It's an important day in Canada today. It's their birthday. They turned 148 today. That's pretty old isn't it? That's not as old as New Zealand. Do you know how old New Zealand is?
I had a really fun day celebrating. Can I tell you a secret? It's not over yet. Today I got to go to Toronto. That's the biggest city in Canada. We have a tall tower like you do in Auckland, but it's a little bit bigger. Here's a picture of me in front of the CN Tower and a picture of what the Sky Tower would look like if they were beside each other. It's a very big tower.
I also got to go to another baseball game. I got a Canadian flag and a team jersey for the Toronto Blue Jays. It was an exciting game. Here is a picture of me later in the day.
Later I made a new friend. Her name is Lexi. She gets excited very easily. And she's much bigger than I am. I was a bit scared, but she is nice.
When the sun goes down tonight, I will go and watch some fireworks. This is something lots of people do in Canada on Canada Day. I can't take pictures because it will be too dark. Do you ever go see fireworks? When do you go see them?
I have to go now, but I will write to you again soon.
Sorry I didn't write sooner. I have been very busy with your teacher learning about some amazing new things we can do in class (and boy if you knew, you would be so excited about next term after the holidays!).
I heard that you've chosen who our models for the fashion show will be. I'm so excited to see what you've made. Can you send me some pictures?
I had a chance to see some parts of Philadelphia, so I got some friends I met here, to take some pictures of me at some famous places. I'll try to tell you about some of the pictures so they make more sense to you.
Did you know that Philadelphia means "The City of Brotherly Love? This statue was really nice.
It's hard to see this picture, but it's the Liberty Bell (the line was really, really long so I had to see it from the outside). This bell is really important to Americans. When they decided to become a country, they rang this bell to let people know the good news. Unfortunately it has a big crack in it. You can't see the crack though because I didn't want to wait in the very long line.
This building is where the bell used to be (over 200 years ago!). This was also where they signed the paper that said they were a country. It was a very big deal for them.
Back at the conference, I visited some people from Lego. They have some great ways we can learn and have fun at the same time! Maybe we can go and ask Mr Vasau really nicely and see if we can find a way to get some of these things for our classroom.
Look at me go here! I can ride this really big bicycle all by myself!
I made a new friend here. Can you tell me what kind of animal he is? 10 house points for the first student who comments with the name.
I also went to some steps in the city. I watched this movie a long time ago about a man who runs up these steps. Watch the video below the picture and you can see how I tried to act out the movie. Ask your parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents or friends. Or you could even try to google it and figure it out. If you can name the movie (only the first Meerkat), I'll give you 10 house points when I get back!
Yum! I got to eat a Philly Cheesesteak! It was delicious, and very big. But I didn't waste any of the food.
I also got to go see a baseball game. It was a really exciting game to watch. Can you figure out the name of the baseball team in Philadelphia? You can ask anyone or search google to find out. I'll give another 10 house points if you can find the answer.
Well, that's all for now. I've got a busy day ahead of me (I drove back to Canada and now it's Canada Day here! - I think someone told you about that). I hope you're having an incredible week without me. I really miss each and every one of you, but we will see each other soon.
Today I went on a road trip. I spent 8 hours in a car. We drove and drove and drove. One of the great parts of the trip was when we went past Niagara Falls. It's one of the biggest waterfalls in the whole world. Have a look at me standing in front of it.
After that we had to get back in the car. Many hours later, we finally arrived in Philadelphia, a city in America.
Then it was finally time to go to meet lots of teachers from around the world who all want to learn about using computers and iPads in classrooms. Already I have met some really interesting people who have shared some great ideas (I can't wait to share them with you when I come back to New Zealand). Here's a picture of me at the conference:
There are thousands and thousands of people here. I hope I don't get lost. Ok, even though it is the middle of the day for you, it is my bed time here (maybe I'll tell you about time zones when I get back). I'll write to you again soon my friends,
I am very tired right now. I have had a long journey in an airplane. On Friday after school when I said goodbye to you, I went to the airport. I got on a humungous plane and I got a tiny seat. Well, it was tiny for a person, but since I'm only a meerkat, it was pretty big. The airplane was flying for a really long time. I got so tired, I had a nap. Then I watched a movie. Then another movie. Then another.
When the plane landed, I had to wait for my luggage. All the suitcases came up a ramp and then went around and around in circles. Mine took forever to come.
After that, I had some free time, so I went exploring in the airport. I was in a city called Vancouver. There was lots of cool art all over the airport, from the people who have lived here for a very long time (like the Maori people in New Zealand). This is me and a totem pole. It was gigantic and it was inside. You can read more about totem poles if you click HERE, or you can watch the You Tube video underneath that will show you some cool totem poles that have been made.
Do you want to know what I did next, after my incredibly long airplane ride? I had to get on another plane and go for another long ride!
It's been fun though. I got in really late at night and went to my friend's house (you might know him, he's a teacher). It's been raining all day since we got back, but tomorrow we have some beautiful places that we'll see. Check back soon to see what we got up to!
