Nearby to you over in Korea. I'm also trying hard here to avoid American. I've wholly stopped drinking American whisky when I go out, which my local bartenders have noticed and are actually willing to share the issue with customers who ask, and a few others have joined up in support which is kind.

51st state. Trump wants Canada to be the 51st state.

Gratitude journals are amazing. I started maybe twelve years ago now. It's helped me slow down and appreciate little things more often. I remember starting out my journal and looking for big events in my day.

I quickly learned that on bad days, I'd have to stretch to something like "I saw a cloud that looked like a puppy." and that was when I started to look for smaller joys throughout the day. I also stopped depending on other people for joy.

I was once truly in love with this gal. I was even prepared to move to a whole other continent to continue being with her. But my job couldn't transfer just yet. We talked about ideas of maybe in another year or so. I was all for it.

But then, she found out she couldn't bring her most beloved little dog with her. I wasn't a big fan of the dog, personally, because it was defensive-agressive.

She raised this issue with her parents insisting they keep the dog, they said they'd abandon it, and so it came down to me. I could save this dog. I tried to figure anything out thst I could. But ultimately my building wouldn't permit me to have the dog and my lease was too expensive to buy out of.

So she leaves. She goes to the other continent. And in the first three months, she buys a full sized husky for her apartment living situation.

Oh my god, I've never gone from love to absolute disdain faster in my life.

So for me, I suppose abandoning a living being was my absolute turn off.

I don't particularly want to be remembered for anything in my life. I don't need fame or standing. I dedicate my life to trying to improve people's lives as a teacher. I'd give my life if it meant everyone would live a significantly better life forever.

Fair, but this is/was still commonly taught in schools. That's what the original question was.

Solid idea there. I'll have to go visit an EU community to ask similar questions after I finish sourcing what I can from Canada.

Agreed on the UK shows. The IT Crowd, Black Books, etc

This is entirely dependent on where you're living. If you live in a large city, slim isn't the word I'd use.

Also, not weird or abnormal in a lot of the world. Lots of areas in Asia value education before relationships and encourage someone to be self-sufficient before marrying.

No, I don't want them here, haha. This is my future home, I don't need that nonsense here! It's also my friend's bar, so I don't particularly want to ruin business for him. But I did talk with him about it later.

I recently met two Albertans out here in South Korea at a bar. They were on the other side of the bar from me, and when they walked past, I greeted them as an Ontarian and offered to shake their hands. They both declined the handshake and proudly announced, "We're not on the same team."

That was a few weeks ago. I'm still disturbed by it. I knew Albertans had a reputation because of the politicking there. But I hadn't realized it would be so blatant. That same night, two South Africans happily asked me my thoughts on Trump, and I was perhaps too honest in my first statement, and they grew upset with me and insisted he was good for Canadians and South Africans, both.

I left the bar not long after. Haven't seen those four come back, so there is a bright side to the story, at least.

I have a distinct memory of walking out into the forest as a kid with my father, sibling, and dogs. I knew those woods like the back of my hand. I still know them well and could go back in and find distinct trees and paths.

But this memory had us crawl under a dense thicket of branches and we found ourselves face to face with a pack of wolves. Five of them. They all came out from over this mound ahead of us, one stood on top. The others moved around to the sides kind of or in-between us and the one on the mound.

I distinctly remember not being afraid. My dogs were calm. My family was calm. The wolves were at ease. I looked the one in front of us in the eyes and felt warmth. And then, one by one, they turned and left.

Ive tried to go back to the exact spot several times, but it's not there. I've checked satellite imagery. I've gone through the other woods that my family frequented for hiking. Nothing.

So i dismissed it for many years (~20ish). It came back as a distant memory a few years ago and I asked my brother and sister if they'd remembered it. They didn't. And I don't remember which one was with me. So I went to ask my dad. As I started asking about it, he explained the rest of the memory. He, too, remembers it. But he also couldn't find his way back there. It was my brother who was with us.

Neither of us can explain the situation.

There are several other things, but that's one of my greatest life mysteries, for sure.