Some new creatures have come to join the Moji-Moji family, but oh my, they’re just a little bit shy. They’ve travelled over to Worcester with first class plane tickets from their respective countries of origin and are here on a cultural exchange trip.  What an epic journey they’ve had from all the far reaches of the world! First stop was…. well, let me show you their flight paths, that will be much easier.As bashful as they are, staying in the basket forever wasn’t really an option, so with a bit of coaxing and lot of promising of favorite treats – bamboo, eucalyptus and, well it’s a bit yucky really, but a good dollop of seal blubber – and they decided to brave the camera and let me show them off to you in all their tubby tummied, pompom eared, scarf toting glory.

So here they are, after a long and arduous journey, I’m pleased to introduce at last the cuddlesome and iconic trio of Ning Ning, Norris and Nook.Once they were out of the basket they didn’t feel quite so shy anymore. Sometimes that first step is the hardest, don’t you agree?

To break the ice and get everyone settled in, we had a cup of tea and made flags together to decorate their new rooms and make them feel more at home. I soon got to learn a little about them. A spot of communal crafting always loosens the tongue up a bit. I’m sure they won’t mind if I share what I found out.

Ning Ning comes from Shaanxi province and is very proud of his country’s long history. He can trace his family tree back thousands of years and boasts one of the oldest names in China, said to have originated in the Zhou Dynasty.Ning means ‘peaceful, tranquil, calm’ in Chinese. His favorite food is bamboo and his favorite colours are red and yellow. He likes to fly kites in his spare time, especially if they’re dragon shaped.

This is Norris. He’s a tough little fella when he needs to be but inside he’s as soft as butter left out on an Australian veranda in 110 degrees. He’s got a lot of love to give – just don’t call him a bear unless you want to make him grumpy, he’s fiercely proud of his marsupial status and holds his wombat cousins very close to his heart.The epic plane journey from Australia was very easy for Norris as his normal routine is to sleep 20 hours a day. Because of his napping habits he never goes anywhere without his comfort blanket and a book of bedtime stories and so managed to doze through most of the flight. He can only remember boarding the plane at Brisbane, saying hello to Ning Ning when they stopped at Chengdu Airport and then finally arriving at Heathrow. That’s the way to do long haul!

Last, but not least, is Nook the Polar bear, shortened from his Inuit name of Nanook. He has travelled from the Far North and the arctic tundras he loves so much. Nook thinks the bleak mid-winter is the best season of them all and his favorite food is whale bone soup. As a special treat he likes bag of Fox’s Glacier Mints but his teeth are the key to his survival in the wild so he knows he shouldn’t eat too many. Dentists are hard to come by in the frozen wastes, let alone one who’s brave enough to put his hand inside a polar bear’s tooth-achey mouth.

Now that they are conquering their shyness and have had an enticing taste of the globe trotting life, Ning Ning, Norris and Nook are looking forward to being ambassadors for their native countries. They’ll be getting together every now and again at World Summit meetings to raise their respective flags in the name of peace and international friendship. What a wonderful example to set.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far and get to know them. You’ve boosted their confidence up another notch just by caring!

If you feel the need for a trio of friendly, peace loving internationally recognised mascots you can find their pattern here.