Seoul - Theater and Quality

I'm leaving at 9 o'clock for the theater. It's only a fifteen-minute walk away, so I'm going on foot. Good decision, there's a lot to see again. As I walk through a small park, I see a sign that this place serves as an assembly point for earthquakes. Again, this presence of constant threat, whether from nature or the North.

The stage of your life 🎭

After enjoying my 7/11 tea, I go to the theater. The show starts at 09:30, so I don't expect a full house. 'Why do they offer a show at 09:30?', I wonder. Life doesn't happen here in Asia before 10 or 11 o'clock anyway. When I'm directed to my seat at 09:15, I can't answer the question myself yet. I'm the only one around, I'm placed right in the middle. Best seat. A minute later, the ushers help me out; the room floods with school children, probably around 10 years old. There must be over 100 of them.

What a welcome change. That wasn't just my thought, but apparently also that of the children. I'm looking forward to it; children bring their own lively energy. All the girls two rows in front of me turn curiously to me, wave and shout 'Hello!' 👋.

A song is played, which the little ones seem to know very well. They clap happily and sing along, it also puts me in a good mood. Choosing this time was exactly the right choice.

After a while, the show starts. And from the first minute I think to myself: 'How cool is that?' Two beatboxers give a mega good performance, they will even imitate 'LMFAO - Drink' later on.
Besides beatboxers, there are also breakdancers. Combined with singing and illusions, wrapped in a story corset, wow! I'm having the time of my life.

Unexpectedly, one of the performers, the red chef, comes through the rows of spectators. He is apparently looking for a volunteer for the pizza scene. Funny idea, even involving the audience. At some point it dawns on me that he won't bring any of the children onto the stage, but is heading straight for me.

He takes me on stage, sits me down next to a young and unfortunately pretentious-looking teacher. She on the left side of the table, me on the right side. We mime a rendezvous. Well, at least I'm playing along. One of the beatboxers holds up a sign. 'Name'
The chef holds his microphone to me, I say my name, she then says her name.
The beatboxer has another sign ready. 'Drink'
Reluctantly, she toasts with me, I take a sip of grape juice.
The beatboxer has a third sign. 'Kiss'
The children respond to this with a loud shout, the teacher with an eye roll. I'm not surprised. Not yet...

The lights go out. Something happens. The lights come on, one of the actresses stands in front of me, with her back to the audience, pretending to kiss me. Huge child shout.
The lights go out. Something happens. The lights come on, the same actress pretends to be choked by the teacher. 😁
The lights go out, then on again, the scene is over.

The chef hands me a bag with a souvenir and sends me off the stage with a 'Thank you, handsome guy'. 😅
When the show is over, I stay seated and wait for the theater to empty. I'm not in a hurry. When the children leave, the two rows in front of me say goodbye. The boys wave to me, the girls say 'Bye, handsome Thomas!'. It's soooo surreal and enchanting at the same time. But that's not all.
The last girl in line reaches out her hand to me for a high-five, I shake her hand, and she freaks out as if she touched a K-Pop star. Oh well, children.

A Long Wander 🚶‍♂️

I wander through the streets and through the malls, all relatively empty. But I still notice how clean it is. I may not be a fan of CCTV and constant surveillance, but these advantages are undeniable. Apart from the security aspect.

After eating a really delicious bowl, I want to take another stroll along the riverbank here. But why walk when you can ride a bike. 0.70 € for one hour of bike rental? Cheap. 3.5 € for 24 hours? Even cheaper.
At least in theory. In practice, I keep getting Korean error messages. Error in credit card payment. Thanks for nothing. It's noticeable: even if websites or apps offer English here, they are at best partly translated. At the latest with error messages, I have to take a screenshot and run it through the translator. Oh well, then I'll just walk in the sunshine.

Animal Cafés 🤔

I have one more point on my list that I want to check off here. The meerkat café.

So far, I've visited a cat café and a parrot café. Years ago. Since I've never had pets in my life, it has always been something special and exciting for me. I might break something.
I've already seen several parrot cafés here, but this time nothing pulled me in.
Yes, I visited the sheep café, but then realized that I'm developing a different relationship with something like that. Or maybe it's just a different sense for it.

In the meerkat café, I first pay the entrance fee, 20 €. Ooouufff, but okay. I make it sound good to myself. The café is spread over two floors, it's nice and bright. It has different areas, some enclosed by glass. Like two foxes, which frighten me. My living room is bigger than their enclosure.

I go to the second floor, where more meerkats are waiting. But not only that, but also cats, raccoons, and three wallabies.

I'm starting to feel more and more uncomfortable here. This is not an environment for a kangaroo. The thought intensifies minutes later thanks to the yellow puddle on the floor.

After some time, me and another tourist are taken to the meerkat enclosure. We receive clear instructions and multiple warnings that we will be kicked out immediately if we violate them. At least they seem to take this aspect seriously.

In the enclosure, we have to sit down and put a blanket on our lap. The animals also dig. Once we have taken our seats, we will sit there for 10 minutes. Part of me has had enough after 1 minute.

Two of the animals are lying in their baskets, spending most of their time sleeping. The third animal keeps rushing through the enclosure, looking stressed. It looks visibly uncomfortable.
It seems to me that the first two have accepted their fate, while the third animal is seeking a way out of captivity.

I think I've had enough of animal cafés by now. There may be some where it works with certain animals, like house cats. But everything else?

I leave the place with a strange feeling, move on to complete my last day of work in Seoul.