A Day at the Zoo

I heard about our third field to the zoo about two weeks ago and got really excited. I love going to the zoo in Seattle with the kids I would nanny for and knew we were in store for a good time. Apparently in Seoul there is a sad zoo and happy zoo. There aren’t really any animal rights in Korea, so the zoos do not have to follow any rules. I kept asking which zoo we were going to and no one really knew for sure until the day before we left and I found out it was the happy zoo. Feeling better about our trip to the zoo, I was eager for the day to arrive.

The weather was great, a little warm, but not hot. We were having a picnic lunch at the zoo so the kids brought their own lunches. Of course Korean Moms being how they are over packed food and drinks for their kids. The kids were carrying around these heavy backpacks filled with at least two water bottles, juice boxes and more food to feed not only their child but at least a few other children. Liz even told the parents they would be carrying their own backpacks, so they shouldn’t put too much into them. Of course they didn’t listen because everything in Korea is based on appearances and looks and if the children didn’t have the best options for lunch, then they are seen as not as wealthy, or some crazy other thought. I could go off on this topic for a long time, but I will get back to the field trip and save that for another blog.

We arrived at the zoo around 10:45 and had about 40 minutes to wander around until the seal and dolphin show. Oak and Pine class always stay together on field trips because it makes it easier for Liz our Korean helper to take pictures of the children. I let Gordon lead since he has been to the zoo before and he led us to the monkeys first. Jayden, one of my boys, had brought a bag full of bananas to school and told me he was going to feed the monkeys. I tried to explain this probably wasn’t going to happen, but he had it in his head he was going to. I figured, well maybe you can in Korea, they have strange rules here, who knows. So we get to the monkeys and I told him again he couldn’t. Then he proceeded to ask Liz and then Gordon. After we all sad no, he had this very sad, defeated look on his face and I felt bad for him. He recovered quickly though and was on to his next crazy idea. Next we made our way to the seal and dolphin show. We had a good time at the seal and dolphin show and it reminded of the Sea World seal show. The children were funny to watch. Some got so into the show and would laugh and clap along, while others looked so serious and I am not sure they knew exactly what to make of it all. After the show we had our picnic lunch. Where, we had to throw out any leftover food because again, it’s all about appearances here and the children can’t go home looking like they didn’t eat all their food or share it with others. Some food that was unopened we saved and gave it to them after school or kept it in the teacher’s lounge for another day. After lunch we had another 40 minutes to explore the zoo some more. We only had one partner group fall down, which considering we had 19 students, we were pretty happy with the results. As we were helping the girls who feel down, I got pooped on by some birds. This incident did not surprise me at all. I can’t even count how many times this has happened to me over my lifetime!

By the end of the day the children were pretty tired. I was Brian’s partner and had to basically drag him along the last part of the trip. He was falling asleep as he was walking. If you look at the pictures of us in front of the sea otter, you can notice the boy in front of me, Brian, is slowly falling down in each picture. On the bus ride home three of my students fell asleep on me! Brian not being able to stay awake though doesn’t surprise me. He falls asleep in Gordon’s class after lunch quite often. He has even fallen asleep at lunch before too. Another annoyance in Korean culture is that they don’t make their child go to bed a certain time. The kids go to bed whenever they feel like it, causing many of our children to be exhausted at school. This is ironic because these same parents expect their child to read, write and be at an academic level that is beyond a 4 or 5 year old. Again, I have digressed, I will write another blog about all this someday. All in all though the zoo was a success and I can’t wait until the next field trip.