home alone

Just like the cinematic Kevin from the old movie "Home Alone," I'm home alone this Christmas. Normally, according to tradition, I'd be over at my buddy JW's apartment with his family, distributing Christmas gifts, eating a late dinner made by the Missus, and maybe being forced to sing a Christmas carol or two. This year, though, the invitation never came, so I find myself in my quiet apartment, tapping out this blog post and planning out my tomorrow.

Ah, yes, tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll be getting up very early to go see a 7:30 a.m. showing of "Aquaman," followed by a 10:40 a.m. showing of "Bumblebee." (That'll knock two movies off my end-of-2018 list.) Most of the rest of the afternoon, and part of the early evening, will be devoted to taking a long, long walk somewhere. I've recently become interested in walking eastward out toward Paldang Dam, so I'll likely do that tomorrow, and again on the 26th, since I also have that day off. The weekend of the 29th and 30th, assuming the weather is fairly dry, I'll try to do the walk I'd wanted to do the other week—all the way out to the dam and back. This coming February, I see that Seollal, the Korean lunar new year, is on February 5, a Tuesday, which means we'll have Monday through Wednesday off—a five-day weekend, perfect for a long, cold walk out past Paldang Dam and over to Yangpyeong, the next significant city along the bike trail after Hanam. Over four of those five days, I can do a Seoul-Yangpyeong-Seoul round-trip walk, which ought to be entertaining. I might not be able to walk long distances during the hottest part of the summer, but I can certainly do so during the winter, as long as I'm not contending with slippery surfaces.

And now, for a bit of random entertainment: an Irishman with a good sense of humor about his own culture explains how you're supposed to compose and sing a true Irish folk song: