Gio Cat Cafe = Puurrrfect

Hidden in an alley inside the Hongdae area of Seoul is a cat cafe called "Gio Cat." I mentioned this place earlier telling you how much I really wanted to go.

Well after lunch, last Saturday, JH and I headed over there. It wasn't hard to find, and the sign up above was really helpful. To find this place head towards the mini-park where the artsy stuff goes on. There is a Smoothie King and just past it is an alleyway. The building at the end of the alley houses the cat cafe. You have to go inside the stairwell part and walk up to the third floor.

 

Near the entrance was a neat little Japanese shop, which to me resembled the ones I saw in Japan. 

It was a Saturday and the place was packed. Since it is a small space they only allow a number of people in at a time. So we had to put our names and number down on a waiting list. After about an hour they will call you to come in.

I want to remind you all that last year, when I went to Tokyo, I found an original cat cafe. I do believe the concept of a cat cafe was born in Japan. So I would like to point out that I have some global experience with cat cafes. How Korea's cat cafe ranked...well we are just going to have to find out.

We were finally called in and went inside the cafe.

Entrance Procedure:
It would seem that these themed cafes have a set up procedure upon entering. Here for you is what happens when you enter the Gio Cat.

• Give up your outside shoes for indoor slippers. Place outdoor shoes in a basket.
• Cafe staff takes you to your table (it is assigned to you). Puts your shoe basket under the table and tells you about the locker. 
• You take your locker key and head to the lockers and put in any valuables / jackets / stuff.
• Head back to your table. In order to enjoy the cafe for 2 hrs you must purchase a cafe item. To do this you head over to the cafe service area and put your money in a ticket machine. They have the usual cafe items like coffee and tea along with juices. 
• They give you a copy of the names of the cats in the cafe with their pictures and you are ready to enjoy playing with the kitties.
• Also they point out the cafe rules

Gio Cat Cafe Rules:

• Don't pull their tails.
• Some cats love the straws, so you have to remember to shoo them away from your straws.
• Don't hit the cats.
• Don't use your flash on the camera.
• Don't feed the cats.
• Don't try to pet an annoyed looking cat.

After you get that all figured out and squared away you can try your best at finding a cat friend. If you have any experience with cats you would know that they have their own personalities. Unlike dogs, cats tend not to come up to you and beg to be petted. Instead you have to befriend a cat by playing or coaxing it into liking you.

I mention this because that is the kind of atmosphere you run into at a cat cafe. You will see other folks with cats in their laps and feel some kind of envy. You will think "How do I get my own cat?"

After a while you float around the cafe and find the cats who are 1.) awake and 2.) interested.

Let's take a look around the cafe:

There was a large pedestal of cats in baskets sleeping. I believe we arrived at a major nap time since most of the cats were snooozing.

The one cat JH seemed to think he wanted to claim as his own was asleep, and it turns out sick. Ah well, he tried. Actually JH is not familiar with cats as pets. As is typical for most Korean folks their encounter with cats comes from seeing and hearing them on the street. Having a pet cat is becoming more common these days but for the most part it is still an oddball thing here.

I think JH secretly enjoyed himself, eventhough he claimed that he still likes dogs over cats. 

There were cats up fake trees~

This one I tried to coax down but it mostly just played and stayed up there.

JH tried to wake up his chosen cat, to find that it opened its eyes for a while and then went back to sleep.

After a while of not succeeding in getting a cat to befriend us, we went back to our table. Thankfully, there were two kitties in this area. The black one was so sweet and would crawl over to you and curl up on your lap. Now that is my kind of cat. The striped cat, over there on the left, was a menace. He is coming out of his kitty phase and wants to play a lot. But actually he was playing really rough with the black kitty. 

So the remainder of the time at the cafe I was glued to my seat caring for the little kitty and making sure "mean" kitty stayed away. 

Mean Kitty found solace in JH's lap.

Sitting back and taking in the atmosphere of the cafe was interesting. I watched as other folks played with cats and enjoyed themselves. I caught on to a trend that it seemed Korean girls dragged their boyfriends into the place, as the boyfriends seemed to have this awkward look on their faces. 

Korean Cat Cafes VS. Japanese Cat Cafes:

To get the record straight I have only been to one of each. However, I feel there was a distinct difference amongst the two.

1. Preparation: The Japanese cat cafe was way more particular on the before hand preparations of going into the cafe. You not only changed your shoes, put your stuff in a locker, but also had to wash your hands with soap and water at a sink. The Korean cat cafe just let you sanitize your hand with sanitizer. Also the Japanese cafe, after you were done with the cats had you clean your hands again. And the Japanese one gave you a mini booklet on the cafe rules to read before you enter. 
2. Cost system: As you know the Korean cafe makes you buy some kind of cafe item in order to stay at the cafe. The Japanese cafe didn't have this system. Once entering the cafe, in Japan, you could choose to buy a beverage or not. The entrance price difference I think is also something to point out. Gio Cat cost 8,000 Won for two hours. In Japan I believe it cost 900 Yen. By today's currency exchange that means roughly 11,000 Won. And that 900 Yen buys you only 1.5 hours with the cats, and if you go over your time rate any 15 more minutes cost you more. As you can see the Gio Cat cafe is way cheaper and better for the price than it's Japanese counterpart.
3. Atmosphere / Set up: I'll be honest here, Japan's was way better. The Gio Cat cafe is set up very whimsically with fun decorations and mellow music playing overhead. However the space is small and not very bright. Also I believe there needs to be a good balanced ratio of cats to humans. The cafe in Japan wasn't crowded (I don't know if they have a system for when things do get crowded). Also they seemed to have less cats, whereas the Gio Cat cafe had about 20 of them, some even in cat-kennels. Needless to say the Gio Cat cafe had a cramped and chaotic feel to it, especially when the cats were active. Over in Japan things felt more mellow and spacious. Also the cafe in Japan had books available (although they were in Japanese) so you could relax in the cafe. Both cafes supplied cat toys so that wasn't bad at all.

Those are the major differences I can set my mind on right now. Despite that I feel Japan has got it right with their design and execution with cat cafes, I am grateful Korea has one. I love cats and don't really want to own one right now since I am penny pinching.

Check it out for yourself whether the Korean cat cafe is better / same / different than the Japanese one with these videos:

All in all, I really recommend you heading over to this place especially if you love cats. If you have an allergy to them well I'm sorry to hear that. =^^=

Lunch in Hongdae

JH and I headed out to Hongdae last weekend for a particular reason, which I will reveal in my next post. For now I am going to show you around Hongdae and the lunch we had.

I have been to Hondae many times, however, I have never been there at night. I am sure some expats would tell you that this place is a different flavor at night time. During the day it is mostly a trendy shopping place with artistic flare.

We looked around for some enticing food and found a new Japanese restaurant.

We ordered an Udon soup with tempura on the side and some stir fried chicken.

After lunch we walked around towards our destination and spent our waiting time mingling around the "Free Art Market" in the park.

At this venue were artists selling works along with portrait artists drawing live. Also there was live music and performances.

I really enjoy these kinds of outdoor "markets" and feel they should multiply around Korea. Well, stay tuned for my next post when I reveal a really cool place we went to. ~

Top Questions Asked by 4th and 6th Graders

Since last week, at work, it has been "Get to know your Foreign English Teacher" time. I gave a short Powerpoint presentation about myself and then went straight into questions. Here for you are a list of the top questions asked by my 4th and 6th graders (that I can remember....I am bushwhacked).

1. Are you married?
2. Do you have a boyfriend?
3. Is he Korean?
4. Will you marry him?
5. Are you thinking about marrying him?
6. How old is he?
7. Is he handsome?
8. Where does he live?
9. Where do you live? (In Korea?)
10. Do you like Korea?
11. What Korean food do you like?
12. Do you like kimchi?
13. Do you like spicy food?
14. Which one is better? Korea or America
15. Do you know Avatar?
16. Do you like Avatar?
17. What type of movies do you like?
18. What Korean singer do you like?
19. Do you know Ohno?
20. Do you know Kim Yuna?
21. Do you like ghosts?
22. Have you seen a ghost?
23. Which one is better? Everland or Disneyland
24. Do you like 'you'?

I am going to stop there. As you can see kids (no matter what side of the globe) are always creative. I was impressed by their questions and level of English. However, it tended to be the same kids asking me questions. But they seemed to have a lot of fun finding out about me.

What's the craziest or funniest thing a student ever asked about you?

2S2 Bundang / Yongin Chapter First Meeting

We are going to have our first meet up. I am really nervous because I am new to the area and don't really know people or where to go. But that is why I am starting this meeting so to get to know people out here and find cool places to visit. Please see our facebook page to join up if you live out here. The following are the details for our first meeting:

Our first 2S2 meeting~

For our first meeting it will be a basic meet and greet and then we will pick a place to eat.

At the meeting we will talk about the group and then we can do whatever...some possibilities:

- Learn a Korean game
- Play English board game
- Your idea ?:)

I have researched a Japanese restaurant nearby Ori Station that advertises itself as authentic Japanese. It is pretty popular amongst Koreans and kind of hidden from the main road so it would be a fun place to explore.

But we can go anywhere to eat, especially if someone knows of a great place.

Let's get together and have some fun!

Meeting info:
Location: Jeongja @ Mosaic Cafe / * From Jeongja Station Gate#3(Gate 4 is under construction) Turn around to the gate 4 and walk along the street. Cross the street at the corner of Paragon. There will be the Woori bank building where Mosaic Cafe is. (Hana Plaza 4th floor)
When: March 13th
Time: 2pm
Bring: some game and your ideas

For more info reply to this post. Let me know if you are coming, thanks!

I Robot Exhibit

Last Saturday I went to the Olympic park to see the I Robot exhibit at SOMA (Seoul Olympic Museum of Art).

Art exhibits can sometimes be too post-modern for the street person and so people often walk away from contemporary art confused and bewildered. However, an art show based around "Robot art" certainly is catching.

No doubt this exhibit was full of fun, wonder and whimsy that left me feeling interested in the "robot genre".

I first got to the Olympic park via train getting off at Mongchontonsong stop on line 8 and taking exit 1. This brings you up to that huge "Peace Gate" and courtyard. I waited at the Starbucks for JH with a cup of Tazo Hibiscus Tea.

JH showed up, tried some of my tea and found it too sweet and strange, and then we moved on towards the museum.

Nearby we found a sculpture to stand next to and take pictures. (Mom: That is me wearing the sweater you gave me..)

There is a small fee for this exhibit only 3,000 Won to get in, which wasn't too bad.

You enter the museum and pass a room with large television sculptures and into one with glass cases showing robot toys.

The idea was to show how the idea of the "robot" originates from our creation of dolls. Recreating the human into a doll figure and then giving it movement, was their thesis for the origin of the robot image. Certainly they meant the "human robot" since most robots today are mostly found in factories. 

I found this theory interesting and reminded me of such films as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion." 

It was fun to take a look at the toys with JH since a lot of them seemed to be from his generation in Korea. 

Here they pointed out that Pinocchio was the first robot creation. 

They moved on to show the evolution of Pinocchio into plastic.

Certainly Astro Boy is a familiar image. For JH Astro Boy is known as "Atom". Turns out the title he is familiar with is "Astro Boy: Atom", meaning that is the characters real name. Actually after college I worked a seasonal job at the Asian Art Museum and the big exhibit at the time was a Tezuka exhibit (creator of Astro Boy). Turns out there are a lot of themes and ideas to consider within the Astro Boy genre.

For JH these figures of the "fighting robot" were familiar to him and it seemed he was going down memory lane.

And then we came to the representation of females as robots, which you can read above for the best clarity. The female robot as an angel is a reoccurring theme in Japanese comics and animation, something I was familiar with due to my days in the past being a bit obsessed with all things Japan.

I am going to be a bit nit-picky here in reviewing this first room. For it felt like the curators could have pushed the envelope a bit more with their theorizing on the origins of robots. The room only had these display cases propped around the walls, which were blank except for the placards with explanations. I would have found it much more enriching if there were videos being shown to illustrate the dynamic action and history that robots have played in cinema and animation. Certainly some works come to mind, such as "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Metropolis" (although featured in a display case). Not to mention great literary works featuring the theme of robots, like works by Isaac Asimov. 

Ah - well, you take what you can get. 

The rest of the galleries seemed to be themed together based upon the level of "robotish-ness" they had. 

For example, the next room was robot themed sculptures by famous artists like Nam Jun Paik. 

Then moving out of this room you come to a hallway with a fish sculpture with moving fins, by Uram Choe.

JH really liked this one~

We then moved down the hallway and past these colorful windows.

The next exhibit was definitely a leap forward past the easily accessibility of the toy robots. We entered the contemporary arena of "robot" themed sculpture.

Unfortunately I cannot find the artist's name of this work in the catalog. This piece included these figurines moving in circular motions as the gears behind them rotated. I really liked this work because the noise coming out of the gears was very intriguing and the small movements were like a living thing. I don't know the artist's intention but to me the moving wheels in the background represented the Buddhist concept of the dharma wheel and how that is what controls or influences our life. It was a very meditative piece that captured one's attention.

Other works in this room included a large sculpture with heads sticking out from long necks. When one moved around the work the heads moved in a kind of wriggling way, making the work come alive. It coincided with something to do with iron fragments. All of which became lost to the viewer due to lack of explanation. Yet in this way the work was very explorable for the viewer.

We left this room and entered another, this one getting away from the form of robots and more into the architectural world that I guess robots create. 

I had the feeling of being inside a computer map of some kind of video game.

The next room was a return the whimsy and playful. This room included a remote control robot rigged with permanent markers so that when it traveled along its path it left a line.

Large sculptures above your head by Youngwun Yoo were both comical and strategically kitsch.

We came out and went down some stairs to the final exhibition room. 

This one was definitely showing the final "robot" image with Gundam figures and some moving sculptures. 

There were so many works of art and it all had a good balance between contemplative works and peices which were fun to look at.

I highly recommend one come and see this exhibit, which lasts till March 14th. If you have kids there is a center for them to explore robots and receive complimentary stickers. Generally the whole exhibit is great for kids since a lot of it plays to their fantasy of the robot image. 

Sometimes Change is a Good Thing

Today starts the new semester at Korean public schools. New foreign teachers are arriving and gearing up for orientation. While the seasonal teachers are preparing their classrooms and polishing their lesson plans.

As you know, I was nervous about this change, since it meant that we were getting new coteachers.

Although a lot has changed within the English department, I am truly relieved and pleased with it all.

Coteachers:
There are now 3 coteachers, all of which are women. One of the coteachers I will not be teaching with but she is acting as the organizer of the English department.

The other two, who I will be teaching with, are really nice and easy going. Already I went over my lesson plan for the first period and they stressed how much they want to make sure the Native Teacher (myself) is in front of the classroom and in control of the lesson. No more English puppetry!  Woah! Actually makes me a little nervous to know it is all on me now. haha (I am going to invest in a portable microphone so not to stress my voice.)

Knowing that my new coteachers are completely different from the last is a big relief. We can start off on the right foot and get the ball rolling on fun English lessons.

Teacher's Room:
We still don't have our own English classroom. We all sit inside a large horizontal space with a window at one end and a door at the other. We go from class to class carrying our supplies with us. For sure things have become more crowded in the teacher's room, but thankfully with friendly people. We were lacking enough shelf space so today we got brand new bookshelves, and moved a lot of stuff around and filled them up.

The wall's are bare of any decorations and I was thinking of finding some nice posters or pictures to put up.

Thankfully, the atmosphere is warm and friendly this new semester in the Teacher's Room.

Tomorrow we will start actually teaching and so I will be able to say whether or not that aspect of the job is better. But I have my hopes up and feel so much less stressed out.

For those other folks out there starting their new semesters I hope things are going well for you too.