A Case of Writerlust: It's the Final Countdown

In less than 14 days, I'll be in Seoul.

That's absolutely terrifying, you guys.

I picked up my visa on Thursday from the consulate, after having already trekked down there earlier

that week, waking up at 6AM and rushing to catch the earliest train possible, expecting I could get it back in the same day like every website on the internet was telling me they could do. What I didn't expect was the paper sign hanging on the door that said "just kidding, come back Thursday now."

(Picture note: That's my happy face, you guys. Or at least that's as far as my happy face gets at 7AM when I'm drinking french vanilla train station coffee because they were out of raspberry, pumpkin spice AND hazelnut flavors. And this french vanilla coffee had 10 - literally 10 - things of french vanilla creamer in it because, I guess, being out of milk is a thing that can happen. Look, coffee man, it's not that I'm angry at you, but maybe you could have told me before I poured the dregs of that french vanilla pot into my cup and started looking around forlornly for ways to make it palatable/actually fill it to the top. Dude. Brew a pot.)

It was a pretty nice day, though. i'm not used to doing stuff on my own (so it's definitely a good thing I'm moving to the other side of the world), so when Dan said he couldn't get into the city that day to keep me company, and it was so last minute I didn't think I could pull anyone else in on my escapade, I was a little at a loss. So after handing in my paperwork and opening a bank account on the bottom floor of the building (thank you, kind bank teller girl, for not thinking I'm a weirdo for impulse banking), I stepped back out onto Park Ave without anything to do. I had called out of work, I was 23, and I was in NYC on my own.

So I just turned and started walking.

It's not like I've never been in Manhattan before. I've been coming to the city my whole life, and in the past five years or so it's sort of become a semi-regular occurrence. But that's normally with a purpose. ("Hey let's go to Nintendoworld." "Hey let's go to the museum." "Hey let's go get stupid drunk.")

My purpose was fulfilled, my passport was now int he hands of the poor Korean gentleman who had to deal with the fact that I didn't know the telephone number for Chungdahm and spent twenty minutes looking it up on my not-so-smart phone, and I am still pretending I am a strong, independent 23 year old woman.

So I went to H&M.

I mean, there was other stuff, too. I just kind of wandered. I wandered into a Japanese grocer and bought some cafe au lait flavored mochi (delicious). I wandered past a really fancy looking used book store and wanted to go in, except my face was covered with mochi and there was a lady giving me a dirty look. (I wish that was a more interesting anecdote.)

But! I saw things like this. And nobody else noticed, so I just looked like a freak standing there with a camera. It's a RAINBOW, people. THOSE ARE STILL EXCITING IN 2013.

I wandered in and out of Dylan's Candy Bar...I wandered down fifth avenue, and eventually I ended up back in Bryant Park. Which is still my favorite place in Manhattan. They're already putting up the ice rink stuff and preparing for the winter market, and as I walked through it I got so, so sad. I won't be seeing any of this until next year. No cider, no gourmet hot chocolate. Since I went away to Purchase I don't think there was a year that I didn't end up here during the winter.

But!

I know I have other stuff to look forward to. I hear winter over there brings out the street carts of 붕어빵, which seems crazy close to the Taiyaki i've talked about in other posts. So I'm excited to try new things, I really am! It just doesn't stop it from being sort of sad that I'll miss out on watching the ice skaters fall on their butts this year. So of course, when faced with the looming trip to Asia and saying goodbye to the good ol' US of A for a whole year, I did the only thing I could do. I went to Kinokuniya and bought a taro frappe and green tea cake.

Something else strange happened while I was in the city. I'm very shy. You all know this. So it was a little weird, walking through the streets, that I was getting repeatedly stopped by people. A whole bunch of people told me that they liked the boots I was wearing - which is weird, because in NYC, nobody talks to anybody that they don't know, from what I've experienced. I also got stopped by a monk who gave me a prayer card for a 1$ and a guy from some grass roots organization who I just ended up talking to for twenty minutes about Korea. He also liked my boots. Did I miss an everybody-loves-boots memo?

Anyway, it was my last day in NYC until I come back from South Korea. And that's a very strange thought. But at least I got to spend it the way I wanted to. With yummy food, pigeons, and Pokemon.

I'm off for a couple days now, down to Pennsylvania to see darling Daniel probably one last time until January. (I don't know if I can emotionally handle any of this.) And then when I come back, I should probably start packing!