Christmas Holidays

I guess I had planned on coming home for Christmas for quite some time now. This is in fact the longest time I have been away from home; almost 16 months now. But just after I had definitely decided to go home I found out that a friend was getting married in late June in Ireland. So I was faced with a dilemma. Go home for Christmas and miss my friends wedding, a guy who I lived with in 3 different houses over a period of many years. Or go home twice. I decided on the latter, which meant sacrificing most of my holidays going back home to Ireland as opposed to taking advantage of traveling Asia while I am here (again). So I went and bought my ticket home; December 15th to January 6th.

About a month after buying the ticket I found out that another friend was going to get married in mid June! I knew that I didn't have enough holidays left to go for a 3 week holiday at Christmas and a 3 week holiday in June. So again I was faced with another dilemma.

I decided to cancel my trip home at Christmas and go home for a 3 week holiday next June instead, catching the first wedding just as I arrive in Ireland and the second just before I leave again.

I'm disappointed that I won't get to see many of my friends and family this Christmas. I was looking forward to some spending time in Limerick, Galway and of course Kilkenny. My eldest brothers' three daughters are growing up fast, and another sister-in-law is due to have her first baby in January. I was really hoping to see her before she gave birth. All will have to wait until next June.

On a positive note, I've decided to travel to Taiwan for the Christmas and New Year with a mad Irish man from Kerry. We're going to go hiking for a bit and then return to Taiwan for the celebrations. Hopefully it's going to be warmer there than in Akita. We are expecting it to start snowing here in a week or so.