I finished my last day at work without any fuss or fanfare. Given the circumstances of my departure, I didn’t even feel like telling my students. There are a number of kids that I really like – Harry (whom I named, along with the boy he sat next to – Potter), Danny, Sue and Jessie come to mind – they were fun to teach. But, just as teachers have to deal with working a year or so and moving on, so the children must be familiar with their teachers being replaced with new ones. Especially so, as their classes change every quarter. I wonder how many of the staff actually knew that Saturday was my last day.
Anyway, last day it was, and now I’m back in Britain for a week. One day last week I went to Insadong to pick up a load of presents for people – I was quite happy with what I got. I supplemented this with some food from Homeplus. Habiba stayed the night at my place on Friday and hung out there while I was at work on Saturday morning.
Once I’d finished and we’d had some lunch I got to work packing the large backpack that Habiba had lent me. I also had to book a couple of train tickets – and succeeded in booking just one, from Bath to Heathrow. I think I’ll be getting a coach from Stockport down to Bath.
At four o’clock we headed once again for the airport (Habiba had gone to Canada for her own vacation two weeks earlier). Checking in and all that stuff posed no problem. Habiba and I had a bite to eat and a drink, then kissed and said goodbye.
My first flight was from Incheon Airport to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. There, I exchanged a tenner for about 120 Hong Kong dollars. A little bit of overkill, as I only wanted a cup of tea. I’m not terribly impressed with Hong Kong currency – the coins are boring (they all have the same picture), the notes are mismatched, and the ten dollar note is a particularly ugly purple colour.
The British Airways flight from Hong Kong to Heathrow took about twelve hours and was uneventful. While I ate dinner I watched an episode each of Frasier and The Simpsons. Then it was lights off for the night. I managed to get a little sleep – certainly, I’m not feeling too bad right now on Sunday morning.
I’m writing at the McDonalds in the shopping centre attached to Victoria Station, a cup of tea beside my laptop. Once I got to Victoria, I realised I didn’t know the address of the hostel I’m staying at, the Astor Victoria. However, I saved the confirmation screen to my desktop, and now I know where to go; it’s actually closer to Pimlico station.
A polite black homeless woman asked me for the free drink sticker from my cup. I couldn’t really say no, even though I like to collect them myself. She’s sitting a couple of table across from me, waiting for more customers with teas and coffees so she can get the requisite six stickers for a free drink.
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