Pictures of Amsterdam HERE
Pictures of Berlin HERE
Pictures of Copenhagen HERE
They're all on bikes. Some wearing skirts while others in suits, some having a baby in front or behind, they're not allowed to have their partner ride sidesaddle on the back or really have two people on the bike at all unless it's a tandem, but regardless, they're all on bikes. There is traffic too in the well maintained bike lanes raised up a couple inches above the car lanes that run beside. The stop lights sometimes have a secondary light with a bicycle above to make sure the people, bikes and cars all cooperate. While beautiful, it's also a bit surreal for a city that sees only a few hours of light per day during the winter months and sits next to the North Sea on the west and Sweden just a 20 kilometer train ride to the east. Even though the snow is only periodic, the wind can knock people over when it pours off those firgid bodies of water. As much as I love my bike, I couldn't imagine riding it during that time of year, but then again, it would be pretty brutal to walk as well.
So, welcome to Copenhagen Denmark. I've been here since last Friday and am staying till this Saturday with Celeste and until yesterday her husband as well. You know, I'm not entirely sure if it's the city itself or just being back with a couple close friends that makes me feel so comfortable here. I've lived with Celeste twice and Christopher once back in Austin and now here we all are under the same roof again and even though one of us is on the floor and the other the couch, it feels uncannily like we're back home (if Austin had 6th floor apartments with no elevators). Really, yes it is expensive here and I'm not really doing much that costs money because of it, but there is something here they seem to have figured out. I'd be very tempted to move here if given the opportunity although I do admit that the weather scares the hell out of me.
Today we rented bicycles and went through the town a little and then wandering through the national cemetery which is really more like a park. Knotted old trees hang over aged gravestones, some markers towering a couple meters in the air. Hans Christian Anderson is buried there which is one of the most famous people from this small country. But the cemetery/park was nice. Visiting a place for the dead, on this scale at least, as a tourist has always made me feel a little strange but here it is something entirely different. People running, walking and holding hands, there was even a small family having a picnic and a little girl about 3 or 4 had made one grave her personal play area with her dolls while her older sisters were learning to rollerblade on the path next to her. As I saw all this life around, I started to feel that we in fact had it a bit wrong. I'm unsure about the ideas of spirits and anything really once we die, but I like to think that burial places are not made as spaces for permanent mourning and death. If anything, I think they should be places where life is celebrated. Not by some gaudy shopping district running along it's perimeter or carnival style rides inside, but having it be a place that people actually use for "life" seems right. In this way, it's a celebration of life past and current. It is also the case that more people probably see these graves than in most places ensuring that the names of these people might last longer than they do in most countries. Death is not meant to always be a time/place of mourning, instead, let those places we bury people be a celebration of life and a place where we can help keep their memories with us as long as possible.
More soon.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Amsterdamming (a week late)
There is so much to say and I've been really irregular about writing lately. This has been a really good past week in all ways except for money. Let me start off by getting into what I forgot to write about earlier.
Last Saturday myself, Christopher, Andre and Dirk (Germans) and Dirk's girlfriend Camilla (Polish) drove up to Amsterdam for 24 hours. Although the weather, never my friend it seems, wasn't as amazing as we had hoped, the town itself has a lot of beauty. And it is so amazing to be able to drive 3 hours and cross the border into another country and not even have to stop at a border. We just drove through and waved goodbye to Germany as we crossed over into the Netherlands. You hardly would even know there was a border aside from a couple small signs. We drove in and after parking (24 Hours = 43 Euros or @ 50+ USD) finally started to walk around 4. We ate and then ventured down to a Saturday flea market that seemed more like an entire square filled with resale shops. Had I more money and it had not been pissing rain in cold weather, I might have gotten more into it. Definitely something that I could enjoy more on a sunny day. Afterward we checked into a shady little hostel/hotel and tried to think about to do for the evening.
The Dutch are not really known for their food, in fact trying to find a description of typical Dutch food was sort of hard to come by. The cheeses, breads, apple pies and herring was about all I could find out. We had walked through a little Chinatown earlier in the evening and after reading about a restaurant in the travel guide and a local paper we decided on that. Good hole in the wall style place and good food.
Now, the big motivation for most people to go to Amsterdam is obviously the drugs and/or sex, or at least seeing the red-light district even if you don't participate. And I too admit that I was curious in seeing these things, but aside from just seeing another beautiful city, I really wanted to see my friend Troy who had just moved to the city a couple months ago. This was a shocking surprise that I learned about via mass email when I was in Thailand. It seems that my friends and acquaintances from back home are moving abroad, often for love, at a surprising rate. He (like Celeste who I'll get to later) met a Dutch girl while she was in town for SXSW last year. After a year of globe trotting and courting he packed all his stuff on a pallet and moved Amsterdam 2 months ago. Anyway, Troy and Merit met us outside the Chinese restaurant and took us to a nice little local pub around the corner.
Troy and I have never been super close, we worked together briefly every one day a week back home but we've always gotten along. Great guy regardless, always able to summarize life's little problems in a comedic and concise way. he seemed to have an enjoyment for life that I sometimes envied. I just can't say how lucky this guy is (actually several of my friends these days) because Merit, his girlfriend is awesome as well. We sat down and I immediately felt comfortable talking to her. She's really a musician but is doing a straight office job at the moment to appease the legal requirements for getting Troy into the country. I only had a few hours with the 2 of them but I look forward to going back and spending more time just hanging out, riding bikes, drinking and enjoying their little corner of paradise (but hopefully in the summer).
Well, when in Rome, right? Merit at our groups request brought us to one of the more local "coffee-houses". She, as from what I gathered applies to most Dutch, doesn't really smoke pot. It's considered more of a juvenile thing there and is a source of mild jocular frustration between her and Troy. Anyway this place sort of has a low lit bar feel to it. There is really nothing seedy about it. In fact, most of these places don't serve alcohol just coffee, juices and teas. There is a second bar at the back that has a pot menu like a wine list. Yes, it's all true, it's just like you've read in other places and I'm not going to spend too much time going over thins people have already heard about. I mean, it's not technically "legal", it's just not enforced and in general as long as you're over 18 it's not that big of deal. So, you buy your selection, pre-rolled or in bag and sit back and do your thing. And honestly, except for it being a bit crowded, it's a really laid back place to hang out if you don't find the small undesirable (I sort of like the smell, reminds me of music festivals and rock shows at Liberty Lunch). That was more or less our evening in Amsterdam as afterwards we all headed back to the hotel and crashed out, a bit wet and cold. Oh, one last thing. Turns out that for the coffee house we were at was actually used in in the movie Oceans 12. I haven't seen it, but Troy said there is some scene where Matt Damon is in a bar/cafe and that is the bar they used. What do ya know? I'm still irritated that I didn't run into LL Cool J who was in Prague filming, damn shame.
The following day we went to the sex museum which was not nearly as kitschy as I was expecting and is worth an hour browsing around the all the toys, art and videos and history of everyone's favorite pastime. At my request, we headed over to the Van Gough museum but we were not fully prepared for it's popularity. There was an hour long line outside the door which scared us off, that too will have to wait. Browsing around, coffee, venturing into random shops completed more or less our time in Amsterdam and we headed back to the car to admire the mixture of beautiful scenery including the most amazing car dealerships (VW, Mini, Mercedes, BMW, Audi dominate) interspersed with small farms, wind turbines and the occasional office building striking the landscapes and commanding them in their crazy modern way.
Last Saturday myself, Christopher, Andre and Dirk (Germans) and Dirk's girlfriend Camilla (Polish) drove up to Amsterdam for 24 hours. Although the weather, never my friend it seems, wasn't as amazing as we had hoped, the town itself has a lot of beauty. And it is so amazing to be able to drive 3 hours and cross the border into another country and not even have to stop at a border. We just drove through and waved goodbye to Germany as we crossed over into the Netherlands. You hardly would even know there was a border aside from a couple small signs. We drove in and after parking (24 Hours = 43 Euros or @ 50+ USD) finally started to walk around 4. We ate and then ventured down to a Saturday flea market that seemed more like an entire square filled with resale shops. Had I more money and it had not been pissing rain in cold weather, I might have gotten more into it. Definitely something that I could enjoy more on a sunny day. Afterward we checked into a shady little hostel/hotel and tried to think about to do for the evening.
The Dutch are not really known for their food, in fact trying to find a description of typical Dutch food was sort of hard to come by. The cheeses, breads, apple pies and herring was about all I could find out. We had walked through a little Chinatown earlier in the evening and after reading about a restaurant in the travel guide and a local paper we decided on that. Good hole in the wall style place and good food.
Now, the big motivation for most people to go to Amsterdam is obviously the drugs and/or sex, or at least seeing the red-light district even if you don't participate. And I too admit that I was curious in seeing these things, but aside from just seeing another beautiful city, I really wanted to see my friend Troy who had just moved to the city a couple months ago. This was a shocking surprise that I learned about via mass email when I was in Thailand. It seems that my friends and acquaintances from back home are moving abroad, often for love, at a surprising rate. He (like Celeste who I'll get to later) met a Dutch girl while she was in town for SXSW last year. After a year of globe trotting and courting he packed all his stuff on a pallet and moved Amsterdam 2 months ago. Anyway, Troy and Merit met us outside the Chinese restaurant and took us to a nice little local pub around the corner.
Troy and I have never been super close, we worked together briefly every one day a week back home but we've always gotten along. Great guy regardless, always able to summarize life's little problems in a comedic and concise way. he seemed to have an enjoyment for life that I sometimes envied. I just can't say how lucky this guy is (actually several of my friends these days) because Merit, his girlfriend is awesome as well. We sat down and I immediately felt comfortable talking to her. She's really a musician but is doing a straight office job at the moment to appease the legal requirements for getting Troy into the country. I only had a few hours with the 2 of them but I look forward to going back and spending more time just hanging out, riding bikes, drinking and enjoying their little corner of paradise (but hopefully in the summer).
Well, when in Rome, right? Merit at our groups request brought us to one of the more local "coffee-houses". She, as from what I gathered applies to most Dutch, doesn't really smoke pot. It's considered more of a juvenile thing there and is a source of mild jocular frustration between her and Troy. Anyway this place sort of has a low lit bar feel to it. There is really nothing seedy about it. In fact, most of these places don't serve alcohol just coffee, juices and teas. There is a second bar at the back that has a pot menu like a wine list. Yes, it's all true, it's just like you've read in other places and I'm not going to spend too much time going over thins people have already heard about. I mean, it's not technically "legal", it's just not enforced and in general as long as you're over 18 it's not that big of deal. So, you buy your selection, pre-rolled or in bag and sit back and do your thing. And honestly, except for it being a bit crowded, it's a really laid back place to hang out if you don't find the small undesirable (I sort of like the smell, reminds me of music festivals and rock shows at Liberty Lunch). That was more or less our evening in Amsterdam as afterwards we all headed back to the hotel and crashed out, a bit wet and cold. Oh, one last thing. Turns out that for the coffee house we were at was actually used in in the movie Oceans 12. I haven't seen it, but Troy said there is some scene where Matt Damon is in a bar/cafe and that is the bar they used. What do ya know? I'm still irritated that I didn't run into LL Cool J who was in Prague filming, damn shame.
The following day we went to the sex museum which was not nearly as kitschy as I was expecting and is worth an hour browsing around the all the toys, art and videos and history of everyone's favorite pastime. At my request, we headed over to the Van Gough museum but we were not fully prepared for it's popularity. There was an hour long line outside the door which scared us off, that too will have to wait. Browsing around, coffee, venturing into random shops completed more or less our time in Amsterdam and we headed back to the car to admire the mixture of beautiful scenery including the most amazing car dealerships (VW, Mini, Mercedes, BMW, Audi dominate) interspersed with small farms, wind turbines and the occasional office building striking the landscapes and commanding them in their crazy modern way.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
from Cologne to Amsterdam and back again
Hey Everyone, first pictures from Germany HERE
Well, I apologize about the extremely long period without writing. Been traveling with company and have not had enough time to sit down and think about the last week. I flew out of Prague a week ago Tuesday and arrived in Cologne to cloudy weather. I had about 6 hours to kill while I waited for Christopher to get in, what I didn't know is that wouldn't happen until the following afternoon. Turns out he missed the plane due to some miscommunication in France and ended up sleeping on an airport floor and then hopping a train from Paris to here. I called his friends whom we were staying with and they were kind enough to fill me in on the details and pick me up after I started to worry that I was going to have no place to stay in a foreign country. But that didn't happen.
I'm still feeling out this city. I think I like the Germans though, life seems a bit more worth celebrating here than it did in Prague even though the latter city wins in terms of sheer beauty. Everyone I've come into contact with has been precisely helpful. The precision and orderly thing seems to be pretty true here. I mean, there is not doubt they enjoy life, but it seems seldom like there is a moment without a plan. Christopher and I on the other hand have been traveling for a bit now and have honestly enjoyed just taking a break and relaxing to some degree. We did briefly go into the "Dome" or the main cathedral here in town that announces itself from every angle when coming into the city and is amazing. I stopped in briefly during my 6 hours of independent exploration on Tuesday but decided to leave the long part of the tour for when Christopher arrived and we could do it together. When I went, The Pope had just passed and there was a procession of people coming up and paying their respects which I observed from afar.
Speaking of the recent event, Germans I've met (and I think a large part of Europe) are mixed about the importance of the church. The Cathedral steps where in the middle of a large amount of repairs, and I think this included some taxpayer money as it is the top visited landmark in the country, all in preparation for a visit from the Pope. Many Catholics here, like Catholics in the rest of the world (at least Europe and middle-class Americans), are really Easter Catholics. Meaning that they usually show up at church only a couple times a year, namely Easter and Christmas. I can understand to a degree some of the skepticism to an institution that seems at times archaic and in recent years has scarred itself horribly. But then for me, who never was a Catholic but admired it from afar because it seemed like such an anachronism in this modern world, here they are, working on getting food to developing nations, sometimes the only peace brokers in corrupt countries, all these things that I admire along with providing hope to millions of people. In comparison, although admittedly Catholics often choose to not participate in difficult questions of faith (at least with me), I seldom ever feel judged the way I have from protestants or more precisely, American evangelicals. So yes, I disagree with Vatican laws that forbid marriage in the clergy, having female bishops and cardinals (are priests allowed?), and its refusal to reinterpret views towards homosexuality and worst of all, their continued obstinance toward condom use, but overall, I don't think this church is the religion of the Spanish Inquisition. Pope John Paul I think did lot to encourage positive and constructive uses of the church, and for this, I respect the man. May he rest in peace and his successor be someone who can further modernize the institution.
But, enough about that. Back to Cologne. We're staying with old friends of Christopher. A couple he met 7 years ago when Jasmine was doing a study abroad in Austin. I've actually met her and her (now) husband, Andre, during that time as well but only briefly. I do have memories of admiring her accent and her waking up on our living room couch/bed way back at that house in Austin near... What was the name of that pub on... near Upper Crust Bakery.... shit, I can't remember. It has been, well, 7 years, an age pounding fact that is not lost on me. Yes, it was a long time ago. Anyway, their back home now, starting their life and about to start their family in another 5 months and were kind enough to put us up and show us around. They both work so in some regards we're on our own, but their always ready with suggestions. And well, we haven't done much. We've looked in some of the shops, gone cafe exploring and have yet to make it to a museum or a second visit to the Dome, which both should be resolved by our departure on Tuesday.
Andre did manage to get us out on a whirlwind tour of the Cologne nightlife last Friday. We started by visiting a historic Kirsch bar that seemed to grow as you entered through the doors. Well lit, with lots of wood brass and glasses clinking, people of every drinking age imaginable sat in every available space, sipping down the local variety of beer that is usually brewed in house, served in small straight glasses, and chomped down on local fare. The Beer (kirsch) is good, I think, but I'm not much of a beer drinker and further from an expert. I was more intrigued by what appeared to be raw ground beef served on hearty bread with onions being eaten by the table immediately to my left. We had eaten a lot earlier and Christopher, a recovering vegetarian, wasn't much up for it. But, if I get the chance before I leave, I'll get back to everyone with that experience.
From the traditional bar we moved onto a low-key lounge where the energy and age levels settled into a vicinity that we had a bit more in common with. It was a small bar, warm low lights, low seats with a lounge feel encouraged by the music. We had another Kirsch, I was forced to order in memorized two words of German and moved on once more. For a city its size (1.8 Mil), this city really has a lot to offer. I guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise as much as I rave about Austin with it's mere 650K habitants and it's offerings. Then again, we don't have this monumental feature that cuts through the skyline like a knife like the Dome here. Regardless, this city has a lot going on of which, well, of which I've seen about 1%.
After the lounge, we went to a rock club called "Underground". It was basically Emo's mixed with a bit of Elisium except people were drinking Kirsch and dancing to music that had no business being danced to. I mean, New Wave and all that has it's dancing place, but these guys in one room were dj'ing like Marilyn Manson style stuff to a dance floor. Even the locals seemed unsure of how to react to it and I'm sure a lot of them are there every weekend. Waiting out in the courtyard though, with the sound in the background like a loud show I'm taking a break from, I felt like I was back in Austin. I felt like I was definitely going to run into someone I knew. Had I not been so tired from getting up early, it very likely could have happened, who knows. But, as the case was, I was tired so we went home a bit early and crawled into bed around 2.
And we wanted to get home early, because the following day we were going to Amsterdam. And Amsterdam is where we went, but I'll have to write that tomorrow because I'm too tired at the moment.
Well, I apologize about the extremely long period without writing. Been traveling with company and have not had enough time to sit down and think about the last week. I flew out of Prague a week ago Tuesday and arrived in Cologne to cloudy weather. I had about 6 hours to kill while I waited for Christopher to get in, what I didn't know is that wouldn't happen until the following afternoon. Turns out he missed the plane due to some miscommunication in France and ended up sleeping on an airport floor and then hopping a train from Paris to here. I called his friends whom we were staying with and they were kind enough to fill me in on the details and pick me up after I started to worry that I was going to have no place to stay in a foreign country. But that didn't happen.
I'm still feeling out this city. I think I like the Germans though, life seems a bit more worth celebrating here than it did in Prague even though the latter city wins in terms of sheer beauty. Everyone I've come into contact with has been precisely helpful. The precision and orderly thing seems to be pretty true here. I mean, there is not doubt they enjoy life, but it seems seldom like there is a moment without a plan. Christopher and I on the other hand have been traveling for a bit now and have honestly enjoyed just taking a break and relaxing to some degree. We did briefly go into the "Dome" or the main cathedral here in town that announces itself from every angle when coming into the city and is amazing. I stopped in briefly during my 6 hours of independent exploration on Tuesday but decided to leave the long part of the tour for when Christopher arrived and we could do it together. When I went, The Pope had just passed and there was a procession of people coming up and paying their respects which I observed from afar.
Speaking of the recent event, Germans I've met (and I think a large part of Europe) are mixed about the importance of the church. The Cathedral steps where in the middle of a large amount of repairs, and I think this included some taxpayer money as it is the top visited landmark in the country, all in preparation for a visit from the Pope. Many Catholics here, like Catholics in the rest of the world (at least Europe and middle-class Americans), are really Easter Catholics. Meaning that they usually show up at church only a couple times a year, namely Easter and Christmas. I can understand to a degree some of the skepticism to an institution that seems at times archaic and in recent years has scarred itself horribly. But then for me, who never was a Catholic but admired it from afar because it seemed like such an anachronism in this modern world, here they are, working on getting food to developing nations, sometimes the only peace brokers in corrupt countries, all these things that I admire along with providing hope to millions of people. In comparison, although admittedly Catholics often choose to not participate in difficult questions of faith (at least with me), I seldom ever feel judged the way I have from protestants or more precisely, American evangelicals. So yes, I disagree with Vatican laws that forbid marriage in the clergy, having female bishops and cardinals (are priests allowed?), and its refusal to reinterpret views towards homosexuality and worst of all, their continued obstinance toward condom use, but overall, I don't think this church is the religion of the Spanish Inquisition. Pope John Paul I think did lot to encourage positive and constructive uses of the church, and for this, I respect the man. May he rest in peace and his successor be someone who can further modernize the institution.
But, enough about that. Back to Cologne. We're staying with old friends of Christopher. A couple he met 7 years ago when Jasmine was doing a study abroad in Austin. I've actually met her and her (now) husband, Andre, during that time as well but only briefly. I do have memories of admiring her accent and her waking up on our living room couch/bed way back at that house in Austin near... What was the name of that pub on... near Upper Crust Bakery.... shit, I can't remember. It has been, well, 7 years, an age pounding fact that is not lost on me. Yes, it was a long time ago. Anyway, their back home now, starting their life and about to start their family in another 5 months and were kind enough to put us up and show us around. They both work so in some regards we're on our own, but their always ready with suggestions. And well, we haven't done much. We've looked in some of the shops, gone cafe exploring and have yet to make it to a museum or a second visit to the Dome, which both should be resolved by our departure on Tuesday.
Andre did manage to get us out on a whirlwind tour of the Cologne nightlife last Friday. We started by visiting a historic Kirsch bar that seemed to grow as you entered through the doors. Well lit, with lots of wood brass and glasses clinking, people of every drinking age imaginable sat in every available space, sipping down the local variety of beer that is usually brewed in house, served in small straight glasses, and chomped down on local fare. The Beer (kirsch) is good, I think, but I'm not much of a beer drinker and further from an expert. I was more intrigued by what appeared to be raw ground beef served on hearty bread with onions being eaten by the table immediately to my left. We had eaten a lot earlier and Christopher, a recovering vegetarian, wasn't much up for it. But, if I get the chance before I leave, I'll get back to everyone with that experience.
From the traditional bar we moved onto a low-key lounge where the energy and age levels settled into a vicinity that we had a bit more in common with. It was a small bar, warm low lights, low seats with a lounge feel encouraged by the music. We had another Kirsch, I was forced to order in memorized two words of German and moved on once more. For a city its size (1.8 Mil), this city really has a lot to offer. I guess that shouldn't be too much of a surprise as much as I rave about Austin with it's mere 650K habitants and it's offerings. Then again, we don't have this monumental feature that cuts through the skyline like a knife like the Dome here. Regardless, this city has a lot going on of which, well, of which I've seen about 1%.
After the lounge, we went to a rock club called "Underground". It was basically Emo's mixed with a bit of Elisium except people were drinking Kirsch and dancing to music that had no business being danced to. I mean, New Wave and all that has it's dancing place, but these guys in one room were dj'ing like Marilyn Manson style stuff to a dance floor. Even the locals seemed unsure of how to react to it and I'm sure a lot of them are there every weekend. Waiting out in the courtyard though, with the sound in the background like a loud show I'm taking a break from, I felt like I was back in Austin. I felt like I was definitely going to run into someone I knew. Had I not been so tired from getting up early, it very likely could have happened, who knows. But, as the case was, I was tired so we went home a bit early and crawled into bed around 2.
And we wanted to get home early, because the following day we were going to Amsterdam. And Amsterdam is where we went, but I'll have to write that tomorrow because I'm too tired at the moment.
last days in Prague
I'm going to keep this short, first of all, pictures HERE
I'll miss Prague, I feel like my goodbyes to the city were not appropriate and that I was just beginning to get comfortable with a new friend when life pulled me away. I want to say thanks to Annie and Randy who took us out to a caravan they rent on the outskirts of the city and had a bonfire and BBQ for us all. It was a great night and I hope to stay in contact with all these kids who were so great.
The following day, I said my impromptu goodbyes to the city. Went to the post office, wandered around near the Castle/Cathedral again, finally went inside but again showed up too late for the long tour and missed a lot of it, a mistake that I will not make when I eventually return not alone and fully funded. Ahh, what you miss having such a short life to live.
The course is over, thank you Oxford Tefl, you guys did a great job even though I only got a B. Good luck David in Syria (yes Syria), Good luck Sean and Mali in your brief foray into Hong Kong, may the school be there waiting open arms with lots of students upon your return.
I'll miss Prague, I feel like my goodbyes to the city were not appropriate and that I was just beginning to get comfortable with a new friend when life pulled me away. I want to say thanks to Annie and Randy who took us out to a caravan they rent on the outskirts of the city and had a bonfire and BBQ for us all. It was a great night and I hope to stay in contact with all these kids who were so great.
The following day, I said my impromptu goodbyes to the city. Went to the post office, wandered around near the Castle/Cathedral again, finally went inside but again showed up too late for the long tour and missed a lot of it, a mistake that I will not make when I eventually return not alone and fully funded. Ahh, what you miss having such a short life to live.
The course is over, thank you Oxford Tefl, you guys did a great job even though I only got a B. Good luck David in Syria (yes Syria), Good luck Sean and Mali in your brief foray into Hong Kong, may the school be there waiting open arms with lots of students upon your return.
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