Leaving tonight

I will be leaving tonight for Los Angeles for a week while I get my passport stamped with a VISA for my new job. While there, I will be working with some students who are in L.A. and then leave for Korea. The semester has already begun, but it could not be helped.

I have food allergies or intolerances and it will not be easy eating there. I suspect I will be eating a very simple diet of rice without any sauces of any kind. I cannot eat soy sauce nor the red paste they have. I also can't tolerate the MSG they have in Korea as it is based on wheat as it is in Canada. I have been doing some research. As far as I can see, I will be going basically vegetarian with raw vegetables and fruits and plenty of rice. The advice that I got from the Internet is not to trust the list of ingredients on food that I purchase as Korea is not very advanced in that area as yet.

The Koreans are big on hiking and walking and that is very healthy for me so I will be going along with that. I am taking walking shoes and my pair of hiking boots that I never used. I got them for snow that I never used them. I never use heels anymore and I won't. From my reading on the Internet, the Koreans are very conservative in dress which is fine. I am taking a few pairs of jeans and jeans skirts. I am taking skirts mostly since they all have ties at the waist and can be easily adjusted.