The Zoo Zoo: Part Two

Things are frantic and busy because it's the end of the month and Matt and I have been trying to make the most out of our weekends so this means I'm slow at updating. Oops. We've only got 2 months to go (after we finish this week) and I've received confirmation that a new foreign teacher should be arriving sometime this week. Cross your fingers that this means we're able to create some semblance of order, organization and stability for the last couple months of the job.

Anyway, last Wednesday (June 20) we had our monthly field trip and it was back to the Zoo Zoo. You may recall the last time we went there we had to come back early on account of rain. I'm happy to report that the weather was beautiful this time and we were able to get the full tour.

We got to visit the baby orangutan again and she was really happy to see Jon. At one point she had him by the hand and was trying to make a run for it with him. Maybe it's his distinct ears? Or his hairy back? Heheh.



Primal Attraction!




It was really interesting to see what a Korean zoo has to offer and the differences between North American zoos. Of course, this is the only zoo in Korea I've been to so it's entirely possible that it isn't a typical one. Since this is a children's zoo a lot of the exhibits are pretty hands on and therefore many of the animals are on the common side. We saw a lot of monkeys, rabbits, pigs, guinea pigs, goats and fish. For the most part the cages/enclosures where they were kept seemed a bit small and kind of unclean. My impression is that animals are viewed quite differently here but I am sure this is something that could be debated at length. The kids had a lot of fun petting and feeding the guinea pigs and rabbits and I got to see such exotic creatures as the mythical German Sheppard. The picnic lunch was pretty awesome too- Alexa's Mom sent the only real piece of cheesecake in the country. It was so delicious I wanted to wrestle Paige for it and lick the container.

The kids were equally terrified and mesmerized by the legions of guinea pigs and bunnies. Oh my horde!


The saddest German Sheppard in the world. He lives next to a clinically depressed Alaskan Malamute.




(left) Lisa, Alice and Emma catch a ride on a dino tail.
(right) Feeding the koi was a trippy experience. They were wriggling and fighting so much and climbing all over each other to get at the food. I imagine purgatory to look like this.

(left) Jake and his donkey friend. The kids were so afraid of touching this donkey but I managed to convince a few to give it a try.
(right) Here Matt and Rina are posing and Rina is showing off her first missing tooth. Super cute!

FYI: I took a lot of other great pictures that you can see here.