Thanks so much for the many questions and comments that  students and teachers are posting. It shows that you are paying attention to my videos and posts and thinking about what you saw and read. I have answered some questions in the comments section, but thought I would also share some information in this post.

Mrs. Moe’s class wanted to know about the time difference between Minnesota and Seoul. When it is noon in Apple Valley, it is 2:00 a.m. the next day in Seoul. They also wanted to know about getting used to being in a different time zone. Some people say that it takes a day to adjust for each hour of time difference, but I don’t think it takes that long. When I get to a new city, I just start using the time in that city and forget about what time it is “back home.” Right now, I am in a different city when there is a 13 hour time difference from your time in Minnesota. It is nearly noon here on Tuesday, but it is only about 11:00 p.m. on Monday in Minnesota. I just watched the Vikings finish beating the Giants. (Skol, Vikings!)

Ms. Youngberg’s class asked me about the currency or money used in Korea. The currency they use in Seoul is call “won”. One US dollar equals 1,104 South Korean won. When I took $200.00 US dollars out of the ATM in Seoul, I got 220,811 won. It might sound like a lot of money, but I had to pay 1,200 won for a piece of string cheese. I will bring back some money from each of the countries I am visiting for you to see.

A few people asked about food in Asia. As you saw in the video, I had the lobster tail and king crab legs, but I also had some amazing Korean food in a few different restaurants. Check out the photos below.

The food I am eating in the photo below is lamb on skewers. When they bring out the lamb, it’s on metal skewers, but the meat is still raw. However, as you can see, there is a grill in the middle of the table! They bring out really hot coals, and you are in charge of cooking the meat. You have to watch carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn. Do you see the metal tube coming down all the way from the ceiling? That is like a very quiet vacuum that sucks the smoke from the grill. That way the smoke doesn’t get everywhere in the restaurant when all of the customers are cooking their own meat.

 

 

 

 

If you went to a public school in Seoul, South Korea, it would be very different from your school in Minnesota. I visited the school where my son’s friend Dongkyu sends his daughter Yoon. The school is right in the middle of a busy neighborhood with restaurants and shops nearby. In the past, families had several children, but now it is very expensive to raise children in Seoul. That is why many families have only one child. In Yoon’s school there are many empty classrooms and only a few sections of each grade.

Public schools go from grades 1 through 6. There are also a very few openings for kindergarten students, so most parents pay to send their children to a private kindergarten. Students in grades 1-2 only have school from about 9 am – 1:30 pm. If their parents want them to have music or art or PE, they have to pay for extra classes. Students in upper grades may have some of those classes during the day.

Yoon is in the second grade, but her Korean age is 9. When Korean babies are born, they are considered one year old because they count the time they were growing inside their mother. Then, on New Years Day, everyone turns a year older. So, if someone is born in December, they are one-year-old the day they are born. Then, on January 1st, they turn “two” even though they are really only one month old. It sounds crazy to us, but that is normal in Korea.

In Korea, the schools are community centers for the neighborhood. Families can use the outdoor field and the swimming pool in the school. There are also many after school classes offered, but parents have to pay for those. Even so, parents want their children to have the best education possible, so they sacrifice to be able to send their children to after school classes.

The students I saw in Yoon’s school seemed very happy. In one of the photos below, you can see the Korean flag in the front of her classroom, just like you have an American flag in your classroom.

 

 

 

 

I have been in Asia for two and a half days and my son is keeping me very busy. Baseball is very popular in  this country and we attended a game of the local team, the LG Twins. The word “Twins” on their uniform looks a lot like Minnesota Twins logo. Baseball games here are very exciting. Every player has his own song and the fans sing it over and over again while he is batting. Both the home team and the visiting team have their own cheerleaders. The cheerleaders stand on a little stage near the cheering fans and they dance and lead the singing throughout the entire game. People are very involved and the stadium is always full of noise.

The food and tickets to the game are much cheaper here than in Minnesota. We got two really good seats for $17 each. You could get two Burger Whoppers with two orders of fries and two beverages for only $10.50 total. At the Twin’s stadium in Minnesota, you could probably only get one burger for that much money! Outside the stadium, you could buy snacks such as dried squid and other uniquely Asian food. We saw lots of people standing in long lines waiting to have their names put on the backs of shirts from their favorite team.

What is your favorite team and how do you cheer for them? Do you have a shirt with the team name and maybe the name of your favorite player?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading →

 

Some of the friends I am visiting in Asia asked me to bring them a few items that are difficult to find in the country where they live. In addition, I want to take a few surprises of my own for the people I am visiting. Finally, I will probably find something to bring back from every country I visit. For those reasons, I decided to buy a really large suitcase. It is 29 inches long and will hold a lot of things. I also loved that it was on a clearance sale and exactly the color I hoped to find–Minnesota Vikings’ purple! On most of my flights I am allowed to check one suitcase. On one flight it has to weigh less than 44 pounds, but some flights allow me to bring 66 pounds. That is a LOT of weight! (I bet some of you weigh less than 66 pounds.) I will also carry a back pack and a purse.

Since I will be gone for 40 days, I need to think carefully about the clothes and other items that I will take with me. To me, the worst part of traveling is packing because I want to be sure to take everything I need and I am always afraid I will forget something important. I guess the most important things are my passport, my clothes, my phone and my iPad . I need my phone and iPad to take photos and write my blog for you to see!

Here are some things for you to think about:

• What are some things you always take with you when you go on a trip?
• What do you miss most when you are gone?

I was so happy to be at Highland Elementary talking to all of the students about my upcoming trip! If you want to practice writing a comment, this would be a good place to practice. What did you learn from my presentation? Which of the places I showed on my slide show might be a place  you would like to visit yourself someday? Have you actually been to one of those places already? I would love to hear from  you!