Caveat: x is English

pictureI went into the classroom at nearly 10 pm, and Jeongjae and Donghun were still in there, studying for some vocabulary quiz, presumably. But Jeongjae was looking at his math book.

“You guys are still here?” I asked.

“Yeaaasss,” intoned Jeongjae in that laconic voice of his.

I pointed at his math book. “That doesn’t look like English,” I observed.

He glared down at the offending text as if it had suddenly appeared on his desk unexpectedly. He pondered his predicament for only a moment.

“Ohhh. but Teacher! There is x! X is English.”

“Yes, I think that’s English,” his friend agreed.

I couldn’t really argue. Though maybe “x” is more Latin, than English, in a math problem. But, well… who was I to argue? (Note that the image is not Jeongjae’s math problem – just a random image of a math problem in Korean with an ‘x’ in it that I grabbed out of the intertubes. I’m not sure Korean 7th graders are doing precalculus.)


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Caveat: The Fish Ran Away With the Moon

What I'm listening to right now.

The Dirt Band (AKA The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), "Fish Song." This song is from their album All the Good Times. I had a hard time finding a youtube of it – they must be in the copyright-police-state crowd – they or their publishers / labels. I found a live version that's not too far different from the studio version I know so well, which is what's embedded above. It's a good song.

Sat here by this stony brook until the Grey day turned to dust
When up swam a fish with a children's book thought that I was lost
He was on his way to the salmon hop, that's where they go to breed
Saw me sitting on this log and thought I'd like to read

The night was cloudy but the moon he found a hole
He said that he felt bad for me cause I had no place to go

Why aren't you at the harvest ball with some sweet young gal
You just sit like a bump on a log and call that fish your pal

Well, I told him I was an orphan, lived here all alone
But many people have often tried to catch and take me home
They never caught me

Thought that I was a hiding, call this log my home
But the fish and the moon and a sweet young gal
All want me for their own

The night was cloudy but the moon he found a hole
He said that he felt bad for me cause I had no place to go

So I met that girl at the harvest ball, she took me to her room
While I slept in children's dreams, the fish ran away with the moon
The fish ran away with the moon
The fish ran away with the moon

Caveat: The Main Cause of Poetry

(Poem #7 on new numbering scheme)

The Main Cause of Poetry
I think the sky is the main cause
of poetry, because sometimes
there is a color or a cloud
and a picture would be useless.
I see the sky that way today.
And I see the leaves on the trees
have so many colors that I
decide to try to write this poem.

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Caveat: Squid Nuts

pictureI came back into the classroom on the 3rd floor, only to find Junbeom, a 6th grader, sitting alone, on the floor, under a desk. He had finished his homework – I didn’t feel upset. But I was curious.

“Why are you sitting there?” I asked.

“I’m eating,” he said.

“What are you eating?”


“오징어 땅콩,” he explained, sheepishly. He held up the package. Literally, this phrase, ojingeo ttangkong means, roughly, “squid nuts.” They are apparently squid-and-peanut-flavored rice-puffs.

“Why are you eating under that desk?” I asked.

“It’s funny,” he explained.


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Caveat: 그만해요

What I’m listening to right now.

G.NA (지나), “그만해요” [geumanhaeyo = stop that].
picture가사.

그만해요 해요. 그만해요 해요
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 해요
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 Oh
나에게 실수인줄 몰라
넌 항상 맨날 했던 행동을
또 아무렇지 않은 듯이 해
이렇게 의미 없는 시간 하루하루 지나
되돌릴 수도 바꿀 수도 없을 만큼 지나
더 해줄 말도 없는데 자꾸 붙잡지 좀 마
이젠 너와 나는 it’s over now
자꾸만 이렇게 돼 또 자꾸만 반복이 돼
그만해 이제 그만해 이제
지겨워 이런 시간 또 지겨워 이런 사랑
그만해 이제 더 이상 필요 없어 너와 나는
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 해요
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 Oh
몇 번째 싸움인지 몰라 왜 그런지 몰라
우리 서로가 뭘 했는지 기억도 안나
이렇게 의미 없는 만남 한 번 두 번 지나
설레임 없이 생각 없이 또 하루가 지나가
더 웃을 일도 없는데 자꾸 연락하지마
이제 너와 나는 it’s over now
자꾸만 이렇게 돼 또 자꾸만 반복이 돼
그만해 이제 그만해 이제
지겨워 이런 시간 또 지겨워 이런 사랑
그만해 이제 더 이상 필요 없어 너와 나는
지금은 아닐거야 지날거야
시간이 더 지나면 괜찮아 질거야 오
몇 번을 생각해도 이건 아냐
이젠 그만해 더는 못해 너와 나는
it’s over now
자꾸만 이렇게 돼 또 자꾸만 반복이 돼
그만해 이제 그만해 이제
지겨워 이런 시간 또 지겨워 이런 사랑
그만해 이제 더 이상 필요 없어 너와 나는
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 해요
그만해요 해요. 그만해요 Oh

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Caveat: 구르는 돌에는 이끼가 끼지 않는다

picture구르는돌에는 이끼가 끼지 않는다
roll-over-PRESPART stone-LOC-TOPIC moss-SUBJ gather-PRENEG not-PRES
Moss doesn’t gather on a rolling stone.

“No moss gathers on a rolling stone.” Wow – this proverb is such a close translation that I suspect it’s a translation.
I thought that perhaps it was biblical, but it’s apparently not – it’s attributed to Roman writer (and proto-stand-up-comic) Publius Syrus. Or is it self-evident enough that it evolved separately in the sinosphere (China/Korea/etc.)?
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Caveat: Hongnong In The News

My old town, where I worked for one year, 2010-11, was in the news on CNN. Really.

pictureWhy? Because the humongous nuclear power plant there has cracks in it. Which some inspectors found alarming.

Ah, Hongnong. I took the picture at right during a hike on the hill behind the town in May, 2010.

What I’m listening to right now.

G-DRAGON, 크레용 [crayon]. Korean rap/hiphop (kraphiphop?) at its best. 가사:

GET YOUR CRAYON
GET YOUR CRAYON
머리 어깨 무릎 발
swag check swag check
머리 어깨 무릎 발
swag check swag check

아직도 꿀리지 않아 yes I’m a pretty boy
난 날아다녀 so fly 날라리 boy
월화수목금토일 난 바빠
오빠 나빠 Baaaad boy

I’m a G to the D Gold N Diamonds boy
누가 아니래 U know I beez that
오늘의 DJ 나는 철이 너는 미애
아가씨 아가씨 난 순결한 지용씨
이리 와봐요 귀요미 네 남자친구는 지못미
넌 마치 닮았지 내 이상형 so give me some
김태희와 김희선 oh my god 전지현

Why so serious?
Get your crayon Get your crayon
Get your cray Get your crayon
Get your crayon Get your crayon
Get your cray Get your

Why so serious?
Come on girls Come on boys
Come on come on
Get your crayon crayon
Come on girls Come on boys
Come on come on
Get your crayon crayon
머리 어깨 무릎 발 swag

내 카드는 BLACK 무한대로 싹 긁어버려
이 노랜 CRACK 무한궤도 확 돌려버려
감 떨어진 분들께 난 한 그루 감나무
콧대 높은 분들께 기죽지 않는 깡다구
어중이건 떠중이건 편견 없이 CRAYON
잘 나가던 망나니건 차별 없이 CRAYON
하나 둘 three four 왔다 갔다 돌리고
차분하게 slow it down
심심하면 좀 더 빠르게 달려라
서울 대전 대구 부산 손뼉을 치면서
노래를 부르며 즐겁게 같이 춤을 춰
링가링가링 파트너 바꿔
머리 어깨 무릎 발
무릎 발 몸을 흔들어 ROCK

Why so serious?
Get your crayon Get your crayon
Get your cray Get your crayon
Get your crayon Get your crayon
Get your cray Get your

Why so serious?
Come on girls Come on boys
Come on come on
Get your crayon crayon
Come on girls Come on boys
Come on come on
Get your crayon crayon
Get your crayon crayon

Get your Get Get Get Get … crayon

Come on girls Come on boys
Come on Come on Come on Come on
Come on girls Come on boys
Come on Come on Come on Come on
머리 어깨 무릎 발 swag

picture

Caveat: Pictures of Uiju

Everyone knows I have a slightly morbid interest in our neighbors-to-the-north. I mean, to the north of Ilsan, here – not to the north of the US. I stumbled across a flickr photo-stream with lots of really bleak, desolate pictures of the railroad trip between Pyeongyang and Uiju. Interestingly, this Uiju is the same Uiju referenced in the name “Gyeongui Line” (as in railroad line) which means “Gyeong[capital-and-]Ui[ju]” – the same way that a name like “B&O Railroad” references the endpoints of the original railroad (Baltimore and Ohio). Gyeongui is now the name for the high-speed commuter-rail line that runs right through Ilsan, about a block from my work. It doesn’t make it to Uiju nowadays, though.

I am really fascinated to look at this guy’s pictures – they’re not the standard “handler-mediated” photography that emerges from North Korea.

picture

Below, here’s a map of the original Gyeongui line (and Gyeongbu line) that connected Busan with Uiju through Seoul, along the length of Korea, constructed over 100 years ago (note the map is in Japanese, who were the soon-to-be-dominant colonial power that constructed the railroad).

picture


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Caveat: The Cultural Trade Surplus

According to an article in the Korean Herald, South Korea posted its first-ever "cultural trade surplus." This is a very interesting perspective. It's interesting to think about. It's interesting that Koreans are interested in it. They take the idea of being successful cultrual imperialists quite seriously, as a component of their "arrival" in the world as a "developed" country.

The idea, basically: Korea now exports more cultural stuff (books, movies, music, etc.) than it imports, on a dollar-value basis. There aren't many countries that do this – the US is the juggernaut, of course; there's probably some others: France, I suspect, and Japan, and Italy. I'd bet on maybe Egypt, actually, and maybe Brazil. But these are just guesses. Completely wild guesses. I'm too lazy to research it. But it's interesting, anyway.

Caveat: Epistemic Closure

I don’t remember the dream very clearly. It was one of my “university” dreams, with the added twist of my father showing up in the Model A – that is happening a lot in my dreams, because of my worry and preoccupation with my dad, lately. In my “university” dreams, I’m at the University (…of Minnesota, …of Pennsylvania, …of Mexico, …of Southern Chile – one of the various universities where I have spent far too much time in my life), and I’m trying to register for a class that either doesn’t exist or is for some bureaucratic reason is inaccessible – pretty common vaguely Kafkaian themes.

My dad showed up, and was giving me unsolicited (and frankly not very useful) advice. Then Michelle showed up, and she was telling me not to study so much. Then I was standing in line for some class registration, except all the other people standing in line were Korean farmers. So, I was beginning to suspect I was in the wrong line, when my father drove by in the Model A – with my aunt Freda and the Korean dictator Park Chung-Hee (assassinated 1979) riding with him – and that somehow confirmed I was in the wrong line.

So I walked off, looking for the right line. And suddenly I was in a lecture hall of the class I had so desperately been wanting to register for. I felt a warm, happy glow of bureaucratic conquest. Professor Lopez (University of Pennsylvania) was lecturing, but he was speaking English, not Spanish, and the topic was philosophy, not 19th century Spanish Literature (although you could see the connection, probably). And he looked around the lecture hall, and looked at me very directly and pointedly.

“Epistemic closure… what is this? What is epistemic closure?” he asked, rhetorically. And continued, “This dream you’re dreaming is an example of epistemic closure.

And I woke up.

Here’s picture I took from inside the “closet” on the fourth floor at work, yesterday morning.

picture

Is it sad that the best view at work is from inside the closet? Perhaps more importantly, what was I doing in the closet with a camera, anyway? These are deep mysteries of the human mind.


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Caveat: 아저씨

pictureI watched a movie called 아저씨 [ajeossi = literally, “uncle” but used as “Hey, Mister” also meaning any Korean man of a certain age beyond youth, so, colloquially, “old dude” as a teenager or child would mean it] – the English title of the movie is “The Man From Nowhere.” In line with my typical practice, I won’t try to “review” it here – I will only say that I enjoyed it and recommend it. It’s a pretty standard, excessively violent action flick with a heart-string-tugging ending. Thematically, it’s similar to “Man On Fire” (which is one of my favorites of the genre).
picture

Caveat: Autoonomastics

My student who goes by John wrote this too-short essay in his essay book.

picture

Jarad Way always say 왜저래? so his mother really upset. Jarad be punished. So he was really sad. So, He changed his name 왜저래?

I’ve written before that I sometimes jokingly tell my students that my Korean name is 왜저래 [wae-jeo-rae = way-juh-ray]. It has a similar sound to my name when pronounced casually in Korean order (i.e. last name first): way-ja-red. And the meaning is something akin to “what the heck?” – it’s not really bad cussing, but it’s not exactly polite – this explains why my mother punished me, in the essay. It’s a clever folk-etymology of my name (auto-onomastics?), from a 5th grader.

Here’s a bit of self-flattery to make up for the preceding – something encountered in 2nd-grader Lucy’s essay book earlier today. Notice how she started to write alligator but decided that that was too hard, and wrote “Steve” – which is the current alligator’s name.

picture


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Caveat: The Lions and The Hippies

Blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic website is mediocre when he's bad. But when he's good, he's amazing. Read his post – if only just for the title. It's a bit "triumphalist" vis-a-vis Obamism (specifically, I darkly disagree with Mr Coates with respect to the idea that the extra-judicial assassination of Osama bin Laden was ethical), but for all that, I can hardly fault it. It succeeds in being optimistically inspiring and mildly humorous at the same time. Coates can sometimes write very well.

Caveat: 곡식은 익을수록 머리를 숙인다

곡식은        익을수록                 머리를     숙인다
grain-TOPIC ripen-“increasingly-as” head-OBJ bow-PRES
As grain grows more ripe the head bows more.
“With age comes humility.” I guess that’s true. I’ve been feeling my age a lot, lately. It’s humbling when it’s not humiliating.
picture
Van Gogh, “Wheat Field With Crows.”
picture

Caveat: The Reign of the Straw Man

Obama has been re-elected. I think, despite my own failure to have voted for him, this was a foregone conclusion. I did a poll of my ISP7 class (formerly TP cohort) and they predicted that Obama would win without exception, regardless of whether they’d decided to support Obama or Romney in our recently-completed unit on the US election. So none of them were in that bubble who saw the race as close. It wasn’t, at the end – not because Romney and Obama weren’t neck-and-neck in the popular vote – they were – but because the Obama team had long-ago worked out the electoral math they needed (e.g. Ohio, Ohio, Ohio) and they’d worked their message in those states relentlessly.

So how do I feel about it?

I worry about the civil liberties issues – I think Obama’s essential continuation of the Buchcheneyian post-9-11 imperial paradigm is disturbing. I worry about the still-too-aggressive foreign policy – especially the drones and Obama’s alleged “kill list” and Guantanamo.

pictureWhat I’m definitively not worried about is “creeping socialism” or “Obama-as-dictator” or whatever bogeyman the pseudo-Randian right has gotten so worked up about – despite my own mumblings to the contrary. Obama’s alleged socialism is essentially a straw-man that somehow took on a life of its own and has come back to terrify its creators. Obama is less socialist than your typical European right-winger, and less socialist than Nixon or Eisenhower.  I don’t doubt the sincerity of those who believe in this straw-man – but I feel they’re deluded at some level.

There were some interesting results in state-level elections. Most interesting to me was the reported fact that Puerto Rican voters approved statehood for PR. This doesn’t mean, of course, that PR becomes a state: Congress would have to approve, and that seems unlikely as long as Congress is divided (House Republican and Senate Democrat). I have long thought that PR should try to change its status, although I’ve felt neutral about whether that should be toward statehood or independence. But the fact that the vote on the island has swung toward statehood is striking. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.


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Caveat: It appears he has a lamp made of antlers

Of course, being a political junkie, I was looking at The Atlantic website’s liveblog of the election night, on this brisk Wednesday morning in Korea. There was this rather irrelevant picture of Dick Cheney watching the election returns, with the comment below the picture:

picture

“It appears he has a lamp made of antlers.”

Why would this make me laugh hard for a few minutes?


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Caveat: So Old

"I love you," my student announced, looking up at me. Koreans – or, at least, a subset of Koreans – will be much more demonstrative and free with these kinds of expressions than typical Americans. I've had many students, male and female, come straight out and say "I love you" in this way. This isn't just about having limited English – they will just as easily say 사랑해요 to a Korean teacher in Korean. I've heard it, many times. Korean teachers will use it with their students, too.

Sometimes, it's utterly random. Other times, from students, it means something akin to, "I didn't do my homework" – it's an effort to preempt teacher wrath or anger. In any event, it's more common with elementary students than middle schoolers. But this was a middle schooler who goes by the English nickname of Kelly. Generally, when Kelly says this, she means "I didn't do my homework."

"Teacher is soooo handsome," she added. She must have a lot of undone homework to apologize for, I speculated. But I hammed it up.

I put my hand on my chin in a kind of stereotyped Korean pop-star pose. Several kids laughed. And then Kelly broke her run of compliments. As if awakening from a bad dream, she shook her head, and announced, "Oh my god. But teacher is sooo old!"

Gee. Thanks.

Caveat: Bridge Problem

Some guy decided to compile video of a nearby railroad bridge that offers lower-than-standard clearance to passing trucks. Amazing how many truck drivers ignore warning signs and/or don’t know the height of their trucks. Note the large number of rental trucks, though.

What I’m liestening to right now.

At The Drive-In, “Cosmonaut.” The boys from El Paso, hardcore.


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Caveat: Left… Right… Peace… Out.

xkcd has one of the most amazing timeline graphics I’ve seen in a long time: the US Congress’ left-right spectrum over time.

picture

xkcd has been moving into more and more interesting and challenging graphics, which I really appreciate. It’s become a reliably thought-provoking series and not just an occasional nerdy snicker.

Two days until the election. I absentee voted. I voted my conscience, I wasn’t able to select the “lesser of two evils.” Oh happy Sunday.

What I’m listening to right now.

Lionrock, “Packet of Peace.” I think it’s a UK dance track from circa 1993.


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Caveat: play and eat lunch

A fouth-grade student was coloring in a picture she had drawn. She complained, “Oh, teacher. This is too hard!”

I laughed. “Coloring? Hard? How is that hard? It’s like 유치원 [yuchiwon = preschool]!”

She sighed. “Nooo. Not like 유치원. Hard.”

“You never did art or coloring in 유치원?”

“No.” She shook her head vehemently.

“What did you do in 유치원?” I asked, somewhat surprised.

Without hesitation, she answered, “Play and eat lunch.”

Who knew?


I took a picture of the fall sidewalkscape while walking to work this morning – this is looking back down Gangseon-no toward my apartment a few blocks back.

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Caveat: The Parents

One of my regrets and frustrations about the fact that my Korean keeps failing to improve is that it limits my ability to interact with the parents of my students. This issue is sometimes “a feature, not a bug” – for example, it exempts me from the extensive telephone-calling obligation that the Korean-speaking teachers have. Nevertheless, I’d be happy to have more interaction with parents.

pictureI got a taste last night, however, and it was pleasing (it wouldn’t always be pleasing, I’m sure, if it was “always on”). I’ve been trying a new thing: sending out video of my students’ month-end speech tests. I shoot video of the class making their little speeches, post it to youtube as “unlisted” which keeps it more-or-less private, and then use kakao, a ubiquitous Korean chat app, on my new phone, to send out links to the parents. So far, I’ve sent out video for 3 classes and it’s mostly like sending out spam into the ether with no answer or feedback. But last night one parent finally answered, and I felt a little bit happy with the result. The mom wrote:

네, 선생님. 잘보았습니다~ 덕분에 메리가 영어실력이 많이 향상외였네요. 즐거운 주말되세요.

My effort at understanding this: “Yes, teacher. Looks good~ thanks to [you] Mary’s English skills have improved a lot. Have a good weekend.” – Mary being the English nickname of the student in question.

That’s pretty awesome feedback to get. And if I was braver and more proficient in Korean, I could get more. Probably, I’d get some complaints, too. But well… it might be worth it.


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Caveat: In My Lifetime

Andrew Sullivan the sullyblogger has an interesting post about George Romney, Barry Goldwater, and the Nixonian “Southern Strategy” that made the Republicans who they are today. One very striking thing: he includes this fascinating 1976 electoral college map (with post-2000 colors so we can understand it):

picture

Comparing that map to current electoral maps is quite mind-blowing. This shift occurred in my lifetime.

And this quote:

We need only look at the experience of some ideologically oriented
parties in Europe to realize that chaos can result. Dogmatic ideological
parties tend to splinter the political and social fabric of a nation,
lead to governmental crises and deadlock, and stymie the compromises so
often necessary to preserve freedom and achieve progress. – George Romney, 1966.


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Caveat: Returning To Ulleungdo (In a Dream)

I suppose some people may find it peculiar or self-indulgent or egotistical that I journal my dreams on my blog. I suppose it can be those things. But I will continue to do it. Last night’s dream was quite odd but very vivid and memorable. You will be able to tell what issues are front-and-center in my subconscious.

I dreamed I went to visit my father, but my father lived in Ulleungdo (an island off Korea’s east coast). It was a remote house on a dirt road – more similar to my uncle’s house in Alaska than anything I saw on Ulleungdo. But when I saw my father, he said, “I have something to show you.” We drove into town. The dream was an odd mash-up of my childhood in my dad’s Model A and a Korean road-trip. None of the Koreans seemed affected by a pair of foreigners driving a 1928 Ford Model A through their towns. We arrived in the main town of Ulleungdo (called Dodong though the dream neglected to remind me of that – I only remembered as I was typing just now), and we got out near some construction.

My father and I walked over to this odd, square, un-constructed-upon lot on a steep hillside – the lot was “leveled” – it had been dug out so that it was flat at the lower street level, with an ugly, two-storey retaining wall of dark concrete block at the back of the lot, and boughs of pine overhanging that retaining wall. In the center of the lot was a strange “house” made of cloth and cardboard and sheets of metal – something a homeless man might construct – however, it was apparent my father had been spending time here. I surmised he had been “squatting” on the property during his visits to town. I went inside, and it was actually pretty comfortable inside. There was a small, old-fashioned stove you sometimes see ajeossis using in tent-like constructions in small towns in Korea in winter, and a platform made of pallets and plywood for sleeping. I came back outside.

In the dream, I was most struck by the fact there was a stunted palm tree in the lot beside the tent-thing, along with a pitiful-looking persimmon tree, shorn of leaves but with glowing golden fruit still hanging on the raggedy branches. Both trees seemed very lonely and unhappy. I laughed at the idea of a palm tree on Ulleungdo. It reminded me of the palmtrees in Yeonggwang, that I had seen covered with snow when I lived down there.

I commented on this, and smiled at dad. “I should buy this lot. I could build a nice house here.” I began to describe the kind of house I would build on this odd vacant lot on Ulleungdo. It would have two or three levels, up against the retaining wall at the back, with a front entrance at the street and lots of stairs.

My father said, “I bought it.” I was very surprised. My father owned not one, but two pieces of property on Ulleungdo!

Of course, it was all a dream.

To set the scene, here are some pictures from my 2009 visit to Ulleungdo.

picture

picture

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This last is a picture of Dodong, seen from near the ferry terminal.

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