Ladies and Gentlemen, Salam Alaikum and Welcome to King Abdulaziz International Airport!

I don't really know if that's what the hosties say to the passengers when they land here at Jeddah, but we did have our first flights today. 3 'turnarounds' as they're called, all operating in Garuda Indonesia colours. The Indonesian passengers coming in were all so nice and smiling, and truly thankful for everything, as most likely some of them have have never stepped on a plane in their lives. It's so good to see people that are just truly happy and carry a genuine smile, instead of those fake smiles and chit chats common in some places.

I'm now starting to see how much work I'm going to be doing in the next 2 and half months. Today we arrived at the airport at 8:30, now it's nearly 19:30, we're still here and could be here 'till midnight, depending on the arrival of the last flight of the day. And this is nothing! As the Hajj season hasn't even properly started yet! So, loads of work ahead, but that's what I came here for, to work.

As everybody knows it's New Year's Eve tomorrow, and seriously, it doesn't feel like it at all. In fact, I'm not even that enthusiastic about it. There is a party organised by Atlanta, and I'll probably go, but I seriously doubt on staying long, since honestly I'd rather be asleep in my bed once it ticks into the new year. But i have plenty of New Year's Eves ahead of me (inshallah) and plenty of time to mess about.

So, ya'll have a Happy New Year 2004 and hope to see you all again in the new year.