korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 9

getting ready to leave for seoul for the day!!! 

but here's yesterday...

the pineapple was GLORIOUS! and chia cereal and salad with *roasted* seaweed...

 at lunch i was super excited to see carrots and cucumbers... i was just commenting on how i was missing carrots especially since i think i'm getting pale while i'm here. anyways... so then my head chef friend comes up and sees what i'm eating. i decide to show him my "vegan passport" again so he can see, in korean, what i eat and don't eat (though technically i don't eat the white rice in the cafeteria so that must have been confusing for him) so then he is worried that all the people i work with are strict veg like me and they have been eating all these random animals this whole time but i explain it's just me but i have come before so i know what to expect and i brought food. well, he's not convinced so i'm to give him a list of things i do eat on monday and he said he can prepare some things for me? super curious. he ended up bringing out warm tofu and a spicy soy sauce with veggies and nuts for me. my friend ate 1/3 of it but there was still a lot and i wasn't hungry for the rest of the day! gah. 

i made some quinoa in my room and i'm curious about that. kept it in my "fridge" (near the window sill) to keep for this morning. so we'll see how that is!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 8

breakfast... this *roasted* seaweed is becoming a habit! sliced bananas on my plain chia/hemp/buckwheat cereal is lovely! and an orange! YAY!

 banana i saved from breakfast and oh goodness am i grateful for the sprouted almond croutons i brought (from organic lives)... this lunch would have been soooo sad without them!

 and wow, dinner would have been so sad as well! i'm going to make some chickpea miso soup for myself now... 

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 7

breakfast... *roasted* seaweed again atop some salad... persimmon (YES!!!) with chia cereal. YAH!

 i scored an orange yesterday that i saved for lunch. salad with rawmesan on top with dulse and flax crackers i made back home on the side! (crackers were simply soaked flax seed and ground flax, ginger and red onion). my chef friend was concerned that i didn't take any of the white rice. i brought some brown rice but i'm not sure how to go about that. i can't make that in a cup in my room but i also can't see myself asking someone to make it for me. so really not sure why i brought it!!!

 there were potatoes tonight at dinner and i couldn't resist. then they came out with french fries. i had maybe 3 though because the last time i remember eating fried food before summer, i was sick all night! oh, also have to say that these oranges were AMAZING.

cafeteria success!

i don't know what the point of this blog is REALLY but maybe just to remind myself of what works and what doesn't when travelling to places that aren't so vegan (and raw!) friendly.

before this trip (this is my 6th time to korea!), i dehydrated a bunch of organic fruit and nuts which have been SO amazing... look at this... i did apples and bananas and PERSIMMONS. JOY!!! i also did some kiwi which was pretty fun!

 and okay.. if you are going to be somewhere for awhile, get to know the people who make the food and know about it! my head chef friend hooked me up with this fruit bowl this morning which was so amazing (i gave the juice to my friend). he also has been serving up more vegan-friendly dishes than just the usual iceberg lettuce salad this camp and i am SO GRATEFUL.

i still wonder if i will eat all of my snacks before camp is over but i feel like i will survive regardless ^_^

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 6

so... this morning... greens i could eat, nuts i could eat (not raw but STILL) and roasted nori... i don't know how others are so hungry by lunch time! 4.5 hours until lunch? no problem! and fruit galore! back home, i'd call these asian pears. but if i'm in asia, what are they called?

 cucumber in some oniony garlic vinegar, banana! and hemp seeds on the ol' faithful salad for lunch!

 it's pizza night after dinner so that generally ironically means no options for me for dinner in the cafeteria. but at least there was salad. dulse and hemp did me well. and then some oranges were brought out. YES!

 and yeah, my excitement while everyone eats pizza (if i can wait until then) is these cookies. yippee!

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 5

okay so getting off the raw train temporarily... there was tofu in the cafeteria again! and the roasted seaweed seemed like too great of an addition. i can't help but believe that me choosing any vegan options available in the cafeteria creates more of a demand for them! raw bagel with coconut oil though is crucial for my better breakfast!

 look! my orange still has a leaf! YES! beauty.

 lunch... i don't know how i got so lucky but the greens did not contain any "little fish" OR "little little fish". AMAZING. i broke up some of my raw nori from home for the salad and eek! a banana for dessert! LOVES IT.

 and okay, dinner? more vegan options? the broccoli was steamed and then chilled but whatever! it's broccoli!!! and then a warm no animal product potato strips thing was great for a switch. and later cucumber strips with sesame seeds were brought out. YES! i have never seen so many vegan options in this cafeteria in one day before. one of the chefs came up to me and said hello and my name so i can't help but feel like being so inquisitive about the food plays a role in what they produce for us! 

korean middle school cafeteria winter-styles day 5

okay so getting off the raw train temporarily... there was tofu in the cafeteria again! and the roasted seaweed seemed like too great of an addition. raw bagel with coconut oil though is crucial for my better breakfast!

 look! my orange still has a leaf! YES! beauty.

 lunch... i don't know how i got so lucky but the greens did not contain any "little fish" OR "little little fish". AMAZING. i broke up some of my raw nori from home for the salad and eek! a banana for dessert! LOVES IT.

 and okay, dinner? more vegan options? the broccoli was steamed and then chilled but whatever! it's broccoli!!! and then a warm no animal product potato strips thing was great for a switch. and later cucumber strips with sesame seeds were brought out. YES! i have never seen so many vegan options in this cafeteria in one day before. one of the chefs came up to me and said hello and my name so i can't help but feel like being so inquisitive about the food plays a role in what they produce for us!