It took me a little while to get over the jet lag once I got here.  I wish I could have come by airplane, but NO, I had to travel by mail.  The family I am visiting is a military family, so their mail has to travel to California first, then once I arrived in California, I was put on a ship and sent all the way across the world!  I don't remember how long I was on that ship, but it was a LONG time.  The family I am visiting is GREAT!  They love having me.  The first stop on my journey was to the Seoul American Elementary School.  I went to first grade.  I've included a picture of the class.  I am on the front row, sitting with the little girl in the orange pants.  See the teacher in the back?  She is holding the Korean flag. School was fun, but first graders are BUSY! They work so hard,  did you know these American children are learning the Korean language and Spanish?  I learn how to say hello in Korean - aun-yan!  Try it, aun-yan!

 
 

Flat Stanley arrived in the mail about a week ago. He came from our little friend EZ, who is in third grade in Texas.  For those of you who don't know about Flat Stanley, this is the letter that arrived with him:

Dear Friend,

Our 3rd grade class is involved in a very fun and exciting Social Studies project based on the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.  In the book Stanley Lambchop is flattened by a falling bulletin board.  One of the advantages to being flat is that his parents can put him in a large envelope and mail him for a visit to his friends in California. 

In this project, the students made their own Flat Stanleys and mailed them to friends, relatives, or famous people.  You have been chosen to be a very special part of our project.  Please write back and tell us about the community you live in and whether it is rural, suburban or urban.  Then mail this letter along with Flat Stanley to another community.  Each student will map where Stanley visits and keep a journal about the different communities he visits.  Although it is not necessary, the students love getting picture, books, postcards, etc. from the communities Stanley visits.

We hope that you will help us with this project by mailing us back and letting us know about your community, and then sending Stanley along with this letter to someone else in another community.  Our goal is to learn about many different communities around the world before the end of the school year. If you are in possession of Stanley on May 1, 2009, we ask that you send him back to our school so that he can be reunited with the student who made him.  Than you for your participation in this class project! 

Sincerely,

Mrs. M's Third Grade Class