<p>(I hate to say this but maybe the ensemble mom has friends in high places.)</p>
<p>Nawwwww… just some good luck for a chamge.</p>
<p>I prefer to think it is a direct result of all those prayers!</p>
<p>There seems to be several organizations working together with this “Company” in charge of putting on this benefit. The benefit has to do with adoptions, but I’m not really sure of all the details. I feel really stupid not knowing more details, but if I had known more details, then I wouldn’t have needed to start this thread!</p>
<p>The ensemble mom has been involved with this organization previously, though I don’t know in what capacity. Her daughter performed for them last year or a couple years ago. It was part of the problem early on in that instead of representing the interests of the kids, she and her daughter sided with the Company. </p>
<p>I think the airline and perhaps the hotel have some board members on this charity. The mom always talks about how much the Company is giving the kids, and yet the airline has donated the flights and the hotel has donated the rooms. So there must be some sort of overlap.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that when the kids were traveling as a group of 6 (including Ensemble Mom), the kids were considered “taken care of.” Now that S2 is traveling alone, they are looking out for him specially. (Who knows? Maybe the other 5 got upgraded, too?) And yes, I think Ensemble Mom made some calls on his behalf. Don’t think we don’t appreciate it!!!</p>
<p>Glad to hear things are working out. And I agree-- Business class is a significant improvement over “steerage” (coach) for long flights. Hoewever, your son will now be spoiled! He’ll not want those peasant seats for the trip home!</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s what I told my H, jym. Happened to me on a flight from Germany once, and it was very hard getting back on the plane to go the other direction in the cheap seats. S2, though, is 5’6", 136 pounds, and can sleep anywhere. There are people who probably would have needed this more! But I’m taking this as a sign that the worst is behind us. He texted me from the plane before he turned his phone off - said it was very nice!</p>
<p>I’m watching the flight tracker. All you folks in northern Cal, get ready to wave. It’s so odd to look at the flight path - up the west coast, past Canada, and Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, then the far east! I’ve never been to any of those places, and neither has S. Now I’m starting to get excited about the trip. We bought him a new camera. I hope he remembers to take some pictures. He is very proud of the fact that he already remembered to take some - 2 in Washington, DC, and 3 in California. That’s typical. But I’m sure he’ll record every concert!</p>
<p>I hope he plays well, and that the folks who went to a lot of last minute trouble on his behalf decide it was worth it!</p>
<p>Hey binx,
I’m glad this saga looks like it’s starting to work out. But from your physical description of S2, I’m almost sorry we didn’t get to do a quick hosting session in the NYC area. He would have blended in perfectly with my3sons, all of whom are ~5’6" and 120-130 lbs. </p>
<p>He’ll play great and this will be quite the experience for him!</p>
<p>Binx:</p>
<p>So glad things seem to at last be moving in the right direction!</p>
<p>Binx…I have followed your son’s entire saga and all the mom angst that has gone along with it. Then I had to go on a trip to NYC and back to move our youngest child to the city and I just got back late. I had to come to this thread to read the update of what I missed in the last 36 hours! Things appear to be looking up but at this point, he is due and so are you! I hope the rest is smooth sailing. </p>
<p>I thought of you today as I we were entering NYC. I thought, Binx is having all this angst about her son’s trip and now I can join her. As we were on the GW Bridge, our oldest D called (who was back home). She is due to fly to France in four days for a summer internship. Everything has come together beautifully in the many details of this venture. One piece was that she had found an apt. in Paris. She had wired a deposit. She has had checks made out in Euros to bring for the remainder of the rent and security deposit when she meets up with the person she is renting from. She even had to get a statement from him that she had a place to stay as one of the many documents she needed to obtain her Visa to be an intern in France. She called because the landlord sent her an email this AM that the apartment building had an explosion and was damaged and that everyone had to evacuate it and she would not be able to live there this summer. This is a major problem with her about to leave for France and we know what was involved in securing all these arrangements on the original plan. My daughter has put out some feelers today (she has taken care of everything herself from the get go anyway) but I hope and pray that something will work out at this very last minute. She had been so happy as every piece was in place and the only thing left was to pack. So, after I hung up with her, I thought of you because here you were in a tough situation with your son and his travels and I can join you though the problem is of a different sort (though I recall your son had some last minute housing angst in NYC a year ago too).</p>
<p>Oh brother…Sooz…hope things work out quickly. Honestly, this angst never ends…does it. While we’re worrying…could we add my son to the list…he’s leaving Wed until Aug 20 for Aspen and does not have a place to live in Winston-Salem for Sept 1. Yikes. I will say, his seems like a minor problem compared to the international travel ones.</p>
<p>Actually, Soozie, you sound much calmer than me! I will pray for a quick solution for your D. Congratulations to her for handling things herself and not panicking. (After all, that’s OUR job.)</p>
<p>Thumper, I wish I could help you, but I don’t know a soul in NC. As Soozie mentions, we were in that exact situation last year! In fact, we’re in that situation again. S opted to not renew his apartment lease, and hold out for the dorm. Last year, they called him a couple days before he left for school to say they had an opening – It was too late by then, he’d already signed the lease. As it turned out, the dorm had a LOT of empty rooms! Typical Juilliard inefficiency, I think. (How many of his crises can be traced to dealing with artists??? Thumper and Soozie, you both will undoubtably have similar experiences along the way!) </p>
<p>So this year, he has arranged to spend up to a month on a friend’s couch, waiting for a dorm opening. Last he heard, he was 9th on the waiting list.</p>
<p>According to Flight Tracker, he landed in Korea a few hours ago, about an hour ahead of schedule. We haven’t heard from him, and are choosing to assume no news is good news.</p>
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<p>Alright!!! Now let’s hear good news about the performances!! </p>
<p>And yes…I do think some of this is “artist” personality. Nothing seems to phase my kid…except angst about his music. Everything else will “work out”. Usually he’s right, but it makes me a nervous wreck!!</p>
<p>I would love to hear any news at all! I begged him to try to email or text msg or something when he got there. No news at all. He was asking me at the last minute what he should say or do at immigration or passport control or customs. Like I’ve ever been to Seoul? I did some Google searches and learned where he could get some money changed, and that the taxis take credit cards, but not dollars or Euros. He knows the name of the hotel.</p>
<p>I fully expect that there would have been someone from the group there to meet his plane. And that he is with the group now, and all is well. But it would have been nice to hear it from him!</p>
<p>It’s Tuesday morning there now. They have a concert in the evening, and a day of sightseeing. Another concert Wednesday evening, and one Friday evening. The Wednesday concert is the BIG one - in a huge concert hall. Tickets are like $50. If you want to see the ads, PM me and I’ll send you the links. They’re in Korean. If you get the Google translation, it’s pretty funny.</p>
<p>Binx:</p>
<p>Hooray! He’s in Seoul! I hope he catches some sleep before concerts!</p>
<p>Glad he’s down safe. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>Glad things worked out! How was the first class trip?
My DH is on his way to Frankfurt. He flew the redeye in from Phoenix this morning, and is ow in coach to Frankfurt. gets off the plane and goes right into a meeting. UGH!!!</p>
<p>Soozie,
so glad the explosion in the apartment bldg happened BEFORE your daughter was living in the building…honestly… mom angst never seems to end… my ob/gyn gave us advice when first pregnancy was confirmed: he said to take a nice, relaxing vacation…as it would be the last one ever in our lives… because even when our kids become adults, we will always have them on our minds… fast forward 21 years later and it is too true…</p>
<p>My daughter is driving across West Virgina or PA as I write. Wish I could flight track her! ETA at home, around 1:30. Just a little worry in the pit of my stomach.</p>
<p>S2’s first concert should be about over by now. Still no word. I sent an email yesterday to the mom of the group, asking for confirmation that all was okay. Nothing. The mom (whom I’m supposed to trust!) promised she would send an email with contact info as soon as they got there. I have to assume my S would find some way to contact us if there were a problem. On the other hand, he may want to spare us any grief and not tell us till after the fact. He’s been known to do that.</p>
<p>Where is your D coming home from, Kathie? Is she checking in with cell phone or anything? I know what you mean about the stomach pit. I’ve been on a diet for about 3 months, but over the weekend I downed a pecan coffeecake and a bag of Cheez Doodles. My H looked at me strangely, but I told him I needed the comfort food. Yesterday I had a stomach ache, and wasn’t sure if it was stress or diet related! </p>
<p>Maineparent – Horrors. I hadn’t thought of that - an explosion AFTER Soozie’s D was already there. I think of myself as a champion worrier, but clearly there are things I’m missing! 
Soozie, I hope you’ll update us on the housing search.</p>
<p>binx, so glad to hear that your son arrived safely in Korea and I’m sure he’s having a great time. I do understand how you’d rather hear it from him, though! I have one D who tends to believe in ‘sparing us any grief until after the fact’. A couple of years ago, she went to Kenya for the summer and I, too, begged her to try to contact me when she first arrived in Nairobi because I knew that she would be out of reach for the bulk of her time there. No email, no texting, not even any phones! She did find an internet cafe at the airport and emailed me that she’d arrived safely and was excited. It wasn’t until she returned home at the end of her time there that she told me that her bag hadn’t arrived!, and that it had been a full week that she had to borrow EVERYthing from the others in her group before it finally showed up. In a place like NY, that wouldn’t be a problem, but in the remote areas of Kenya, the list of things they had to take was detailed and specific. If I had known that she didn’t have any of those things we’d taken weeks to get, I would have worried even more than I already was about the wild animals. 
This year I have one off to Spain, and not as much worrying going on. Yet, anyway.</p>
<p>Yes, the bag not arriving is something I’ve thought of. (To Do: Worry about luggage. <check>) He had left his black tux jacket in his locker at school, and one of the other students had retrieved it to bring along. So I envision him in his blue jeans and stained white t-shirt and sandals, with his black tux jacket. </check></p>
<p>I noticed that the Incheon airport had some Internet terminals for reasonable fees, and asked him to try to send me a safe arrival message. And the hotel has a “Business Center” which probably also has computers. Lack of communication is nothing new with this S, but given the distance and the effort to get him there, we hoped he’d make an effort this time.</p>
<p>binx, She is keeping in touch via cell. She has to get to the Trailways bus station in twenty minutes in Harrisburg to drop off a friend so friend can catch a bus to Williamsport. Bus only goes there twice a day - 11 am and 6 pm. This is her final trip home from college. After graduation she and 7 friends went to Wisconsin for a week and now she’s driving home. Her calls to me are direction requests.</p>
<p>I too am a fan of hearing the bad news later. My daughter only told me how dangerous Nairobi was after she came back. When my daughter was overseas she was very stingy with her phone calls home and it made me quite unhappy. I generally wanted to know that she was safe, sound, and having a good time. She was going on the no news from her meant everything was fine.</p>