I had a
stack of printed translation cards on A4 papers. In my experience a big piece
of paper is easier to read for the people who want to try and help you and it’s
easier for you to get it back when they have finished with it. Also, leave the
paper on your table even after you have ordered your food, they might what to
check something again, or even double-check it.
Find free
translation cards for printing here:
Available
in 51 languages.
OR
A
Swedish website with “cards” available in 41 languages.
If you
are one of those gluten free people who can’t eat soy, it might be quite
difficult for you to find things to eat, me on the other hand has been fine
with all the soy sauces I have tried so far. However, I tried to eat as little
soy sauce as possible just to be on the safe side. If you want to read more
about soy sauce and wheat take a look here: https://glutenfree.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/safety-of-asian-soy-sauce-in-gf-diet-janssen-et-al.pdf
AND http://www.celiac.com/articles/23061/1/Is-Soy-Sauce-Gluten-free/Page1.html
One translation card I didn’t find was one in Khmer, the language most commonly spoken in Cambodia. Although many people in Cambodia are very good in English, an intolerance to gluten is a hard thing to describe… My solution to this was pictures and so I made my own “translation card” with pictures from google. This actually worked very well!
One thing
you can be almost certain of when you travel to Asia is that you will not feel
100% all the time. Don’t worry! Just because your stomach is upset it doesn’t
mean that you have eaten gluten. So relax, and don’t let your tummy destroy
your trip!
Love Erika
