tlhIngan Hol qepHom - Klingon Language Gathering
Minnesota's First qepHom Stardate 9801.23
The Klingon Language Institute's motto is "qo'mey poSmoH Hol" ("language opens worlds"). To help people experience the joys of learning the Klingon language, the Institute has encouraged its members to sponsor a number of qepHommey (small gatherings) across this planet.
So far these gatherings have been held in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Colorado in the U.S., as well as in Lund Sweden! And now in Minnesota! Here is a report:
Sponsored by Joel Anderson, a member of the KLI, the first Minnesota qepHom was held at 7:00 pm on January 23rd at the Har Mar Barnes and Noble. (2100 Snelling Avenue North; Roseville, MN 55113). Joel and KLI member Ken Traft led a group of Humans and Klingons in song, introduced Klingon games and provided samples of qagh and ghevI'.
The night began with a brief address from Joel, and translated by Ken for the non-tlhIngan speakers:
peqIm!
attention!
SuvwI'pu' ghotpu' quv je', Suvan.
Warriors and honored people, I salute you!
naDev Suleghmo' 'e' jIQuch
I am happy to see you here
qatlh ramvam malja'vamDaq SughoSpu'?
Why have you come here tonight?
tlhIngan Hol bojatlh boneHmo' qoj
tlhIngan Hol boQoy boneHmO'
You want to speak Klingon, or hear Klingon!
vaj batlh boghajchu' botob
Therefore you prove you truly possess honor!
chaq ramvam tlhIngan Qujmey wIQuj
perhaps this night we will play Klingon games
chaq ramvam tlhIngan bommey wIbom
perhaps this night we will sing Klingon songs
'ach qay'be'
no matter
tlhIngan Hol wIlo'DI' vaj Sach wo'maj
when we use Klingon, our empire expands
vIjatlhqa' Suvan
I say again - I salute you!
tlhIngan maH!
We ARE KLINGONS!
Following that, with Joel's son Norris pounding away on a piano provided by Barnes and Noble, the group joined in a rousing chorus of "machqu' qo' machqu'" as translated by KLI member Alan Anderson
machqu' qo' tugh 'e' wItlhoj
machqu' qo' tugh 'e' wItlhoj
machqu' qo' tugh 'e' wItlhoj
machqu' qo' machqu'
(this sounds much like "It's a Small World", except far more ... noble).
Following the singing, people discussed the Klingon language, asking questions about its history, both as a fiction, and as presented with the Trek milieu. We passed out literature about the KLI, Ken pointed out details about how to learn, showing the postal course to interested people, and generally helping people learn, YES, it is a real language.
A father and son showed up in very nice homemade Klingon makeup - and Starfleet uniforms. Though a bit shy the boy (about 5) greeted us with a very honorable "nuqneH!".
Ken's samples of qagh and ghevI' were a bit challenging to some of the group, but he did get a few takers - even some asking for seconds as I recall!
The Barnes and Noble staff were EXTREMELY gracious - if you're looking to host a qepHom, I recommend looking into the possiblity of a B&N location - even though our turnout was not huge, they really wanted us to come back. Look here to see when the next one is scheduled!
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