South Korea is not so vegetarian-friendly. I was aware of this coming over here, but I didn't quite realize how vegetarian unfriendly it was. Last weekend was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, so I had a four day weekend. On Sunday (the actual day of Chuseok), my friends Chrissy, Ryan and I attempted to go out to dinner. A lot of places were closed because of the holiday, but some were starting to open up as it got later. We walked out of five restaurants because they didn't have any vegetarian dishes. At the restaurant we did go to, I ended up just eating rice and kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage that is served at every meal). On Wednesday Ryan and I went out to dinner and we walked out of one restaurant before we gave up and got cheese nachos at an American style bar. I feel a little bad for people who hang out with me because it's difficult to find food.
At school I eat lunch in the cafeteria. All of the teachers think I am on a diet because they don't think I eat enough. Peter (my co-teacher) keeps telling me I need energy to teach the students. I've tried explaining to him the rationale behind my vegetarianism, but I guess it doesn't translate. Overall the food is very good at school (what I do eat), so I'm not ready to start brown-bagging it yet.
There is one ray of hope for me in the Korean cuisine: bimibap. It is a vegetarian dish made of rice, seaweed, vegetables, egg, and hot sauce. It is delicious. But I have to pace myself, because I don't want to be sick of it in a month. Here's a picture of the gloriousness:
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