Having people start to come back gives me the feeling almost of it being Christmas - it’s so amazing to see all these people I got to know really well, who I traveled with for so long, again after a whole month with tons of fresh new stories to tell.

We all went out for pizza last night despite my severely strapped budget but Ian paid for me. We came home and listened to x-mas music and watched cold mountain til we passed out. This morning I broke my annoying habit of waking at 8 or 8:30. Kelly is downstairs making breakfast, which is awesome - it smells incredible, furthering my fantasy of it being x-mas.

I just wanted to add as a throw back to my train experience (this came up in conversation last night) how a lot of people have this aire of superiority, not just a myth, of the west being more “civilized” as opposed to...uncivilized? Like the Brits I was sitting across from, saying Hong Kong “would be a bit more civilized.” I’m so exited that everyone is back.