West Briton reporter Katy Young is taking part in a cultural exchange to South Korea – a venture sponsored by Rotary International.

In her first report back to the paper she describes her experiences with an ‘evil teeth fish dish’, sharing a spa with 50 Koreans and getting massaged by women in black underwear.

She said: “Experiences in this country have been weird and wonderful so far and I expect there is far more to come.”

She said the tables groan with food for two course meals three times a day – with the usual number of dishes totalling around 30. Koreans think Westerners have healthy appetites and are all too thin, according to her diary.

Katy told her readers: “Perhaps the worst food experience so far is what we have dubbed ‘evil teeth fish dish’, where we were presented with jaw bones of fish with two sets of needle-like teeth and encouraged to suck the flesh from the bone.”

The party has also visited a Buddhist temple at the edge of the city and had the honour of being allowed to pray with one of the country’s top monks.

Then she described the Korean spa bath, where the ladies changed into white T-shirts and shirts for the sauna.

“After leaving, you then strip off your clothes joining around 50 Korean women of all ages in the spa,” she said.

“Westerners are uncommon here and I doubt if many of the Koreans had ever seen an English woman, let alone a naked one. It was a bit uncomfortable having 50 pairs of eyes watching your every move.

“We were then beckoned to a massage couch where women dressed only in black matching underwear proceeded to scrub your whole body with what looked like plastic pan scourers.”

The experience was completed with a massage, facial and perfumed hair wash. The men were treated to a similar experience – but without the underwear-clad women.

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