June 16

The most common language spoken in this country is Amharic.

The country, in size, is almost twice as big as the state of Texas. It is located west of Somalia in Eastern Africa.  

Find out tomorrow where I am...if you haven't already figured it out!!

June 15

This African country enjoys the distinction of being the continent’s oldest independent country.  It has a total population of approximately 70 million.  More than 80% of the population lives in rural areas. 

This is its flag…

Have you figured out where I'm at?

June 14

Today I am traveling to the second largest continent in the world, which is home to the 2^nd largest freshwater lake in the world. 

This continent is also home to world’s longest river.

Do you know where I'm going?  Check back tomorrow for more clues!

June 13

I tried to learn a little Korean while I was there...(my Korean lessons didn't go very well though!)  You can learn a little Korean yourself by visiting the library's Mango Language online resource.  (You will need your library card number).

I meet this very cute Korean baby.

Before I left Korea I was able to visit the Unmunsa Buddhist site

I loved visiting South Korea!

Now I am off on my next adventure...I will be traveling west across Asia to another continent...follow me to...

June 10

Time to eat! 

Koreans use a lot of garlic in their cooking.  Here is a whole truck filled with garlic that is being delivered to the market place!

This is a "typical" Korean meal

And this is one of the families I was able to share a meal with!

On the Lunar New Year Korean families have a special meal

A nice family took me out to a restaurant...the food was cooked right in front of us...

(I did NOT eat the octopus!)

Well, if you don't think you could eat the cooked octopus, how about

DRIED SQUID!? Yum, yum!

It was very fun tasting some new foods.  I especially liked dweji bulgogi (불고기) which is thinly sliced or shredded pork marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar, green onions and black pepper, cooked on a grill (sometimes at the table). Bulgogi literally means "fire meat".

June 9

 I made it clear across the Pacific Ocean to the great peninsula country of

South Korea!!

One of my first stops in South Korea was to a Bamboo Forest!

Later I went to a Zodiac Garden.  There were 12 different granite benches supported by the zodiac animals.  2011 is the Year of the Rabbit

Here I am riding a horse!

Here are some really interesting traditional Korean buildings I visited

Check back tomorrow to see some of the yummy FOOD I got to taste while visiting Korea!

June 8

After I got on the plane in San Francisco I settled down for a non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.  In fact it was a 5,660 mile trip that took me just over 12 hours!!

The city I landed in has a population of 9.5 million--that's the second largest city in the world!  The entire country has over 48 million people!!

Most of the people (83%) live in cities.

This country has 6,228 km of coastline and nearly 3,000 islands!

The martial art 'Tae kwon do' originated in this country.

Confucianism and Buddhism are two of the major religions in this country.

Well, do you know where I am?  I will be spending several days here so I can explore this great country!  Be sure to check back this week to see some great pictures!