so guys...whats it like living in outside of NA?

[stof]

Gilgamesh said:

stof said:
I don't ever want to go back to Canada (aside from visiting) now that I've experienced Korea. Oh sure there are some huge negatives : Racism, Sexism, General global ignorance. But it's easy to fight those ones. THe positives though. The communal nature of things, the general love of sharing public places. In Canada you drive to a shopping mall and then drive home. In Korea you walk to the mountain and hang out with grandparents excercising on outdoor gym equpment in the forest, and then buy a one dollar bottle of booze and drink outside by the beach while korean families offer you food.

Korea is alive, North America is... Boring. Unless you can pay to go to an expensive private venue, it's just plain boring.

You've been to all the wrong places in Canada. I can go to some places in Korea that would be 100 times worst then Canada, it just depends on what part of the country your at.

I know there's a lot of good in Canada, And I'm quire proud right now during Olympic time. There's plenty of awesome nature and the major citieshave some great culture and whatnot. But most of Canada is suburbia. Wretched plain devoid of life suburbia. The cities can be pretty pricy to live in, and the thought of living in Suburbia (or worse yet, raising children there) is too painful a thought to bear.

 

Korea's got it's backwoods dung heaps too, but the majority of Korea is major cities with vibrant cores, a thriving market life, Night life that actually extends in to the night and the ability, nay, the imperative to just go outside and enjoy yourself. with a 20 minute walk of my apartment I can hit up the batting cages, 2 theatres, a petting zoo, a mountain range with buddhist temples and outdoor fitness parks, a major beach, 40 bars, 100 restaurants, 20 karaoke rooms, video golf rooms, driving ranges, outdoor markets and a ton of other stuff, or I can just meet friends at the convenience store, buy some korean vodka for a buck a bottle and drink outside (while playing scrabble).

You can go to a bar all night long and get a subway back the next morning. In Canadian suburbia your choices for what to do at night are pretty damn slim. There are movies, bars that close at 1 or 2 spilling drunks out in the middle of the night faced with the choice of very expensive cab rides or driving home, or just going to someone's house. 

Canada would be a lot better if there could be urban public spaces that aren't malls. But the car has kind of wrecked that chance. How do cities like Winnipeg, Hamilton, Mississauga, Quebec City, Halifax and Ottawa not have rail transit!? Our Nation's Capital can't even get it's act together to build a subway or LRT? If Canada could get over the convenience of too much space and too many cars and actually build up instead of just sprawling out, I imagine that much of the Country could enjoy the culturally interesting and socially active life that it's most major cities currently enjoy(for a hefty price), but the lure of paying so much less to get so damned much more has kind of tainted my Canadian living desires.