Lexie answers “Would Korean people really react to...”

Jen asked this question about The Vegetarian:

Would Korean people really react to someone becoming a vegetarian as if it were unhealthy and incredibly weird?

Lexie I live in Korea and came here as a vegetarian. I work in the public school system and we eat the cafeteria food together. At first I would pack my own…moreI live in Korea and came here as a vegetarian. I work in the public school system and we eat the cafeteria food together. At first I would pack my own food and I was always being bombared with questions.

Yes, my Korean co-workers were really concerned about my health. They just thought it was curious of me to intentionally make the choice to avoid eating a whole food group. Everytime I got sick they would imply it was in part due to my poor diet choices!

Also, food sharing is such a big part of Korean culture! In my experience I felt that if everyone was eating from the same dish, it was considered slightly rude to reject it. This made dinner outings quite difficult when I was the only vegetarian at a table! One co-teacher had told me that to reject a meal is to reject an offer of friendship.

Of course there is the Buddhist population and they have some lovely vegetarian restaurants, however they usually serve "temple food" rather than modern vegetarian creations. They also serve vegetarian meals at the temples.

This book takes it to another extreme of course, but I personally did find it kind of comical haha just because of how meat loving Koreans tend to be. :)(less)

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