Finished packing

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Well, I'm packed and ready to go - tomorrow morning will see me on a bus, train, coach and aeroplane. There's some trepidation in my mind, where am I going, will I be understood etc, and a major headache about how I'm going to shop in a region where the dominance of English is reputedly waning.

My packing has been somewhat haphazard - the first attempt was neat and tidy but left all manner of random items for my hand baggage like shoes and toothbrush. Male pride said I wanted to have a small bag and 'travel light'. When I zipped the (small) bag up and saw it bulging from every corner, my concern for its integrity was overshadowed by the future need for more bag space, if I'm going to buy a suit while I'm abroad.

For those who don't know, I'm travelling to Hong Kong to work for a month for New World First Bus, one of HK's bus operators and a former subsidiary of UK based First Group. I'm a graduate trainee with First, having just finished reading Engineering at uni at Bath. While I was an undergraduate I won a sponsorship from the Royal Academy of Engineering, who are kindly funding the trip.

Through family contacts I'm very grateful to be able to say I've managed to rent a small flat in North Bay - I only have the attached photos to show me where I'm going, but I'm sure it'll be fine - the location is certainly a major plus point. It won't be as easy as the hotel-room alternative but I hope it'll give me more freedom and exposure to Chinese culture when I'm forced to shop and travel without the safety net of an English-speaking receptionist.

I think I've packed everything, from suit and shirts to sunglasses (doubling as spare facial glazing, although if I break my normal glasses I'll look somewhat gangster-ish in the evenings). I'll see now what tomorrow brings - hopefully some airborne sleep, or I'll be facing a 36-hour day. Mmm, jetlag.

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