Korean Job Discussion Forums

[laogaiguk]

[peppermint]

Oh what I'd give to find Sri Lankan food in Seoul....

[red dog]

Really? Is Sri Lankan food anything like Indian food? I love Indian food, and of course I'm grateful to that country for introducing vegetarianism to the rest of the world, but when I actually went to Bombay a few years ago I found it extremely trying. Much more so than Seoul, definitely. Yes, there were a lot more veg choices everywhere, but I wouldn't describe many of them as "healthy," and the last thing I wanted to do was prepare anything in a kitchen where I had to filter all the water before using it. And I had a lot of trouble getting restaurants to understand that I didn't want dairy products in my food. ... Even though English is one of the official languages there, many people had trouble understanding my North American accent and a lot of people (such as jeepney drivers) didn't speak much English at all. The filth, the crowds, the noise, the aggressive begging ... it was all very overwhelming.

OK, I was only there for a few weeks and didn't get anywhere else in the country. I'm not saying it was all bad, and in some ways it was a nice change from Seoul, but overall it was much more stressful.

That's a great point about Gandhi. ... I'm sure that directly or indirectly, he influenced many of us to respect animals and stop supporting violence against them. Without him there would probably be a lot fewer vegetarians in the West, and in the rest of the world.

[schwa]

Indeed, eating veggie in Sri Lanka is easy & pleasant. Multipage menus & kitchens happy to customize. Or just ordering vegetable curry brought a platter of rice (non-sticky, yay!) & an array of sidedishes. Very fresh local produce. Interesting eating style -- mush it all together with your fingers & just stuff it in. Yeh, the smells & flavors of India.

The culture has the look & flavor of India too but without the intensity. I'm just home from there & it was a very refreshing getaway. Recommendable for lots of reasons.

[memorabilis]

Most kitchens in India will have a water filter in them. All you have to do is press the button. And if you're boiling the water anyways, there is little need to worry.

Bombay is probably not the best experience for the newly initiated. Try going to a place like Coorg - it's paradise. Coffee estates in the mountain rainforests of the western Ghats. Absolutely breathtaking.

[igotthisguitar]

This employer must be working with the MEATRIX!

http://www.freerangegraphics.com/html/gallery/flash_movies.html

[cranura]

Oh boy! What a delight to read this thread and I have therefor chosen this as my first post.

I am a lifelong vegan; have lived in and visited most of the countries on the planet. I have never had a problem finding decent food befitting my ilk and find some of the postings rib tickling. The two percent or so population of our beings who are vegan/vegetarian live just fine without a problem in virtually all countries except perhaps the land of the Inuit (lol) or places where alternatives to a strict carnivore diet are not viable.

As to Japan and Korea (I was a child in both countries in the early 50s) I, like most there at the time, did just fine on tofu, seaweed and vegetables, thank you, as can anyone today. Vegetarianism (and the strict form, veganism) is a 2000 (plus) year old diet in most cultures with a Buddhist tradition (and the temples in Japan, Korea and China) still serve a meal that is animal free). In addition, specifically in Korea, you can find kimchi without fish sauce and if not at your local market befriend your fellow vegetarians and you can be sure their grandmother doesn't use fish sauce!

Heads up to vegans in India and Sri Lanka -- many people include dried fish (very small shavings indeed) in their sambols or curries for flavor (similar to using fish in kimchi or chicken/fish broth in soups or lard for frying in other cultures) and they are considered "spices" by some folk (the lacto-vegetarians of western India even joke while they eat fish, calling it the vegetable of the sea). Ghandi was a lacto-vegetarian as he enjoyed his large glass of milk every morning. Many strict monks can be caught eating butter cake or requesting meat at a death anniversary ceremony.

Most vegetarians I know do not berate meat eaters (excusing some of the x-generation and their proactive stances including spraying furs with paint and picketing hamburger joints); we are happy with our choices and they are usually based on many reasons that omnivores do not understand; e.g., religious, nutritional, ethical, environmental, social, spiritual, physiological, psychological and/or aesthetic. I have never encountered ridicule for my veganism (even while in Montana where even finding a salad was difficult or in the great cheese/butter cultures of Europe, outside of the standard lapin laughter) and most people respect my choices when understanding the reasons above.

It is precisely for those reasons that as an animal species we have nearly eliminated the consumption of human flesh whether for food or ritual. What will the future bring?

If we (vegetarians) accidentally eat something with a face or something that has rendered down animal bones are we less of a vegetarian? If you are a Christian and you sin against your religious tenets are you not a Christian? If you are a Muslim and you sketch a drawing of Mohammud are you not a Muslim? Of course not. We all must live in and with our own temples and treat them accordingly. It is indeed sometimes difficult but that is my concern -- for example over the last 20 years or so in my birth country, the huge and powerful dairy industry has managed to include milk biproducts in almost all breads, cookies, crackers and the like. So what to do -- only eat Saltines in the USA! When I was in elementary school in Missouri I had to represent a "food group" -- milk and milk products to my horror! At least that food group no longer exists in the nutritional pyramid!!

I am content here in Korea, as I have been everywhere with my fellow species, and am privileged and happy to know that tomorrow, yet another fellow omnivore Korean co-teacher will surprise me with his friend's mother's vegan kimchi or some nondairy chocolate she found on a Seoul trip or Pulmone's vegan sausage that I can't find in my little town.

So to go back to the original posting and to dutifully follow the thread; vegetarians live quite well in Japan and the posting is just ignorance or prejudice or fear. For the vegetarian Japanese teacher has no problem, as do I with my cafeteria in my high school in Gyeongsangnam-do, in saying, "I don't eat meat or animal products." And I so for my lunch, I am always given my tofu and seaweed as has been my want for over a half a century!

[JongnoGuru]

Please increase font size. I can barely read that.

[cranura]

[endofthewor1d]

[pet lover]

Veg*ns who know how to cook and/or prepare their own food have little difficulty. Veg*ans who cannot cook and plan to rely on restaurants might be in for a world of trouble.

[red dog]

Actually I eat out quite a bit, but wherever I am I usually manage to find a handful of veg-friendly restaurants that understand what I need. Unfortunately I did make some mistakes in Korea, but hopefully I'll learn from them and do a lot more of my own cooking when I'm in Japan. And thanks for the info, Cranura -- it's really cool to meet a lifelong vegan here at Dave's.

[Cheonmunka]

Did you know, Hitler was a vegetarian. In my mind one can now not adequately come from a higher moral aesthetic ground to support their vegetarianism nor languish in their pride of being more humane than others because of it.
From a personal health perspective perhaps, but vegetarians can certainly not claim nor pretend to be better people because they don't eat meat.

[Dawn]

[Cheonmunka]

I was watching a movie the other day and a woman had said that. I guess she was being facetious.
I'm wrong, you're right. I'm stupid meat eater.