Hail our feline overlords

Do you know what time it is?

Well, almost.
Okay, close enough. It's cat time.

A cat cafe is similar in concept to a dog cafe but much better.
I believe they started in Japan along with many other odd things and are spreading quite quickly. I know there's one in Vienna at any rate.

To understand the experience it's best to picture it like this.

 

So...pretty much how my mother thinks I'm going to end up living. (At least I will be surrounded by intelligent and fluffy critters albeit ones that watch and silently judge me.)

 

 

 

(Photo from Helen.) This cafe was in Hondae and if you have trouble finding it my advice is to look up or just keep an eye out for the poor sod in the Garfield suit. (In fact, most cat cafes in Korea seem to be advertised thusly. I hope no one has actually passed out while wearing those things although it does seem very likely.)

It was pretty cheap in actuality. We got a free drink since it was our first visit and we could stay as long as we liked so we bummed out there for a couple of hours.
You have to exchange your shoes for a pair of slippers and wash/disinfect your hands before entering.
One of the workers gives you a well illustrated (and laminated) sheet of the rules which are simple enough for any adult. (Children and adults who treat animals like toys might have issues though.)

You are not allowed to pick up the cats or wake them up. You can't bring in outside food and you must be quiet. The cafe was very relaxing in truth. It was a kind of fur therapy.

The cats are free to do as they please. It's not exactly a burden as they're much cleaner than dogs. (I observed several kitties taking bathroom breaks through a door labelled for their exclusive use beside the 'hyoomans' toilet)
The walls and ceiling are lined with climbing frames for cats to enjoy at their leisure. The window sills are good sizes for them to have sunshine naps although they also do that on the chairs, tables, the cash register and the shoulders of the staff.

You can buy snacks to feed them and the staff provide toys for them to play with. All the cats are healthy and happy and perfectly content to receive adoration from lesser beings.

This cafe had a particularly good variety of cats. They had several tabbies, longhaired persians, a sphynx, some scottish folds and a very cheeky siamese cat that I nearly took home with me.

Before we left one of the staff came over and dropped a kitten in my lap for good behaviour. Our departure was stalled for some time.

Well, that was chill but I'm out. Later, cats.

Mad Skills

 One of the most important parts of an activity is modeling.

What this essentially means is leading by example. You do a half-assed example of the task for the kids to reference and hopefully they won't copy it word for word identikit. (...........)

Pictorial reference is also invaluable when teaching new vocabulary. (Although sometimes the children already know the strangest words and gestures...)

I frequently do this through the use of my clearly awesome art skills which are only slightly demonstrated here. Sadly I did not take pictures of such materpieces as my marker illustration of a parka coat (for a lesson on clothes - hey it was in the book) or my fabulous depiction of a ninja in the bushes (for 'action words').

Well, some people learn through images so it's all enforcement (or theatrical rhyme) in the end anyway.

J'arrive

According to Erika Moen, everyone uses the same reason to start a blog. Mainly to inform the vast and unlimited interwebs of your existence but also to tell it about your lunch.

I'm not inclined to disagree but we also have a myriad of other reasons: to share our vapid and mostly wrong ideas, to flaunt our opinions and inflated sense of entitlement and to expose ourselves in a manner that will return to haunt us in a manner far more horrifying that one photo (even though you'd thought you'd destroyed all evidence) from that day way back when - you know the one.

Why am I doing it though? Well, I'm.................well I've..................................maybe I've finally gone mad, that's a possibility isn't it? I know insanity is a little out of fashion but I've such a fondness for the classics. But seeing as I lack a suitably gothic dress and mansion I'm afraid I'll simply have to defer the dubious pleasure.

I guess it's because I'm going abroad in a very real sense - no Scotland isn't really all that different culturally speaking - and I should do something to commemorate such a momentous occasion. But really to give those back home something to peer at. Hey. they can tut disapprovingly over SKYPE. Better that than questions about my weight. (That, afterall, is the sole provense of my mother)

But to begin with, what? Afterall, I haven't really gone yet and until my luggage is actually packed I don't want to neurose about it. Hmmmm......well, this is the Internet so I should respect the culture!! KITTY!!!