The Teddy Bear Museum

Today we had our class field trip, and I've described it above in detail; however, I really felt that it was important to dedicate an entire post to one attraction in particular: the Teddy Bear Museum. Your initial reaction might be similar to mine; you might be asking yourself "What exactly do you see in a Teddy Bear Museum?" Before I visited the Teddy Bear Museum today, I wondered if I would see how teddy bears are made or perhaps the history of how they have been marketed... It's hard to describe what I saw with words, so I've included some photos of different exhibits at the Teddy Bear Museum that I believe are a good representation of the overall experience. What was perhaps the most intriguing part of the experience, was the attitude about the museum. It seemed to be viewed as just any other tourist attraction. No less important than visiting the Jeju Natural History Museum or a temple. One teacher asked me: "Are teddy bears famous in America too?" I had never really thought about a toy being famous before... it's sort of like asking me if hamburgers are famous. I mean, everyone knows what they are, so if that's the definition of famous, then yes... teddy bears are "famous" in America. What I didn't know was that Korea had an entire television series where the actors were teddy bears. It was not animated, rather they were actual teddy bears dressed in traditional Korean clothing from the Chosun Dynasty, and they talked, but their lips didn't move. I guess I can see the amusing side to this if it's supposed to be a joke. I can imagine that watching a sitcom about George Washington and his family during colonial times could be amusing if the actors were teddy bears rather than people...right? Just when I was about to write off the Teddy Bear Museum as another crazy Korean thing that doesn't totally make sense to me, one of my students asked me if we have a Teddy Bear Museum in the USA, and my response was an ignorant one. I said I didn't think so, and if there was one I hadn't heard of it. No more than 5 minutes later we were standing in front of a poster that talked about other teddy bear museums around the world including one in Germany, Japan, and of course Naples, Florida, USA! The same teacher asked me if I would go there when I returned to America. I said that I didn't go to Florida often, but promised him that if I ever found myself in that area, I would be sure to stop by the teddy bear museum in order to compare Korea's museum to America's. O.K. It was then that I realized Americans are just as crazy about meaningless museums as Koreans are, perhaps we're just a little better at hiding it? O.K., enough commentary! Without further ado...I give you the Teddy Bear Museum:

The museum starts off tame enough... here are some teddy bears in an old fashioned 20th century American town... at least that was my interpretation...

There's an entire wall dedicated to Winnie the Pooh and a place to take your picture with a bear who owns a produce stand...

Here is Snow White bear, reading to the 7 dwarves...

A Teddybearific interpretation of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" from the Sistine Chapel...

Louis Vuitton Bear... apparently the most expensive bear in the world... worth $229,000 dollars (229,000,000 Korean won)! The clothes and suitcase were made specifically for this bear, for this museum...

This is where things began to get interesting... the bears invade Normandy...

Marilyn Monroe Bear... complete with air coming out of the air vent that she is standing on, conveniently blowing up her skirt...

Elvis Bear Presley... but where's Bearscilla?

The Bearacotta Warriors in China... complete with tourists snapping photos... I was going to visit the Terracotta Warriors this summer, but to be honest, I'm not sure it would be worth the long train ride from Beijing, at least not after seeing this bear replica...

American bears landing on the moon...

The Beatle Bears, before they broke up...

Disneyland with bears instead of ducks and mice... an interesting concept...

And of course, the most important part of the museum is saved for last...the gift shop! It was a huge gift shop and NO PICTURES were allowed to be taken inside... you must purchase the cute replica teddy bears before you can pose with them...