Thursday, January 06, 2005

Apples and Oranges

What can I say? Japan was fantastic and we loved every minute of our trip. I always feel so torn here - it isn't really fair to compare Korea to its other Asian counterparts but at the same time it's difficult not to. Koreans compare themselves with China and Japan all the time. They'll ask you, suspiciously, "How was China?" It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the appropriate response is "Okay. But the food was greasy and Korea is much nicer." Unfortunately for Koreans, nothing could be further from the truth. China is great and the food is fantastic. Japan is cleaner, more efficient and the food is delicious. Oh, and the people don't push you or spit at your heels when you walk past. And did I mention how much nicer it is? How the buildings have some sort of aesthetic appeal and the streets don't smell like garbage?

"How was Japan?"
"It was okay but Korea is nicer."

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