Kate's In Korea!: Giraffes and tigers and cats, oh my!

My Understanding Korean Art class requires me to go to an art museum and analyze some of the work. I chose to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art, which is south of the city in Seoul Grand Park. Seoul Grand Park also houses the Seoul Zoo, and you know how I love animals... so I decided to make a day trip out of it! Susanna and Clara (USA) came along with me on this expedition last Thursday (no classes, since it was exam week!).

It was a GORGEOUS day. The sun was shining and the leaves were changing and there was just the slightest hint of a Fall chill in the air. We first went to the Korean National Museum of Contemporary Art. The grounds contained a rather impressive sculpture garden. My favorite piece was a giant statue of a man (looked rather like the Iron Giant!) whose jaw was moving up and down and from which was emanating a strange monk-like song! The Museum was free and contained an impressive collection - it's worth an hour or so of your time if you're in the area!

The Zoo was pretty amazing - and pretty cheap! Admission to the giant zoo (5th largest in the world, I believe!) was only 3,000 won! Originally, the Japanese built the zoo on Korean palatial grounds as an insult to Korean heritage and history. When the war came around, then, the Japanese poisoned all 150 animals, and it was the Koreans who later restored the zoo to its present glory! On the way in, we each bought animal ears - I was a giraffe, Susanna was a cat, and Clara was a leopard!

For me, the zoo was a roller-coaster of emotions. I loved it and I hated it. I got so excited when I saw the African animals, because these were animals I had seen in the wild! I called out their Oshiwambo names in a giddy, childish voice!

Then, in Ape Jungle, we wandered into a room. We were standing there, looking through the windows, trying to see some animals, when a lemur zipped past us. And another one! And another! In an exhibit that would NEVER fly in the States, we were allowed to walk alongside lemurs! Of course, we all broke out in a rousing chorus of "I like to move it, move it!"

The lemurs observed walked around and up to us, observing us with their eerie eyes, until I wasn't quite sure who was the center of the exhibit! Throughout the day, I had a definite feeling that we three were subjects of our own exhibit thanks to the reactions we caused. Being the only Westerners in the entire zoo, we created quite a sensation. People would call out to us, "Hello!" and "How are you?!" and get quite excited when we responded. I feel so at home here that I often forget how much I stick out. Plus, well, we were wearing animal ears...

Clara and I, being the representative Americans, got wildly excited when we saw animals from 'home.' We saw our beloved black bear and, drumroll, please! the raccoon! At home, raccoons are annoying, dirty pests. It was so strange to see them as the center of an exhibit with people fawning over their cuteness!

Oh, yeah, and there was a pharmacy in the zoo! Do we have those in zoos at home?

In another atypical move, the zoo let you hold a snake! In the reptile exhibit, a zookeeper stood waiting to toss a snake onto your shoulders for a picture!

And then there was the downside of the roller-coaster ride. Sometimes there were a few too many animals in one cage. And sometimes the face of an animal staring out through the rusted bars of its cage shocked me. And sometimes people threw any food they had handy to the animals without regard to their particular dietary needs. But I kept reminding myself that the zoo was making people aware of an interested in animals. And that is half the battle in getting people to care about the welfare of animals. And I did get to see some beautiful, beautiful animals. So, overall, successful zoo day!