Hit the "back" button or arrow on your browser to return to Globe Back to today's update>>

Introducing Mystery Class #6 Yangon, Myanmar 16.783 N, 96.150 E     "Minglarbar!" Do you know what this phrase means? Here in Myanmar, this is how you say "hello" or "greetings" in Burmese. Our School  Our school is the Yangon International Educare Center in Yangon, Myanmar, a k-12 school, and we are really thrilled to meet you! We hope you enjoyed your journey of trying to discover our secret location, and hope you'll enjoy learning more about us as you read below! Our school opened in 1998. It is one of three Pre-K through twelfth grade international schools in Yangon. But we really have grown fast! Opening enrollment this year was 748 students in grades PreK -12, compared to the 1998 school year when the enrollment was only 48 students. We go to school from mid August to late May. Our student body is 70% Burmese, and the other 30% is various ethnic groups. Here is one of our school buildings below. As you can see, we are located in the city itself. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this Introduction, because we have information and photos of the special program at our school called "week without walls", which a chance to get out into the countryside itself and learn outside the classroom. Our City   Our city, Yangon, is the capital city and the gateway to Myanmar. On this map you can see our location near the very south of the country, in the orange colored state which also has the name Yangon. Yangon was founded in 1755 by King Alaung Paya on the site of the small settlement called Dagon. Until the late 1980's, it was known by the name Rangoon (that's when our country was known as Burma too). Yangon has a unique charm, with old colonial buildings, tree-lined streets, bustling local markets and tranquil lakes. There are famous golden pagodas that glisten amongst the trees and buildings like Shwedagon Pagoda, Sule Pagoda, Botataung Pagoda and Chaukhtatgyi Pagoda to name a few.   This photo is a night view of The Shwedagon Pagoda, situated on a small hill with its spire rising to a height of 99.4 meters (326 ft.). It is visible from all parts of the city and is considered one of the most magnificent monuments on earth. It's stupa is covered with 8,000 solid gold plates and its tips are set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and topaz.   A huge emerald in the middle of the stupa catches the first and last rays of the sun. Eight hairs of Lord Buddha and other relics are said to be enshrined in this pagoda.   Evening in a modern part of Yangon Coexisting with the ancient Pagodas are many things that make Yangon a city that is a modern metropolis. The downtown area has many modern office buildings, and busy streets. A recent hotel complex on Kandawgyi Lake Yangon also has many parks and scenes with lakes. Some of the newer hotels are located near parks and try to blend their setting right into the natural parks and environment such as near Kandawgyi Lake. Many public events take place in the parks, such as traditional boat races on the lakes. Traditional Royal Boat Races on Kandawgyi Lake Our Country Myanmar is located in southeast Asia, along the Indian Ocean's Bay of Bengal. We are located between Bangladesh to our southwest, India to our west/northwest, China to our northeast, Laos to our east, and Thailand to our southeast. The size of our country in area is about 678,500 sq km, or a little smaller than Texas.Our population in 2006 was estimated to be over 47 Million people. Our country is divided up into 14 political parts called States or Divisions, and to show this our country's flag has 14 stars. There are 7 divisions called "taing-myar" , and 7 states called "pyi ne-myar". In terms of our history, beginning in the 1800's, our country was under British rule, first as part of Britain's Indian Empire and then later as a separate colony of Britain. In 1948, we became independent of Britain. Our government now is run primarily by the military. Historically, our country has been known as Burma. In about 1989, however, our government declared we would be known as Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw, which we translate into Union of Myanmar. Many governments outside of our country still call us Burma. Here is our flag. The flag of Myanmar We are rich in natural resources including petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, and hydropower. The precious stones we are most known for are jade, ruby and sapphires. A market stand selling precious stones and jewelry in Yangon Buddhism is one of the main religions in the country. It is common to see monks wearing traditional Buddhist apparel. A Buddhist devotee offering food to the monks. Myanmar is also endowed with a rich diversity of habitat types arising largely from its unusual ecological diversity. It is home to nearly 300 known mammal species, 300 reptiles and about 100 birds species, and is a haven for about 7,000 species of plant life. Since Myanmar considers such a rich pool of bio diversity as an important national asset, the Government has drawn up strict regulations to protect its biological resources. Week Without Walls: Photos of the Countryside In our secondary school we have a "week without walls", a chance to learn outside of the classroom, in a setting that involves travel into the countryside itself . Here are several photos from the the journey. A young boy riding on top of an elephant A local resident resting on his cart A Buddhist monk strolling in a village We had a great time being a secret Mystery Class. We hope you will visit our country someday.