A flying visit to New York City, U.S.A.

The aeroplane to New York was perhaps the biggest aircraft Lewis the Lion had ever travelled on, with two aisles and 11 seats per row and with a passenger capacity of 660! It was a Boeing 747-400 and to read more information about this enormous aircraft, click here: Boeing 747-400

Lewis quickly realised that this was a really international flight as there was a babble of different languages around him, with an Italian gentleman sat to one side of him and an Indian gentleman sat to the other. Many of the flight attendants wore name badges with country flags indicating the languages they could speak. There was also a range of international films and music to choose from to make the time pass more quickly, as the trip from London to New York would take 8 hours in total! Lewis realised that he had set himself a really important Worldwide Language Challenge during his epic journey!

Before he knew it, he had touched down in Newark Airport, New York and was ready to go through border controls. Lewis the Lion felt a little bit scared as there were so many policemen carrying enormous guns. He could understand why security was so tight as New York had experienced an atrocious terrorist attack in September 2001 when a lot of people had lost their lives. You could only approach the border control counter one person at a time, where a customs officer would ask you the purpose for your visit, where you would be staying and when you planned to leave? They then took retina (eye) scans and finger prints of both your right and left thumbs by placing your thumbs onto a glass panel.

Lewis then collected his luggage and headed out to the taxi rank. It was already night time in New York and it was freezing cold! Lewis the Lion was glad that he had his golden fur to keep him warm. Lewis was happily greeted by a row of yellow taxis and his taxi driver was a driver from Ghana who had lived in New York for 15 years he loved it so much! In fact there were many people in New York who came from many different countries in the world. Like London, it was definitely a cultural melting pot!

Lewis the Lion was in fact off to stay the night with some special English friends of his who also lived in New York and they loved living there too! There was Isabel, who was 3 years old, and her sister, Lily, who was 16 months old. Lewis the Lion had great fun playing Hide and Seek where Isabel had some fantastic hiding places (even though Lily sometimes followed her and gave the game away! Has that ever happened to you with little brothers or sisters?!). He also enjoyed playing Pelmonism (a matching card game) and dominoes, before enjoying a story before the girls went to bed.

He wondered what games he would see other children enjoying throughout the world? Do you think they will be the same?

He was staying in Manhattan and so wanted to have a look at the pretty lights of the Empire State Building, one of New York’s tallest and most famous buildings. You may know this building from the famous film, King King where an enormous gorilla climbs a very tall skyscraper? To find out more information, go to this website: Empire State Building

However, because it was so cold, Helen, her friend Rebecca and Lewis rushed as quickly as possible to take a photo and then go back home!
Lewis the Lion went to bed early himself as he had an early start and needed to be up at 5:15 in the morning, ready to catch his next set of aeroplanes.

 

Have you worked out the mathematical challenge yet? Do you know how long it will take Lewis to arrive in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil?

 

About Helen Molloy

Helen Molloy has been a Primary Learning and Teaching Consultant, leading on the introduction of Primary Languages in the City of Stoke-on-Trent for the past 5 and a half years. She is passionate about language learning and inspiring children into developing a curiosity and awareness of other people's languages and cultures.
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