the party fail

I had told everyone, before I paid off all of my scholastic debt, that once I zeroed that debt out, I'd be celebrating for a week.  Well, I did celebrate—sort of.  I did a two-day walk along South Korea's east coast, starting way up near the DMZ and walking down to Sokcho.  I also baked myself a pizza (homemade crust) very late Saturday night—so late that it was Sunday when I finally ate it.  I also took a walk to Jamshil Bridge with my buddy JW early Saturday afternoon (that's where/when I saw the "zero cool" bus).  Other than that, I did a lot of sleeping, resting, reading, and movie-watching.  I'd had huge ambitions to go out and spend wildly on hotel buffets and the like... and while I might still do that, I couldn't summon the energy to do it during this vacation period.  Going back to work in the morning will almost be a relief.

I've heard from friends that the Parkview buffet at the Shilla Hotel is quite good, so I might head over there at some point when I'm feeling splurge-y.  I'd also like to try Din Tai Fung, a Chinese-restaurant chain that purportedly sells "real" Chinese food, not the typical Korean-style stuff.  I've got other plans for my cash this month, however, including a much-needed visit to the hospital to get the dreaded checkup that men over 50 are supposed to get.  I'll be curious to see whether I can use my insurance to pay at least partially for that procedure.  The last time I visited the hospital for a toe infection, I paid everything out of pocket when the hospital brusquely billed me over the phone at the very end of my visit.

So instead of doing all my celebrating over the course of a week, I might instead be spreading it out over the coming months.  That may be more my style, anyway:  I've never been much of a partier, and concentrated bouts of celebration just leave me exhausted.