Let's Party Like Its 2009!

A predictable title for what is now becoming my bi-annual blog post, I know. But predictability seems somewhat appropriate for what has been a fairly unsurprising, uninspiring festive season.

I find myself in Korea, which at this time of year is ironically soulless. Don't get my wrong, I join in with everyone else back in the UK in having a whinge about the Xmas lights going up the day after Halloween and women buying turkey's and family size Twiglet tubs in June. But when its not there I miss it.

This year I went with my friends to the Seoul Millennium Hilton hotel for the lunch buffet on Xmas day. The food was tasty and plentiful but, like many Korean attempts at interpreting western culture, it just wasn't quite right. Their cardinal sin was providing no roast potatoes whatsoever (which almost forced me to make a sharp exit). They did however have an array of seafood, salads and cheeses for starters, and more desert options than even my mum provides. And yes, I did try most of them.

New Year's eve was good fun. A fair few of us met in Itaewon, in a fairly trendy little establishment called Bricx. Beers were drank, conversation and merriment were had, Auld Lang Syne was sung, and taxis were got home. A pleasant, but uneventful night.

Ah well. The holiday season in Korea isn't all that bad. I could be in far worse places. Basra, Helmsland Province, and Mogadishu spring to mind. And at least I don't have to deal with credit crunches, or the something like 1 in 3 chance I'll be stabbed on the way home from my Xmas party by a knife wielding teenager who already has 2 asbo's and 3 demonic offspring to take his place when he finally hangs up his hoodie for the last time.

Please excuse me. I just came over a bit Daily Mail for a second there. Let's resume normal service shall we?

So, now we're in to 2009 and its time for those inevitable thoughts about plans, hopes and aspirations for the coming year. I didn't make any new year's resolutions as such, but there are a few things I'd like to do at some point this year. Number one on the list is give up smoking. And I'd like to do that sooner rather than later. I just need to set a date and get myself mentally prepared for a couple of weeks, like I did last time.

The second thing on the list is to travel some more. Now I'm in Korea until October so that one might stretch into 2010. But some of it could happen this year as I may well go somewhere like Thailand or the Philippines for a month or so before heading home to Blighty. That way I'd get home around the right time for Xmas. Anyway, that's a long way away yet.

Of course I have some more general aspirations that I assume are shared with almost everyone else in the western world. I want to make a bit of cash, get a bit healthier, and meet a significant other (preferably a gorgeous, smart, millionairess, michelin star chef... hold on, shit... I'm describing Nigella Lawson!).

And perhaps, dear readers, I shall even update this blog a bit more frequently... but I wouldn't bet even your now worthless negative equity mortgages on it.