Hello from Nagoya, Japan!

On Thursday, I received such kind and caring well-wishes from our students and staff for my trip to Japan.

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Then, it started to snow very heavily, and I started to worry whether the planes would be able to leave the airport the next day. 

Fortunately, the weather improved and Mr. Chung, Mrs. LeBlanc and I had a long, safe flight to Japan!

The flight to Tokyo was over 6,300 miles and lasted 13 hours. We flew in an arc across the Pacific Ocean over the northern part of Alaska. We were over 34,000 feet above the ground, and the temperature outside the plane reached -77 degrees Farenheit. The plane was flying over 530 miles per hour. It was very warm and comfortable inside the plane. 

I read this book, The Friendship Doll, on the plane. It's based on a real doll exchange between the United States and Japan in the 1920's that children from both countries participated in to bring friendship and goodwill to one another. We are bringing copies of this book as gifts to each of the schools we visit. It's a great story. One of the schools I will visit, received a doll from America during this exchange. The doll's name was Gracie Green, and she came from a school in Ohio.