The Hunt for Red October, again and again

If it’s the first week of December, it can only mean one thing: time for my annual viewing of The Hunt for Red October (1990).

Okay, so what’s the significance of watching this film every December?

Twenty-two years ago this coming Friday, December 7, I arrived  in Korea. On the flight over, there were two films: Days of Thunder and The Hunt for Red October. I watched the first film, but fell asleep just as the second one was starting. I woke up right at the end of the movie just in time to hear Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) say, “Welcome to the New World, Sir.”

Since then, the film has become a bookmark for this chapter of my life which all started the cool, clammy, foggy, December night (“Welcome to Korea” — Waking Up in the Land of the Morning Calm). Every year around this time, I celebrate this turning point in my life by watching the film I never got to see the first time around but have watched over and over since.

Welcome to the New World, Jeffrey.