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Well, it's been an interesting day!
A group from Japan came to visit the zoo today. They are students at an animal place in Japan, so they came here to learn about caring for exotic wild animals. I decided to help out, just to see what they were like. Well, the staffer who organized their whole visit was called out on jury duty, and our one japanese student who was translating went to class, and before I knew it I was in charge of leading them around! It was quite the experience. I had heard of Kawaii before but good lord. Japanese culture has this thing for cuteness, or Kawaii, and it came out full force. Letting them hold various reptiles from the reptile house, that was the one word I recognized over and over. They didn't know much english (except "hello", "thank you", and, of course, "cute"), so I mainly just communicated with hand gestures, but it was amazing how well we got along, mainly just by laughing at the same things. I was very sad to see them go.
There was something strangely fulfilling when at the end of the day, as we're walking out of the zoo, one of the girls points between her dimples and mine and says "cute" and I say "kawaii" and we both giggle like idiots over this. ;)
We also had a surprise visit from a USDA officer to check if the zoo is being well-maintained, so while I was out trying to think of things to keep my group entertained, everyone else was frantically cleaning sheds, raking enclosures, and basically making everything look its best. It was quite hectic!
Ultimately, I couldn't be happier with how this day turned out. I wish I could meet fascinating new people like that very day.
A group from Japan came to visit the zoo today. They are students at an animal place in Japan, so they came here to learn about caring for exotic wild animals. I decided to help out, just to see what they were like. Well, the staffer who organized their whole visit was called out on jury duty, and our one japanese student who was translating went to class, and before I knew it I was in charge of leading them around! It was quite the experience. I had heard of Kawaii before but good lord. Japanese culture has this thing for cuteness, or Kawaii, and it came out full force. Letting them hold various reptiles from the reptile house, that was the one word I recognized over and over. They didn't know much english (except "hello", "thank you", and, of course, "cute"), so I mainly just communicated with hand gestures, but it was amazing how well we got along, mainly just by laughing at the same things. I was very sad to see them go.
There was something strangely fulfilling when at the end of the day, as we're walking out of the zoo, one of the girls points between her dimples and mine and says "cute" and I say "kawaii" and we both giggle like idiots over this. ;)
We also had a surprise visit from a USDA officer to check if the zoo is being well-maintained, so while I was out trying to think of things to keep my group entertained, everyone else was frantically cleaning sheds, raking enclosures, and basically making everything look its best. It was quite hectic!
Ultimately, I couldn't be happier with how this day turned out. I wish I could meet fascinating new people like that very day.
