January 01, 2023

Flat Dragon Unicorn Man in New York

January 01, 2023/ Aja Appel

Hi Aja and class,

First of all, I want to wish you and your family a very happy holiday. I hope everyone will be able to spend some time with the people you love and that you all have so much fun.

Second, it was an absolute pleasure getting to meet Flat Dragon Unicorn Man and showing him around our town in Scarsdale, NY.

When Flat Dragon Unicorn Man first arrived at our door, we gave him a quick tour of our house. He really liked the picture of the Chrysler Building we have in our dining room. You might see a photo of that. Later that evening, we took him to one of our soccer practices. This particular practice was in Greenwich, CT. Even though it was in a different state from New York, it was not too far away from our house. It’s a beautiful, giant soccer field with cool lights at night.

Later that weekend, we took a stroll around the Scarsdale Village. The weather wasn’t too cold, so it was a nice time to grab some hot cocoa and look at all the holiday decorations around town. We stopped by the post office to mail some holiday cards. At the post office, we noticed a special little section that was just for letters to Santa. My kids each placed a letter to Santa in that box. Then Flat Dragon Unicorn Man noticed a few things he recognized from back home - a blue mailbox and a park bench. He was happy to relax in the bench for a little while after all the walking.

Then we walked to the train station. Our friend was coming from New York City that day to visit us. We saw the train schedule and looked for Grand Central Station. That’s the big train station in the middle of New York City. Flat Dragon Unicorn Man didn’t get a chance to go there this time, but he says he would like to plan a trip one day. We waited for the train on the part of the station that overlooks the train tracks. When our friend arrived, we went to Martine’s, which is a bakery across from the train station. We picked up some treats and brought them home for everyone to enjoy. Flat Dragon Unicorn Man really enjoyed the almond croissant.

A few days later, we went to piano lessons at Crestwood Music Center. Afterwards, we went to dinner at Moscato, a popular restaurant in Scarsdale.

Flat Dragon Unicorn Man’s favorite part of his stay here was when we went to the Christmas tree farm in upstate NY to find the perfect tree for our house. The name of the farm was Maplehorst Farm and Nursery, and the tree we chose was 8 feet tall! It was really late when we got back home from the farm, so we didn’t get to decorate the tree until the next day. Flat Dragon Unicorn Man helped out a lot, and we all think the tree looks amazing. What do you think?

By now, Flat Dragon Unicorn Man was missing home, so I just sent him back off to you. Thank you for introducing Flat Dragon Unicorn Man to our family. He was so kind and funny and just a joy to have with us. We think he had a good time, too!

Happy Holidays!

Jinia and the Shembekar family.

January 01, 2023

Flat Food Dragon in Chicago, Illinois

January 01, 2023/ Aja Appel

Dec 17, 2022

Flat Food Dragon arrived safely in Chicago! We can’t wait to show her around. She arrived just in time for our first snow of the season.

December 21, 2022

Good morning! Here are some pictures from Flat Food Dragon's recent tour of Chicago:

FFD learned that Chicago is a pretty big city! Over 3 million people live in Chicago, and another 6 million people live in the surrounding area. That makes Chicago the third largest city in America. FFD learned that to fit so many people in one city, sometimes you have to build some very tall buildings.

**Flat Food Dragon crossing the Chicago River**

FFD was interested to learn that Chicago has always been home to lots of different candy companies! When the wind blows in the right direction, downtown Chicago smells like chocolate. FFD also saw the Wrigley Building, named for the company that makes Snickers, M&Ms, and Wrigley chewing gum!

**Flat Food Draft at the Wrigley Building**

Flat Food Dragon learned that lots of people in Chicago live in apartment buildings (including her host family) and don't have yards. But Chicago has lots of big parks and an enormous lakefront that they can use instead! FFD visited the most famous park in Chicago, Millenium Park, and took her picture in front of "The Bean."

Flat Food Dragon also learned that Chicago is famous for its museums. FFD walked by the Art Institute which has some of the most famous paintings in the world. She didn't have time to go inside, but did take a picture with the lions who guard the museum!

**Flat Food Dragon at the Art Institute of Chicago**

Flat Food Dragon also learned that Chicago is famous for its architecture. In fact, the first skyscraper ever built was in Chicago! Chicago has lots of different kinds of historic and modern buildings. People come to Chicago from all over the world to study the architecture of the city. FFD saw the Sears Tower (which some people now call the Willis Tower). It's 108 stories high, and it was the tallest building in the world when it was first built! The Sears Tower has an observation dock on the top floor with a glass bottom so you can look straight down to the straight. Some people think it's exciting to stand so high up and look down. Other people think it's scary! What do you think?

**Flat Food Dragon and the Sears (Willis) Tower**

Flat Food Dragon is having a lot of fun in Chicago! She'll send more pictures soon.

From Emmy & Lila

December 24, 2022

Greetings!

Flat Food Dragon has been exploring her host family's neighborhood in Chicago, Lakeview East. Lakeview East is on the north side of Chicago, right along Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is one of the five lakes that make up the Great Lakes. They are really big lakes! In fact, 20% of the freshwater (that means water you can drink, not salt water) in the entire Earth is in the five great lakes. The city of Chicago extends along the edge of Lake Michigan covering 25 miles of shoreline.

This is what the lakefront looks like from Lakeview East. The big buildings you can see down the lakefront are part of downtown Chicago. You can even see some of the buildings that Flat Food Dragon wrote about in her last email. Lake Michigan is about 100 miles wide. That would take a long time to swim across!

One of the Otters asked about the birds that live in Chicago. Lots of them are probably similar to what you have in Oregon: pigeons, sparrows, cardinals. Near the lakefront, we also have lots of seagulls, ducks, and piping plovers.

Flat Food Dragon's host family lives very close to Wrigley Field, one of the oldest baseball stadiums in America. The Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field in the warmer months. In the winter months, Wrigley Field turns into a winter wonderland! Kids and their grownups go to ice skate, ride bumper cars on ice, and make smores on the baseball field. Flat Food Dragon took a picture in front of the famous Wrigley Field sign.

FFD also went to visit the school that Emmy and Lila attend. Emmy is in fifth grade, and her class mascot is Ms. Pantoja's Pet Rocks. Lila is in third grade, and her class mascot is Ms. Schaffner's Superstars. Here's FFD in front of Hawthorne Elementary School!

**Flat Food Dragon Visits Hawthorne Elementary School**

Emmy and Lila are Jewish, and their family celebrates Hanukkah in December. FFD was able to light candles with them and learn the story of Hanukkah and some of the traditional ways that Jewish families celebrate the holiday. FFD made sure to keep a safe distance from the candles so she wouldn't catch on fire!

What holidays do the students in your class celebrate? What traditions do their families observe?