The Netherlands

Since our translator is still learning their language, we will mostly be writing facts. In Netherland they are more laid back and she said, "Here you can walk out in your underwear, and no one will judge you." Their favorite sports to play are soccer, field hockey (not on ice), gymnastics and basketball. They are about nine years old and we are talking to a classroom, not an individual. There are many places in their country where they can bike. Fun fact, in Amsterdam there is a "parking garage" that instead of parking places, there are places to park your bike. Did you know: On average, Dutch people are the tallest people in the world. When the kids start kindergarten, they have been with each other since the age of four.

Skyping with Japan!!!!

     This is our 1:00 A.M. Mystery Skype! Who will it be?? Our Skyper is Mr. Mark Colby and we have an inference that he could be Dubai?! They are in Asia, BUT don't consider themselves a part of Asia. He is in Japan! He works in Tokyo. He is RIGHT next to THE Tokyo Tower! On the weekends he goes to the farm he owns and takes care of it with their 2 dogs! Some of their holidays are Western New Year. He moved to Japan to study Judo when he was just our age! The Japanese currency is the Japanese Yen. It is worth $100 U.S. dollars! Japan has the lowest number of Christians! Only 0.1% of the population are Christian! We learned how to say 'hello my name is,' in Japanese.  This city is EXTREMELY SAFE compared to the U.S..  They HAVE to take a test to get into kindergarten, middle school, AND high school! There is practically NO IMMIGRATION, Japan is 99.9% Japanese humans.

Mystery Skype - Vietnam

  We're on to our next mystery skype.  We figured out they were in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We asked about their school and we learned they were an International School System, they are a private school. Some of their traditions are celebrating the Chinese and Lunar New Year.  They also celebrate Christmas and Halloween like us. Even though they don't like to wear uniforms, they do. They were friendly and taught us how to say "hello" in Vietnamese.

Mexico City

  We just finished our mystery skype to Australia, and we are on to our next Skype to Mexico City! We had a very sweet lady named Karen who we talked to. She loves to swim in her free time, and eat meat with beans and cilantro which she loves very much. She listens to a lot of mariachi bands-- the music of her home town. She celebrates El Día  De Los Muertos which is The Day of the Dead and Independence Day. On these days she doesn't have work,  and Karen and her friends throw parties and enjoy themselves. Karen has been learning English since kindergarten and was a very interesting person to talk to. we can't wait to meet our next skyper!

    

Mystery Skype - Australia Classroom

   Our next mystery skype took place with an elementary classroom in Guildford, Australia. This classroom consisted of all boys, ages eleven and twelve. These boys have to wear uniforms and they like to play basketball, tennis, water polo, and rugby. These boys go to a school located thirty minutes away from the Indian Ocean coast. Their climate is pretty close to ours except it is opposite because they live in the Southern Hemisphere, so their seasons are inverted. The boys celebrate the same holidays as we do, such as Christmas, Easter, Lent, and Halloween. They like to eat pizza and KFC.  The time difference is 14 hours ahead of us. A quick fact they told us was that Australia was founded in 1829. The boys also like to play a popular video game, Fortnight. Australia and Texas relate in many ways, like the language and climate, but they also have some differences which really show how diverse the world is!

     

Hong Kong

     Gary Ng lives in Hong Kong, China, but has been to Taiwan, L.A., and the Dallas area. Gary's family includes him, his wife and two kids. He told us that he actually learned English at school as well as Chinese. He also told us about Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is never set each year because each month each year has exactly thirty days. During Chinese New Year, they give out pocket money to family members that are still single in a red envelope. Gary also told us that he celebrates English holidays such as Christmas. Gary works at an English arts and crafts store, Micheal's. Gary lives halfway across the world, but he also has some similarities in his culture to ours.

Mystery Skype ; Russia

 After we Skyped Antarctica, we started a mystery Skype! Then, we found out that we were skyping  a college teacher from Yaroslavi, Russia! There are more than 600,000 people in Russia, and they have 11 different times zones!  It is currently -17 degrees Celsius there in Russia. There are many different holidays, and on one holiday they eat pancakes! Their traditional foods are bread and soup. Out of all the different types of music she choose classical music as her favorite! The United States and Russia may have some differences, but that doesn't mean that they can't have some similarities too!

Antarctica

We have now expanded our journey to Antarctica, which is 8,691 miles from Flower Mound, Texas! In the South Pole, we met Raffaela Busse and Johannes Werthbach, who are both from Germany. They work for a company called Ice Cube, as scientists, to get powerful cosmic energy for engines. The Ice Cube laboratories are 2.5 km deep. There are 15 countries working with Ice Cube! It's located at the South Pole because it's one of the only places containing clear ice for light. To get there, they have to board a military aircraft, which is mainly filled with cargo. The aircraft is loud, crowded, and has no windows. Not only do they work, but they also have a lot of fun. They play football (soccer), go hiking, run, ski, enjoy wildlife,  and enjoy beautiful landscapes. Even though they have 24 hours of day, and 24 hours of night, they still enjoy these activities. Sunsets occur for a couple of weeks. Also there is no humidity. Most of their food is canned or frozen, which isn't awesome. But something awesome is that they have 24 hours of ice cream available! At the most, it has been 10 degrees Fahrenheit there. At this moment, it's -39 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica, and in Texas it's 63 degrees Fahrenheit! This was a really fun and an informative Skype! Can't wait for the next one!

This is our awesome group ready to spend 24 hours together Skyping, learning and having fun!  #lmsworldwide

     Our first Skype was a mystery Skype and we found out that they live in New York. The two twins, Lydia and Lauren, actually grew up in Flower Mound, went to Lamar, and graduated from Marcus High School! Although it's known for its fancy runways, and job opportunities in the arts, there is also much history behind all of it.  They have many known traditions, such as the New Year's Eve ball drop. The twins talked about all of the parades and how noticeable it was that people talk more when they are dressed up and in costumes. They are also passionate dancers and actors.  Lauren recently completed a world tour and was also in a play by the author of Hamilton. The twins say that they were mainly excited to move to New York for the experiences and fast pace of life, but they still miss Texas. Some of the main things they enjoy are the diversity in New York, such as Chinatown, and the many parades and exciting festivals. While on Skype, we were surprised by Lydia and Lauren's mom who rushed from her home in Flower Mound to see her daughters on Skype. They gave us some great advice about their experiences as we wrapped up.

The whole group is here!  Getting ready for our first call - #lmsworldwide - HERE WE GO!

We're getting ready to start our 2018 #lmsworldwide Skypathon!!!!! This is going to be a blast!  Food is here - snacks everywhere - fun to be had - lots to learn!

To get you in the mood....Last year's Skypathon video!

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This is our last official meeting before our 2018 #LMSWorldWide Skypathon!  We have our stations set!  We know our interview teams for the first part of the night and everyone is excited!  Less than 3 days to go!

Prepping!

Shopping lists, game planning, and finalizing the schedule!  Wanna know some of our destinations?  Mexico, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo, Kenya, Antarctica, India, Japan, Honduras & Yellowstone National Park just to name a few!  The rest are a MYSTERY!