# Georgia or Korea? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372 "2005-03-01T01:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![keylessentry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@keylessentry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keylessentry)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/1 "2005-03-01T01:48:05Z")
I’m in the Army and I have the choice to go to either South Korea or Georgia. Could somone knowledgeable fill me in on some pros and cons of both, so that I can make a well-informed decision? ---
**Author:** ![BytopianDream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9de0a6/32.png) [@BytopianDream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BytopianDream)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/2 "2005-03-01T02:19:33Z")
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! _bang bang_ _bang bang_ Com’ own dawn ta Gawja deah! We’sun fix ya up whit sum Mownshiine reeal gud! (Unless you mean former Soviet Georgia, then uhh, you got me.) All kidding aside, is it down south or Way East versus Way West? If you are thinking of gracing the fair state of Georgia, mind the humidity, mosquitos and PT. Atlanta is a mess to get around in, but Georgia ain’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/3 "2005-03-01T03:08:41Z")
South Korea’s in a bad neighbourhood. There’s this crazy guy next door who plays his stereo all night long and threatens to use nuclear weapons and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/4 "2005-03-01T03:09:37Z")
If you’ve never been out of the US, go for Korea. It’s been 28 years since I was there, so I can’t tell you anything about current conditions. But the chance to see a country that is really different shouldn’t be missed. It won’t necessarily be comfie, you understand. But I loved the food, even kimchee. What would your MOS be? That could give us an idea as to where you would be sent. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/5 "2005-03-01T13:36:11Z")
Georgia has nothing worth noticing. I’ve been there. Korea will be something to tell your son about. Travel far, & grow wiser. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/6 "2005-03-01T16:43:33Z")
I think a key factor in your decision should be the relative availabilty of complimentary iced tea refills. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/7 "2005-03-01T18:09:08Z")
My brother was stationed in Korea until a few months ago and seems to really have enjoyed the time there. Living expenses are low and there were quite a few opportunities for interesting side trips to China and other places. He’s been in the Army a long time, though, and is in his 40’s, so his experience might be different than yours. For example, I believe he lived off-base. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/8 "2005-03-01T18:24:22Z")
Ignore **Bosda**. He’s been mixing to much battery acid in his 'shine again. 😃 **keylessentry** we’d love to have ya down here in Jawja but I say go for South Korea. I’m thinking you’ll get more out of the experience of traveling and living in a foreign country for a while. Besides, you’ll have wonderful stories to bore your grandchildren with. Gotta start saving those up ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/9 "2005-03-01T18:46:29Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Ignore **Bosda**. He’s been mixing to much battery acid in his 'shine again. 😃 Ignore **swampbear** , the smoke from Atlanta buring has cut the oxygen flow to his forebrain. That, or the prescence of Jane Fonda in his state has discombobulated his mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/10 "2005-03-01T19:15:29Z")
How interested are you in going to Iraq? My sister-in-law’s brother is in the Army, and I believe his current choice is South Korea or Fairbanks, Alaska. She’s kind of urging him to choose South Korea because apparently it’s a tour they won’t pull you off of - according to her, if he goes to Korea he’ll spend the entire 15 months there and then get new orders. In contrast, if he goes to Fairbanks, there’s a chance that he really won’t spend much time there because he could be called up and sent to Iraq. Something about it being easier to reassign people if they’re in the country as opposed to deployed internationally. Keep in mind that this isn’t any sort of official line, more of an anecdote or FOAF story, but it’s something to keep in mind, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/11 "2005-03-01T19:28:17Z")
Korea. No way you can afford to visit Korea on your own. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/12 "2005-03-01T19:37:11Z")
I’ve been to both, and Korea wins hands down. Then again, I’m Korean and almost all my family lives there. There are some things you might want to consider. Assuming you don’t speak any Korean, does the language barrier bother you at all? Also, currently, especially among the younger generations, Americans are not in as high of favor as they used to be. I doubt you’d run into any problems, but it’s not so pro-American as it was 10 years ago. If I were in your position, I’d go to Korea. Georgia is great and all, but it’s still the US. One of the good things of being in the military is the opportunity to travel around on the gov’t’s dollar. Plus the food is way better than American. But that’s just my not so humble opinion. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/13 "2005-03-01T19:44:57Z")
Korea. Let Uncle Sugar pay for your travel and housing, and get out and meet some interesting people. (Not to say that the people in Georgia aren’t interesting. Some of them can be very interesting. But face it…they’re Merkins.) As others have mentioned, good food, different country, the chance to see Japan and the rest of Asia on the cheap… ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/14 "2005-03-01T20:44:43Z")
Georgia as in the country Stalin was born in or Georgia the state. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/15 "2005-03-01T21:29:27Z")
I lived in South Korea for 6 years and enjoyed my time there, but from my experiences talking with US servicemembers, they don’t get much of a chance to sightsee or experience the country. Besides, Korea has very little to offer the casual tourist–a few historic temples, the national parks, the royal palaces in Seoul, the Korean Folk Village in Suwon, and that’s about it. Even Kyongju, the capital of Unified Shilla and repository of much of Korea’s cultural and historical patrimony, pales in comparsion to Kyoto or Kamakura or Nikko. Korea has nothing as impressive as Himeji Castle or the Meiji Shrine, and China and Taiwan have even more opulent treasures. And Koreans are xenophobic, especially toward US soldiers, extra specially so if you are seen with Korean women. US soldiers can count on rude treatment if they set foot off base, particularly from the drunken middle-aged _ajossis_ or the snotty college crowd who blame America for everything that has ever gone wrong in Korea (I remember getting an earful from a Korean student who said America wanted to keep the two Koreas apart so we could manipulate the domestic rice market, and that’s only one of many, many incidents.) There’s a lot that’s great about Korea–_ondol_ floors, motherly _ajummas_ who fuss over their regulars in the _boonshik jom_, shopping at Namdaemun market, hiking Soraksan, but there’s a lot of difficulty, too, which is why so few soldiers ever venture away from base. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/16 "2005-03-01T22:24:23Z")
A freind of mine was sent to Seoul by his company for six months on temporary assignment, and he said it was one of the most interesting and fun things he’s ever done. Can’t help with any advice about Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/17 "2005-03-02T05:55:28Z")
Nothing wrong with Georgia, and Korea isn’t paradise (I’ve been here almost 11 years, and I agree with everything **gobear** said), but I’d still pick Korea. It isn’t a bad place, and the xenophobia doesn’t dominate your life here, unless you invite it by being arrogant. It’s a free trip overseas, and it’ll probably give you better stories to tell than time spent in Georgia. Then again, my dad was in India and China during WWII, and all the while he never wanted anything except to go back to his little hometown in Texas. (It probably didn’t help that people were dropping bombs all around him, at least in China–but that sort of thing is pretty rare in Korea these days.) Some people simply have no interest in seeing other countries and experiencing other cultures, but if you have the slightest interest in going abroad, choose Korea. All the Armed Forces Network announcements I see here call it the “assignment of choice.” And you know the government wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/18 "2005-03-02T08:11:38Z")
If you got to Georgia (the country), you’ll have prime position for next year’s total eclipse. IIRC Georgia has a nascent wine industry too. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/19 "2005-03-02T12:08:46Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > IIRC Georgia has a nascent wine industry too. Far from nascent - they’ve been making wine practically forever, it’s just that not much of it was exported out of the neighborhood. If you want to know a bit about Georgia, here’s a thread from a Doper who was living there for a while: > **[Ask the guy in Tbilisi, Georgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=211586)** > > Not that Georgia! You know, the one over by the Black Sea. Yeah, that one. I’m working on pipelines for a big oil company. Got any questions about this part of the world? Maybe I can answer them. Maybe I can’t. It’s high on my list of places to go; I know a few people who have been there, and they are all in love with the place, warts and all. (They all rave about the food, by the way - it’s somewhat similar to Turkish food, with a lot of emphasis on grilled meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, and yogurt. Very healthy.) And if you’re a music fan, they also have an _a cappella_ polyphonic singing tradition that goes back 1,000 years. (Check out the Rustavi Choir; you should be able to find a CD anywhere that has a decent international music section.) ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372/20 "2005-03-03T00:54:53Z")
Okay, maybe the OP _is_ talking about Georgia the country. (It would be nice to get some clarification.) In that case, I’d probably choose Georgia, mostly because it’s a bit more off the beaten path. I had a great time in Russia, but never made it to Georgia, and I’ve heard good things about the Black Sea. Georgia is also close to Turkey, which is very high on my list of places to visit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-or-korea/292372.md?page=2)