As globalization continues its culture-morphing march, it’s brandishing a powerful weapon: brunch. In Seoul, once a city so overworked from a six-day work week that tired South Koreans only socialized late in the evening, a Western-style brunch of toasted bagels and blueberry pancakes is the latest way to bond with family and friends, according to The New York Times.

If you go to Seoul today, you’ll find as many as 200 restaurants specializing in brunch, writes Su Hyun Lee. Five years ago, such restaurants catered primarily to Western expatriates and tourists. Today, the South Koreans are joining in. The government officially shortened the work week from six days to five in 2004 and by 2011 all private companies must provide two days off for their employees. As a result, there’s a weekend—and new inns are popping up throughout the country for weekend getaways.

Still, I’m not so sure how I feel about brunching in Seoul, a city with a positively mouthwatering native cuisine. Though I long for omelets and home fries at the Early Girl in Asheville, NC, or a short stack at Al’s Breakfast in Minneapolis’s Dinkytown just as much as any self-respecting American expatriate, I do think I would avoid clearly imported culinary customs as a traveler. Even if I have to suffer Greek breakfasts of grainy coffee, feta and cigarettes (I don’t smoke), I know I’ll be rewarded with a divine meal of wine-marinated cuttlefish later in the day.

Related on World Hum:
* Culinary Explorer: Getting to Know a Culture by Creating its Cuisine
* Extreme Eating in East Berlin With the Stasi

Related on TravelChannel:
* Anthony Bourdain’s Guide to Korea

Photo by Presta, via Flickr (Creative Commons)