Today I am getting paid for the first time since June. It is going to be really nice to actually have an income. My boss told me on my first day, 'Just write your hours on a piece of paper. Whenever you need money, let me know and I will give it to you.' Kind of a strange way to handle it, but I should be getting close to 400 euros cash today for my 6 days of work! It looks like I am going to do a lot better than just break even this winter. I have been skiing when I have time in the middle of the day. Still not a lot of snow yet, but I'm not giving up. I worked Christmas Eve, Christmas, and will be working New Year's Eve and Day as well. It is sure a lot of work days, but I am not feeling overwhelmed yet. The food and the money more than make up for it.
A bit about work: Overall, the job is going very well. It is pretty simple and basic kitchen help, kind of mindless work but not too boring. I generally wash all the dishes (yes there is a quick automatic machine), sort out the recycling, peel vegetables, mop the floors, sort and dry silverware, that sort of thing. The hotel/restaurant is owned by two German brothers in about their 40s. One of them spends his time in the kitchen while the other does the bar and the general hotel stuff. The other kitchen helper guy is named Klaus. He has been the main one to 'train' me. He is definitely the big dumb doofus of the kitchen. He hardly speaks a word of English to me, which would be very helpful to my quest to learn to German, except he just mumbles quickly even when I ask him to enunciate slowly so I can understand. Instead he points to something and mumbles instructions, I just nod, say OK, and figure it out myself. It's not worth asking him to explain anything twice. He has a certain way he does every task and of course wants me to do things the same way. Since I always find my own way, he seems to think I am incompetent. That actually often works out in my favor, because he just does the difficult and annoying tasks himself. I don't really mind him too much, I just ignore him most of the time. One of the chefs in the kitchen is a younger guy inamed Tommy. He speaks English the best, though I need to tell him to stop talking to me so often in English because I will never learn German if he does.
The best part of my job is the free food. The restaurant is very nice with a fairly wide range of Austrian and international food. The main courses range from about 15-30 euros. I can eat first thing when I arrive in the morning, just a quick snack for breakfast. Then at the end of my shift, there is a big lunch for the staff. Usually salad and bread, plus a big stew made from the previous night's meat, plus multiple side dishes of potatoes, rice, etc. After my evening shift, we all eat again. Usually we get whatever the daily dish was. So far, I have had filet mignon three times, plus duck and an angus beef roast, all with loads of sides. It is not quite food straight off the menu, but much better than most 'staff meals' that my friends are getting at their restaurants. I fill up my own plate, so I usually eat a ton. I can pretty much snack all day long as well on soup, bread, etc. We often get a beer or two at night as well.
Commuting to work twice a day is a big pain in the ass right now. I definitely need to move out of Kitzbuehel and into Kirchberg. Right now I have to take a bus and a train each way to get to work. I have the schedules down for the most part, but it is really stressful on the weekends, holidays, etc. when the schedule changes and/or the busses are late. It would be really nice to live within a ten minute walk to work (i.e. anywhere in Kirchberg). While I glad to be working a lot of hours and also be able to ski in the middle of the day, I might get burnt out at some point. I was told I would be working 6 days a week, but I am not exactly sure how that will work. I am currently working 14 days straight, I hope after that I start getting a day off. I am allowed to take any day off I want if I can find a replacement to send in to do my job. That shouldn't be a problem, but they want me to only send in one guy as a replacement for the whole season. That way they can train him in a couple of days. It will be tough to find someone who is willing to do that whenever I ask for the whole season.
I skiied Saturday and Sunday afternoons between work shifts. Saturday was some of the iciest conditions I have ever experienced, so I went to a new area yesterday which had soft snow and great runs. This weekend I was only been able to go up for 2 hours each day because of my work schedule and the fact that runs close at 4:00. Once I move over to Kirch, I expect to get 3-4 hours a day on the slopes. I'm keeping count of days on the mountain, 9 times so far, already more than my last two seasons combined!
It looks like I am going to be able to save a lot more money than I expected. I don't have to pay for food or transportation (my ski pass covers it), so my expenses are incredibly low. Assuming I pay roughly what I am paying now for rent (300 euros) for the remainder of the season, I should be able to save at least 1000 euros/month and maybe up to 1500. That could put 5000 euros in my pocket by the end of the season which would be great! I'm not entirely sure what I will do come spring, or what I am saving for, but I have a few crazy ideas in mind (to be revealed at a much later date, obviously). Maren is with her family in Austria and I am trying to see if I can get my shift covered at work so I can go ski with her for a day, though she is about a 4 hour train ride away. She will be coming here in a little over a week.
I just posted the pics from my first couple of weeks here. Happy New Year!
December 28, 2009
December 20, 2009
Perfect day on the slopes! Plus, my week in Italy
I spent the whole day skiing today. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There were very few people on the slopes, and I spent the last few runs in knee-deep, untracked powder! It was amazing snow and I hope it continues...
Last week, I took off for Italy to meet up with Maren. She flew into Bergamo which is outside Milan. So I only stopped for a bit in Milan to change trains. We both wanted to spend some time in smaller towns and avoid the big cities. Bergamo is exactly that, small enough to walk around easily. I arrived late at the B & B, so we didn't get out in town till the following day. Maren and I went for a walk and explored the town center. Then we headed up the hill nearby and got some great views. We also checked out the Christmas market before heading to the grocery store. We cooked ourselves a fantastic Italian feast back at the B & B. We made enough for dinner the following day :)
Next stop on the trip was Lake Como, north of Milan. A quick train ride got us to the town of Como, right on the lake of course. We had a pretty bad experience finding accommodation that night. We got a listing from the tourist information, yet every place seemed to be either closed or they just didn't answer the door/phone. We ended up wandering all over town several times in the cold. It took over 4 hours! But we finally found a reasonably priced hotel room and were incredibly relieved to take off our packs and get warm. We went out to a nice dinner, bought some candy at the Christmas market, and went back to the room to crash.
The following day, Maren and I walked through Como (to the few parts we hadn't seen the previous evening). We walked along the water till we got to a funicular. It was one of the longest I have ever seen, and it took us straight to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and the lake. We walked around up on the hill a long ways and took lots of pictures. We took the funicular back down as it was getting dark, then looked for food. After a long search, we found exactly what we were looking for: an inexpensive pizzeria right on the lake. We had another walk through the Christmas markets after dinner to finish the night.
We left Como the following morning to go to Verona. It was a last minute decision. We had been looking at going to Switzerland, but couldn't seem to find a hostel or B & B at a reasonable price. We were absolutely determined not to have a repeat of Como (4+ hours in the cold), so we booked a B & B in Verona the night before. It was only 30 euros for the double room, and it was right in the center of town! I spent one night on my own in Verona back in September, that's when I went to the Verdi opera. But it is a great town, and I definitely enjoyed another night there! Maren and I spent the evening walking through town, checking out the various Christmas markets, and buying more sugar-coated nuts. We searched for a restaurant for awhile until we found a cute little place where we shared pizza and pasta.
Maren had to get back to Germany soon to visit family and friends for the holidays, so we started making our way north. We took the train to Innsbruck, which is the biggest city in the western panhandle of Austria. It is only about 80 km away from where I am now in Kitzbuehel. We quickly found our B & B right in the center of the Old Town. Innsbruck is a really nice place, and I definitely plan on heading back over there this season (about an hour and a half by bus + train and only 5.50 euros each way!) It was really cold when we arrived, quite a bit below freezing. We wandered through town, ate some roasted chestnuts at the Christmas market, and then found a Chinese restaurant for dinner (we both have plenty of time to experience Austrian cuisine another night :) ).
We woke up relatively early to head out of town. We got on the same train, I headed to Woergl (between Kitz and Innsbruck), while Maren had to spend the whole day to get up to Marburg to visit a friend where she went to school. She is going on a ski holiday with her family in Austria, not too far south of Kitz, after Christmas. Depending on my work schedule, I may head over there to go skiing and meet her family. She will probably spend some time here in Kitz or Kirchberg on her way back in the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to it! When I got back into town, I spent one more night at Alpen Rider (the name of the 'hostel' I had been staying at previously in Kirchberg). I joined the whole crew there for a night out in Kitz. We ate at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant (Tyrol is this area of Austria), then hit the bars.
The next day I moved into a new place in Kitz. There are about 10 of the original group staying here at the 'Deutsch Institute.' It is kind of like a student residence that we are all using as temporary accommodation until we find homes. I am going to start looking tomorrow for a permanent place in Kirchberg. The pink palace in Kitz eventually fell through. Well, I could still live there, but it would be even more expensive than we originally thought. Plus, it makes a lot more sense for me to live in Kirchberg where I am going to be working 2 shifts a day beginning Wednesday. The Deutsch Institute is a pretty decent place, the only real problem is the location. It was a 15-20 minute walk out of Kitz. While it is on the bus line, it still takes 2 busses to get to Kirchberg. It is really cheap though. I am paying 10 euros a night for a double room (all to myself unless someone else shows up) with my own bathroom. I can also stay there as long as I want, though I hope not the whole season. If I am still here when I start working, I will see how bad the commute is, but I think I can hold out till I find a new place. I plan on moving to Kirchberg as soon as I find decent accommodation there.
Well, today was my 6th day up on the slopes. So far, only about half of the ski areas are open due to lack of snow. It is easy to find places with lots of snow, there are just some lower altitude areas that are a bit bare. This place is absolutely gigantic. I have probably seen about 10% of the total area so far. There is a massive web of gondolas and lifts that take you everywhere. You can take a gondola up in Kirchberg, then through a series of lifts, runs, and more gondolas, make it all the way out to Pass Thurn, which is over 30 km away! Sure beats taking the bus!
So far, I am doing alright on a budget. I have already paid for the expensive things (my lift pass, my rent at the Deutsch Institute through the end of December, my ski gear, the week in Italy...). So I shouldn't need much more money until I start working and get paid. I am really looking forward to it, which sounds silly considering the job is washing dishes. But it will be nice to get into a daily routine, plus I will get to eat good food for free and practice German all day long!
Merry Christmas everyone! I will try and update again before the New Year. Pictures of Austria and Italy are coming in the next couple of days! For those that didn't catch it, my Austrian phone number is 0043 664 996 6682. Hopefully I will have a mailing address soon!
Last week, I took off for Italy to meet up with Maren. She flew into Bergamo which is outside Milan. So I only stopped for a bit in Milan to change trains. We both wanted to spend some time in smaller towns and avoid the big cities. Bergamo is exactly that, small enough to walk around easily. I arrived late at the B & B, so we didn't get out in town till the following day. Maren and I went for a walk and explored the town center. Then we headed up the hill nearby and got some great views. We also checked out the Christmas market before heading to the grocery store. We cooked ourselves a fantastic Italian feast back at the B & B. We made enough for dinner the following day :)
Next stop on the trip was Lake Como, north of Milan. A quick train ride got us to the town of Como, right on the lake of course. We had a pretty bad experience finding accommodation that night. We got a listing from the tourist information, yet every place seemed to be either closed or they just didn't answer the door/phone. We ended up wandering all over town several times in the cold. It took over 4 hours! But we finally found a reasonably priced hotel room and were incredibly relieved to take off our packs and get warm. We went out to a nice dinner, bought some candy at the Christmas market, and went back to the room to crash.
The following day, Maren and I walked through Como (to the few parts we hadn't seen the previous evening). We walked along the water till we got to a funicular. It was one of the longest I have ever seen, and it took us straight to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and the lake. We walked around up on the hill a long ways and took lots of pictures. We took the funicular back down as it was getting dark, then looked for food. After a long search, we found exactly what we were looking for: an inexpensive pizzeria right on the lake. We had another walk through the Christmas markets after dinner to finish the night.
We left Como the following morning to go to Verona. It was a last minute decision. We had been looking at going to Switzerland, but couldn't seem to find a hostel or B & B at a reasonable price. We were absolutely determined not to have a repeat of Como (4+ hours in the cold), so we booked a B & B in Verona the night before. It was only 30 euros for the double room, and it was right in the center of town! I spent one night on my own in Verona back in September, that's when I went to the Verdi opera. But it is a great town, and I definitely enjoyed another night there! Maren and I spent the evening walking through town, checking out the various Christmas markets, and buying more sugar-coated nuts. We searched for a restaurant for awhile until we found a cute little place where we shared pizza and pasta.
Maren had to get back to Germany soon to visit family and friends for the holidays, so we started making our way north. We took the train to Innsbruck, which is the biggest city in the western panhandle of Austria. It is only about 80 km away from where I am now in Kitzbuehel. We quickly found our B & B right in the center of the Old Town. Innsbruck is a really nice place, and I definitely plan on heading back over there this season (about an hour and a half by bus + train and only 5.50 euros each way!) It was really cold when we arrived, quite a bit below freezing. We wandered through town, ate some roasted chestnuts at the Christmas market, and then found a Chinese restaurant for dinner (we both have plenty of time to experience Austrian cuisine another night :) ).
We woke up relatively early to head out of town. We got on the same train, I headed to Woergl (between Kitz and Innsbruck), while Maren had to spend the whole day to get up to Marburg to visit a friend where she went to school. She is going on a ski holiday with her family in Austria, not too far south of Kitz, after Christmas. Depending on my work schedule, I may head over there to go skiing and meet her family. She will probably spend some time here in Kitz or Kirchberg on her way back in the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to it! When I got back into town, I spent one more night at Alpen Rider (the name of the 'hostel' I had been staying at previously in Kirchberg). I joined the whole crew there for a night out in Kitz. We ate at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant (Tyrol is this area of Austria), then hit the bars.
The next day I moved into a new place in Kitz. There are about 10 of the original group staying here at the 'Deutsch Institute.' It is kind of like a student residence that we are all using as temporary accommodation until we find homes. I am going to start looking tomorrow for a permanent place in Kirchberg. The pink palace in Kitz eventually fell through. Well, I could still live there, but it would be even more expensive than we originally thought. Plus, it makes a lot more sense for me to live in Kirchberg where I am going to be working 2 shifts a day beginning Wednesday. The Deutsch Institute is a pretty decent place, the only real problem is the location. It was a 15-20 minute walk out of Kitz. While it is on the bus line, it still takes 2 busses to get to Kirchberg. It is really cheap though. I am paying 10 euros a night for a double room (all to myself unless someone else shows up) with my own bathroom. I can also stay there as long as I want, though I hope not the whole season. If I am still here when I start working, I will see how bad the commute is, but I think I can hold out till I find a new place. I plan on moving to Kirchberg as soon as I find decent accommodation there.
Well, today was my 6th day up on the slopes. So far, only about half of the ski areas are open due to lack of snow. It is easy to find places with lots of snow, there are just some lower altitude areas that are a bit bare. This place is absolutely gigantic. I have probably seen about 10% of the total area so far. There is a massive web of gondolas and lifts that take you everywhere. You can take a gondola up in Kirchberg, then through a series of lifts, runs, and more gondolas, make it all the way out to Pass Thurn, which is over 30 km away! Sure beats taking the bus!
So far, I am doing alright on a budget. I have already paid for the expensive things (my lift pass, my rent at the Deutsch Institute through the end of December, my ski gear, the week in Italy...). So I shouldn't need much more money until I start working and get paid. I am really looking forward to it, which sounds silly considering the job is washing dishes. But it will be nice to get into a daily routine, plus I will get to eat good food for free and practice German all day long!
Merry Christmas everyone! I will try and update again before the New Year. Pictures of Austria and Italy are coming in the next couple of days! For those that didn't catch it, my Austrian phone number is 0043 664 996 6682. Hopefully I will have a mailing address soon!
December 10, 2009
Update from Austria
First off, I GOT A JOB!!!
I got a phone call yesterday from a hotel/restaurant I had dropped my phone number off at about a week ago. The guy they had hired flaked out, so I went in this morning and got it! I will be mainly washing dishes in the kitchen, there might be some other work as well. I don't start till December 23rd, so I have a couple of weeks to hang out and ski! I'm going to be working a morning and evening shift six days a week so it will be quite a bit of work. But I will have every afternoon free to go skiing. The guys running the place seem to be very nice and flexible, if I am ever sick or want to go ski all day, I can send a friend in to cover my shift. They are going to start me at 8 euros an hour and if I do alright, bump it up to 10 or so. That seems to be the going rate for dishwashers in town, and it will be plenty to live on around here.
As for accommodation, that is still up in the air. We are still in negotiations to get the 'pink palace' right in the middle of Kitzbuehel. Every day the situation seems to be changing with the number of people that want to live there. So the price keeps changing as well which is making people uncomfortable. I'm still not sure if we are going to end up living there. My job is in Kirchberg, about 6 km from Kitz, so I would be bussing (or skiing) quite a bit every day. It would make more sense for me to live in Kirchberg, so I am going to look for some other places as a backup to the pink palace.
I have been up to the mountain three times this week! So far, the snow has been so-so, they definitely need more of it. The snow machines have been working hard the last couple of days. I have been taking the bus out about 20 minutes outside of Kitzbuehel where there has been a fair bit of powder. Earlier this week, I bought my gear: a pair of one year old Elan skis with bindings, brand new Rossignol boots, and some decent poles. All for 80 euros!!! It was an incredible deal, I was prepared to pay 200-300 euros for it. It was from a rental shop, I still don't know how the guy gave me such a good deal. He even machined the skis for me and he's going to service them again for me for free when I go back in.
Most of the people I have met here have been really cool. I am staying at a hostel with mostly Aussie ski bums. The majority of the people there have had success finding jobs so far. About half the people have accommodation, the rest are holding out for the pink palace as well. I've been meeting some locals as well which has helped me around town. I finished German Level 1 in Rosetta Stone and am now working on Level 2. It has definitely helped, and I am starting to understand a bit. It would be really cool to be speaking at a basic conversational level in a few months. My accent is still pretty terrible though...
Tomorrow I am taking the train down to Milan to visit Maren and hang out for a few days. I bought an Austrian rail pass today as well. Milan is not that interesting (or cheap), so we will probably spend just one night there, then take off for somewhere else. I'm not sure when I will get back, but I will have to sort out the accommodation dilemma right away!
Wow, it just started snowing as I write this!
I got a phone call yesterday from a hotel/restaurant I had dropped my phone number off at about a week ago. The guy they had hired flaked out, so I went in this morning and got it! I will be mainly washing dishes in the kitchen, there might be some other work as well. I don't start till December 23rd, so I have a couple of weeks to hang out and ski! I'm going to be working a morning and evening shift six days a week so it will be quite a bit of work. But I will have every afternoon free to go skiing. The guys running the place seem to be very nice and flexible, if I am ever sick or want to go ski all day, I can send a friend in to cover my shift. They are going to start me at 8 euros an hour and if I do alright, bump it up to 10 or so. That seems to be the going rate for dishwashers in town, and it will be plenty to live on around here.
As for accommodation, that is still up in the air. We are still in negotiations to get the 'pink palace' right in the middle of Kitzbuehel. Every day the situation seems to be changing with the number of people that want to live there. So the price keeps changing as well which is making people uncomfortable. I'm still not sure if we are going to end up living there. My job is in Kirchberg, about 6 km from Kitz, so I would be bussing (or skiing) quite a bit every day. It would make more sense for me to live in Kirchberg, so I am going to look for some other places as a backup to the pink palace.
I have been up to the mountain three times this week! So far, the snow has been so-so, they definitely need more of it. The snow machines have been working hard the last couple of days. I have been taking the bus out about 20 minutes outside of Kitzbuehel where there has been a fair bit of powder. Earlier this week, I bought my gear: a pair of one year old Elan skis with bindings, brand new Rossignol boots, and some decent poles. All for 80 euros!!! It was an incredible deal, I was prepared to pay 200-300 euros for it. It was from a rental shop, I still don't know how the guy gave me such a good deal. He even machined the skis for me and he's going to service them again for me for free when I go back in.
Most of the people I have met here have been really cool. I am staying at a hostel with mostly Aussie ski bums. The majority of the people there have had success finding jobs so far. About half the people have accommodation, the rest are holding out for the pink palace as well. I've been meeting some locals as well which has helped me around town. I finished German Level 1 in Rosetta Stone and am now working on Level 2. It has definitely helped, and I am starting to understand a bit. It would be really cool to be speaking at a basic conversational level in a few months. My accent is still pretty terrible though...
Tomorrow I am taking the train down to Milan to visit Maren and hang out for a few days. I bought an Austrian rail pass today as well. Milan is not that interesting (or cheap), so we will probably spend just one night there, then take off for somewhere else. I'm not sure when I will get back, but I will have to sort out the accommodation dilemma right away!
Wow, it just started snowing as I write this!
December 4, 2009
Lots of Snow in Austria!
I have arrived! I've been hanging out for a couple days now in Kirchberg and Kitzbuhel, right next door. The area is really beautiful. There are several small towns in the valley, each has a gondola or lift up to the mountains. So far, most of the people here are friendly, though in general don't speak as much English as I had expected. There has not been a whole lot of snow prior to today. I woke up this morning and it was absolutely dumping snow! It is still going now, and there is 10 cm on the ground in some places. It is supposed to continue through the weekend. My first ski day will hopefully be tomorrow!
As soon as I arrived, I started looking for a job and a home. It has been really difficult, but I might be making a little progress. There is a lot of competition from all the Aussies here for the few jobs that don't require legit work status or fluency in German. This afternoon a few of us are going to look at a gigantic 15 bedroom house right in the middle of Kitzbuhel. We have to convince the lady to rent half of it to about 20 of us. It is kind of run down, but fairly cheap I think. She wants to rent the whole place to 40 people; she wants 40,000 euros for the season. That works out to 200/month which would be pretty damn good. I also have kind of a job interview tonight as a dishwasher at some restaurant in Kirchberg. Most of the available jobs are dishwashing, kitchen help, hotel work, that kinda thing. Hopefully I can find one that pays a little bit and I can work in the evenings so I can ski all day. I bought my season pass to the mountains yesterday, so I am definitely committed to staying here (it was 500 euros).
Looking for a home and a job has been pretty crazy. I have mainly just been knocking on doors and asking people if they have a room for rent or any job available. It is like cold calling I guess, and I have been rejected hundreds of times by now. But that is the best way to find something in this area. There is also a newspaper with listings that has been helpful. I can't wait till I get the living situation sorted out. That is much more important than finding a job. I am only allowed to stay where I am now until the 15th or so, then they kick all us ski bums out. There is a group of about 25 of us staying there. There are 2 English kids, 1 kiwi, me, and the rest are Aussies (including the owner and all the workers there). Everyone is really nice and friendly, but I think we all realize that we are competing against each other so some people (myself included) are a bit secretive. Most of us are looking to move into the big house though, and once we all find jobs I think we will become good friends.
I have a lot more to say, but WiFi is in short supply around here! I will try to update more next week. Jonathan is here too, hanging out where I am staying and going sightseeing during the day while I look around. Oh, and if I get a home in the next few days, I will go meet up with Maren in Milan next weekend!
As soon as I arrived, I started looking for a job and a home. It has been really difficult, but I might be making a little progress. There is a lot of competition from all the Aussies here for the few jobs that don't require legit work status or fluency in German. This afternoon a few of us are going to look at a gigantic 15 bedroom house right in the middle of Kitzbuhel. We have to convince the lady to rent half of it to about 20 of us. It is kind of run down, but fairly cheap I think. She wants to rent the whole place to 40 people; she wants 40,000 euros for the season. That works out to 200/month which would be pretty damn good. I also have kind of a job interview tonight as a dishwasher at some restaurant in Kirchberg. Most of the available jobs are dishwashing, kitchen help, hotel work, that kinda thing. Hopefully I can find one that pays a little bit and I can work in the evenings so I can ski all day. I bought my season pass to the mountains yesterday, so I am definitely committed to staying here (it was 500 euros).
Looking for a home and a job has been pretty crazy. I have mainly just been knocking on doors and asking people if they have a room for rent or any job available. It is like cold calling I guess, and I have been rejected hundreds of times by now. But that is the best way to find something in this area. There is also a newspaper with listings that has been helpful. I can't wait till I get the living situation sorted out. That is much more important than finding a job. I am only allowed to stay where I am now until the 15th or so, then they kick all us ski bums out. There is a group of about 25 of us staying there. There are 2 English kids, 1 kiwi, me, and the rest are Aussies (including the owner and all the workers there). Everyone is really nice and friendly, but I think we all realize that we are competing against each other so some people (myself included) are a bit secretive. Most of us are looking to move into the big house though, and once we all find jobs I think we will become good friends.
I have a lot more to say, but WiFi is in short supply around here! I will try to update more next week. Jonathan is here too, hanging out where I am staying and going sightseeing during the day while I look around. Oh, and if I get a home in the next few days, I will go meet up with Maren in Milan next weekend!
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