If you can see this, then we’ve already left Korea, and are on a plane to Saigon–which you may not find on a modern map unless you look for Ho Chi Minh City, but the locals apparently call it Saigon. Our plans changed a few times over the last couple of months: first, we’d planned to fly to Berlin… then Chiang Mai, a place that still interests us even now… but finally, we’re going somewhere else.
Just when we figured out our finances wouldn’t be quite as stellar as we’d hoped, we were contacted by friends who were in the process of hunting for a house to rent with friends, and it ended up being an offer too good to turn down. Good people whom we not only know but care about deeply; good food, and a crowd that likes to cook; good company; the place is as affordable as all get-out; and as Nick put it, “Four Clarion grads under one roof!” It’s shades of writer’s colony, even, though I’m trying not to have expectations about how that side of the group will interlock… which wasn’t a hard sell as I am buckling down to write some major projects, and Jihyun is getting to work on a script of her own.
I don’t know how long we’ll be in Saigon, but I do know that I have been looking forward to it since it became our plan, and I’m happy that we were able to change plans so suddenly without a big problem. This is one of the nice things about being debt-free and having some savings: when it comes time to invest in yourself, you can make the decisions on your own terms, with a little freedom. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have the freedom to go anywhere, but there are always limitations, and I’m happy with what we have got going on right now.
The freedom makes it worth it: the freedom I came to Korea to get, and while it took me longer than it takes some, I have it now, and am putting it to use.
Everything is kinda up in the air. Like us, right now, at 3:20pm on March 28th, 2013 the day I leave Korea… exactly 4,097 days after first arriving here, with no idea how long I’d stay, or what I’d end up doing here. Funny thing to contemplate, as we fly to another country altogether with a great, hovering, enticing question mark hanging in the air up ahead of us.