Yay, I'm going to the U.K.! It is not cheap to go to the U.K., for me, a super poor adjunct instructor. But thanks to MT who is living in London and willing to have me at her place, I don't have to worry about hotel fees. In order to show my gratitude, I thought of giving her a bottle of vodka, MT's favorite alcohol.
While I was waiting for my flight to London in SFO, I went to a duty free store. I was looking at the shelf of vodka, wondering which one is good for MT. Then, a Chinese-looking sale person approached me, by saying, "Vancouver? Vancouver?" I didn't understand what she meant. I said, "Sorry?" The person asked me her question in a sentence, "Are you going to Vancouver?" My answer was, "No, I'm going to London." Then, this person left, smiling. Hm, the purpose of this sale person was obviously not to help me or sell stuff to me.
I decided to buy vodka distilled and bottled in Russia. The label looked scary, which attracted me a lot. I went to a cashier and placed the bottle with my boarding pass and passport on the counter. The cashier said, "Taipei? Taipei?" From my earlier experience, I thought this person was asking me where I'm going. I said, "I'm going to London," pointing at my boarding pass. But this person seemingly didn't understand me and changed destinations by saying, "Japan? Japan?" She apparently saw my passport, not my boarding pass. "I'm from Japan, but I'm going to London if you are asking me where I'm going." And she asked, "Are you going to Japan?" Hearing this question, I was like, "What the hell is this person?! I keep saying, 'I'm going to London!'" I probably made an angry face, fed up with this stupid conversation, if you call it conversation, with the cashier, and the cashier realized that I was irritated. She took my boarding pass and punched something into her register machine, apologizing, "I'm sorry. Your destination is London." Yes, I kept telling you so!
