East versus West

Never mind that I think the breaking down of cultures into hemispheres is, at best, dated, and operates on outmoded stereotypes of both "sides." Let's get some side-by-side shots going! Mostly for the benefit for friends in Korea who might actually give a crap about seeing where I came from and what I came home to. For anyone else this is just a bunch of self-indulgent narcissism. Nothing to see here, move along.

ROUND ONE: THE DIGS



Korea




America


Winner: America

ROUND TWO: THE COOKERY



Korea



America

Winner: America again. I made those muffins in that oven.

ROUND THREE: THE NEIGHBORHOOD



Korea



America

Winner: Tie. The scenery is nice but you can't get anywhere without a car (leaving me feeling rather isolated and frustrated when my stand-in car's battery died this morning). I could walk to nearly anything I might have wanted in the 'dong: the grocery store; countless restaurants, bars, and *bongs; the bus stop; work.

ROUND FOUR: WORK



Korea



America

Winner: Again, a tie. It's one of those things where you always want to be where you're not.


ROUND FIVE: PLAY







Korea



America

Winner: Korea. (Apologies to Steven Bost—trivia night is great and I have a lot of fun, but the bartenders don't breathe fire.)

ROUND SIX: FOOD







Korea









Winner: It's all so tasty. Tie.

ROUND SEVEN: CREEPY CRAWLY PESTS



Korea



America

Winner: Korea. Mosquitoes are infinitely more manageable than stinkbugs.


ROUND EIGHT: NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH



Korea



America


WINNER: Korea. Canada's cool and all, but you guys aren't half as hilarious as Kim Jeong-il.

ROUND NINE: EAR CANDY



Korea



America

WINNER: America, though that was a close one.



ROUND TEN: EYE CANDY





Korea





America

Winner: Who doesn't win? Everyone does. Yum.

Apologies for shifting focus from my own REALLY VERY INTERESTING life into general culture commentary. But I ran out of pictures of stuff at home.