Fall is the same in Seoul as it was in DC, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco -- the air feels thinner and cleaner, the lines of buildings and mountains look sharper, more vivid against the sky, and hk has a spring in her step. There's just no contest -- autumn is the best of the seasons, and despite some sadness about leaving friends and a sense that Seoul is never going to compare to the cities I love best in the U.S., I can't help but feel the same inner shift, the quietly joyful expectancy that only fall brings.

I felt the same in New York when I was there during the last week of September, a timing mistake if there ever was one, for fall in New York is a huge trap: the sweet, dusty smell of fallen leaves in Central Park, the rumptious feel of corduroy skirts and pants, the delicious browns and tans of thick sweaters, the muggy air turned all crisp and sleek -- all conspire to convey the oh-so-casual impression that New York is always this way, all 365 days of the delectable year. And so you become convinced that you need to run, helter-skelter, to the nearest U-Haul, to rent a truck in which you will place all your belongings and high-tail it back to the city of cities. New York, New York.

I was never one to subscribe to the notion that New York is the center of the universe, but I understand why people are persuaded to think so. Sometime during my week there, I felt that there was no place else I'd be as happy, and that I should make plans to come back from Seoul early and live there.

It wasn't just the fall thing that made me feel this way; I had an indescribably wonderful time with BC, Miss D, Matt Sal, Tamar, Def and Stave, Marsh, and Steve. I got to see my old friend Miss D get engaged at a karaoke bar. I helped Def and Stave (congrats to the lovely couple!) move into their first home together. I hung out at the Lenox Lounge, home to the shortest drum- and guitar-playing brothers in the western hemisphere (and by the way? the drummer was NOT a thug and he WAS better-looking than the here's-my-younger-brother-Dov guitar player, thank you very much, Miss D and BC). I sat in St. John the Divine's with Matt Sal and talked religion. I drank martinis and traded innuendos with Mr. Green (a.k.a. BC) of Clue until 2 a.m. I got locked out with BC and sat on a stoop listening to her neighbor tell us about the Bush Crime Family. I walked through the Temple of Dendur and watched a toddler outside the window have the best time just lying on the ground. And I got to ride on the Hasidic bus AND the Chinese bus to and from New York.

The confluence of friends and opportunities in that fair city is just too good to pass up. I am so there next year.

Don't anyone leave, ya hear?

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I had a chance to talk with Vivian, my Taiwanese friend, today. Each time I talk with her, I feel sort of peaceful -- I'm really not sure why. Somehow, through the cloudiness of cultural differences and language barriers, she's able to look right into me and address what I'm feeling.

Today Vivian suggested that writing a travel column would be a good job for me. Since I don't recall talking to her about loving to write and travel, I'm at a loss as to how she was able to pinpoint this as an ideal job. As usual, I said, "Well, that would be great , but it's incredibly difficult to get a job like that." She said I should try, and all of a sudden I realized that yeah, I should try.

See, I'm incredibly lazy. Most of the time, rather than think about what I really want, I let chance arrange my future -- whatever drifts by is what I hop onto. I do come across things that I think would be neat to do, but quickly dismiss them as too hard, or as positions that I'm not qualified for, or things that only the bright shiny stars can do. Working for the UN or Foreign Service. Doing a joint degree program. Getting published in a magazine. Writing a book.

Maybe it's lack of confidence. I'm not sure. But I should get over it. I'm gonna get over it.

Vivian also -- in response to some vague statements from me about needing to think about the future and what I really wanted -- gripped my arm, looked into my eyes, and said: "You need a man." Hee hee! No argument here.