New York, New York!

I flew to New York last Wednesday.

Complications. I boarded the plane and realized I left my wallet behind.

In the 20 min I had before I had to turn off my cellphone for the plane to takeoff, I frantically called my hotel in Seattle, my hotel in New York, my parents in Seattle, and arranged to have my wallet delivered to my NY hotel via overnight delivery. Verdict: I cannot check into my hotel unless I can produce 350 in cash upfront, which means I had to survive on the change I had in my jeans pocket and live at the mercy of UPS.

I started reflecting on the message in the first fortune cookie I had after arriving in the US from Beijing -
"The following month will bring you happiness"

I decided that meant my current trip, which lasts almost the whole of this month, is going to bring me all but happiness.

This is good. This is the first time in my life that I've ever "lost" my wallet and I just so happened to be very far away from home. Part of me shook with excitement because I love adventures. Part of me shook with insecurity because I'm expected to be at my top form to work the next day whether or not my hotel/wallet crisis is resolved.

We finally reached NY, but as I sat on the plane circling the city in a holding pattern waiting for the thunder storm to pass I wondered if I should have gone get my wallet and catch the following flight. Maybe it's a sign...

I usually assume the end-of-the-world scenario, as you can tell from my last post. But I say it still worked out in the end. I didn't have to sleep on the street, I got what I wanted from the 2 days of work. I had my favorite Jamaican patties in Brooklyn, I went to a bunch of cool places, I got to know a cool person who brought me to bar-hop in Manhattan.

I'm looking forward to my next business trip to New York - I'm promised a seat in the Carnegie Hall to the New York Philharmonic, in the very box that Isaac Stern always sat in.

Hopefully next time I will have my wallet with me.