It's that wonderful time of year again.  That time when you have to watch holiday after holiday slip through your fingers without so much as a nod from your co-workers or even retailers.  For our American brethren, this means missing a deluge of retail pandering as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's pour down our throats one after the other.  For our Canadian friends, this means missing out on sweet winter seal meat and holiday Ton-Ton rides.  And for our brothers down under from another mother, this means hearing about your friends' summer BBQs while you suit up for another minus 20 afternoon.

Either way, it's bound to make you crazy.  Not only do our silly weekday Thanksgiving holidays rush by unnoticed, Christmas and New Years fall on a Saturday this year so that puts your holiday time to zero.  And forget about Jewish holidays as Koreans will never believe those exist.  Now, instead of trying not to cry while watching your mother eat pumpkin pie via Skype, why not take a trip to somewhere similar to home and just across the pond?

That's right: Hong Kong: A haven for your homesickness just a few hours away.  

Hong Kong offers the tasty brews on tap of your homeland, the fancy restaurants complete with the delectable dishes you long for, and giant cups of coffee with mugs the size of your head.  

Years of British rule have beaten the Asia out of everybody.  Strangers are polite, lines are orderly, and any minor cultural grievance has been whitewashed out of there- it's the perfect place to nurse Korea's wounds.  

And get this: it'll be warm in the winter!  Temps range from 21 to 10, which after minus 20 might as well be a tropical holiday.  Chill out on Big Wave Beach, go for some tax-free retail therapy, or eat your way through every bakery in town.  

Hong Kong is also a fascinating place to play the tourist.  Visit temples, old Buddhist carvings, or stop off for a taste of Portugal in Macao.  Not to mention, Disneyland.  

Hong Kong is almost as crazy as America for the holidays.  Theme parks all over the city feature holiday-based attractions in unmatched splendor.  No offense, Everland, but your paltry  decorative hats don't compare to two-month-long holiday extravaganzas. 

So whatever it is you long for from home, you're sure to get a taste of it in multi-national Hong Kong.  Whether you're there for two days or two weeks, Hong Kong has plenty to fill your time, your heart, and, most importantly, your belly.  Should be enough to soothe the spirit of the holiday-jilted foreigner.

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