The Tuesday after Seollal, my good friend and I went to the zoo in Jeonju.
Upon entering, we were greeted by this lovely peacock,
which was actually quite aesthetically impressive compared to some of the decorative constructions we saw later:
We also saw some real live angry birds (and others who might have just been numb from the icy cold):
There was a camel and a zebra,
and a tiger who seemed to roar a lot when we weren't near enough to see it:
No one ever recommends seeing this zoo. Why?
My Korean coworker told me that the huge theme park in Korea, Everland, has an attraction with wild animals. When the animals get sick or old, she said, they send them to the zoo in Jeonju.
My Canadian coworker went himself one day. When I asked if he'd go with me, he totally refused: “That place is just depressing!”
So when my friend and I saw this elephant, seeming to smile and dance for us, I resolved to tell my Canadian coworker about it:
“We saw at least one happy animal!” I said.
“It's not happy!” he replied. “It's just doing what it was trained to do, perform while people watch.”
Maybe he's right. But I still had a good time. It's a far cry from the zoo in Washington, DC, but I saw six tigers in Jeonju, and the tigers are never out when I go to DC. That's got to count for something!
Upon entering, we were greeted by this lovely peacock,
which was actually quite aesthetically impressive compared to some of the decorative constructions we saw later:
We also saw some real live angry birds (and others who might have just been numb from the icy cold):
There was a camel and a zebra,
and a tiger who seemed to roar a lot when we weren't near enough to see it:
No one ever recommends seeing this zoo. Why?
My Korean coworker told me that the huge theme park in Korea, Everland, has an attraction with wild animals. When the animals get sick or old, she said, they send them to the zoo in Jeonju.
My Canadian coworker went himself one day. When I asked if he'd go with me, he totally refused: “That place is just depressing!”
So when my friend and I saw this elephant, seeming to smile and dance for us, I resolved to tell my Canadian coworker about it:
“We saw at least one happy animal!” I said.
“It's not happy!” he replied. “It's just doing what it was trained to do, perform while people watch.”
Maybe he's right. But I still had a good time. It's a far cry from the zoo in Washington, DC, but I saw six tigers in Jeonju, and the tigers are never out when I go to DC. That's got to count for something!
