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Polar
Bears Ringette Tour 2004 |
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Day 1

All
the athletes and Coach Lonnie in front of the fountain at the Wurzburg
residence
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After a short delay at the Calgary International Airport, we made
it to Europe! Our first stop was Wurzburg, Germany. In Wurzburg we
went to the Wurzburg residence which was the home of the Prince Bishop.
It was equipped with 350 rooms but we only saw a few of them including
the Cathedral. The whole palace was built in only 24 years. This was
quick considering there was no special machinery or vehicles to construct
it. We thought that it was interesting that the two wings of this
building where fire bombed in WWII, but miraculously the center of
the building was not harmed. Another highlight were the spectacular
ceiling paintings. It houses the largest ceiling painting in the world.
Then
we departed Wurzburg to go to Munich. When we got to Munich we stopped
at the Olympic Park, where the 1972 Olympics were held. Football(soccer)
and various track events were played in this stadium. One of the
first terrorist attacks happened at that very Olympics.
After that
we went to the famous Munich Hoffbrauhaus and enjoyed a splendid
meal and German beer. Prost!
Stacy
& Kim |
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Day
2

Team
White with Coach Lonnie in front of this same fountain

Team
Red with Coaches Bob & Don in front of the Residence Fountain
in Salzburg
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Yesterday,
we woke up early (what else is new) and took a tour of Salzburg,
Austria. We saw many, many churches and learned that most of the
churches are Catholic. We learned about the Bishop Princes, some
of their ideals and some of the reasons why the buildings and castles
were built, which we found was to mostly show off or protect themselves
in war. We spent most of the morning with Hans (our tour guide)
as he took us around the beautiful city. He showed us the markets
and the theatre. What was really interesting was being able to see
some of the places where the movie "The Sound of Music"
was filmed. We saw the fountain where the kids danced, the fountain
that she splashed in, the stairs where the kids learned how to sing
"Do, Re, Mi" and the theater where the Vontrapp family
said goodbye to Austria before the Captain had to go to war for
the Germans. Don't worry, we all got more than our fair share of
pictures to share with our family and friends back home. When Hans
concluded the tour and said his Goodbyes, we were given two choices.
We could either go to the Dachau concentration camp, because we
could not go the day before, or we could stay in Salzburg. Most
people went back to Germany to see the concentration camp. The people
who stayed shopped, walked through the markets and the stores to
look for fresh fruit & souvenirs and enjoyed the beautiful sights.
The people
who went to the concentration camp also had a very impacting day.
We arrived after another long bus ride to a bare, depressing camp,
surrounded with barbed wire and filled with haunting secrets. Our
group split up and walked through the museum, which was very harsh
and full of information that opened many of our eyes. Little did
we know that beyond the museum we were able to see the real thing,
which scared many of us, and we couldn't believe that this could
happen to anyone. We saw where the prisoners slept, which was in
hard wooden bunk beds that were pushed together and had to be completely
clean or else they would be punished. The sleeping area was only
supposed to hold 200 people, instead, they stuffed in 2000 people
in these confined areas. We saw the area where the soldiers did
roll call and tortured the weak, old, and sick prisoners. If one
person would fall, the people were not allowed to help them, even
if they were dying. The soldiers had to hide the torture and crime,
they did this by killing mass numbers of people. They would line
them up and shoot them or another way would be to put many people
in the "showers" and instead lock them in and kill them
with poisonous gas, and then put the bodies in the cremation machines.
Walking through this building was breathtaking as it all seemed
so unreal and unbelievably disturbing. We also saw the solitary
cells were the prisoners were punished. Some were even put in small
standing cells that were so small that their knees touched both
sides of the wall and they stayed there for around 72 hours.
This was truly
an experience that we wouldn't want to miss, and we believe everyone
should get the chance to see one of the many concentrations camps
and maybe get a little understanding of the pain and torture that
these innocent people had to endure. It was truly an experience
that many of us will never forget.
After this
depressing and important experience, we took another long bus ride
back to our hotel in Austria and had a great dinner, and a good
nights sleep in the mountain air.
Jamie &
Rebecca |
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Day
3

Some
of us in our
"Michelin man" outfits
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Today we
took a tour of the Salt Mine near Hallein, Austria. We all had to
put on nice white outfits to keep us clean and warm (since the temperature
in the mine drops to 10 degrees Celsius). We then hopped onto a
mini train that took us into the mine. We walked down the tunnels
where they used to chip the salt out. They pumped water into the
mine so they could create a brine from which the salt is mined.
Then they took the water with the salt in it and evaporated the
water so then all they had left was salt. We took a couple of slides
(one 24m long and the other 42m long) down further into the mine
to get us to the deepest part of the Salzwelten (mine) which was
210m. The mine crosses from Austria to Germany and then back into
Austria. It was our 3rd time to Germany in only 4 days!!!! At the
end of the tour, we took the mini train back out of the mine. After
the tour of the Salt Mine we went to the Celtic Village. It was
neat to see where the miners lived 2500 years ago.
We then got
back onto the bus and drove to Prague. It was about a 3 hour bus
ride to the Austria/Czech Republic border and then about 2 hours
to Prague. We checked into the Hotel Duo and rushed to get to the
social gathering. All the teams got together for dinner with free
beer, a dance and fireworks. It was a awesome day but a long drive.
Melissa
& Sandra |
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Day
4

Fireworks
at the players' party the first night in Prague
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Today we
started out our day with a buffet breakfast at our hotel in Prague,
the Hotel Duo. We then jumped on the bus and headed out to the Nizbor
Crystal Factory, which is located approximately 35 kms outside of
the city. The factory was a small, very old fashioned series of
buildings. We were greeted by tour guides who briefly discussed
crystals and then led us through the step by step process of crystal
making. It was a real eye opener into the amount of work put into
making crystal products. We were astonished by the lack of technology
throughout the plant. The workers used dirty, dusty, rusted out
equipment that looked like it was never cleaned and was probably
from the early 1900's. We also noticed that it seemed that safety
was not an important aspect to the workers, only 2 of the workers
that were carving the lines of designs into the crystalworks wore
safety glasses and only 1 worker wore a safety mask. It seemed as
though safety was not a high priority, yet it looked like there
were many risks involved. We then were set loose in the giftshop!
There were many different souvenirs, ranging from small figurines
to elaborate vases, with everything from crystal flowers, elephants,
glasses, and ashtrays in between. The prices ranged from about $2.50CA
to $100.00CA; everything was handcrafted and very beautiful. Pretty
much everyone in our group came out with some purchases. Mrs. Ballard
definitely won the shopping award for this stop! She came out with
numerous large bags filled to the brim! The factory also gave us
all a small gift, everyone either received a small decorative heart
or little bird figurine.
We were then
off to the lunch at McDonalds, and let us tell you, it's NOT the
same as in Canada. With our nutritious lunch in our bellies, we
headed to the arena for the games.
Game 1 Red
Vs Tikkakoski
The Polar Bears Team Red were off to a slow start, and were down
3-1 by the end of the first period and they managed to come back
with a goal, but in the end were not able to pull it off. The 3rd
period was suddenly cut short due to an ice scheduling problem and
the game ended with a 4-2 victory for the Finnish team.
Game 2 White
Vs Finnish Selects
Polar Bears Team White started off with a quick goal by Alex Reginato
within the 1st minute of play. They quickly tallied up 2 more goals
and ended the first period with a 3-1 lead. In the second period,
the Finns managed to squeeze 2 goals past goaltender Kelsey DeForest.
With the game tied @ 3-3, the teams battled back and forth to a
6-6 tie. Stacey Johnson had a goal, Solana Green tallied 2, and
Dayna Ballard added to the score. Kristina van Eden and Tracey Lefebre
were very strong on defence, leading the team to a deadlocked tie.
It was a tough fought battle, with goals being added till the last
7 seconds of the game.
We then went
to a restaurant in downtown Prague for a lovely dinner of soup,
pork, potatoes, and strudel.
Solana
& Erin
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Day
5

Team
Red vs. Team White
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Today, Michelle
Lennox and Kristina van Eden had the opportunity to aid the Finnish
Select team while they played against their opposing Finnish team,
Tikkakoski, due to a shortage of players. The Finnish Select team
won 6-4. The rest of the team had a bit of sleep, as we got to wake
up at 8:30. After a quick breakfast we were off to the rink for
a exciting day ahead of us. Once we got to the rink, we were all
anticipating playing the one thing that we came here for...ringette!
The first game the two Canada teams battled it out, in the end the
white team ended up with the victory, but it was a hard fought battle
for both of the teams!
Each of the
Canada teams still had another game ahead of them.Team White played
the Tikkakoski ringette team and the Red team played the Finland
Select team. Despite team Red's efforts, they were a few goals short
of a win, however they did an excellent job representing our country
with their skill and poise. Directly after team Red's game, team
White played the Finland Tikkakoski team. They came out strong and
ready for a fight. With great effort team White came out victorious,
especially with theoutstanding performance of team captain Melissa
Kury who scored 7 goals in this game!
After the
game, everybody went to Jagr's bar for dinner. Jagr's bar was right
in the middle of downtown so everyone got to see the beautiful lights
of Prague.
Alex &
Brittany |
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Day
6

Team
White with their gold medals

Coach
preparation before the final game
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After an
early breakfast, Team Red & Team White headed back to the rink
to face off in the semi-finals. The teams decided to mix the players
around and have a fun game before playing in the bronze medal (Team
Red) and gold medal (Team White) games. Team Red placed fourth in
the tournament and Team White won the gold medal 13 seconds into
overtime against the Finland Select Team. Afterwards, the two teams
headed off to the awards ceremony where Team White received their
medals. They finished off this successful day by exploring downtown
Prague by night.
Michelle
& Kristina S. |
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Day
7

A view
of the castle in Prague on our last day there

At
the Prague airport, the Lefebre family with our Czech guide, Radek
(in the orange t-shirt)
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August 15,
2004
We had an
early start today to make sure we had enough time to shop on our
last day in Prague. We went to downtown Prague and everyone split
into smaller groups to do their own thing. Some spend all their
free time shopping but most went to the Charles Bridge, which is
750 years old. A number of people also walked up a long, winding
road to the Prague Castle -- making it there just in time to see
the changing of the guards for the President of the Czech Republic.
About 10 of the group went to climb the clock tower in the Old Town
Square and get a great look around the city. The ones who went to
the castle enjoyed a great view of the city from up there. Everybody
was able to get in some more shopping before it was time to get
back on the bus.
Then it was
a short bus ride to the Konopiste Castle, home of Franz Ferdinand,
the Archduke whose assassination in Sarajevo precipitated the start
of WW1. He was a keen hunter and we saw about 2,000 of the trophies
he had mounted on the walls -- he is supposed to have something
like 300,000 trophies altogether. We had a bit of time for more
shopping near the castle before we started for the airport.
We stopped
at McDonald's for lunch on the way to the Prague airport for our
flight to Helsinki. It was a 2 hour flight followed by a 2 hour
bus ride to our hotel in Turku where we checked in at 1:30am. I
think we all fell asleep pretty fast after our long day.
Kelsey
& Serena
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Day
8

Team
White with their
opponent Naantali

Team
Red with their opponent
Turku in the bomb shelter arena
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August 16,
2004
We are now
at Hotel Centro in Turku, Finland. Our day started off with a tour
of the Naantali Finnish ringette club's training facilities. Ringette
is the most popular sport in Naantali with approximately 250 players
out of a population of around 20 000. The league consists of 9 teams
which draws an average crowd of around 400 to 500 people each game.
The Naantali players are considered to be professional athletes
with living expenses covered and a trip at the end of each season.
We then had a short walking tour of the 'old town' of Naantali.
Team White played the Naantali team and lost by one goal in an intense
game. We ate supper at the Player's Pub and then continued on to
Turku for the second game which was held in a bomb shelter, circa
WWII. The facility was converted into a dual arena in 1985. Team
Red played the Turku B team and were defeated 4-2 (no Canadian refs
were present). We were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel.
Only 6 more days in Europe.
Tracy
& Cassandra |
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Day
9

On
tour at the castle in Turku
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August 17,
2004
Today was
another busy day which started with a bus tour of the city of Turku.
The tour lasted around two hours and was a nice way to see the city
due to the rainy weather that we have been enduring for the past
couple of days. During the tour we learned a lot about Turku, including
the fact that Turku is celebrating it's 775th birthday which makes
it the oldest city in Finland. Finland became an independent country
in 1917 following the fall of the Russian government, a result of
WW1, which was in control of Finland. Our tour took us through the
three aspects that were considered to be crucial to the development
and success of a city, the Cathedral, Castle and river. We were
fortunate to have the opportunity to get off the bus and visit the
castle which proved to be a highlight of the tour.
We had a few
rare hours of free time to relax or shop before we drove back to
Naantali where the Red team took on the Junior ringette team of
Naantali. The White team then travelled back to Turku to play an
exhibition game versus the Turku A team, leaving the Red team in
Naantali to spend a few hours of free time until the bus returned
to escort both teams to supper at a harbour restaurant called Kala-Trappi.
Unfortunately, both teams failed to defeat the tough Finnish competition
today but we all look forward to our next games and challenges.
Jen &
Sharleen
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Day
10

The group at the Sibelius Monument that we visited after leaving
the Rock Church

Zamboni outside the arena in Espoo -- guess where the snow is dumped?
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Today was
a relaxing day compared to the rest of our trip. We took a nice
bus ride from Turku to Helsinki and checked into our new Hotel.
(Hotel Arthur) We ate lunch at the hotel and then took a 2 hour
bus tour of Helsinki. During the bus tour we stopped at a church
called "The Rock Church". It was originally built as a
bomb shelter for World War 2 but in the late 60's was turned into
a church. (Made of rocks!) After our tour Team White took the night
off, as they did not have a game, and experienced downtown Helsinki.
However, Team Red got prepared to be transported to Espoo where
they played the local team. It was a tough fought battle but unfortunately
they came up a few goals short. Brittany Loh and Sandra Martin were
the goal scorers for the team, however, everyone should be commended
on their excellent play and sportsmanship. Also, Sandra Martin was
voted Player of the Game and received a new Exel Stick from the
host team. The night was capped off with a nice relaxing stroll
around downtown Helsinki.
Kristina
v.E & Allison
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Day
11

The group on a cannon at the Suomenlinna Islands fortress
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Today in
Helsinki we arose to clear skies, so the teams decided that it would
be a good time for a visit of the Suomenlinna Islands, approximately
a 15 minute boat ride from the Helsinki harbour. These islands were
home to Swedish, Russian, and Finnish soldiers many years ago, and
we learned that the entire fortress actually stretched onto 6 islands!
Our tour guide was very entertaining, his vivid descriptions and
the fluctuating pitch to his voice definitely made the historical
aspects of our tour much easier to listen to. After about an hour
and half of our guided tour around the main island, we were left
to wander around and look in the many gift shops for souvenirs of
this beautiful place.
We returned
to our hotel for a group buffet lunch, where Team White was left
with a few hours before their game and Team Red was able to prepare
for their night off. Some of Team Red started out with an hour and
a half boat tour of the canals, while the others took the opportunity
to shop for some more gifts. Our hotel is conveniently placed within
downtown Helsinki, so its hard for us girls to resist some good
shopping!
While Team
Red was enjoying the sights, Team White was playing the first of
a 3 game medal round. The game started off slow, but Team White
quickly pulled ahead in the first 20 minute period. The second period
had some questionable calls, but the girls pulled through and showed
that what mattered the most was to come off with a win - which they
did. The final score was 7-6, and after 3 periods it was a welcome
win.
Later in the
night, both of the teams enjoyed the Helsinki night life in various
ways. Before the fireworks Team Red decided to take a late supper
before heading off for the show. They enjoyed Italian food at a
very nice Restaurant that actually had english menus! The food was
excellent, especially their pastas and pizza. When the team had
first gone into dinner it was beginning to rain very heavily, but
luckily it had stopped as they left for the show. The fireworks
were themselves amazing, as the girls had snagged a perfect spot
right on the wharf. The first show was pretty much your ordinary
fireworks with streamers and pinwheels, the next shows were much
more sophisticated with hearts, happy faces, and spinning wheels
of colour. There were some very interesting ones that would shoot
up and then explode twice into different colours and drift for about
a minute before going out. All in all despite the damp weather the
Fireworks were excellent and well worth the wait. Unfortunately
Team White was not able to catch the show, however they did enjoy
a familiar meal at the Sports Academy, a downtown sports club where
the food was very close to North American favourites, like bacon
cheese burgers and pasta. After everyone was stuffed full with food
and "beverages", the night was left to explore for both
teams, and we are sure that the girls (and parents) took advantage
of the opportunity.
Breanne
& Chelsea |
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Day
12

Information Tuusula had posted around town, "The Canadians
are coming, are you ready?"

Team Red at attention for the national anthem before their game
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August 20,
2004
Today, during
the day, everybody was given free time to shop and sightsee around
downtown Helsinki, and everybody scrambled to spend the last of
their cash. Some of the girls checked out the markets located right
on the harbour where lots of crafty and original items are available.
Others scavenged through the many downtown stores that are only
found in Finland to bring home a piece of original Finnish fashion.
In the afternoon, both teams took off to Tuusula Arena. The first
game was played by the Red team against the Tuusula B team. It was
a very close, and exciting game, but ended in a disappointing 5-3
loss after two periods. However, Holly Favell continued to stun
us all with her amazing saves. The White team had a hard fought
battle against the Tuusula A Team. Our goalies, Jen Laxton and Kelsey
Deforest, both had absolutely amazing games, coming up with save
after unbelievable save. Unfortunately though, we came up a few
goals short and were defeated. Interestingly enough, we played three
twenty minute periods, with floods in between (which is absolutely
unheard of back in Canada) and it turned into almost a two and a
half hour game! Our day concluded with a long drive back to the
hotel and then, for a VERY late dinner, with most of the girls scrambling
around the streets of downtown Helsinki, successfully finding a
McDonald's open at midnight.
Lisa &
Erica

Te am Red with their opponents Tuusula |

T eam Red & Team White in between
games in Tuusula |
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Day
13

Team Red with their opponent, Jarvenpaa

Team Red & Team White with their silver platters

Team White coach Lonnie Krahn with his "Mr. Congeniality"
award

Team red coaches shows Bob Barnes and Don Van Tetering dressed up
in their Canadian ties for their final game
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August 21,
2004
This morning
gave us another chance to sleep in. Majority of the girls went shopping,
but a few groups stayed behind at the hotel to catch some extra
z's. Today was our last day of playing ringette. We had a busy and
tough day with three games. Team Red played 2 games while team White
only played one. After finally getting into the equipment room we
boarded the bus and traveled to the Helsinki Old Ice Hall and dropped
off Team Red, where they played their first game. After a long fought
battle the score was not in favour of Team Red. They fell a few
goals short of winning. From there Team Red was forced to board
the bus with equipment still on to go to Jarvenpaa to play their
second game of the day.
The next game
was played by Team White against Jarvenpaa. After 9 games of challenging
ringette, Team White's hearts were still in the game but their bodies
were unfortunately not. We ran out of steam and were defeated by
a score of 9-5.
After arriving
in Jarvenpaa Team Red almost immediately hit the ice for their second
game. It was an extremely exciting and challenging game. Team Red
still had a burst of energy left for the last game. They defeated
the Jarvenpaa team with a score of 5-4. This was the most exciting
game because it was Team Red's first win of the trip.
After each
game in Jarvenpaa one player from each team was presented with an
MVP award. For Team White the award went to Stacy Johnson and for
Team Red, it was Holly Favell. Both Stacy and Holly had amazing
performances. Stacy scored one goal and had three assists and Holly
played an amazing game having faced 43 shots in their game. After
the games both Canadian teams and the Finnish team sat down for
a dinner together. Awards were given from the coaches of each Canadian
team to selected players for their performances throughout the tour.
A special "Mr. Congeniality" award was given to Lonnie
(a.k.a. Big Bear) for his incredible coaching skills and awesome
personality.
Dayna
& Holly |
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The
Finnish Experience
Czech
Ringette Challenge Cup 2004
An international
ringette tournament, Czech Ringette Challenge Cup, was arranged
in Prague in the middle of August 2004. Four teams, two from Finland
and two from Canada, participated in this tournament, and we are
sure that every girl enjoyed this international ringette atmosphere
both on and off the ice.
Last spring,
girls studying in two different sport high schools decided to unite
their forces and set up a team for a tournament in Prague. And when
it was time to leave for the tournament we were nine enthusiastic
ringette players ready to face the “challenge”.
We had really
been looking forward to our trip and not very many of us had been
to the Czech Republic before. Some of us even travelled abroad for
the first time in their life. That made our trip even more exciting,
and our stay in Prague was truly filled with new experience.
The ringette
tournament itself was great. For us it was little bit different
to play with international rules but it was still a lot of fun and
good experience. And taking into consideration the fact that it
was only August and the beginning of the ringette season we managed
to play fairly well. There was definitely some good ringette out
there at times. The competition for the gold medals was very even,
and the other Canadian team reached their gold after beating our
team (Finland select) in overtime…but in this tournament silver
medals were lots of fun as well.
The weather
was quite nice and warm during our stay, and unfortunately it was
“pretty warm” inside the arena as well. So the circumstances
at the arena were quite a shock for us at first…we had never
played at the arena where the temperature was +20 degrees (Celsius)…but
now we have.
In addition
to the tournament we also had some time to have a look at the City
of Prague. And during the traditional Czechs dinner and the tours
to the Castle of Prague, a crystal factory and a beer factory we
learned some new things of local history and culture, and the Czechs'
way of living.
As the ringette
tournament was arranged at the same time as the Hockey Challenge
Cup there were many young athletes in town. The day we arrived in
Prague we attended players' party where all the participants had
gathered for dinner and social evening.
During the
tournament we made friends with the players from other teams and
after the final we decided with the Canadians to spend our last
night in Prague together. Prague by night was a lot of fun!
Our trip to
the Prague tournament was awesome and we all had a good time! Memorable
experience! Now we are just looking forward to next year's tournament.
It would be great to participate again. In our opinion this tournament
is a good opportunity for young players to get international experience
and get to know players from other countries. We also believe that
this tournament is one of the ways we can get more countries involved
and improve our wonderful sport of ringette!
Anu Pitkänen
/ Tiina Packalen |
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