Korean Job Discussion Forums

[red dog]

[Rteacher]

I'm bumping this for the benefit of vegetarian newcomers looking for information on how to survive in Korea without eating meat or fish (or eggs...)

The www.vegetariankorea.org site run by "skinsk05" is very good for covering the whole country.

Also PM Veggie Club prez "Hater Depot" to get on the email list for gatherings and stuff around Seoul ...

[Hater Depot]

Welcome back, R.

[Rteacher]

This thread contains a lot of useful info for vegetarians in Korea, so I'll bump it occasionally and link it to the current Seoul Vegeterian Club (aka Veggie Club) thread:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=76024

Club president "Hater Depot" has scheduled a meeting at a tofu restaurnt in Anyang this weekend, and anyone interested can vote for which day - Saturday or Sunday - they'd prefer to meet on...

[Flash Ipanema]

I'm not a vegetarian but my sister is, so I've gotten used to a steady supply of Morningstar Farms products. Do they sell these in Korea, or even a similar product? I'm particularly fond of the chik patties, sausage patties and chili.

I'm not a big meat eater and typically only eat meat in restaurants (I don't cook) where I can trust the quality of meat is high, so I've decided my two options in Korea are either go vegetarian or start getting a lot less picky about what I eat. I'm anticipating a combination of the two: try to order food without meat, but if something sneaks in, acknowledge that if other people can eat something without getting sick I'll deal with it. As long as it tastes good.

[Rteacher]

Costco used to import both Morningstar veggie burgers and Gardenburgers, but they stopped carrying them a couple years ago. They also supplied them to smaller "foreign" oriente stores like Hannam Supermarket. Reportedly, they cited "lack of demand" as the reason - so maybe if they get enough requests - especially from their own members - they'll resume carrying those and other vegetarian products...

The best place I know of to get various fake (or faux) meat products is the SM Ching hai vegetarian (buffet) restaurant, which has a good selection of frozen fake meats (but no veggie burgers per se...)

You can find out how to get there by skimming through this thread (directions have been given a few times...) or by checking the following sites that give vegetarian info about Korea:

www.vegetariankorea.org (run by "skinsk05")

or the site run by Seoul Veggie Club pres, "Hater Depot":
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Portal:Vegetarianism

[Rteacher]

I think I'll bump this thread whenever there's a new Seoul Vegetarian club gathering.

"Kermo", the current club president, mainly organizes events via emails to members (PM her to get on the mailing list) the Facebook "Seoul Veggie Club" group site, a Seoul Vegetarian Club site on wordpress.com
(http://seoulveggieclub.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/march-potluck-and-april-restaurants/#comment-256)

- and a sporadically recurring thread in the "Off-Topic" forum.

The advantage of reviving this thread is that it contains a lot of useful information for vegetarian expats in Korea (and it records some of the history of the the Seoul Veggie club ...)

Anyway, the next gathering is scheduled for this Saturday at Petras in Itaewon - 6:30 pm. Here's the link to "kermo's" thread for more details:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=115160

[Rteacher]

There's a Seoul Veggie Club picnic scheduled for this Sunday, June 1, in Yongsan Park at 2pm.

Everyone's welcome - just bring some vegetarian food, drink, snacks (or useful picnic items like paper plates, forks, spoons, bottled water.)

More details can be found here:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=120922

and here:
http://seoulveggieclub.wordpress.com/

[chossmonkey]

cool, skinsk with www.vegetariankorea.com also posts at the korea on the rocks forum for any of you who happen to be veg and a climber this site is a great resource.

i haven't eaten any meat for two years, but i still don't call myself a veg. i prefer the word oportunivore. the las meat i actually ate was dog soup in seoul back in spring '06. yeah, i know i'm a bad person. i just don't see much difference between dog and other forms of meet.

right now i'm debating if i will eat squid and fish when i move to busan in about a month. it just seems like i'll really be limiting myself, but maybe i'm wrong. i have problems with overfishing, but i don't want to seem like i'm rejecting the culture when i'm there.

i still have a month to think about this one. maybe even just fish with co workers or korean friends. we'll see. any ideas on how hard this will be in busan? i really don't want to pass up any kim chi, and i used to love dried squid.

for those of you that think vegatarianism is unballanced, weak, unhealthy or whatever your skewed perception is. come rock climbing with me, and i'll make your meat eating @ss feel very, very weak.

my brother's even stronger, he has been a vegan (yes it's true, no one invites him over for dinner) for 2 years, been veg for 5, and he can pull down one arm pull ups! granted he's young, short, and only weighs a buck ten, but still, how many meat eaters do you know that can do that? there is more than one way to have a healthy diet.

[Rteacher]

The link in the last post (vegetariankorea.com) is no longer any good.
www.vegetariankorea.org is still functional, however, and seems to be the most comprehensive listing.

Re Seoul Veggie Club news, although "kermo" is gone for a month or so, she's scheduled the next gathering for this Sunday (2pm) at a (hopefully) vegetarian-friendly Italian restaurant in Itaewon (between the Hamilton and Itaewon Hotels)

Anyway, "kermo" said she noticed that they had a good selection of apparently vegetarian pizzas (though strict vegetarians and vegans will probably need to investigate further.)

Their website wasn't particularly helpful (since it didn't list their pizzas)
www.sortinos-seoul.com/villa/011_main/011_index.asp

Sunday, July 6th 2:00
Villa Sortino Ristorante

By Subway
Come out of Exit #2 Itaewon Station, Line 6 Brown and walk 100M, past the GS gas station on the right and
before the next lights at the top of the Hannam-dong hill.

(Actually, these directions may be confusing because I think it's on the same side of the street as the Hamilton Hotel - so walking towards Itaewon Hotel, I don't see how one passes the GS gas station "on the right" unless they mean the other side of the street...)

[Rteacher]

I'll bump it in case any newcomers are interested in the vegetarian info.

I'm not sure I'll be attending this Sunday or not (though I'm curious to see their pizza menu)

I doubt that most of their pasta items are suitable for vegetarians who try to avoid eggs (along with any kind of meat or fish.)

[globalgirlk]

I'll keep ya'll in mind when I go over.

[Rteacher]

PM "kermo" (when you can) to get on the mailing list.

Here's a link to "kermo's" latest "Seoul Veggie Club" thread:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=127821

[summer33ny]

Any vegetarians/vegans living in other areas besides Seoul?

Anyone familiar with Yangpyung region? Suppossedly it has the largest concentration of organic farmers in Korea.

[Rteacher]

I'd consider Yangpyeong to be in the greater Seoul area, since there's even a Yangpyeong station on the subway line.

I live in a rural area twice as far from Seoul (an hour-and-a-half bus to the East Seoul bus terminal in Gangbyeon)

I think that most expat teachers working out in the sticks come into whatever big city is within reach on the weekends.

Probably lots of people join clubs or classes in Seoul and end up finding other teachers with similar interests who happen to live near them.

The www.vegetariankorea.org site also lists vegetarian restaurants all over Korea.