I'm not sure what its like in North America, but in Hong Kong, there's signs of Christmas, at least the "commercial side" of Christmas almost everywhere. It seems strange that it's still over 20 degrees Celsius and not even December! Even in the washroom at our IFC 2 office you can hear Christmas music!
Anyhow, it also seems like Christmas because I got the news I was hoping for that I wrote about in the last blog... I'm coming home early! Originally, I had my flight booked for December 20th and stay until we leave January 1st.
I now get a chance to swing by Toronto two weekends for now (December 9th!) and then back in Toronto on Friday December 15th! That would be exactly two months since I first left for Toronto. Realizing that I have very few days left actually in HK, it sure does seem like longer than two months that I've been here. Perhaps by design, but HK was very easy to get adjusted to. It's been an intense two months, and I must say I've enjoyed many aspects of it. I am homesick and I can't think of a better way to come back to Toronto than to drop in on our third annual small group retreat. The small group has meant a lot to Sandra and I in the past three years - more on this in another blog. So in exactly two weeks, I'll have almost 48 hours in Canada! (I know because I've already booked a rental car!).
Here's the new ... and pretty intense itinerary as I clean-up my office on a Saturday night:
Nov 26/27 - Seoul, Korea - leave 7pm right after meetings
Nov 28 - Dec 2 - London, England - leave Saturday evening after a free day with friends
Dec 3/4 - back in HK and catch our team's Christmas lunch, leave 10pm Monday
Dec 5 / 6 - in Taipei leading my first training course (leave Wednesday first flight)
Dec 6 - 9 - Wednesday to Saturday afternoon - my last days in HK!
Dec 9-11 - Small group retreat at Horseshoe... back to airport 7pm Monday night
Dec 11 - 15 - Cleveland - EY's training centre for training and testing work
Dec 15 - Jan 1 - Toronto!
Seems crazy now that I lay it out. There isn't even time to finish the "shopping list" that I've been sent by various people - sorry! I'll be back in HK lots and feel like I now know where to go for comfort food and shopping.
I'll have to wait for another day to really sit back and reflect upon thees two months. I'm glad I'll get to spend some more time in Toronto. I'll have to be online (working) for most of the time up to about Christmas, but will still be great. Looking forward to seeing Sandra, our godsons and of course everyone else!
Not sure if I'll have a chance to do an entry while I'm in Korea or the UK. I don't believe I've mentioned it, but in these two months I have been without a Blackberry!!! After about the second week I stopped reaching for it on my hip, but I still miss it terribly. Its been in the works since before I left Toronto, but I'll leave that story for another day.
Looking forward to seeing all of you who are going to the small group retreat. Probably won't arrive until after 10pm, but should be able to sleep on the plane, so save me whatever beverage you guys drink at such retreats!
ray
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