Before long, your greeting party arrives, very apologetic for being late. Introductions are made and you bags are packed into a car and you are driven off to a cozy, candle-lit restaurant just outside Ulsan. The sudden flurry of activity leaves you a little off balance and this, in combination with the sleepiness, makes you seem a bit stunned.

This doesn't deter your new Korean friends from asking you question after question during the car ride about your flight and your home and how you like Korea so far. It all overwhelms you. It becomes readily apparent that they are most curious about what you think about Korea. You try to explain that you haven't been here long enough to form any real opinions yet, but they don't understand what you mean. So, you tell them you love it here and they are satisfied.

The food arrives. It looks to you like a large, greasy mass of fried batter, spinach, and chunks of unidentifiable meaty bits, all squished and flattened into a large pancake. Your tablemates start breaking it up with their chopsticks then dipping it in sauce and eating it. They encourage you to do the same. You:

fumble a bit with the thin, metal chopsticks, but dig right in.

ask for a fork.

decline the food. Despite your hunger, it just looks too strange.