Only a Monster Would Do That: Sent to Czech Republic, Japan, Taiwan, & the U.S.

The scene from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is going to a swap-bot member in Belton, Missouri.  She’s a turtle lover, so that’s why the sea turtle card.  The swap theme was the book we are currently reading, so I told her about that: “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America,” by Michael Eric Dyson.

The cathedral goes to Vejprty, Czech Republic, to a Postcrosser who expressed interest in arts, history, churches and pictures of saints.  I like saints, too.  Saint Bernards.

Tom & Jerry went to Changhua City, Taiwan, in a Postcrossing Forum “last movie I’ve seen tag, and the last movie I’d seen at the time (I sent that card out over a month ago) was “Fan.”

The zebra card went to a zebra lover in Tamaki, Mie, Japan.  I like this person; she’s all about the message part of the postcard:

“I’m happy to receive any postcard from you. It’s a special moment for me when I read the messages.  I’d like to know about your life. Any messages would be interesting for me even if it seems very trivial events for you. It would be also nice to hear what you’re doing now, for example, writing while drinking a hot chocolate or waiting while baking cookies! 🙂 Or, how was your day? How did you spend it?”

All I wrote on the card was “Happy Postcrossing!”

Just kidding!  Only a monster would do that!  I wrote about someone I know with the same last name as her, and then I went on to tell her what I would be doing that day.

Stamps, washi tape, sticker:

Filthy Little Histories: Received from Japan, Singapore, & the United States

Another day, another 3 postcards though the mail slot:

The top two cards are from Postcrossing Forum tag trades; the “BOH” box from Singapore, in a food package trade. The sender tells me:

“BOH plantations is Malaysia’s largest tea producer and their plantations are located high up in the Cameron Highlands of northern Malaysia.  BOH is a well known brand of tea throughout Singapore and Malaysia.

The wonderful Studio Ghibli card came to me from Japan, part of another Postcrossing Forum trade, this one in which one person would send a Studio Ghibli card, the next person would send a card from the previous user’s wish list, and so on.  Since I have no Studio Ghibli cards to send, I tagged a person waiting for a card from their wish list.  Sadly, this card is largely empty on the back, save for the beautiful stamps shared below, and a “I hope you like this card :)”  LOTS of bland blank space, which does in fact make me like even this wonderful card a lot less.

The sender of the Arch card, sent from Saint Louis, Missouri, had a lot more to say.  Seeing the St. Louis Arch in my mailbox at this time sparked interest, because just days before, I had heard an NPR story touching on the Saint Louis Arch’s filthy little history:

…the Arch was built to honor St. Louis’ role in westward expansion, a time when Manifest Destiny was used to push Native Americans and Mexicans out of their lands…African-American neighborhoods were razed when the U.S. government annexed 40 acres of historic downtown St. Louis to create the Arch grounds. It was the height of the depression…

So many filthy little histories in our country. I guess every country has some amount of filthy little histories–but that does not make them any less filthy.

Anyhow, the sender’s message was fulfilling the requirements of a swap-bot “favorites” exchange, as I outlined briefly in a previous post.  This sender says her favorite movie is “Indiana Jones,” favorite food Pad Thai, favorite animal cats (she tells me she has 2), favorite color purple, and favorite season Fall.

I don’t care for Fall.  I am cold.

Stamps, stickers, & stuff:

It’s that chipmunk I love the most.

Received from Germany and the United States

The Kansas City, Missouri card is from Kansas City, Missouri (via swap-bot), and the sender’s comments about her city are funny:

“As you can see, we don’t have much in the way of scenery here, unless you like looking at cornfields.  I enjoy swapping to see what other people get to look at.”

Eek!  Pippi Longstocking came to me from Germany via Postcrossing.  I’m going to slap a new back on this one & send it to a friend of mine in Seattle, Washington, along with a suggestion that he dress up like her for Halloween.

Stamps!  And my favorite part of this little haul would be those three little characters in hard hats:

kk

Sent to Canada and the United States

Two more going out in swap-bot trades:

I don’t remember how the bird postcard came into my possession–perhaps in a swap-bot envelope-full-of-postcards type trade–but now it’s on its way to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, in a “for the birds”-themed trade.  When I saw that opportunity on swap-bot, I remembered the card, and saw my chance to set it free!  I can’t tell you what kind of birds these are; the text on the back is printed in Chinese.  I wrote my message in English, though.

The other swap-bot trade here today is going to Kansas City, Missouri, and it is a “reuse a postcard” one, in which participants are to slap a new backing on a card we’ve received, & send it on to someone else.  I love these, even though I realize that in the end, it does not actually reduce the number of postcards in the house–though it does feel like it when I am sending it out!  I received this bus card from Hong Kong, and in sending it along the pipeline, I was careful to preserve my very favorite part: that snowman stamp!  Hope it doesn’t confuse the post office.