Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Bobster]

As travelers, one of the important (and wonderful) parts of experiencing a new culture is to sample and try to appreciate a local cuisine on its own merits � but vegetarianism often involves imposing standards and values upon a culture that are seldom found within it. We have some obligation, if only to ourselves, try to understand as much as possible about the places we live and the folkways practiced by people, as well as the reasons (if any) such customs came about.

Moreover, if one imposes an ethical standard upon a nation or a culture that has been brought in from outside, in many cases this will lead to an inevitably negative image of that place and the people who live there, which might ultimately lead to the demonizing and vilifying of vast numbers of people, nearly always without valid justification. Therefore, it's a thought process that is unkind, and to be avoided.

Moreover, for the individual there will be a tendency to notice certain aspects of life more than others, and this sort of preferential perception is often influenced by the values and ethics taught in one�s home culture, so the result will be a skewed vision life in the new place, one in which categories of right and wrong behavior are constantly awarded, and which will set up barriers to clarity. Vegetarianism, of course, represents one such value system that often results in condemnation or approbation, and within such a value system there lies great difficulty in breaking through and seeing existence as something that merely is, without the necessity of deciding on categories of approval or disapproval.

There are limits to the usefulness of this sort of relativism, of course � some things are simply bad, at any time and in any place. Vegetarianism does, however, represent a value system that is often at odds with the milieu surrounding the individual, and more often than not, it will very likely produce the sort of skewed perceptions referred to here.

This, very often, means that vegetarianism is a bad choice for a traveler.


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Boilerplate disclaimer: The Bobster in no way wants to dissuade anyone from a life of legumes and soy products. There are many ways to be happy. I�m submitting these propositions only tangentially as expression of personal opinion, but rather more as discussion fodder. Food for thought, if you get my drift.