Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Ticket

I finally got my confirmation number for my ticket Thursday evening so scrambled to get to the ticket office off of Oxford Street on Friday, the 23rd.

Now the 23rd is not Christmas Eve. It's not a holiday of any sort, so it should be a normal business day. Not in England. After running various other errands near my house, I got to the ticket office just after 4 to discover that it was closed. Closed! There were people inside, and they mouthed 'We're closed.' I checked the door. The opening hours indicated that they were open until 5.30. No special holiday hours were posted.

I tried communicating with some Arabic gestures, trying to figure out when they would open next and if I would be able to make it back in order to pick up my ticket before I left. Apparently the office was going to re-open the 28th, when I would be in Paris. I pretended not to understand and one of the men in the office made the mistake of coming up to the door to tell me what I already knew, that they wouldn't be re-opening for several days.

I pleaded, telling him that there was no other time I would be able to pick up my ticket before my flight. He said 'You can pick it up at the airport.' I replied obstinately, 'No, I can't.' I explained that I'm moving to Doha, that I'm going to work for Al Jazeera, that...I didn't get to finish the sentence. 'Al Jazeera?' The man gestured for me to go in through a side door.

I picked up my ticket, thanked all of them profusely, and got the hell out of there. Well, after I asked how much they charge for excess baggage. I get an allowance of 20kg. 20 kg! I foresee more pleading at the airport.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Grinch-y

This year I'm actually not as grouchy about Christmas as I usually am. I have no idea why that is, but it's not such a bad feeling. I've bought a few people Christmas presents, I gave my friend who was lamenting the difficulties of decorating a tree an ornament, and I've been enjoying mince pies. I think I even would have baked cookies had I had my own kitchen.

Slumped Over Various Random Items

I'm really exhuasted. I'm not necessarily tired, but I'm ready for a good day in which I'm not running around trying to meet someone, buy some random item, or pick up my ticket/passport photos/etc.

I packed up some boxes for shipping today. I'm shipping some random stuff. While packing things this morning I found myself slumped over a strange collection of items: a tea strainer, a pink satin skirt, a travel Scrabble set, and egg cups. Yesterday I bought two lovely striped egg cups. I happen to like boiled eggs and an egg cup is rather dandy for keeping those balanced for easy eating. I don't know how readily available they'll be in Qatar. I remember spending several weekends dragging Cara around looking for one in Atlanta; I didn't want to repeat that, although I imagine wandering around the souk asking where to find an egg cup would be quite an adventure.

I've had a good past week. I got together with some friends for going-away drinks at my favorite pub, saw a great play, and have been meeting up with friends. One of my friends got quite sad the other night when we got dinner. I didn't know what to say.

This morning while I was packing I got the urge to cry but didn't. That's unusual. Lately I've been bursting into tears when I hear the Dixie Chicks' 'Wide Open Spaces' or Death Cab for Cutie's 'Transatlanticism'. Because of this, I'm looking forward to leaving. I need to not be saying goodbye anymore. I need to not be looking around and wondering when I'll see dear gray England again. I need to just be on a plane.