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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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 Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject: No vegetarians please |
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Unfortunately, candidates must not be a vegetarian due to Japanese life style. |
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riley
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: where creditors can find me
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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| It is badly worded, but what I think they meant was that it's impossible to be a vegetarian there. I have limited experience but a coworker who lived in Japan, said that everything has meat, even the broth in the soup is fish based. I have no idea on the accuracy of this, so any confirmation? |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| riley wrote: |
| It is badly worded, but what I think they meant was that it's impossible to be a vegetarian there. I have limited experience but a coworker who lived in Japan, said that everything has meat, even the broth in the soup is fish based. I have no idea on the accuracy of this, so any confirmation? |
Oh I know. I lived there for two years. But I think they might mean it (I have seen the Japanese actually say no black people, so this wouldn't be too surprising). Vegetarians don't do so well there, as they going grounded in the belief from tv that Japan is a vegetarian's heaven, when it is the exact opposite. And boy, at first they aren't happy, and they tend to get more angry each week about it. I don't feel sorry though, they should have looked into it. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| it's the same in Korea though. There's anchovies in the kimchi even. I've given up on Korean food, and just cook for myself now. |
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riley
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: where creditors can find me
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Vegetarians don't do so well there, as they going grounded in the belief from tv that Japan is a vegetarian's heaven, when it is the exact opposite. And boy, at first they aren't happy, and they tend to get more angry each week about it |
 Ha, ha, ha!
That sounds like vegetarians here. Some adapt and some quit halfway through their contracts. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Had a co-worker who was a vegetarian. He had some serious issues with his temper, which is weird as he was really into yoga. I think food is critical to our enjoyment of a culture and country and in Japan and in Korea as well, vegetarians tend to have a tough time with the food. Which leads to other issues and may lead to angry outbursts. |
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Homer
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Had a co-worker who was a vegetarian. He had some serious issues with his temper, which is weird as he was really into yoga. I think food is critical to our enjoyment of a culture and country and in Japan and in Korea as well, vegetarians tend to have a tough time with the food. Which leads to other issues and may lead to angry outbursts. |
I agree with the food being part of the enjoyment of life in a different country.
Some vegetarians I know have had a rough go of it here. you gotta realize that being a vegetarian is a choice you make....that choice imposes no restrictions on others or on other nations.
If a vegetarian chooses to go to a country where the food is not vegetarian or is very limited in that category well thats a choice ya gotta live with no? |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Homer wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Had a co-worker who was a vegetarian. He had some serious issues with his temper, which is weird as he was really into yoga. I think food is critical to our enjoyment of a culture and country and in Japan and in Korea as well, vegetarians tend to have a tough time with the food. Which leads to other issues and may lead to angry outbursts. |
I agree with the food being part of the enjoyment of life in a different country.
Some vegetarians I know have had a rough go of it here. you gotta realize that being a vegetarian is a choice you make....that choice imposes no restrictions on others or on other nations.
If a vegetarian chooses to go to a country where the food is not vegetarian or is very limited in that category well thats a choice ya gotta live with no? |
yep. Its too bad that the angry outbursts are directed at us meat lovers  |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 12:37 am Post subject: |
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| laogaiguk wrote: |
| Vegetarians don't do so well there, as they going (<--go in?) grounded in the belief from tv that Japan is a vegetarian's heaven, when it is the exact opposite. And boy, at first they aren't happy, and they tend to get more angry each week about it. I don't feel sorry though, they should have looked into it. |
And this is what continues to surprise me. Many very intelligent foreigners -- strict vegetarians and the sort of people who'd presumably look carefully into this before coming, since it's so important to them -- will get here and then express amazement and dismay at what they find. Has Western media so pulled the wool over their eyes, that the Far East is some "land of the gentle lotus-eaters" with several vegetarian restaurants in every large city? |
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bellum99
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: don't need to know
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 3:03 am Post subject: |
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| To be honest the whole vegetarian idea seems a little strange. I understand limiting the amount of meat and controlling the diet..but to be so strict that they develop problems in daily living seems stupid. Everything in moderation seems logical and healthier. |
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pet lover
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: not in Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| I'm vegan and it causes no problems with my daily living. Myr broken wrist, on the other hand (wish it really WAS on the other hand) is quite troublesome. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 3:53 am Post subject: |
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| bellum99 wrote: |
| To be honest the whole vegetarian idea seems a little strange. I understand limiting the amount of meat and controlling the diet..but to be so strict that they develop problems in daily living seems stupid. Everything in moderation seems logical and healthier. |
I can appreciate that for many vegetarians/vegans, "moderation" entails serious compromises that they're just not prepared to make. And I wouldn't presume to tell them how to prioritise their values, or which ones can be sacrificed for the sake of convenience, simplicity of daily life, social decorum, or just getting on with the natives. (And I hope this thread does not develop into another debate of the pros & cons of vegetarianism)
My only interest here concerns the generally held assumptions that so many Westerners (vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike) continue to make about Asian societies & cuisine. Where do those views and expectations come from? What fuels them? How come they're so ingrained, and why so persistent in this age of the internet and instant information?
I suppose whoever you are and wherever you're going overseas, your destination will never completely conform to your preconceptions. And thank goodness for that. We need some surprises, or else why go? What makes Western vegetarians interesting is that the reality gap -- that which they expect and that which they find -- is so chasmic at times.
For many, the thinking before they get here is simply, "They got lots of Buddhists over there. I bet a good-sized percentage of the population is vegetarian. I'll like it there. Won't be seen as such a freak. Dining in or out will be, if anything, easier and more fun than it is here in the Land of the Golden Arches. I bet there'll be SEVERAL vegetarian restaurants right around my apartment, yep, yo, sure".
Now, for a lax, lazy, on-again/off-again, opportunistic vegetarian-wannabe like myself, I've got no major complaints about Korea. However, if it were more important to me and I were a strict, full-time vegetarian, I'd have serious problems, not the least of which would be interference with my social life and the extra time & trouble -- two things I cannot afford. (Then again, if I were a devout vegan/vegetarian, I would have done my frickin' homework before deciding on Korea or wherever.) |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| I was assured by my recruiter actually that Korea wouldn't be a problem for vegetarians- one of the very few lies she told me, and I think that was out of ignorance about being vegetarian more than anything. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| jinju wrote: |
| Had a co-worker who was a vegetarian. He had some serious issues with his temper, which is weird as he was really into yoga. I think food is critical to our enjoyment of a culture and country and in Japan and in Korea as well, vegetarians tend to have a tough time with the food. Which leads to other issues and may lead to angry outbursts. |
My observation is most of the vegetarians I know will talk your ear off about how unhealthy meat is... however they'll tell you this while smoking and sucking back their third shot of whiskey... |
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Demonicat
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| What's wrong with good ol' kimchi kimbap or bibimbob? I personally am a vegetarian, not a vegan, so I'll eat the hell out of fish and eggs- which are in high supply in korea. |
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