Vegging Out in South Korea

So you've probably noticed by now that I like to talk about food. A lot. You should have also noticed that Danny and I have been frequenting vegetarian and vegan restaurants almost every weekend in the past few months. Back in college I probably ate a near-vegan diet when I cooked my own food in my apartment. However, when I first got to Korea, I ate meat because it is pretty much unavoidable in most places here. About 3 months into eating this way, I decided I wanted to try to avoid animal products again. I have read several life-changing book since I've been here that really influenced me to change my diet again. The first, called "The China Study," was recommended to me by 3 guys that I work with. The author is one of the most prominent nutrition scientists in the world, and he's been practicing for nearly 40 years. He talks about the strong link between diet and common diseases. He advocates a whole-foods plant-based diet to prevent disease. This was by far one of the best books I've ever read and I have been constantly talking about it. The second book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," I finally finished after starting it in college. This book, by famous food writer Michael Pollan, exposes the health and environmental consequences that the American food industry is placing on us. He doesn't advocate any specific diet, and Pollan himself eats meat, fish, dairy...basically anything so long as it's natural and healthy. The most recent book I'm reading is called "Living Vegan for Dummies." It's written by Alexandra Jamieson, a famous nutritionist, vegan gourmet chef, and wife of the guy who starred in the documentary "Supersize Me." Her book makes a vegan lifestyle easy to adapt to and provides recipes that sound so delicious. I'm trying to slowly transition to a vegan diet, which rules out all animal products. So that means no meat, no fish, no cheese, no milk, no butter, no eggs, no ice cream. You're probably wondering "what can she eat?" The beauty of a vegan diet is that most people who follow it probably eat more varied and much healthier than other people. I can eat tons of fruit, veggies, whole-grains, beans, nuts, and more. Oh and those "strange" yet tasty things like tofu, seitan, tempeh, miso, etc. I call it a vegan "diet," but it's not a diet in your typical sense. It's a long-term lifestyle, and it's based on health and environmental concerns. I'm excited to go home now and try some vegan recipes. I'm not sure if eating vegan at home will be easier or more difficult than in Korea. Here it's pretty easy because I only share my apartment kitchen with Danny, and he's trying to eat like me too. So we only buy vegan items when food shopping. However, it's difficult to ask for things veganized when eating out because of the language barrier. So I still get eggs in my dolsot bibimbap and kimbap. I'm thinking of starting another blog when I get home from Korea. Can you guess what the topic of this one will be?