The Answers to My Classroom's Questions

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago, my friends Keith and Kristin visited my classroom so they could talk about their adventures with me and show the equipment they use when making their radio programs. Everyone had a great time and worked on thank you notes for Keith and Kristin. Last week, Aunt Lynn gave Keith and Kristin the stack of thank you notes from the class. Keith and Kristin really like the notes and they tell me that some of my classmates had some questions in their notes. So I asked them if they could write down the answers for me to pass along. Below is what they gave me (along with some of my own comments).

Question: How old are you?
Keith was born in 1965 and Kristin was born in 1972
(Can you do the math to figure out their ages?)

Question: Have you been to Australia?
Keith and Kristin have NOT been to Australia

Question: Have you been to China?
Yes. Keith and Kristin have visited Hong Kong
(See if you can find it on the map)

Question: Do you interview a lot of people?
Yes. Journalists interview many people when they are working on stories. They interviewed more than 20 people while they were in Doha and Dubai.

Question: Do you dress like the people in the places you go?
Keith and Kristin haven’t dressed in the “traditional” clothing in the places they have visited. They wear the same kind of clothes they would wear to work. Sometimes they wear jeans and work boots if they are working in a place with mud or sand. And, Kristin says she and Keith do make sure they respect local customs (I guess in some places you can’t wear shoes inside. I had no idea!). But, Keith and Kristin have purchased “traditional” clothing from some of the places they visit. Remember the headscarf that Keith brought to class? That was from Qatar.

Question: Have you ever interviewed any sports players?
Yes. Kristin has interviewed Bill Bradley. He used to play basketball for the Boston Celtics. Keith has met (but not interviewed) Muhammed Ali, the former heavyweight boxing world champion.

Question: How do you get a passport?
You must apply to get a passport. There is a form you have to fill out and you have to get special-sized photos. You can get your photos at Wal Mart and Walgreens. You can get the passport form at the Muscatine County Courthouse. You can also find the paperwork on the Web at: http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Question: Have you ever seen any different kind of animals?
Yes. Keith and Kristin see many different animals on their trips. The animals are different depending on where they are at. But they see lots of chickens and roosters, cows, donkeys, goats, and of course, they saw camels in the desert in Qatar. Kristin says a small monkey once tried to take a microphone right out of Keith’s hand in Cambodia. Both also saw many baboons in Uganda. Both Keith and Kristin have seen armadillos in Texas. Keith and Kristin have also seen a few large snakes and lots and lots of lizards. Kristin doesn’t like snakes and Keith REALLY doesn’t like lizards!

Question: Have you been to the White House?
Yes. Kristin has been inside the White House and Keith took my picture with Kristin outside of the White House when I went to Washington with them.

Question: Have you ever been to a continent?
Yes. Keith and Kristin have been to many continents. Do you know how many continents there are? (Hint…there are seven). Kristin says we actually live on one of the continents. Did you know North America (which includes the United States) is a continent? I had no idea! Keith and Kristin have also visited European, Asian, and African continents.

Question: Do you have fun doing what you do?
YES!

Question: What was the favorite place you went to?
Kristin says her favorite place is Paris, France.
Keith says his favorite place is Cape Town, South Africa
(See if you can find these places on the map.)

Finally, there were several questions about Kristin’s trip to Egypt. Kristin doesn’t leave until April 28 and I am going with her! So, check back in a few weeks and hopefully I will have some updates for you about Egypt.

I hope this helps answer your questions.

Until next time…