On–and off–water: Received from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, & the United States

Catching up on logging in…

Tigger & Piglet are from a Postcrossing Forum Disney tag trade, and they were sent to me from someone in Berlin, Germany who writes, “I like Disney since my childhood.”

The dandelion seeds blew over, via Postcrossing, from Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The sender tells me:

“For a short while I lived near the sea…and I loved it!! I really wish I could go back!  Here in the Netherlands if you blow away the fluff of a dandelion you can do a wish. And mine is to live near the sea one day again. Preferably a sea that is warm enough to swim in the whole year round. 🙂 Don’t like the cold water much. But a cold sea is even better than none and a river or lake is better than nothing! :)”

I agree with her on all points! Speaking of water, the unidentified coastal scene was sent to me from a Postcrosser in Bielefeld, Germany, but this water is no place near the card’s sender!  She writes:

“I also like walking on the beach, the sea, the salt in the air…but it’s so far away from here.  I haven’t any water around Bielefeld, no lake, no river, nothing. But you can live here.”

Well, now I feel depressed.

The Bulgaria postcard is from Bulgaria.  It was received via a swap-bot “Zazzle Me” trade in which we were to send cards we have had professionally printed.  The sender tells me:

“The colors of the Bulgarian flag stand for: –White: peace; –Green: hope & joy; –Red: strength & valour.”

From New York comes the Rockerfeller Center card, for a swap-bot “R” postcard swap.  If you scroll back in my blog, I think you’ll find what I mailed out was a Jetoy (“R”-is-for) Renaissance-style cat!  This swapper tells me:

“I see you enjoy traveling. I do, too.  We are going to Tokyo in Oct.  Really looking forward to it!”

Finally, from Rome, Italy, come all of those nighttime views.  It’s another Postcrossing card, from a sender who identifies herself as a “tattoo artist and student of architecture.” She goes on to write:

“I love alt, reading, watching movies, draw, and go to the beach.”

Stamps, stickers & postmarks:

It all starts with some Ewoks: Received from Belarus, Poland, & Taiwan

Three Postcrossing arrivals:

That super-cool cartoony postcard of a girl being greeted by some Ewok relatives came to me from Minsk, Belarus, from a person who tells me, “most of all I like traveling. Hope one day to visit U.S.A.”

The lovely, peaceful shore scene on the edge of the Baltic Sea was sent to me from Wrocław, Poland, by a Postcrosser who tells me, “I’m so happy to send one card more to USA! I live in the south-west of Poland.  Also I have the aquarium–plant tank.” He put some really cool stickers on the card, all aquatic-type animals of one kind or another, including an octopus, wearing a cowboy hat, riding a dolphin!

That Dome of Light is amazing.  Not having heard of it before, I looked it up & learned that it’s an art installation inside an MRT (transit) station–and that it available as a space for weddings! The card was sent to me from a Postcrosser in Taipei, Taiwan, who writes:

“In Taiwan, there are night market anywhere.  Everytime with my dad, he alway like the stand that have many people, he always calls the food ‘Eat it, Earn it!'”

I have no idea what that means!  Do you?

Beautiful & (somewhat) historical: Sent to Germany, Taiwan, & Thailand

I was down to only 3 cards out via Postcrossing–gotta send out a few more!

The butterflies are migrating to Bangkok, Thailand, to a recipient whose list of likes includes beautiful gardens, traveling abroad, seeing different cultures,architecture, museums, people, and national parks.  I think she may love this card.  I forgot to mention to her that when I visited her city this year, I visited an enclosed (indoor/outdoor–an enclosed outdoor space) butterfly garden in a huge park.

The Jetoy cat is on its way to Taichung, Taiwan, to someone who indicated another Jetoy card as a favorite among postcards she’s received.  I like this statement from her profile:

“Receiving postcard from other country, from people i don’t know is a special experience. Just like open a gift you never expect. Postcrossing color my daily life. Hope people who receive my postcard feel happy and surprised.”

The tiny post office is going to Ingolstadt, Germany, to a Postcrosser who is interested in ancient & historic architecture & sites.  I swear this is the closest I’ve got!  The building is about 65 years old, and Walt Disney visited this location way back when he was planning on building a family amusement park.  Super historic!

Not what they seem: Received from Slovakia, Taiwan & the United States

“Touristy”-type postcards today, maybe not sent from the places they might indicate:

When I saw that Georgia card, with glittery lettering & background that barely register in this scan, I assumed it was from a swap-bot tacky postcard trade.  Nope!  It was for one called “not my state, not yours.” The sender lives closer to Richmond, Virginia.  She writes:

“We like to visit a small mountain town in GA named Helen.  It is a bit cheesy, but it is modeled after a Bavarian village.”

I know what she is talking about.  I don’t know Helen, but here in California, we have our own cheesy town: Solvang.

That New York postcard, which you can see sports an old photo of the city, is another “not my state” arrival, this one from someone near Seattle, Washington.  The sender writes:

“I would say I have never been to NY but technically I have–only saw the inside of the NYC Greyhound station about 2 in the morning.  I will visit someday.”

Brr… the snowy card comes from Kežmarok, Slovakia, from a 15-year-old Postcrosser who writes,

“I like skiing and hockey.  I like geology and history too.  I collect minerals and fossils.  My best item is the skull of cave bear.”

Finally, from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, comes that postcard of Angkor Wat.  This is the most complicated lineage of a postcard today: it’s a postcard of Cambodia, sent from Taiwan, by a person who bought it in Vietnam!  The sender tells me that, and then really catches my interest:

“Taiwan’s food is so delicious. I like it so much.”

Stamps & stuff…

A trio of characters: Sent to Canada, Hong Kong, & Taiwan

Snoopy is headed to Taoyuan, Taiwan, in a Postcrossing Forum Snoopy/Peanuts tag trade.  I am nearly out of the postcards I purchased at the Charlie Brown Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand, and I have never seen Peanuts cards for sale here in the U.S.–so I guess my time participating in this trade is coming to an end!  Hey, fellow U.S. people: do YOU ever see Snoopy/Peanuts postcards for sale?  I need a resource!

Astro Boy is headed for Port Coquitlam, Canada, to a swap-bot member with whom I’ve been matched several times.  This time, it’s for a “not your usual postcard trade,” and I think this card certainly fits!

One more “not your usual postcard,” this time the tiger, which is going to a swap-bot member in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong.

All three cards are weighed down with a similar array of stamps:

Action in the dark: Received from Russia

Two postcards came in today, both from Moscow, Russia!  Both via Postcrossing: one the main service, the other through a forum tag trade. I just scanned the whole thing.

Cute creatures & delicious eats: Received from China & Finland

Three very nice cards to share this time:

Snoopy & Woodstock came to me in a Postcrossing Forum Snoopy/Peanuts tag trade, all the way from Hyvinkää, Finland.  The sender writes:

“Your birthday is soon so I chose this special card for you.  The text in the front says: ‘I hope these congratulations reach you on time…congratulations!’ Snoopy was already famous when I was a child. It is nice to see how he is still going strong.”

That beautiful delicious food card–I think the first die-cut food illustration card I’ve received–came to me from a Postcrosser in Hangzhou, China, after a journey of  6,267 miles in 13 days.  The sender tells me:

“This is a kind of Chinese traditional food called dumpling.  They have cloth and body.  The cloth is made from flour; the body usually is meat or beef or vegetables, just as you like. Chinese people in the north of China especially like eating dumplings with vinegar.”

I will admit I am well-versed on dumplings, being lucky enough to live in an area where the population is able to support a large number & variety of authentic Chinese restaurants–and I even make dumplings myself, occasionally.  The only bad part is that after all the time making & rolling the dough, preparing the filling, filling & folding & finally cooking them–the things disappear so quickly!

Lastly comes the thoughtful-looking panda, who made it to me after a journey of 6,951 miles over 25 days from Guangzhou, China.  I feel so lucky to have received two Postcrossing cards from China this week!  The sender of this card writes:

“When I travelled to America, there was no enough time for me to visit the west coast.  I love travelling and it’s interesting to talk with friends accompanying me and people I meet in the journey.  It’s hard but challenging to travels along. There are lots of delicious foods in GZ, where I live.”

To get halfway: Sent to Canada, England, Finland, & Italy

I seem to have reached a new Postcrossing milestone: I have sent enough postcards out, that I am now allowed to have as many as 12 going at a time.  To get halfway to my new allowance, I have mailed out these four cards:

Guidonia, Italy is the destination of the marine life card on the upper left.  The Postcrosser said, “my favorite theme postcards and ‘ medicine (nurses, doctors, health etc.)…Royalty and celebrities in General,” but since I had nothing with Nurse Jackie or the Kardashians, I sent this beautiful card, instead. I told her that I enjoy the Steinhart Aquarium (part of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco), and how grateful I am for the library card benefit that allows the occasional free admission, as this museum charges way too much.

The Jetoy cats are going to Bournemouth, England, where the recipient says she enjoys hugging cats and looking at stars.  I love it when I am able to come up with a card that encapsulates two or more of a person’s interests!

The manatees will make their way, slowly, to Nuoramoinen, Finland.  This was among the most nature-y of my current cards, and the Postcrosser did say, “I love nature,animal and landscape cards, something which tells story of you town or country. Or just Suprise me!!”

Lastly, the interesting antlers are destined to land in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.  The recipient said she would love cards with rainbows, and this was the closest thing I had.  This Postcrosser actually devoted most of her profile to listing expired cards, so, figuring she’s a devotee of dramatic events, I told her about the earthquake I experienced the night before.

From the odd to the adorable: Received from England, Taiwan, & the United States

That big, scalloped-edge card with the two famous personalities came to me from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a swap-bot “U postcard” trade.  Here, you may notice, the “U” stands for “umbilical.”  Hmm.  The sender tells me that it’s from a shop downtown called Stranger Factory, where the owners sell postcards of their art.  This work is called “Fetal Trapping in Northern California.”

The person who sent me bouquet-head & friend tells me she pulled the card from her “collection of Vogue magazine cover postcards, thinking they would all just be pretty fashion through the decades, so I was quite shocked to find this more unusual cover from the year 1939.”  She is from somewhere near Scunthorpe, England, and sent me this oddity through a Postcrossing Forum “totally weird” tag trade.

The robo-card is from a swap-bot trade of unusual postcards, and came to me from someplace within or just outside California’s San Francisco Bay Area. The sender tells me the card reminds her of my “awesome toy photos,” and she asks, “have you been to the pinball museum in Alameda?” Not yet, I haven’t.

Lastly, there is my favorite card of the batch, the dragon boat.  That is a Postcrossing card from Taipei, Taiwan, and it was sent by a college student who tells me she likes “postcards (most of them are movie ad), egg toys and beautiful beverage cans.”  She also advises me, “if you want to come to Taiwan, I’ll recommend Jiufen.“

Food, dining room, a potential diner: Received from Canada, Germany, and the United States

I do love Golden Curry; I’ve purchased the blocks many times to cook with veggies for a delicious Japanese-style curry over rice.  That panel of a curry block box came to me, through a Postcrossing Forum “food package tag,” from Honolulu, Hawaii.  This Postcrosser, who is originally from Japan, writes, “unlike exotic Thai curry and India curry, Japanese curry is very mild and ‘easy’ to your taste and stomach!  LOL  I occasionally have a craving for Thai green curry with sticky rice.  Yummy!”

The other two cards came my way through traditional Postcrossing draws.

That dark restaurant interior was sent to me from Giengen an der Brenz, Germany (home to the Steiff teddy bear company), and the sender has made a broad interpretation of me, indeed:

“…you say you love to EAT, so this must be a very tempting postcard for you!! It shows a restaurant in an old, former coaching inn, in the very south of Germany, near the mountains…enjoy your meal!!!”

In attempting to find photos of the food a restaurant that looks like this might serve, what I found was this very interesting statement on someone’s blog:

You know what is awesome? The gas station food in Central Europe! It’s easy to find good quality food on travel days.

That refined walrus came my way from Surrey, B.C., Canada, and when I flipped the card over, I saw the Ikea logo!  I had no idea such things could be found there.  The sender writes about the weather, talking about how uncomfortable she is in the heat wave they are having.  She noted that the temperature at the time was 27C, so I looked that up (we have to do that here in the U.S., most of us), and it translates to 80.6F, which would be a very cozy summer day here in my part of the San Francisco Bay Area, cooler than most days I’ve encountered lately.  I researched Surrey’s winter weather, and basically discovered I would prefer to visit in the summer heat waves.

Stamps!