“Rushing into action, you fail. Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe.”
– Lao Tzu
The term is done, and we fly out tomorrow.
I feel like a wine, but the flight is early, and I am reluctant to travel hungover.
The situation resolves itself when the flight is pushed back.
Shell finds a flight that leaves tonight at 6.00 pm. We do the maths – book a ride, thirty minutes to the airport. Check in, find the gate… it is 4.00 pm. The numbers look unlikely; we haven’t even packed. I need a shower.
I am in the shower, it is 4.15 pm, and Shell tells me we are leaving tonight.
Scramble. Pack, forget many things, and we are in the Grab. It all seems like an exciting adventure.
There is not a single person at check-in, another good sign. We have our tickets and a piece of paper in Korean. All I can make out is a picture of a train and 40 minutes. A quick translation tells us we need to catch the train to the gate, and it is a 40-minute journey.
“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.”
– Leonard Bernstein
I get pulled aside at Customs for a special scan. I glance at my watch as the security guard touches me inappropriately. Not even a smile when he grabs my arse. It is a conservative culture.
Shell gets her bag pulled aside. I wonder if it is the dozens of boxes of nicotine gum she is not addicted to that have been flagged. I wait, and suddenly Shell is sweeping past. Are we doing a runner?
Hasn’t she seen Midnight Express?
I know how this ends.
We jump on the train, and if we are being pursued, we have shaken them.
And we are at the gate boarding.
“What is a crime? What is punishment? It seems to vary from time to time, place to place. What’s legal today is, suddenly, illegal tomorrow; because, some society says it’s so. And what’s illegal yesterday, is, suddenly, legal; because, everybody’s doing it and – you can’t put everybody in jail.”
– Billy Hayes
Time to catch up on things. Books and Wine.
We land at around 1.00 am. Get our bags and head to the motel.
I am not a fan of overnight flights; they make me grumpy for a few days.
It is worth the early arrival. Tomorrow morning, we will see Barry and Diane for the first time in over two years.
And I will catch up with my brother, Niam. I have missed him terribly.
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
– Lao Tzu
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