional Korean-style slippers right by the door!

Although we've been working and teaching all week tomorrow we are off to another city for Orientation. They put us up in a hotel and we have meetings Mon - Fri. It should be fun to meet some other English-speaking people/teachers. We'll try to update more often - there's lots to tell!

-Jen

We're HERE!

I won't write much, we got here on Thursday and moved into our apartment on Friday. We have a real nice two-bedroom, one-bath apartment that's about 20 minutes walk from both schools that we work at.

Right now I'm mooching off of somebody else's internet connection until we can get our own ethernet connection. I should probably go. We don't have a phone number yet, but as soon as we do, we'll put the number up on the web. Shoot folks!

Last Days

We have enjoyed our last few weeks in Guam visiting with former students, church family, co-workers, and close friends. We have only a few days to finish tying up all loose ends here before commencing on our journey!

Leaving Guam is sad, and goodbyes are never easy. We are so thankful for those who have made our time here so special. God has used this place and these people to impact and change our lives, as well as prepare us for those things that lie ahead. To those of you who have been a part of our lives here in Guam - Thank you. We are excited about living in Korea and the adventure ahead.

For those who want to send stuff to us

We found out recently that we have an apartment and we've since been busy trying to change the addresses on our accounts and whatnot. Anyhow, here it is.

Cory and Jen Dyck
Halla Millart A-509
742 Janghang-Dong
Goyang, Gyeonggi,
South Korea 410-380

Yeah, I know, what the heck, right? It's super long.
I guess that's how they do it in the Republic of Korea. Make sure you write it down!!

Honeymoon Pics

Last week in church Pastor was talking about prayer. I have to admit that I don't really remember what exactly he said, but while he was speaking I thought about all the things Jen and I went through this summer. We went to Bali and Lombok and lived through the stomach bug that followed. We made it through the atrocity that was our flight to the states for the wedding. We were able to see some of the most beautiful country God has ever created when we went to Colorado. We've been motorcycle riding, bike riding, flying on a Cessna 172, whitewater rafting, scuba diving, uh....married, and so much more.

I feel like I've complained alot about some of the things that have gone on this summer. But really, looking back on it, we were so blessed to have things be taken care of as well as they were this summer. For all of the traveling, playing, working, sleeping, and talking we did this summer; everything worked out! God has taken incredible care of us throughout all of it.

Now what does this have to do with prayer? I can't say that I was on my knees through all of the things we did, but I can say that God loves me and loves to make things good for his children. I believe that while all of this was happening, many people from all over were praying that it would work out. If I'm wrong, please tell me. In fact, if I'm right, please tell me.

I would like to thank all of you who chipped in to make this summer awesome for us. God answered your prayers.

What We're Doing and Where We've Been

Whenever I write a blog it doesn't seem nearly as interesting as Cory's. However, I will strive to keep this one interesting AND informative!

Looking backwards a bit - after the wedding in WV we headed to Colorado for a week at Estes Park. It was an awesome place to go for our honeymoon. We got to do lots of stuff from a 27-mile bike tour (downhill) through Rocky Mountain National Park to whitewater rafting on the Pouder River to go-karting (I won, by the way, and that rarely happens). We stopped in Kansas to see his family for about 5 days and were able to spend lots of time with them. His mom organized an open house while we were there so I got to meet lots of people Cory grew up with or has known for some time. We finished out our trip to America in West Virginia before returning to Guam.

We arrived back in Guam with no problems. What a blessing to have an uneventful flight back! We have been here about a week now and are preparing to have a wedding reception here Guam-style. Local food (chicken kelaguen, red rice, pig), all-natural decorations (bamboo, hibiscus, plumeria, woven palms), and very relaxed (come as you are)! We have quite a bit to do in the next couple of days, but it seems that most of our students will be coming with their families as well as church folks and staff friends. We are planning on 400 - but we have no idea how many we will really have. We are looking forward to celebrating with all our friends here.

By the end of the month we will be in Korea trying to settle in! We have our Visa's and will start shipping some of our stuff as soon as we can get an address to mail it to. It's going to cost my arms and at least one of Cory's legs, so we are going to re-pack and try to downsize AGAIN. (I'm smiling on the inside.) But, hey - it's just STUFF. And we all are guilty of having too much of that . . .

A Few Weddings Pics

I'm sorry for taking so long between blogs. We only have one more stop before we get back to Guam. We got word from Korea that our working visas are in the mail!! We have jobs again!!!

Anyhow, here's a few photos for those of you who are cursing my name because I haven't put them up yet. Feel free to let me know what you would like to see and I'll try to get it on here for you when I have more time online.

Delayed

This is the sign we got to look at for an extra eight hours while we waited in Osaka's airport. I have no idea still what it was that we were waiting for, but it took a long time to get it done. I had to change our connecting flight in Detroit twice while we waited in Japan, but by the time we got out of customs in Detroit we had already missed all the flights out that night.

I got over it, :) but I was pretty irritated about the whole thing. We were dreading the flight already, but the wait just made it worse. Add our continuing recovery from third world cuisine and you have a literal soup of disaster. Haha!

We can't complain about the whole trip though. We were able to get a few hours of sleep in a Best Western in Detroit before flying into Pittsburgh. Because of the flight change, I had to change our car reservation as well. I was able to upgrade from a Pontiac G6 to a 2007 Jeep Liberty for an extra fifty bucks total for the ten days we have it. The Jeep is awesome!! Cruise Control, power everything, no wobble at 80 miles an hour! It's even got Sirius Sattelite Radio with a Christian station, #66!! What a steal of a deal. We'll drop it off this Sunday on our way to the West.

Thanks to all of you for praying for us to get in okay. Even though we were delayed in every airport we stopped at (8 hours in Osaka and 45 minutes in Detroit), we still had a good trip. I'm glad we purchased a portable DVD player, and now we have a long life external battery so we can watch movies for 14 hours straight (one flight from Detroit to Osaka)! It'll come in handy on the way back and forth from Korea if we ever decide to come back to the States after we get there.

We're excited about Saturday, and we're finishing up the last few details before the show starts. We look forward to seeing those of you who are coming. If you're not coming, you can see all the highlights here in a couple weeks.