The (Almost) New York Trip

Was originally scheduled to go to New York for a course in May, but have just received a call from my boss informing that, whoops, sorry, the course is only accepting one participant so I will not be able to go.

This is rather ironical, actually. When my boss first brought up the subject of going on an overseas course, I had told her of my reluctance to be away in view of Liyun's pregnancy. She advised me that due to budget constraints, there might not be any more courses next year, so I should go for this one. The fact that it would be held in NY and for only a week was of course a huge plus. Everyone started telling me how wonderful NY was, how cheap the children's clothings and toys were, etc., and pretty soon, I went from a state of reluctance to Well, okay, this sounds pretty good to Man, I'm so looking forward to this and then to It's going to be the Best Week of My Life! and now to This sucks the big one.

I had also told a few people about it, mentally made plans on what stuff to buy (clothes for Jaslyn and baby Name-Not-Confirmed-Yet, Disney figurines, USD9.99 dvds, books, a Canon digital camera, etc.), and wrote a very self-important letter to my camp on why I should be excused from this years's In-Camp Training (ICT):

"Dear Sir, I have been specially selected to attend a Very prestigious course in New York (NY!) in May. Unfortunately, it clashes with my annual ICT. As such, I find myself in the unenviable position of having to decide between serving my country, and flying off to the US of A (NY!) to attend a course which I will probably not benefit very much from. After much deliberation, I have decided: Screw the country. As such, I would be extrememly grateful if you would approve my leave."

Not blaming anyone for this, but it's just a truly terrible thing to raise someone's hopes and then dash them. Now, I will have to go around announcing that I won't be going to NY after all and endure the inevitable Oh-you-must-be-so-disappointed string of conversation. I will also have to write to my camp and tell them that I have decided I love my country more than NY so can they please ignore my earlier letter?

My boss told me that she will look out for some other course to make up for this. With my luck, it will probably be either an in-house course (Cheerful trainer: "It ends at 5pm so you'll still have time to go back to work!") or a 1-month course held in Afghanistan.