So Long, Jaesan
I’ve been MIA recently due to lack of Internet access. I was in NC for Christmas, then OH for New Year’s. I came back for a few hours and then left for San Francisco for a week. I took a red-eye back from SF so last Saturday I was jetlagged and completely out of it. Sunday I went to the Bridgemen rehearsal and Monday Jaesan and I were scheduled to start our roadtrip to FL. Monday morning while I was down at NYU delivering the next rev of my business plan for the competition, Jaesan called and said that UPS would not be able to pick up the boxes as originally scheduled. Since it didn’t seem like such a great idea to start the 10-12 hr trip so late in the day, we decided we’d wait another day to leave. This worked out well, actually, because I ended getting a call for an interview and I went in that same day. After the interview, Jaesan and I had one last dinner together with some friends and that of course turned into late night out in Queens. Good times.
We got up pretty early Tuesday. Jaesan finished packing the van with belongings too valuable/fragile to ship while I packed my suitcase - last minute as always. The drive was wasn’t too bad, though we hit a little sleet, snow and lots of rain. We made a pit stop in Hershey, PA for a quick factory tour. We laughed at the resemblance of the Griswold’ s family vacation to Wally Word when there was no traffic and the parking lot was completely empty. We completed the tour in record time, filled our lungs with the sweet smell of Hershey’s milk chocolate and hopped back in the van. (Note to self: travel more during non-summer months.) Jaesan really didn’t get to see much of NC on the way in b/c it was so dark. When we got to my house, my mom took the opportunity to show Jaesan some of her treasures acquired from recent local auctions and then we went for a late night snack down the street at my Aunt’s.
Wednesday we got up to give Jaesan the grand tour of the big metropolis of East Bend. Sadly, it was uncommonly foggy out, so we drove to Winston-Salem for lunch in hopes it might clear up a little later. After grub from our favorite Mexican restaurant, the fog had lifted enough to drive Jaesan by downtown Winston-Salem so he could see the skyline. (Yes, Winston-Salem actually has a skyline.) On a whim, we then headed north to show him a local landmark, Pilot Mountain. As fate would have it, the fog had not clear the top of the mountain so as we continued to climb, it seemed that we were planning a rather elaborate hoax. When we reached the top, the visibility was less than 30-40 feet. This was very disappointing since the ordinary spectacular view can easily be 50+ miles.
Then we dropped my mom off at home and we headed to my property so Jaesan could see the pond. We got a few pictures with the ducks and even climbed up in my brother-in-law’s deer stand. (That was the first time I’d ever stepped foot in a deer stand.)
Then we headed back to the house. My mom had invited a few friends, family members and neighbors over for dinner. In all, I think there were about 22 people there at one point or another - even my friend Andy and his wife came to eat and chat for awhile. In true mafia style, Jaesan was admitted into the family and he was told that there was no getting out. I think he was a little concerned about his new family members until he found out that they’d happy help him establish his own law practice, if he ever chose to set up shop in the area. Before I went to bed, I was able to catch my friend Greg via phone. I wanted to congratulate him on the new additional to his family.
Thursday morning we got up and headed towards FL. I’d spoken with my old friend Matt on the phone and we’d tentatively scheduled to have lunch together. (Matt and I have known each other since before we started to school. Thanks again Melissa for finding Matt’s number.) Matt is now stationed at Shaw AF base near Sumter, SC. We grabbed a short lunch with him and his little girl. Then he took us for a quick tour of the base. Later in the day, he received some type of an award for service. We offered to come cheer him on during the ceremony but he firmly requested that we not. After some discussion, we figured out that we hadn’t seen each other in over 6 years. Whew!
After about 7 more hours of driving, we stopped at Jaesan’s sister’s house in Orlando. (Man, remind me to become a lawyer. Oh, and marry a lawyer.) Their house was awesome! We made tentative plans to visit Universal’s Island’s of Adventure the following day and then I crashed immediately.
It rained cats and dogs Friday morning, so we just hung out for a bit. Since we both love Legos, we drove over to Downtown Disney to check out the Lego Store. As fate would have it, the store was closed for remodeling (yeah, that would have been material for several jokes if only we weren’t so disappointed.) We ended up eating at House of Blues (which I’d like to one day own) and heading on to Jaesan’s house, which was a couple hours away. Excluding a ton of traffic, the drive was uneventful. Jaesan’s family was very happy to see us. Saturday we just hung with his fam until time to head to the airport.
I am beginning to think that humans have a highly underdeveloped 6th sense. Jaesan and I really didn’t say much on the trip, though I am pretty sure we knew exactly what was on the other’s mind. The same thing happened when I drove across the country with my mom. Sometimes you can speak louder with silence.
Jaesan, my friend, good luck.
