LATENIGHT - KOREA

Saturday, July 26, 2003

I have no idea why the kid in the back row is banging his head against the wall.
I think he felt silly when the flash went off, though.

The first week of summer schedule is over. It's Friday night. We hit Bruce Almighty at the local theatre and now I am just sitting up late going through the news. I finished the compulsory list of sites from back home and after not finding much of interest, I ran the gauntlet of Korean English-Language newspapers.

Now, I've been avoiding politics lately-- and the troubles with North Korea though increasing, have a sense of staleness about them-- but there's some big news finally coming down the pipe. A timetable has been formally set for the redeployment of U.S. forces in Korea. The plans to switch places from central Seoul to Pyeontaek have been floating about for a little while, but now two things are becoming clearer. The first is the schedule; the move will be completed by early 2005. The second is the price tag for Korea which is being estimated at around 15 Trillion Won (virtually the equivalent of the nations entire defence budget for a year). That's a bit misleading though, since the flipside is that with R.O.K. forces destined to be 100% responsible for the defence of the DMZ, South Korea must plan to increase their defence budget to pick up the slack (from 2.7% of GDP to 3.2%)

Finally the world has righted itself, at least in this little corner. Koreans, these days, like to pawn off last year's demonstrations as being nothing more than concerted efforts to bring equalization to their relationship with their paternalistic defenders, the United States. But with the downturn in the economy, the predictable collective whitewashing of crimes against their largest trading partner has occurred. That was the one-two punch that really bugged me. First foreigners had to spend six months after last year's World Cup dealing with increased hostility everywhere we went-- and then when their wallets were empty, Koreans called us liars for suggesting the demonstrations were anti-American. Go see for yourself and make your own opinion. You'd think Koreans would be happy that they are getting what they asked for. Sheesh.

Anyway, I am down to five elementary classes now at work, with a schedule that runs from about 10am to 5pm. The bulk of my classes are now middle school level and I am primarily focused on getting them ready for interviews at foreign high schools that are opening up around Seoul. It seems that TOEFL and TOEIC scores are starting to take a backseat as far as priorities go. It's almost as if the whole English education system is being thrown out, at least here. Where it was once important to have a good TOEIC score to get into a good Korean university, the onus now is to plan earlier by getting into a better high school. These foreign high schools will guarantee better placement in university than the TOEIC scores alone did. Of course, they should also allow Korean students to qualify for acceptance into Western schools more easily also.

For the last three days, we've been giving sample interviews to determine placement for new students at our hagwon. In response to "What university would you like to go to?", every student said 'Harvard'. We also asked students to tell about their families. I guess that was the predictable question since some of the students couldn't piece together a sentence to save themselves and when it came to that question, they'd sit bolt upright and clearly and audibly recite, "There are X people in my family. My father is a businessman. My mother is a homemaker... etc." By the time the next question rolled around, it was back to, "Uh... Um... I want study good school." A couple of heartbreakers weren't so keen on their families though. One student had the following for answers:

Question: What makes you sad?
Answer: My mother.
Next question: What makes you angry?
Answer: My father.

Another, a girl, when time came to tell about her family, answered much more candidly and began with a surprise for me. "I don't like them," she said bluntly. She then told me the name of the foreign high school she wanted to go to very explicitly. Her reason was that they were building a new dormitory. It turns out that her folks really spoil her little brother while they treat her like Cinderella. She was overjoyed with the idea of getting away. It's good to see my students will have a sense of humour.

I think I'll leave it there for now. I'm feeling that it's almost bedtime. I want to thank Jun, Drew, Clay, and all the others who took time to sign my guestbook over at Ian Ross Dot CA. I've just installed a comments box feature there, which shows up at the bottom of each cartoon. Try it out if you get the chance. A lot of the cartoons are quite specific to my home locality so it might be tough to get the joke but the website affords me the chance to paste a small writeup underneath to fill in the uninitiated. In time, I'd like to start doing some national-themed cartoons on my own but that may have to wait until after my summer schedule is finished.

Have a good one everybody.

Friday, July 18, 2003

Dongdaemun in the rain (First pic with the new digital camera)

Well the rainy season has been back in order for the latter part of this week. Wednesday, going into work, I got caught in a huge downpour. The parking lot beside my building, where I cross to get a taxi, is quite level and drainage is good-- but it didn't prevent and inch and a half of water flooding it completely. My plans are to do a bit of bar hopping tonight. I just hope I can manage to stay a little bit dry.

Three big days have hit in a row. Wednesday was my 29th birthday in Canadian reckoning but I'm still 30 in Korea). Yeji picked me up some art supplies, a rather frightening T-shirt, and new desk lamp which should help me reduce some of the eye strain I've been getting lately from working late at night.

Thursday was Constitution Day in Korea and we had a holiday. Work was only called off at the last minute though. The original plan was to work the day. I just hope that the new administration gets into the habit of giving us holidays as the old director would cancel class for no man. Our new teacher, a nice lady from Ottawa, has been about and should be in the office today to finalize things before starting officially on Monday. Nobody knows next week's schedule yet and this is causing the usual frustration although I've noticed myself becoming delightfully apathetic. I guess I've run on this lack of preplanning long enough now that it doesn't faze me. My korea coworkers actually seem more put off by it this time than I do. Most precious though is the panicked look on the new teachers face, while asking about the schedule, largely becuase I can practice the Korean art of "avoiding the question and answering with, 'You must understand Korea,'" before bounding away innocently. I'm sorry if I sound like an agitator, but when I look around the office and see that everyone is newer than me, I just get this feeling that things are transient and problems temporary.

Today, I do have class however. I am still on the ropes for my two-hour history class, otherwise I would have had a four-day weekend. That's alright though. The class is fun and low key. I already have three or four weeks of material researche and printed out. We are studying the American Revolutionary War/War of Rebellion right now. We got up to the Boston Tea Party last week, and tonight we should be starting with the opening of hostilities. After this, I'm planning a class on slavery, then the civil war for a few classes, and then Confederation in Canada. After that? I'll probably swing between some cowboy stories, the gold rushes, and then do a bit of background on the state of colonial powers at the end of the nineteenth century-- as a lead up to World War I. You see why this stuff is fun?

Hmmm. Maybe in conjunction with my birthday and the standard "reviewing your life so far" habit, it could be time to revisit that degree in Archaeology. *sigh*

Oh... and today's event is Yeji's father's birthday. Time to practice my Korea skills for a phone call.

Friday, July 11, 2003

Just a sidewalk in Nowon

I probably should have tried to blog by now but it's been a super busy week full of changes and odd sleeping schedules. Depending on the night I was either getting 2 hours of sleep or 10. Whenever I had something to do (ie. fill a deadline) that was exactly the time my brain would shut down and I'd get tired. To complicate things, I have a new class schedule too. Presently, most of my classes are now loaded up onto the start of the week. While rough going for those days, today promises to be a cakewalk. I only have my history class on Friday which means I go in for 6pm and will be out by 8pm. That should give me time to slow down and relax.

But class schedule changes were nothing compared to what awaited me when I returned to school. In my absence, four or five of our teachers left the school (most were expected although one wasn't supposed to be gone until later in the month). With the revamping of our school, I guess they hurried along both hirings and departures to coincide with the start of the month.

Now, while we've lost a few teachers, we have actually *gained* about a dozen! The new parent hagwon enacted a management induced turnover and hired all brand new teachers who now sit in our office. Two classrooms were cannibalized to make room for a super-expanded teacher's room. It made for a bit of a shock when I walked in on Monday. And by the way, I am now officially, the longest-serving staff member after being at our school for an unprecedented year and a half. (Told you hagwons have high turnover !)

Grrrr.... and frustratingly, they want me to sit in the center, at a new desk. Now my new desk is the same as my old desk in style which made me wonder why they couldn't just move my old desk to where they wanted me-- or let me sit where they actually moved my old desk to. Nope, I had to move all my stuff to another desk... and the drawers were sized just differently enough that I couldn't exchange them.

Sidenote: If you think I've repeated the picture above, you could be right. I generally store my pics in a set of new and used folders but when the computer crashed, I lost track of the pics that I had already published. I have the digital camera on the go now though and with a short span, I should be putting lots of fresh pictures up.

Update: I've also spent some time this week upgrading www.IanRoss.ca which is now featuring my cartoons from the Leader/Weekend. They operate a subscription service so most of my friends haven't gotten a chance to see what I've been up to. Well, they're all there if you'd like to take a look and sign the new guestbook.

Sunday, July 06, 2003

Home for a Holiday [Photo: NBGov't]

The Short...
The vacation's over. I landed at Incheon yesterday, around 4pm. I made it back to the apartment, passed out some gifts, then crashed until about 5am. I'm up now so I might as well get started on chronicling the time in the blog. I'll give you the short version first, I guess, and then expand from there. The trip was really quite positive, not only because it let me break the monotony of all that time here without a break from the local scene-- but also because it helped me reinforce a few notions of home and see the beginning of some concrete plans for coming home. The big difference is that I was reminded of a sense of belonging. This sort of thing is more apparent when you come from a smaller town that sees most of its young people leave. My hometown is no different. When I do return, I know now that there is a job waiting for me and lots of places for me to settle down and build a house. There are family and friends (albeit they are a bit older and busier with their own daily grind). There is Schooner beer too.

Most importantly, I got my feel on the pulse of the area and keep a watch on where the economy is heading. I even got some positive news from the accountant who told me that I had quite a leeway in gaining Canadian income without sacrificing my non-residency status. That means that I can start building my own business from here in Korea, well in advance of my return. Those business plans also seem a lot more tangible now after a few meetings I scheduled.

All in all, I didn't have that much time to relax I guess. My school wants me to stay another year and it sounds like they will make it worth my while. That sets up either January 2004 or 2005 as a return date to start preparing for. That came as a bit of relief for my family. Since I went a year and a half before seeing this vacation, it was easier to say that within a year and a half from now I'd be home for good.

A bit of time in the pubs has put me back in the mood for songwriting too-- which left me a hare's breath away from splurging my money on a really expensive guitar-- but then I remembered the fiddle incident. *gulp* I think it's still around here somewhere.

Oh yeah... And I am now stocked up with more whisky (Talisker), local Folk music CDs, maple syrup and other foodstuffs.

I'm gonna post these in reverse order so that the expedited version stays on top. The expanded version is below...

In some ways, the old town still looks the same...

The Long [Part 1]...
This long story starts with a long flight. From the time my plane left Incheon to the time it landed in Moncton was 23 hours. Tack another hour and a half drive onto that and you end up with about 30 hours of wake time, spread over six places in the world. Halifax would wait for the following weekend. Here's a short timetable however:

Sunday, June 22nd
My friend Colin works for a local defense contractor. Sorry, I had to throw that picture link in as a joke. The company he works for is actually a lot more modern but one of his hobbies is being a Civil War reenactor, helping to educate folks about New Brunswickers who had gone south of the border to serve in the Union Army. He likes Alexander Keith beer and I tried to get him angry by telling him that Keith actually made his money as a gunrunner supporting the South (not as a beer tycoon). It didn't work. He stayed happy and I still got my presents-- one full-sized and two desktop Canadian Red Ensigns.

I also got a listen to an audio tape he made years back which has the sounds of an Eastern Cougar on it. It was amazing. For those of you who don't know, the cougar is a bit of an Eastern Bigfoot. There are lots of sightings, and even fur and scat samples, but the government is hesitant to delist them as being extinct since this would require the creation of preserves which would endanger clear-cutting loggers who are busy raping crown land. This particular cougar he had captured on tape was a black one that had been skulking behind his house. He was close enough that he could hear it breathing. If you ask me to explain the sound, I'd say it's a combination of the shrill call of a Blue Jay, the caw of a Crow, and the sound of a woman screaming.

That night, I met Dan. We discussed his life as a reporter at the newspaper (where I used to work and have begun working again as cartoonist.) He got me up to date on the local politics and we ended up spending a few nights discussing things down at the infamous Black Horse Tavern-- a Miramichi fixture made famous by local writers like David Adams Richards and the Curtiss boys.

Monday, June 23rd
I spent almost the full day, much as I did on Sunday, just sitting on the deck out back, breathing and looking at green things. In addition to owning woodlot, we have a birdfeeder in our back yard that attracts a lot of Mourning Doves, Purple and Gold Finches, and Humming Birds. (Not quite as active as my aunt's which now regularly attracts squirrels and rabbits-- as well as a couple of deer on the day before I left). It was hot. The weather was destined to stay in the low thirties Celsius through my entire trip.

Tuesday, June 24th
This was my first day to really get down to doing things. The paper comes out on Tuesday and a photo I needed for a caricature was in it. With my plans to hit Halifax on the weekend, that put a bit of a rush on getting things in before I left. The Canada Holiday was also bumping up deadlines.

My first stop was the car rental agency. I was supposed to be getting a Pontiac Sunfire but that car hadn't been returned by the time I got there. Instead, and for the same price, I ended up with a Korean SUV of all things-- a KIA Sorenta. It was a bit harder on gas but not as bad as I feared. All in all though, it was a helluva lotta fun to drive around in for the week.

Throughout the day though, I got down to see my old dentist. It's not that I distrust Korean dentists, as I also distrusted Halifax dentists. Dr. Lobban is my hometown dentist and he's the only guy I truly trust with my chompers. My mom used to teach him when he was in middle school years ago, before I was born.

Also on front street, Chatham, Paul Dawson (one half of the local folk-singing duo, Connie & Paul) has opened a music shop called Saltwater Sounds. The store is laid out like the inside of a home and has a great atmosphere, in which he holds regular "kitchen parties" for local musicians to strut their stuff. Being am accomplished folksinger himself, he's exactly the kind of guy you want to go to for music. He even carries instruments and other accessories. It was through him that I learned how East Coast musicians are beginning to spurn record labels and deal directly with stores. For anyone who knows how many musicians the East Coast produces, that's big news. After talking, I dropped about $130 CAD on new CDs from across the region, including his and Connie's latest.

After that was a trip to the newspaper. I met the new editor for the first time. I was offered a job the second I entered the door. So this opens up my basic conflict. The paper has recently been purchased by the Irvings (local mega-corporation who now owns all English-language papers in New Brunswick). There's a lot of potential in the job (though it comes with long hours). The salary quote was good in relation to other jobs in the area, but far short of what I make here in Korea. Still, as time goes on and I find myself at home again, the newspaper seems to be the natural place for me to be-- the conflict is that it would prevent me from aggressively pursuing my own business. So do I want to work for an institution or start one of my own?

On the way home, I swung through Miramichi Bay, Loggieville, Napan, and Point Aux Carr. My eye was set on the water and I was on the lookout for places to build when I get back. I have a spot picked out but it never hurts to see what else is there-- especially when the view of the Northumberland Strait is so nice in summer.

Sadly, the boating trip was cancelled that night. I think it was partly in relation to the four drowning deaths on the river the weekend before, though there could have been other reasons. Instead, the night was spent chatting with the old lads at the Black Horse about local politics, climate change and apparent formation of a Miramichi micro-climate. All of the fish runs are on like clockwork this year-- except they are exactly two weeks late on all counts. The farms on the other hand are doing well and this year is the upswing year for rabbits-- which means more coyotes and wolves. Deer and moose populations are also brimming this year and the number of licenses in the moose lottery this fall is expected to go up as it has in Nova Scotia.

Wednesday, June 25th
More time was spent on the deck-- hours and hours of fresh air and chirping, twittering birds. That night was a bit of a disappointment, though. What with people having jobs and such, we hit the Ladie's Night at the Opera House-- but it was a bit tame and short lived. I think we left shortly after midnight. Most of the old crowd just doesn't live on the river anymore. Some are in nearby Moncton, others moved out West as Martimers are wont to do... still others are in Korea?

Thursday, June 26th
It was back to the sketchpad but short on ideas, I grabbed Dan as soon as the Friday paper was put to bed. We took a two hour excursion up the Acadian shore, as far as Shippagan where the crab riots were last month. On the way back, we visited the editor at his house on Oak Point. He's got a great view of the bay and the house, an older one, has been renovated nicely. A buoy sat out in the water and in a few days, he was going to bring his boat up from the Chatham Marina and park it offshore-- accessible by dinghy.

Friday, June 27th
I made a trip to the liquor store in preparation for some barbecuing later that night. I also picked up a few more things, knowing that the next day I was going to be making the road trip to Halifax for three days on the harbourfront there. Dan and Colin both came over. We sat for a few hours, swatting bugs and drinking beer.

The Halifax Waterfront

The Long [Part 2]...

Saturday, June 28th
On the road to Halifax. As they do in Miramichi, ancestors on my mother's side of the family rank among some of the founders of this city and I've spent about half my life there. I had been living and working there when I made the decision to come to Korea back in 2000. Most of my friends still live in the city or drop in to call it home. [Dad's family also came to settle a few years after in Waverly but went on to Cape Breton where they founded Northeast Margaree [I love repeating this over and over and over again...].

I left at around 10am, listening to some of the new folk CDs as I went. Along the way, I stopped off for a moment in Moncton to visit an old friend who runs a used book store there in addition to being a belly dancing instructor. John was a tad hungover though and I was in a rush, so the stop was not much more than a coffee run. We made plans to spend more time together when I came back through that way on Canada Day.

I made it down to Halifax by about 3:30pm. I checked into my room at the Casino and then headed out for some Mexican food. My first impression of Halifax (after noticing the massive explosion in apartment/condo growth) was that the smoking bylaws there have made smoking almost illegal in any place other than your own home. You could still smoke in bars after 9pm but even that was going to change come July 1st when an outright ban would go into effect.

That night, some friends and I drove down to a small town called Italy Cross and caught Garnet Rogers in concert. He put on a great show (although with a rather odd monologue on women's underwear thrown into the second set *puzzled*). I bought one of his CDs on the way out but as luck would have it, Garnet produced both of the Archie Fisher CDs I was longing for and they were on sale there too. I bought two of those which I am actually listening to as I blog this.

Sunday, June 29th
I started my first full day back in Halifax by meeting a couple of friends (Anne and Kim) for brunch-- Lebanese food at the Mediterraneo Restaurant on Barrington which has been the affordable and tasty bread basket of the downtown scene for years. When we finished, we took a short drive around and then parted ways. I picked up the SUV at the hotel and headed out to East Petpeswick for another drop in on an old college friend. He's saddled with three infants right now, all in diapers. Mom was out so he and I packed the kids up and drove down to Martinique Beach. We lasted about 10 minutes before the sandflies made us think twice.

Back at the hotel, I got cleaned up and set off on foot through the city, and up Spring Garden Road, to my old favourite Sushi restaurant. Hani is doing well and I surprised her by popping in. It had been a while. (It turns out she has a Korean staffmember working there which gave me a chance to practice some of my Korean). Nevertheless, I felt completely useless having studied Korean instead of Chinese which is Hani's mother tongue. All I knew in Chinese was Nee-How-Ma ("Hello") and Nee-Mung-Mow ("Are you busy?"). Oh well, that was enough to score a coffee with her outside of the restaurant on Monday and brunch with her and her daughter on Tuesday.

After sushi, it was off with Stephen, Monique, Dave, and Jen for cocktails and bourbon at a new bar, called the Bitter End, which is located where the old Trident Cafe used to be.

Monday, June 30th
I hadn't planned on staying the extra day but the Marquee shifted Goth night on account of the holiday, July 1st. Since I already had concert tickets for Saturday, that meant staying an extra day which turned out great afterall anyway. Monday was another walking day. I hit the harbourfront in the early afternoon where an old friend of mine sets up his craft. We talked about some of the goings on in Nova Scotia, including some of the local conspiracy news which I won't talk about here in case they are listening. I met Hani for coffee then did hit the Halifax Folklore Centre (not a library but a music store) and the Black Market (not an illegal bazaar but and African/Indian import store).

After some Thai noodles, I made my way to a house party at Anne's. At about 11:30, the party split up and we walked up to the Marquee for Goth Night. The bar's been expanded since I left and I was surprised by a lot of old faces there. A lot of the people I saw had been in hiding when I left a few years ago but it looks like they're out of the woodwork now and back in the scene-- though the scene is changing with a lot of new faces, all ten years younger than ours. *cringe* There were too many people there to list. I ended up staying until about 3:30 and then had to head out or else I never would have gotten up the next morning.

For the record, packs of Canadiabn cigarettes (25 per pack) at the hotel were $13.00 CAD! -- And you can't even smoke them anywhere.

Tuesday, July 1st - Canada Day
No phone calls and no last minute goodbyes save for breakfast at 44 North with Hani and her daughter. We chatted for a couple hours and then I dropped her off at 12:30 so she could open the restaurant for business. She packed up some sushi for me to take on the road (*smile*) and off I went.

I hit Moncton by about 3:30 and stayed about four hours. I had coffee with John and we got caught up over the last 6 or 7 years since we had seen each other. Lots has happened to him in that time, not in the least moving to Moncton to set up his new store. The bookstore, Crow's Corner, seems to be set to do well. It's in a good spot and he's got lots of stock. Sales are becoming steady. I got a few books from him (including some French language novels to study from). It thundered momentarily but when the rain passed, I got back out on the highway and returned home.

Wednesday, July 2nd
I was at or near the sketchbook all day. I should have probably done something on the recent unilingualism laws passed by town council since they are back in the news but there's no sense riling up the bigots on my last few days in the country. (There'll be plenty of time to do that later as they're not going anywhere). I opted to target NB Power instead (who posted a record loss of $77 Million Dollars on Monday).

Sadly, I also returned the rental car *frown*.

Thursday, July 3rd
My last full day was a big rush. I stopped in again at the newspaper. The job offer was the first thing mentioned again. I am to let them know the second that I decide to come home. I hit the museum where Ken Weatherby is the new curator. He's made some changes to the layout and has gotten a few structural improvements done. My picture collection (that I drew for them back on 1995) is being cleaned and then will be re-hung in a spot of its own on the North wall. They're already in new frames though I noticed that one had a bit of water damage. They're hoping I can do some more but if I do, it'll have to wait until I am back for longer.

I hit the stores and restocked on supplies and souvenirs to pass out to the kids at school. I also loaded my arms with Kraft Dinner, Mars Bars, powder potatoes, and Beans and wieners in Molasses since it seems you can only get them in tomato sauce here. Then I bit the bullet and picked up a Sony Cyber Shot digital camera. As soon as I have time to read the manual, expect more pics. I also picked up a few things at the pharmacy that are often inconvenient to ask for when your folks send you care packages.

The End...
My plane departed Moncton at 6:25 am for Montreal, then onto Vancouver and finally Incheon. I didn't bother to go to sleep Thursday night. I spent the time packing instead. I managed to bring quite a bit home with only adding one extra bag to my luggage. I could have brought another duffel bag back had I wanted but there were enough treats to tide me over in what I had-- and afterall, I have a home here in Korea and I'm not missing anything vital. The whole trip was a bit of a bonus so anything at all that I could bring back can be counted as a luxury item.

Thursday night we had a huge thunderstorm. I really didn't clear until we had almost made it to the airport the next morning. Miramichi was trying to have its Canada Day fireworks but were constantly being upstaged by huge bursts of chain lightening out of the Southeast. In all the time I was there, it was the only sustained rain we had. The weather otherwise was oddly Korea-like, with low thirties temperatures and high humidity. Thanks to that and the SUV I have a terrible 'trucker's tan'.

The flight was easier on the way back. I spent more time in the air, but fewer hours of transfering and awaiting flights. It also helped to know that my transfers would be all finished within the first eight hours or so of flying, leaving me to settle back for the flight across the Pacific without much stress. I made it through Incheon hasslefree, and my bags were some of the first ones off the carousel. Sure the taxi driver screwed me in an embarassingly large way but I was eager to get home and after talking to him a bit in Korean, he gave a cigar from the Dominican Republic as a consolation prize (Although he asked me for surcharge later which I don't know if it was meant to be a tip or payment for the cigar. Bear in mind, I already had 3 Cubans stashed in my pack). "The Hunger" was on TV when I got home (unedited too, although they translated the title as "Devil's Kiss"-- Agma-ui Kee-suh).

[Note: for anyone seeking the conclusion to my nicotine gum cliffhanger-- I did find some in the pharmacy in my building but it was only the 2mg kind. As soon as I asked for it, the old phamacist began laughing uncontrollably at me. He refused to give me the 4mg pack (whether he had it or not, I don't know) but he also refused to sell me more than one pack. He kept telling me in (Korean) to come back tomorrow for another pack ("Nahil tashee oh-sey-yo", or somesuch), all interspersed between fits of unexpected, hysterical laughter. I told him it was for an airplane, and vacation-- he seemed to understand but not be willing to accept (if that makes any sense). Instead he just kept loudly laughing at me until after I had indignantly left the pharmacy.]

Waking up at 5am, I see I have spent 5 hours writing these three blog posts (in reverse chronological order). I guess I'll endeavour to sleep a bit more now that I'm done. I have a cartoon do again for tomorrow-- this time on the retiring police chief who was just elected to government. I have no idea how my body will adjust to the time difference so I just hope I don't sit down to do it tonight and find myself too exhausted to do a good job.

Sweet dreams, everyone.