1.1: Finally, I can freely travel in and out of the United States. After a long period of not being able to do so, I am finally outside of the US and enjoying every second of it. Upon the renewal of my passport, I had a long period of deciding where to visit. I wanted to celebrate the moment.
1.2: Just like in every other 1990s' Romantic Comedy films, I could've gone to JFK, and casually say "give me round-trip tickets departing soon." (Of course, I might've ended up in some exotic foreign city with or without visa, or ... let's say ... some random city in the Midwest area ...) Either way, that would have given me a pretty compelling story to tell on a blind date.
2.1: On a Wednesday evening last March, I had dinner with a friend. After the dinner, we started walking uptown, and stumbled upon a fortune teller. I asked the teller to read my palms. She told me that I will have one wife, that I should stop worry about the work that I do, and that eventually I must reloacate to London, England. I’ve visited London once, probably about eight years ago. I fell in love with the city, its culture, and its ... everything! I have forgot about how much I loved my time being in London.
2.2: So that gave me an idea where I can go for the celebratory visit: London, (where I can still speak English, and where I can drink room-temperatured beer ... don’t judge me ... )
3.1: The thought of “spontaneously going to London” started to capture my attention for the entire month of April. Then I talked to a friend about it. She asked me if I will go to London with my flute, and my answer, after a pause, was No. I would not go to London with my flute. Then she said that I will be in a foreign city without my identity if there’s no flute next to me.
3.2: That thought struck me: going to a foreign city without my identity being a flautist. Then I came up with this: how about going to Toronto?
A. because it’s only 55 minutes away from NYC.
B. because I always went to Toronto with my flute.
C. becasue I miss being in Toronto.
D. why not.
3.3: While conducting some serious research for which cities / countries to go, I suddenly got a handful of works and concerts to play. I wasn’t able to go anywhere abroad. At that moment, I thought that I should have just gone to JFK in late March, and gotten myself a round-trip ticket without any specific destination in mind.
4.1: Guess where I ended up going to. I came back to Korea for the first time in two years. I am spending quality time with my family. Visiting Korea was the best decision I’ve made, and this particular visit has been so special. Certainly worth waiting for the moment.
P.S. As I was writing this journal, I received an email from AirCanada that one way ticket from La Guardia to Toronto is only $84.