Another Christmas overseas.

Today was a good day, like most of my days. After waking up, I took the MRT to the office, but alas, nobody was around! I waited, read for a while, and waited some more. An hour and a half went by, and I was still waiting.

Since I normally went to work in the afternoon, I wasn’t surprised that nobody was in the office. I went downstairs to the coffee shop, and a few minutes later a co-worker met me. We chatted for the next two hours about China, travel, teaching, politics, and my home countries. It was a good time. Once we finished our coffee, I went upstairs and found that people had arrived. To my surprise, my boss had brought plenty of turkey and other food. For the next hour or so, I sat talking and enjoying the meal. Eventually, I said goodbye and went to meet a friend. We met at the end of the blue line, I gave her a few things, and said goodbye. Then I returned to Taipei Main Station, bought my bus ticket, and went to the airport. My journey had begun.

The flight was rather uneventful, except for dinner. In the middle of the flight, one flight attendant came over, gave me an odd look, and left. A few minutes later, another attendant came over and asked whether I was in the right seat. “Yes, I think so,” I replied. She then asked whether I was Mr. Nicholson, and I confirmed that I was. A few moments later, they asked whether I had ordered the Hindu meal. At first, I was slightly taken aback, but I quickly remembered that I had booked a special meal online. Oops. At the time, I had hoped the special meal might be better; I hadn’t expected the choice to cause confusion.

I arrived in Hong Kong, as I had many times before, and took a bus downtown after clearing customs. Luckily, I still had a little money on my transit card, so I could board without needing cash. The bus ride was interesting, especially as I was the only Westerner there. I eventually reached my stop downtown and went up to my hostel in the decidedly unglamorous Mirador Mansion, which nevertheless offered excellent value for money. I met my roommates, two international travellers. Then I called my parents and finally went to bed.