The animals went in two by two...

In anticipation of the impending monsoon season which was originally supposed to start today but which has been put back til tomorrow or Friday, I took the children to the zoo at 대공원. This was mainly because I figured it might be last chance for a couple of weeks to spend some time outside but also because I have been inculcated by AFKN to believe that the monsoons will be like the floods faced by Noah and I just wanted to make sure that they had two of each animal.

The quality of the zoo varied. Some of the animals seemed to have quite a bit (I hesitate to say enough as I am not an expert) of space and others had a lot less space than I thought they would need. Nevertheless, the children like to see the animals and it was only 6,000 won for the three of us including tickets for the zoo and entrance to the dolphin show.

The dolphin show was fairly entertaining, especially for the children. Actually, for me the interesting part was not so much the tricks performed by the animals as I'm quite aware what a dolphin or a sealion can do but it was the interaction between the keepers and the animals. The keepers were very much involved in being part of the tricks including surfing on dolphins, and being launched out of the pool and on to the side. I ended up wondering what would make a Korean high school student become a dolphin trainer...I would really love to be able to chat with them and find out why and how and what their parents' reactions were...

Anyhow, it was nice day out to keep the children entertained and they have all the must have animals. Also it wasn't at all crowded. If you want to go there, take subway line 4 south to Daegongwon which is just after the stop for Seoul racecourse. At the same site is Seouland and an art museum.