Another Postcard Swap

It would certainly be safe to say that I love Beethoven - I love playing his music on the viola, cello, piano; listening to it on vinyl, cd, iPod; reading about him in City of  Dark Magic, etc.

Today, I received, as promised, 2 lovely postcards of his birthplace and home town of Bonn, in Germany, from a very kind elder gentleman to whom I sent a randomly assigned postcard through PostCrossing.

Happy Mail Days!

THURSDAY
Today I opened my mailbox to find 4 postcards, a letter from Sophie AND new address labels from Shutterfly! I'm actually kind of glad the labels were late so that I could find all of these wonderful things together! And even better, there were no bills, junk mail, credit card offers, any of that! Sophie's letter also included lovely gorgeous stamps and a beautiful Lincoln postcard!

FRIDAY
I finally feel like my patience with the USPS has paid off! After a wonderful mail day yesterday, I received another happy surprise today - a letter on a Chinese map and three vintage postcards, one from Cuba, pre-Castro! This happy letter came from a lawyer in Las Vegas via SendSomething.net who also shares my great love of geography. 

Stamp Binge

Saturday evening I went on a bit of a stamping binge on the USPS' website. Today, they have arrived! Which makes me question all the more why I am still awaiting a letter from Kansas, sent 13 days ago, a letter from Germany, sent 20 days ago and a package that has apparently been in Philadelphia since Thursday but has yet to make it to my door. Hmmmm... Anyway, top picture is of stamps I received today, bottom picture is map envelope I sent to my newest pen pal, Adela, in the Czech Republic! As I mentioned both Gettysburg (where I grew up) and Phoenixville in my letter, I felt it prudent to draw them in on the map.

Postcard Swap & New Pen Pal

Today I found two happy surprises in my mail box - first a letter from my friend Ilse in Massachusetts and second, an envelope containing two postcards from Adéla, my new pen pal in the Czech Republic, a country I do so desperately want to visit! The bottom of the two postcards shows views of Prague, the upper postcard is off the Czech Robin Hood type figure. I love them both and am writing her back this evening!

Postcard Swaps & New Pen Pal Letter

FRIDAY: Today in my mailbox I found a letter from my friend in Los Angeles, reminiscent of early middle school and our obsessions with the neon works of Lisa Frank. It was such a wonderful surprise to see the iconic dolphins once more! (bottom picture)

Also, I've recently entered into two postcard swaps! The postcard first pictured that I sent to Russia in the first batch of Post Crossing cards was favorited by a girl in the Czech Republic. As I had another one, I asked if she wanted it in exchange for one she'd send me of the Czech Republic - top of my "to-visit" list! I anxiously await it. I also will be receiving postcards in return for the latest one I sent to Germany, to Bonn, the home of Beethoven. The postcard in the middle is the latest one sent out, this time to Russia.

SATURDAY: What an exciting mail day for a Saturday! A new pen pal's first letter and it's full of creativity, a postcard from Poland and (on an unrelated note) my photo card for my new horizontal driver's license! 

First International Postcard!

It's here! The first international postcard I have received via PostCrossing! It is a lovely image of Wiesbaden in Germany and the sender wrote their message in German - a little test for my out of practice German skills!

First of the Vogue Postcards Sent

Nine postcards of mine have been received and still I anxiously await the arrival of my first international postcard! I'm starting to get impatient, but I must remember that people are busy and not everyone stalks their mailboxes like Sophie and I do... I need to learn patience! Anyway, I've had the chance to send out a few more, they're pictured below.

Vogue Cover from 1927, Sent to Belarus

 Vogue Cover from 2006, Sent to China

Wharf at Mount Vernon, Sent to Germany

Postcards Sent Thus Far

Officially six of my postcards have been received through Post Crossing - though I still anxiously await that first international postcard! So far I've sent postcards to Arizona, Russia, China, Malaysia, Belarus, Finland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, the Netherlands, Ukraine and 2 to Germany. Below are the most recent ones I've sent out, all proof that I'm a proud Philadelphia, Pennsylvania girl (my mother and grandmother were both born there and I have always loved the City of Brotherly Love). I've sent letters thus far to Germany, Belgium, Poland, Russia and 2 to the UK. 

Below are some that have already been received. The quotes are from various writings of Jane Austen.

Lovely Pen Pal

Today I received a much anticipated first letter from Sophie in Lincoln in the UK. When I asked her to be my pen pal I could not have anticipated just how much we have in common! So exciting! 

The letter on the left is my return post to her, the letter on the right and post card is from Sophie. It is so exciting to have a pen pal who's life is relates to your own!

The Fun of Packages

Today I found a lovely surprise in my mailbox, a package from a lovely woman containing a delightful book called The Friendly Jane Austen. It is most intriguing and enjoyable! In return I sent an envelope stuffed with vintage international stamps from my collection. 

I also heard from two pen pals, one in the UK, one from Germany, that they have posted letters to me! Such excitement! I also received my first Geek Girl pen pal and by sheer happenstance, today is her birthday - happy birthday Hannah!  I still await my first international postcard, another of my PostCrossing cards was received today and I sent another out to Germany, hopefully my first international post card arrives soon.

Happy Mail Day

'Tis a day of postcards! I finally received my first postcard from Postcrossing (first picture) from a lovely grandmother in South Bend, Indiana. It was doubly exciting to receive a postcard from a place that I had been before (I had driven through South Bend, home of Notre Dame, while going to Chicago with family). 

One of my postcards (second picture) was received by another lovely grandmother in Helsinki, Finland. It got there in 5 days, I'm astonished! As one of mine was received I also got to send out postcard number 8 (third picture) to a man in the northern "ice box" region of Minnesota. 

Hooray for mail! Off to the post office to send it out!

First International Mail!

After a seemingly endless wait, okay, a one week wait, I received my first international post of the year! Through Letternet, I was contacted for my address and I have received my first letter from a lovely girl named Sabrina in the homeland, Deutschland! And happy day, I received a letter from my dear friend in Los Angeles as well!

I also just joined the site Send Something and hopefully I will find a few more interesting people to exchange mail with as well! I'm so excited to write back to my new pen-friends!

In My Mailbox

Recently I've become a bit obsessed with snail mail post. As the USPS struggles with financial issues, I want to save it. I love getting letters and packages of all sorts and I would hate to see that go away. That being said, recently I've joined a variety of websites to increase to learn more about the world around me and to also increase the number of surprises I find in my mailbox!

I first started getting very excited about international mail when, in 2003, my freshman year of high school, my wonderful German teacher, Herr Vanderboegh, introduced my German II class to the wonderful world of Letternet, the German postal services free pen pal website. When I was introduced to it, though, it was not yet online. Having it online now makes it much easier to find pen pals and I've now been a member for 10 years! While there are a number of members from all over the world, because it is through the German post, all letters must go through Germany (i.e. people in the US can only find pen pals in Germany).

Now, I've joined ePals, a website for classroom teachers to connect their students with other students around the world, Postcrossing, a postcard website established in Germany for lovers of postcards - you send postcards to random people around the world and get postcards back from different random people around the world, International Geek Girls Pen Pal Club, a website for girls who love to delight in their inner geekiness and spread it across the globe with a pen pal and InterPals Penpals, an open forum type website where one can participate in email or snail mail pen pal relationships as well as language exchange.

To date, I've sent 7 postcards through Postcrossing, have 4 new penpal relationships (in the UK, Russia, Poland and Germany), have signed up for the next round of pen pal pairing with the iggles (International Geek Girls) and am trying to find the best way to use ePals with 100 students in the fall so they get to explore and learn about areas around the globe. While I have not had any correspondence arrive in my mailbox yet, this will be the place where I chronicle my adventures with postal delivery!

I also love to send fun and interesting post so here are some examples of what I've been sending around the world so far.

 Fashionably Vogue Magazine Bespoke Stationary to send to pen pals

My first round of Postcrossing postcards to China, Malaysia, Russia, Germany, and Arizona (the other two went to Belarus and Finland) 

 Envelopes and stationary made from scrapbook paper sent to my penpals in Poland and Russia