Matt is the Walrus

In what looks like a normal classroom with chairs, desks and whiteboards, you'll find the workspace of Matthew Johnson. Behind his desk lies an almost mythical creature: The Walrus.

"My Spirit Animal is undoubtedly the Walrus"

Johnson found his "spirit animal" through Zoo Books, children’s books about specific animals. One look at the zoo book for walruses and Johnson was hooked.

“They [the walruses] were half comical, like ‘come on, that's a real animal,’ and also at the same time they were very powerful and serious, like a walrus can kill a polar bear. Walruses are very formidable creatures, but they’re also very whimsical and ridiculous. Something about the combination of those two drew me to them.”

Johnson's infatuation with walruses evolved over time, from constantly carrying around a walrus plush toy in middle school to touring the three show walruses living in the continental United States. Johnson has a lot of walrus stories. One story however stands above the rest.

In August 2012, Johnson married his wife Catherine. For their honeymoon, they decided to go to Istanbul, Turkey. By total coincidence, the world’s most famous walrus, Sara, also happens to live and perform shows in Istanbul.

"In the United States they don’t let you touch the walrus, but in Turkey they didn’t seem to have a problem with it, assuming you paid for it," Johnson said.

"We went to the show and it was as amazing as you can imagine. When we got there, it turned out the VIP [tickets] were front and center in these red velvet seats. They had all these Turkish children there and no one else got the VIP [tickets] so here we were, the two grown-up Americans surrounded by hundreds of Turkish children who the security guards wouldn’t let them [the children] past."

Matt took this video of Sara the walrus and posted it on Youtube. It now has over 30,000 views.

“I felt like the worst person, because these kids wanted to get close to the walrus, but the security guards said ‘No, only those [Johnson and his wife] people can go close to the walrus.’ It turned out at the end everyone gets to see the walrus. You don’t have to have those special seats that make you look like an American jerk. I will say that I was the only one that the Walrus kissed."

6 years later this is still Johnson's Facebook profile picture

There is one last fact that makes Johnson’s relationship with walruses go full circle. Growing up, one of Johnson's most prized possessions was a walrus stuffed animal he elegantly named Gumba Gumba. Johnson's walrus stuffed animal was a fixture of his life for years all the way until middle school. Years later, Johnson gave all of his old stuffed animals to his newborn daughter, Maya.

Maya got attached to one particular stuffed animal: Gumba Gumba himself.

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Credits:

Created with images by skeeze - "pacific walrus portrait bull"