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> > Now that I've gotten going on this stuff, I might as well follow through on the thought. Has anyone else ever wondered about the arbitrary labelling of "The West" and "The East"? I mean, they're basically on opposite sides of the world, so why does the Pacific Ocean get the pleasure of being "The Impassable Barrier" at which we split the plant apart when making our flat maps? I mean, heck, Russia and Alaska almost touch in the Pacific Ocean (and at one time, they did) so why not split things up where it's a bit easier, in the Atlantic? I think it's all because of Greenland. You know, it's not like there's anything there... There are probably more people living within a ten-block radius of me than there are in all of Greenland. I say we just start bombing the coastlines until it all falls into the sea and then redraw all of our maps in a more logical fashion. Who's with me?
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> I've got this huge map on my wall of the world, and it's split in the Atlantic. I'd never seen a map that is until it, so it fascinates me. (Well, most maps do, but..) It's really fun to be able so see the world from that view, and being able to look at distances and routes all on one page. Well, all on one wall, I guess. It's big.
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> -flyin"heard of Ulithi? what about Pulusuk? Ngatic?"gcats, Hopeful World Traveler

If you think that's bad, look at a map of the USA. Kids grow up thinking that Alaska and Hawaii are in little boxes off the coast of California. Just to make the confusion complete, they make them a different scale from the other 48 states. If Puerto Rico ever becomes a state, they will put it in a box in the Gulf of Mexico. And they'll change the scale to insure that nobody will get a clue as to its size. But that's the United States for you. No geographical education available.

As for the world map, I recommend a globe. You have to remember that the terms east and west are directions while East and West (proper nouns) are regions. I live in the South but if I was in Cuba, I'd have to go north to get there. If I was in Chicago and I wanted to see the East, I would go east, but if I was in Europe I would go west to see the East. If I was in Western Europe, I would have the option of going east to see the East, but that East wouldn't be in America.
Howard