Korean Job Discussion Forums

Samantha · Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Location: Jinan-dong Hwaseong

Some shellfish and other ocean products like seaweed/kelp contain high levels sulfer which can cause deadly reactions in some people as well. Fish oil can also trigger massive migraines.

I just tell them that I don't eat anything that comes from the ocean and that I can't eat spicy food as it doesn't agree with me/causes me digestion problems, which is true. I shouldn't need to keep a bottle of pepto with me for dinner. I occasionally have to remind them but most of my friends coworkers know that I'm a red meat/poultry person, not fish and spice.

chris_J2 · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Location: From Brisbane, Au.

My Aunt is genuinely allergic to seafood, & can't eat crab & shrimp, although she can eat oysters.

She breaks out in a rash, if there is even a small quantity of seafood in a meal. Luckily for me, I have no such allergy, & devour huge quantities of shrimp & crab every chance I get!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafood_allergy

A woman died in Brisbane recently, after eating shrimp / prawns in a restaurant meal. (Not my Aunt, fortunately.) The allergy is real.

NightSky · Joined: 19 Apr 2005

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

Oh yeah, and Koreans always listen the first time, and never keep insisting, and never think bad of you for not eating it...etc.

browneyedgirl · Joined: 17 Jul 2007

I�m allergic to anything that looks gross. Laughing

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

in my experience, someone who thinks bad of me for not liking something (and not being afraid to say it) is probably not a person i am likely to get along with anyway... for me, trying to rationalize likes and dislikes is fruitless, so it's the best way to get someone off of your back about it!

no excuses, no reasons, no explanations, no apologies: just say 'i don't like it', and stick to it!

Pligganease · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: The deep south...

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

merrilee · Joined: 13 May 2003 Location: South Korea

I use this excuse as well, although it is partially true, and it only happens to me in Korea. I can eat seafood in other countries with no problems, but when I eat fish here, I get a terrible rash. When I eat shrimp here, my heart starts racing, and I throw up within an hour. I figure there must be a lot of toxins infesting the Korean waters.

genezorm · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Mokpo

i am allergic to anything i didn't eat or see in my hometown

ultra · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 6:20 am Post subject:

I'm on a C food diet. If I C food I eat it.

Norith · Joined: 02 Nov 2007

I'm allergic to shellfish. If any of it enters my mouth, I immediately go into anaphylaxis. I carry an epi-pen with me (a shot of epinephrine, which is processed into the body like adrenaline), but it's not enough to save my life. If I have a reaction here in little-town Korea, I've got to hope that the doctor will know what to give me to stay off the allergy. I've eaten out exactly 4 times in Korea, and I plan on continuing to cook just about every meal for myself.

Most people's food allergies are not really allergies though. Shellfish allergies are almost always real, but asides from the occasional wheat, peanut, and sesame allergy, most of it is just a physical intolerance, like lactose intolerance.