Introduction and First Lesson

[ Early Morning, 3 August 2005 ]

This portion of the letter was written on my flight back from Korea.

To No One in Particular,

I write this letter address purely for no one other than myself. To capture the moment, I am on board Asiana Flight 202 out of Inchon [Inchon Int'l Airport in South Korea] to LAX [Los Angeles Int'l Airport]. There are roughly two-and-a-half hours left in the flight: I watched "Triple X II," finished The Piano Teacher, and read Tuesdays with Morrie. Instead of bibimbap, I ate beef of some sort on the plane. My last meal in Korea was rolls at Raw in Apgujeong, Rodeo section, with Hung-ah [a diminuitive form of "older brother" I call my older brother] and Paul. Yesterday I had Australian lamb chops at the Paris Grill in the Seoul Hyatt.

It's to the topics addressed in Tuesdays with Morrie I give my attention, because they mirror to a close extent the thoughts I've had and realizations I've come to this summer.

1) Life could end at any moment.

And for this reason, the grudges we bear, the stubbornness with which we hold our narrow points-of-view, the shows of pride, the notions of "balance of power" between individuals--if I were to die suddenly, what would be left except regrets and bad memories? I like to say that I am not one to hold back what I feel. Then why not reveal what I truly feel and what I want others to think I feel?

The causes of [the stewardess just gave me a fresh, hot cup of coffee--what a wonderful woman!] this revelation are: eating dinner with some relatives, and thinking about my time with S. Once, I posed the question that if a beautiful car-ride ended with a horrible accident, if it was still beautiful despite that end or horrible because of it. B, whom I queried, replied that it depended on what type of person I was.

What a lucky man I was/am to have experienced such a wonderful relationship with a wonderful woman! And what lessons I hope to have learnt...!