Totte Letter #1

Me and Lotte

Me with my new friend. The sign on his neck reads:

“”Hi, my name is Totte. I come from Sweeden. I live in the south of Sweden, close to Malmö. 

I want to travel around Europe and visit many countries and cities. 

Please sent the class in Sweden, who is taking care of me, photos and messages from the places I visit. Send them to our teacher: [email address]. Thank you! 

I want to be back in Sweden next Spring (2013) so I can tell all the pupils in my class about my trip. I hope you will help me! Class 5c [name and address of a Swedish school]“

Email sent 28 September 2012:

Hello Class 5 c in Hjärups!

My name is John, and last night I had the pleasure of meeting your friend Totte. I was checking into a hostel in Amsterdam when I found him sitting at reception with a sign saying “Please take me!” From the note around Totte’s neck and the look in his eyes, I can tell he wants to see the world, so I’ve decided to take him with me for a few weeks. It’s a good thing we found one another, because I was just thinking about how I needed a travel partner.

Today, Totte has been helping me at work. For work, I’m a European tour guide. I bring groups of Australians through thirty-three cities in nine countries in Europe. Totte is helping me today bring a group of people from Amsterdam to Berlin, where we’re going to have two days of free time to explore places like the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (where Germany’s government lives) and Berlin’s famous TV Tower. We will try and take some photos of our travels. After that we will head to Munich for Oktoberfest, a big festival where Germans drink from very big glasses and eat lots of meat. After that we will spend some time in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic before we take a holiday to Morocco — that’s in Africa. There we will ride camels through the Sahara Desert. After that I will return with Totte to London, where I will have to introduce him to a new travel partner.

So far, Totte seems okay with this plan, but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you kids. Would it be alright with you if I keep Totte through November on my trip to Morocco?

Thanks for the new friend, and a happy Friday to you all.

John O’Sullivan

P.S. Here’s a picture of Totte and me, hard at work.