i look forward to hearing about vegan places you shop at and eat at so that i too can track them down and try them!

word of caution….most koreans i meet here have no concept of why a rational person would be a vegan. this, of course, is understandable because the bulk of their diet is made from meat and things from the sea. i’ve been tricked more than once into eating seafood (good things i don’t have allergies!). they think i’m a strange bird but that’s okay with me.

And I also empathize with people judging you because you’re vegan. People always feel uncomfortable talking about food around you, and especially if they are kind and want to offer food and before I decline they say, “Oh wait, you can’t eat that…” I just have to smile and say, “No thanks.” It’s not that we can’t, we CHOOSE not to eat animals and their byproducts. It’s really liberating when you look at it that way.

Online I usually self-identify as “mostly white” because of my mainstream upbringing — IRL I don’t look especially Asian, so I get treated with so much white privilege it seems disingenuous to identify as a POC. But it’s something I have trouble deciding. What category to fit into, I mean, as someone who is biracial, but was raised “white” (white family, white school, white city, etc)

So in a place like Ireland, I’m Asian because they don’t get a lot of Asians over there. But in America, I’m white, because even white people don’t think of me as a “real” POC.

But anyway, SerenityinSeoul your comment about being regarded as not a “real” Korean by others interests me. It’s quite different from the experience I had. See, at the university where I did my undergrad, I’d be invited to go somewhere or hang out, and I’d just be talked to by Korean students a heck of a lot more than the white folks were. They could usually tell I was a mix, and as soon as I said it was Korean they were very friendly to me. This always baffled me; I always felt like a bit of an imposter if I hung out with them, because I had nothing more in common with them than the white students did, except for Korean blood. But then I never did get very close to that community; I’m sure if I had I would have experienced something more like what you did. There’s definitely a weird in-between place for biracial folks. And adoptees.

So where do biracial folks, or adoptees, or whomever outside the easy categories fit? Personally I think it’s to each her own. I hope you have a good time in Korea. And if you learn any awesome vegan recipes, please do share!

Anyway to address what you said in your comment Johanna, yes indeed my validity as being a “real” Korean is challenged constantly. Not having grown up there, or with Korean parents at the very least, and most definitely without exposure to the language, people often view me as an imposter (and so many of the rest of us Korean adoptees – KADs.) Come to think of it, one of the first ways many KADs begin to feel any connection to anything Korean is through the food – by taking a chance and trying the local Korean restaurant they heard about. The ingredients added to meat in Korean dishes is admittedly delightful (only been vegan since 2002, so I still remember the taste….) but the key for me is that it’s the INGREDIENTS. When people are like “How can you survive without bulgogi!?” (most popular beef dish) I just say, I can add those same ingredients to tofu or mock duck and it still tastes great.

Anyway I’m rambling (delirium from packing all week), but my point is that yep I am challenged also and I think transracial, biracial, and/or multiracial folks especially are constantly battling with being unwillingly placed in categories to make it *easier* for others. BLAH.

Though I am not an adoptee, I feel like I’ve encountered some of the same “you can’t have an authentic experience w/our culture if you don’t eat animal products!” as a half-Filipina. I already feel like my validity as a “real” member of the Filipino community is challenged (something I’m guessing that may come up for Korean adoptees sometimes, although I could be totally wrong) because I’m only half (while simultaneously I get compliments on my light skin & stuff — barf), & then my “weird” diet on top of it, sigh.

Best of luck on your trip. Once you get settled, I’m sure we’d all love to hear more about it here on this blog if inspiration strikes!!

Way to define yourself, because you are the best suited to do so!