Born a Baby

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!


Yes, I am here in Russia.  Cool, huh?  Well, I think so anyway.  I'm here teaching English for the next 4 1/2 months livin' while I'm young here in Moscow (1D anyone?  Anyone?  Buhler?)  Catch up?  Okay, here we go...

So, on January 21 I left the big town of Declo and ventured to the SLC airport where I said goodbye to my family for four months.  After living at home for a whole month it was pretty hard saying bye.  Living at home I think my sister and I built a pretty solid relationship with a foundation based on 4 British men and 1 Irish man.  They are all really attractive.  Don't believe me?  Here's a picture:

What did I tell ya?

Also, there was a little bit of love for each other in there...but mostly just for the boys.  The last boy-man-boy is my favorite.  His name is Louis (Lou-ee).  My second favorite is Liam.  He's on the far left.  Madi likes the blonde in the middle.  He's Irish and is named Niall (Ny-all).  He'll probably marry me.  The other two are great.  Zayn is the one in the gray and Harry's the one with the hair.  Haha, Harry..hairy...Okay okay, back on track.  So, I said goodbye after some hugs and almost tears and Ethan saying, "Can we go back to the hotel?  I'm tired."  Lots of love.  The other teachers and I took off on a 5 hour red-eye to New York where we had a 10 hour layover.  I just tried to sleep...it didn't work out to well.  Here are some pictures:

Finally we left on a 10 hour flight to Moscow.  After watching tons of movies, trying to sleep, and staring out at a very dark window, the sun rose at 9:30 am and we arrived.

We met our native coordinator, Gulya, at the airport and then were dropped off to our host families. On our way to our families there were crazy people everywhere.  It is well known that Utah drivers are the worst, well they are like baby angels compared to Russian drivers.  There are no rules when it comes to merging, people get out of their cars to yell at you if you bump them (even if it's in the middle of the highway), and then there are crazies who just jog down the middle of the highway with frost on their beards.  No joke, I saw all of this.  Utah has nothing on Russia.  After that craziness, I met my host family with my friend Sara.  We're living together for a bit...or the whole time...we're not really sure.  My host family is awesome.  My host mom, Zoya, is so funny!  She's super skinny, short dark hair, wears crazy pants, and is a stellar cook.  Today she said, "If you want learn to use phone, born a baby and they teach you how!"  I laughed so hard!  Her husband is Vitalik, we finally met today.  He doesn't speak any English but is a bit of a tease.  The daughter is Valentina.  She's 20 and a student at a university.  She's very fluent in English.  Sasha is the son.  He's 18, really shy and nice.  He's knows how to speak English but doesn't talk to us for some reason.  They're just a great family.

The first night I went to sleep at 8:30 and then slept til 4 am.  I would've slept longer but Mom didn't realize the time difference and decided to text me...and then Face Time me.  Sweet, but not my favorite at 4 am.  I woke up at 8 am to darkness.  The sun doesn't rise until 9:30 here.  Crazy, I know.  I had a fcousna (delicious) breakfast of Russian corn flakes that have much less sugar than American corn flakes and are yummy.

 Mango juice, milk, corn flakes, and cocoa puffs

Cocoa puffs...mmmm!

After breakfast we went to the institute where I am going to teach.  It's a pretty big building about 10-15 minutes away from the apartment.  We did some training and then went on an adventure to Red Square!  We saw the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral (easily my favorite).

 Teachers in front of the Kremlin

 Built in 1409 to protect Moscow!

 Stones from houses that were burnt or destroyed during Napoleon's raid.  A memorial to the families' sacrifices.

 Names of heroic cities in WWII

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame

 The guards change every 15 minutes

 On Red Square

 Sweet church rebuilt in 1990s

 St. Basil's Cathedral!!!

It was a great day.  I was dead tired by the end and slept like a rock.  We had training the past two days and went to the ballet Friday night and saw Beauty and the Beast.  I slept through most of it, but the parts I did see were beautiful.

Kremlin theater

Yesterday (Saturday) Valentina took Sara and I to the market where we bought some food.  Here are some pictures of our food:

 Cabbage, carrots, sausage, and yellow pepper stir fry--mmmm

Me and Sara with ice cream!!  So good!

Today we went to church.  It's just a small international branch but the members were very welcoming.  It's a 50 minute metro ride to get there, but I know it will be worth it.  Actually, I think I may be called to Relief Society pianist...maybe I'll start going to the Russian branch ;)  Church was really great, though.  There were Armenians, Africans, Filipinos, and Americans all there.  Each were so kind and I'm really excited to get to know the branch better even if I have to play the piano!

This week we start teaching...AHHHHH!  Hopefully all will be well.  Well, that's it!  Dasvedanye!

Who's Up for Round Two?!

Round two at USU has begun!

  I just had a great and stressful summer in Island Park working and now I'm back in Logan just learnin' away!  It's very good to be back, I've missed this place, but starting over is always an adventure.  It's kind of hard not being entirely familiar with one's situation, no matter how similar it was last year.  At least this year I have Jaycie and I know where almost everything is on campus so I don't need to worry about getting lost too horribly.
  My schedule this semester is very full.  I'll be taking French, history, English, astronomy, and political science with two Institute classes: Church History and D&C.  I think that once the homework load kicks in I will be quite busy, but that'll be good and keep me and Jaycie from getting into mischief...maybe. :)
  I have had some fun here already, though!  Sunday evening was spent at Joanna's eating dinner, watching the stellar movie Taken, and planning her reception.  Liam Neeson is just such a man.  Is there an actor who has played more epic characters than he?  He's trained Batman, been a god in two worlds as Aslan and Zeus, he's been Jean Valjean, saved Jews as Schindler, saved his daughter from Albanian creeps, trained Darth Vader and Obi Wan as Qui Gon-Jin, was Hannibal in A Team, really his greatness just goes on and on.  New thought: I have the privilege to be a bridesmaid!  Weird that I'm old enough for that, but I'm starting to realize that marriage is a way of life for people my age and I think that the next few years will be spent attending quite a few receptions.  Saturday Jaycie and I went to Saedee's apartment at Oakridge and watched the old Planet of the Apes.  It was very odd.  Paul Giamatti was in it, which was certainly a plus...even though he played an ape, and so was Helena Bonham-Carter...who was also an ape.  Both are slightly redeeming qualities for the strangeness of the movie, but only just.  It was really good to see Saed again.  It's been several months and it was very nice to see a familiar face.  Yesterday after school I was visited by Katie Gerratt which was so great!  She stayed and talked for a few hours and we had quite a few laughs.  I love that girl!
  Well, that's all I have for now.  I don't know how well I'll keep up on this blog, but I sure will try to post every now and then!  Stay tuned!

Squirrel!

Two months later and I am back!

Today was a super stellar day.  I was so spiritually fed, it was almost crazy!  Today in Sacrament meeting one of my dear friends gave a talk on humility (and honestly, he is the best one to give this talk because he is the most humble person I have ever met) and he invited the Spirit to the meeting so well!  His testimony was so strong and it just touched my heart.  Then Sunday School was so amazing.  The teacher did such a great job explaining the importance of the Sacrament and how beautiful it is.  It really just increased my testimony.  Then Relief Society was grand!  Our brand new teacher taught for the first time today on testimonies and although she was nervous, she did really well.  All in all today was a spiritual landmark of great.  I've really needed this because lately I've been kind of a downer, but today I feel refreshed, renewed, and ready to go!  Oh yeah!  So now I'm going to share some pictures of some recent adventures.  I do hope you enjoy them!

 Madi and I before her Trendsetter performance...lovely!

 My STELLAR cookie jar that I love!

 Definitely my most favorite pair of pants I have ever gotten.  Dark. Purple. Skinny. Jeans.

I love them.

 The stop sign outside my apartment.  Someone is ruddy brilliant.

 My brother...I think he's a sleepy guy...

My daddy and little Piper.  Cute!

 Joanna being tougher than Rosie the Riveter.  A tough job, but I think she pulled it off quite nicely.

 The squirrel that keeps showing up between our apartment and the boys'.  They climbed up our wall and taped it there.  They could've just opened the window, but that would've been too easy.

This is what I found when I opened the microwave to make some lunch.  Mmmmmm!

All in all life is great right now.  I've been so blessed with such great family and friends that have helped me stay mostly sane.  I love them!

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel

I'm a bit behind and it's driving my mom crazy. :)  So, let's get started, shall we?

Many delightful adventures have taken place these few weeks and I shall share some with you all now:

Several Fridays ago my FHE group and several others made a trip down to Temple Square in SLC to see the lights.  Oh my heavens it was beautiful!  In the process of walking down Capital Hill where we parked, I was looking at the houses and talking about wanting to live in one of them someday when I stepped into a hole and biffed it in front of probably ten people.  Was it embarrassing?  Yes.  Did I get hurt?  Yes, my hands were cut up and bleeding a bit, but my pride definitely hurt much worse.  Good thing is that I laughed pretty hard about the situation.  Because really, if you had been there, you would've laughed, too.

In short, the lights were lovely.  I loved them all very much.  Here are some pictures for ya to look at:

Next was the adventure at Cafe Rio.  My friend Luke and I went there for lunch one day because everything  was for free.  We stood in line for about an hour and a half but it was so worth it.  While waiting, a guy that worked there gave us a trivia question.  He asked us where the first Cafe Rio restaurant was located outside Utah.  The prize was a shirt with a free meal coupon.  Naturally, everyone started guessing.  I guessed a few semi-major towns in Idaho and got nothing.  Then the guy told us it was in the state where the Cardinals played.  I had no idea where they played until someone yelled out "Phoenix!"  That wasn't the answer, so I told Luke to say Tempe.  No.  Mesa...no.  Gilbert...YES!  Next thing we knew, the shirt was flying towards us.  It was a winner, and as a result I would like to thank my great Uncle Danny who lived there for several years.  If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have gotten a t-shirt with a guy on a horse and a chili pepper with words that say, "Some like it hot".  Oh, and a free meal.  So thanks, Danny.  You are the greatest! :)

The next adventure happened the next Sunday night.  Some kids in my building and I were out talking in our little hallway area and tossing a little plastic jack-o-lantern around.  Soon, this became a heinous game of boys vs. girls catch.  We were rolling, pushing, biting, screaming, laughing, and taunting like crazy.  In fact, it got so bad that we got some pretty sweet rug burns on our feet and knees.  Mine personally continued to bleed and crack several days after the game.  It was so worth it though.  We even came up with a name: Punkitch.  You see, it's Quidditch and punkin combined.  If you don't know what Quidditch is, I'm very sorry and suggest you read a Harry Potter book or two.  Or three.  Or you better just read all seven.  If you take the shortcut and watch the movies, you're dead to me.  If you even look it up on Google, Bing, or any other form of search engine, I may have to defriend you on Facebook.  Okay, not really, but seriously.  Read.  Harry.  Potter.  P.S. I got staff infection from this glorious activity.  If you play, be aware that your knees's health may be at stake.

Next was our gift exchange.  We had two in our apartment, one with each other as roommates, and the other with the boys next door.  Both were fantastic.  I am so blessed to have such wonderful roommates and neighbors.

These past few weeks a recurring thought keeps coming back to haunt me.  It haunted me clear throughout the summer.  I was avoiding something that was actually impossible to avoid.  It was always in the back of my mind if it wasn't dominating the front of it.  It was my worst fear and greatest ambition.  It was like that bittersweet feeling you get after eating a chocolate covered pretzel; you wanted it so bad and the perfect combination of salty and sweet was too much to resist, so you gave in and ate it.  Afterwards, your stomach is angry at you and pretty soon your body is too when it breaks out into fat.  It was worth it at first, but then you saw the result and wondered why you don't get a gym membership or do those 90s work out videos that are now stored in your basement closet.  Yeah, that's what this is.  It's my chocolate covered pretzel.  This thing is called never growing up, or as I like to call it, Neverland.

Neverland has always held immense interest for me.  Ever since I was super little I watched the Disney version of Peter Pan and had a good portion of the movie memorized.  He was kind of my hero, always what I secretly longed to be (along with Tom Sawyer of course).  Unfortunately, my conscience is huge and forever tormenting my mind.  As a result, I never found Neverland except in books and movies, which (don't get me wrong) is delightful, but to find it for real...now that would be something worth experiencing.  Imagine never having to grow up.  Go ahead, do it.  Look up at the ceiling you are currently sitting under and instead of seeing the white blob of boring, imagine instead a world filled with adventure with pirates, mermaids, fairies, and an attractive young boy who is forever happy and young.  Heaven, right?  That's what I think.  I don't ever want to grow up.  I quite enjoy being young and doing what I want when I want, but even now I have responsibilities.  Not the kind that full-fledged adults have, but enough of them to keep me tied down.  This depresses me actually because I'm only a few very short years away from becoming one of these...and then what?  I become a pirate?  Awful.

So, a few weeks ago I was watching that glorious movie with the talented Dustin Hoffman, beautiful Julia Roberts (who, in fact, is moving up on my favorite actress list), and the ever funny Robin Williams called Hook.  While sitting there at my computer watching this on Netflix I became increasingly more aware of my situation and how much it stinks.  But then, one tiny scene in that movie completely changed my outlook on never growing up.  As Tinkerbell was struggling to help Peter find his happy thought, Peter was beginning to remember why he left Neverland in the first place.  It was because he wanted to be a dad.  He had found his happy thought: his son.  It was then that I realized why I need to grow up; not to get a job, earn money, and go into debt.  No, it's to become a mother.  I need to grow up so that I can be a mom.  Once I came to this realization, it was like everything was clear.  I didn't have to be scared anymore of growing up (at least not too much) because once I became a mother I would be able to find Neverland for real...with my children.  We may not actually fly to the second star to the right and straight on into morning, but being with them, having them will be enough.  We'll create our own Neverland and they will be my Peter Pans and Tinkerbells.  This time, I'll be Wendy, ready to join in whenever they let me.

Then maybe growing up wouldn't be so bad.  In fact, if I never did I wouldn't ever fulfill one of the most important missions a woman can perform: motherhood.  Never growing up would take that away from me and I'm starting to think that would be almost unbearably worse.  Yes, yes it would be.  Neverland is still going to haunt me, I think it always will, but now maybe it will be easier to face my fear.  You know, I think it will.  Brilliant.  Remind me someday in heaven to thank James Barry for his brilliant mind.

Well I believe that's all for me, thanks!  'Til next time!

Let Me Introduce You to the Grill of My Car

I am awfully sorry about the delay.  Sometimes life is just so crazy!  So here's a mostly picture recap of the past few weeks of my adventures in the magical land of Logan!

On November 16, 2011 it was Freshman registration.  We were allowed to log on to Banner (our class registration site) at 12:00 AM that night.  We all had great intentions and ambitions to be the first to grab those most coveted classes like ENGL 2010 and any stinkin' math class that may or may not cause one's brain to explode.  So we waited anxiously, our fingers poised over our mouse clickers, the little pointer arrow already hovering over the single most important button on the computer.  The clock struck 11:58 and I screamed "TWO MINUTES!" A minute later the accurate clock on the bottom right hand corner of my laptop screen showed 11:59.  It was dead silent in our apartment.  Not only in our room, though.  It seemed as though there was tension emanating from our whole building.  Everyone put life on hold for that one fateful moment when the clock would strike 12:00.  I held my breath.  I had to be first.  We all did.

You know, I wonder if this is how all of those Disney princesses felt, waiting for midnight.  Especially Cinderella.  The fact that she would turn back into a servant girl at the stroke of 12 probably caused some major stress in her life.  And then when the clock actually started chiming--shoot man!  I don't know if I could handle that.  I probably wouldn't have been able to spend any time with the prince.  By the way, what in the world is his name?!  Is it just Prince Charming?!  That's a terrible name.  I believe his name should be Fredrick.  Yes, he looks like a Fredrick.  Alright, problem solved!  Back to the story.

THE CLOCK STRUCK MIDNIGHT.  

I clicked with all of my might and waited as my browser loaded.  I had all of my classes figured out, their times, destinations, everything.  I had a Plan A, a Plan B, and even a Plan C.  Finally, my browser stopped loading and...

I saw this.

It was one of the biggest disappointments of my life.  All of the hours waiting, counting down, planning my perfect schedule, and I got this.  Solution: hit Refresh, right?  No.  This was displayed on my computer screen for the next FOUR hours.  I hit that stupid Refresh button hundreds of times.  I'm not even exaggerating.

Soon the whole internet was down.  We couldn't even get on the treasured Facebook to vent our feelings to the whole world.  It was awful.  So we waited.  Impatiently.

Finally, an hour later, Facebook was up and running.  It was like heaven on earth.  We could all talk about our frustrations on the world-wide web.  Isn't Facebook great?  It's like your own personal stalking device that's socially acceptable!  Who knew that going over to someone and saying, "Hey, I Facebook stalked you" would be one of the greatest compliments known to man?!

This is one of the conversations that I found particularly enjoyable:

Registration is so stupet!

 ·  · 17 November at 00:57 · 

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  2 people like this.
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    Karli Ann Jellinich STUPID!

    17 November at 01:17 · 
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    Ivan Covarrubias Is that your preferred name?

    17 November at 01:17 · 
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    Karli Ann Jellinich no it's S-M-R-T. you're seems to be stupet.

    17 November at 01:19 · 
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    Ivan Covarrubias Wow, you're improving. By the way, I heard you asking Amanda for advice on what to say. Is little Karli running out of lame comebacks?:) By the way, I didn't say you could like my status!;)

    17 November at 01:20 ·  ·  2
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    Karli Ann Jellinich i didn't realize i needed permission. SO sorry. is there anything i can get you to gain your forgiveness?

    17 November at 01:21 · 
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    Ivan Covarrubias Yes there is something you can get me. You can GET out of my house!:) Haha jk.

    17 November at 01:22 ·  ·  2
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    Karli Ann Jellinich PSH! when you start paying a quarter of the rent, you can call it your house.

    17 November at 01:23 ·  ·  1
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    Karli Ann Jellinich P.S. over thanksgiving break, i'm most definitely making an anti-ivan t shirt to wear whenever you decide to invite yourself over seeing as how i am apparently not allowed to put the sign up anymore.

    17 November at 01:24 ·  ·  1
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    Ivan Covarrubias Karli, I would like to introduce you to the grill of my car.

    17 November at 01:24 ·  ·  1
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    Karli Ann Jellinich that is if your car starts.

    17 November at 01:25 ·  ·  3
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    Ivan Covarrubias You're completely right. Wow, not even a car wants to chase you.

    17 November at 01:31 ·  ·  1

So, as we all vented on Facebook, Jaycie and I watched Ella Enchanted and Anastasia.  That passed the time.  When suddenly, at 3:38 Jaycie was able to log on!  Oh it was wonderful!  We texted and called people and woke up two of our roommates so they could partake in the registration hussle.  Then at 4:00 it was my turn.  I registered.

And there is my schedule.  Hooray!

At 5:30 I went to bed.  At 8:30 I got up 15 minutes before I left for class.  What a day.

That weekend before was rather lovely and less hectic.  I woke up Saturday morning to a slight amount of rain that soon turned into this:

My dear father and grandfather were supposed to venture down to Logan for a football game.  Good thing my dad's an Osterhout and can handle anything cause it snowed perty hard that day.  Don't believe me?  They had to plow the football field which made the game start 30 minutes late.

It was a little chilly, but an epic game.  We were down the entire game up until fourth quarter when we came back and DOMINATED those San Jose suckers!  It was fantastic.  We were all yelling and screaming and cheering.  It made me and Dad really happy. :)

We're just perty cute.  Yup. :D

So pretty much I just love my dad.  Really, you can't get much better than him.  He's the greatest.  He sticks his finger in my ear which makes me feel so loved all the time.  No but really, he's fantastic.  I am so grateful that he's a worthy priesthood holder.  I never realized how much I value that about him until I moved to college, especially after that nasty nightmare I had a month or so ago.  See, I would have nightmares back home and would sometimes have a dark feeling in my room, but never one like that, and I owe the protection I had at home to the priesthood.  Living in an apartment full of girls, that protection isn't really there.  However, I know that I can go to my dad for blessings of any sort and that he has the power to call on the hosts of heaven to help me.  There's a scripture that constantly reminds me of my dad.  It's D&C 121:34-36.  It reads:

Behold, there are many called but few are chosen.  And why are they not chosen?  Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson- That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

My father was called and chosen.  I am so very grateful that he responded to the call and he uses his priesthood righteously.  My dad has called on the powers of heaven and has literally saved my life.  I love him so much.  I am so grateful that I will be with him for all eternity.

Back to the game.

My feet were about to fall off because my shoes were not waterproof.  No bueno.

A day after Registration my grand Uncle Corey texted me and said he was at the Logan airport.  I was like, "Cool.  That's exciting."  Then he said, "Wanna go for a ride in a plane around Logan?"  and I was like, "uh, YEAH!"  So me and Marci went on an adventure to the airport and we took a flight over Logan.  Here are some pictures of our adventure:

Beautiful, no?

My next adventure took place in good ol' Rexburg.  Jacob and I ventured up to the land of BYU-Ido to visit the dear Melissa and darling Keshia Lynn.  It was spectacular.

We're pretty stinkin' attractive.  Actually, no, not really, but we'll definitely pretend to be!  Here's a lovely little quote that I love that just sums up our friendship I think:

I haven't known Melissa the longest, but she hasn't ever left my side.  How blessed I am to have her!

We also melted crayons and created lovely pieces of art.  Mine and Melissa's looks like heaven.  Nate's and Keshia's kinda looks like puke...

HEAVEN

PUKE

No big deal.  It's all art. :)

Next was Thanksgiving break.  I went home and spent some wonderful time with my lovely family which I just loved.  We played a delightful game with chocolate and dice and much yelling and excitement.  I am a fan.

I also went to night games where we played "Awkward".  It's like Swedish Twister only the players can't say  awkward or fall down.  Here are some examples:

It got a little intense there for a minute.

Then there was Nate and Logan just a snugglin.  The whiffy thing is Nathan trying to hide.  They're adorable.

Melissa and I also took a trip to the DI and found a jumpsuit.  We thought it was adorable.  What do you think?

It was actually one of the most hideous things I've ever put on in my entire life.  Not to mention the massive wedgie that soon appeared.  Bluck.

Now, we shall take a moment to appreciate two great people in my life.  Number one is my brother, Ethan.

It was the first snowfall in Declo.  This little seven year old was so excited that he just wanted to share the white freezing goodness with everyone.  So he put on his snow clothes, grabbed a bucket, filled it with snow, and created a sign that said "Free Snow!" and waited patiently for customers.

Unfortunately, he received no business that day.  But he sure as heck looked cute!

This snow was nothing compared to what I got in Logan.  I should've been smart like him.  Dang.  Next time. :)

Uh, yeah.  WHAT?!

Next is my dear FHE brother, Luke.  He is definitely one of a kind.  We had a little party in our hallway with the girls next door.  They got locked out and their roommates wouldn't let them back in.  So Luke decided to sweet-talk to the girls in hopes they would open the door.  You tell me how you think it worked out!  :D

Oh, he's a keeper!

Just to end today with a picture of my favorite place in Logan: the cemetery.  The trees seem to go on forever...like eternity.

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