I just want to state for the record that I think this place(Tessin, Switzerland) is beautiful.

This card actually was sent from Berlin, Germany. It took 6 days to arrive and traveled 4,499 miles.

Another thing that started showing up in my mailbox after I mentioned it was one of my favorites in my profile is fairy/faerie themed postcards. If you say it, you shall receive it, I guess. 🙂

This card took 10 days to arrive and traveled 4,288 miles from Bochum, Germany.

This was the first card I received when I briefly started back at Postcrossing in May of last year.

It took 10 days and traveled 4,281 miles from Essen, Germany.

A German saying the sender shared with me: Start the day off with a smile. It irritates people. (Haha! That is probably true.)

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Last October, I received the above card from a Postcrossing user located in Germany.  Like normal, I registered it, thanked the sender, and went about my day.  And that was the end of that.  Or so I thought.

Fast forward several months.

Yesterday, on my day off, I started to flip through all of the postcards that I have received through Postcrossing – which as of today is 92.  That is a small number compared to some.  There are users who have sent more than 1000 postcards.  Of course, they have been members since Postcrossing began back in 2005.  If I keep participating, I wonder how long it will take me to reach that number. Or how much money I’ll end up spending.  Eek!

Having uploaded my postcards in no particular order, I had to go through each country set and post to figure out which ones hadn’t been featured yet.  That was a task, let me tell you.  I’m glad I did it now and not 500 postcards from now.  When I first scanned them all in, I wanted to scream!

Once I had them all organized, I started picking out a few that I thought would make interesting posts.   I typically upload four or five, and come back to them during the week when I feel motivated to say something about them. I like to upload a variety of postcards, but since the majority of my postcards, like so many other postcrossers, come from Finland, Germany, and the USA, that can be hard.  Officially, I have received postcards from 26 countries.  Of the remaining 23, I have received no more than 4 postcards per country – many of them just one.

So, I picked out a few, this one from Germany being one of them.  I flipped over to the back and read it again since it had been awhile.  Something written(printed rather) on the back caught my attention.  The sender said that he lived on the north sea. Then I looked at the return address, and the name seemed familiar.

Last week, I sent out a batch of new postcards, one of which went to Germany, particularly to a fellow who lived on the North Sea.  I remembered this because he said so in his very short profile.  I immediately signed into Postcrossing.  I had to see if the person who had sent me the postcard in October and the guy I had just sent my postcard to were one in the same.

“What are the odds?” I thought.  “That out of 86,000+ users, I randomly selected one who has already sent me a postcard.  It can’t be the same person.”

I clicked on Sent Postcards, and then on the user ID number.  Thankfully, it will still tell me the Postcrosser’s address up until the time the card is registered.

I looked at the name and address that popped up on my screen and back to the return address on my postcard.  I looked again.  I even double checked the spelling of the name, street, and city.

“Holy crap!”  I shouted.  It’s the same freaking person!”

I am really curious if this has happened to anyone else.  It has to have happened to someone, somewhere, right?  I can’t be the only one.

I wouldn’t be as surprised if the user had sent more postcards than he had, but he was only showing 90 postcards sent.

Phil told me later that I should play the lottery.  Maybe I should.

Sadly, I don’t think the person I sent my postcard to will ever receive it.  He hasn’t signed on in over a month, and the last postcard he registered was in November of 2008.  If he does, though, I will be curious to know if he realizes who I am.

Oh, and for those wondering, the postcard artwork was done by Karin Blume.  Apparently, this postcard came from a collection that she made.

I’m still participating in Postcrossing, just not at the speed I was when I first started. International stamps are expensive, especially when you are sending out 6 or so postcards at a time every week and a half. Well, I’ve been a bit busy(lazy) lately, and so I’ve neglected my duty to scan in my postcards. I finally got around to it after I got back from Atlanta.

So, here we go. First up, Germany.

What a cute little abode.

I think I am going to start a list of places I HAVE to go to before I die, and I am going to use some of the postcards I receive to help me make that list.

Macedonia! I probably never would have received a postcard from there, had Ana not offered to send me one. To thank her, I sent her one. If you want to see my personal card, you’ll have to scroll down a bit, or go to the next page. Ana gets lots and lots of postcards. She goes into a lot more detail on her postcards that I do. It’s pretty neat, you should check it out.

For some reason, I’m always interested in what a person’s handwriting will look like. I guess it’s like trying to figure out what a person will look like if you have never met them.

Wellington looks very similar to Hong Kong. Tall buildings. Bright lights. Mountains in the distance. Water. I really wish New Zealand wasn’t so far away.

I’ve sent/received 3 postcards from New Zealand. One from the top. One from the bottom. And now one from the middle. Heh. Only I would find something like that interesting.

A lot of people argue that there is no point in traveling overseas because there is so much to see in their country of residence. I really should make a point to visit more of my country. I’m always jealous of people that live in Europe. They have some many countries nearby.

The freaky thing about this postcard is that I accidentally stumbled upon her blog before I got her postcard. What are the odds of a postcrosser having a blog, me finding it, and then later receiving a postcard from that user without ever asking that person to send one? Strange, I tell you, strange.

I officially dislike ad cards now.

And this is why.

My very fist postcard from Thailand. I always like it when a new country arrives in my mailbox.

Only 7572 postcards have been sent from Thailand.  I feel lucky.

This is a postcard from Sybil who lives in Turkey.  She keeps sending me the most interesting postcards. This one here depicts “A circumcision ceremony during the time of Sultan Ahmed III.”  They had ceremonies? Very interesting.

I always like getting cards from Sybil because she provides me with lots of reading material.  🙂

My mom told me over the phone that I had received a postcard that had people standing on a roof.  I pictured something a lot more wild in my head, let me tell you, but when I got home and saw it, I was pleasantly surprised to find out why they were standing on the roof. What a very exciting wedding!  That must be one strong roof, though, to hold that many people.

I really think that Sybil may have the gift of gab.  It’s not a bad thing, though.  I learn a lot when people have much to say.

Another week, another set of postcards from around the world.

At work, when I start thinking about how long it is until I can go home, I start thinking about the possibilities awaiting me in my mailbox. Will there be a postcard from a country I haven’t gotten one from yet? Will there be a thank you card from someone? Will it be written in a foreign language? What will be on the card? A fuzzy animal? Ancient scrolls from long ago? Colorful rocks? Or something self-made? Opening my mailbox is like opening a gift on my birthday. I never know what to expect.

Can anyone read Finnish? I’d like to know what that says.

I guess Pia didn’t have a lot to say.

When I first saw the front of this postcard, I thought it was from China, but no, it was sent from France. This is the first postcard that I have received from France. Postcrossing really is a learning experience. Almost every card I receive teaches me something I didn’t know before. I think that’s pretty cool.

Hopefully, my obsession of checking the mailbox won’t become debilitating. I’d hate to have to go to the doctor to get meds because I like getting mail – a lot.

I used to collect rocks when I was younger. I still have many of them sitting on a shelf somewhere.

This is my 4th postcard from Germany.

What a very interesting photograph. I really like how it is in black and white, and how she left the space on the left to write something. The frayed edge effect is really neat. This is the third hand-made card that I’ve received, and I can’t figure out why many postcrossers don’t want them. I really like them.

This one was actually sent to me in an envelope because it wasn’t affixed to a thick backing. I don’t think it would have made it all the way from Russia in one piece had it been sent by itself. I heard once that someone sent a banana through the mail. I wonder what in the world it looked like when it got to where it was going.

Here are six more postcards that I received through Postcrossing this past week. As soon as I save up some money and some vacation time, I’m going to have to start traveling again. Maybe to help me decide where to go first, I’ll put all of the postcards I’ve received in a big basket, close my eyes, and pluck one out. That would make traveling pretty interesting. Hrm, I can so see that being a premise of a Discovery or Travel Channel show. I’d watch it. 🙂

I felt pretty special to get this one from Hong Kong. There are only 68 users there, and I’m sure they are all not active. I loved the architecture of the buildings in China, especially in Hong Kong.

If someone could please translate this for me, I would greatly appreciate it. I was only able to recognize a few of the characters.

I really want to visit Germany at least once before I die. My ancestors came over on a boat in 1854.

I’m convinced that all Germans write their 1’s like little upside down V’s. How wicked. Not wicked in a bad way, wicked in an interesting way.

This is the first panoramic postcard that I’ve received. I really like the colors in it.

If I ever need to be inspired one day, I’ll just pull this postcard out and give it a read.

This is the first postcard that I’ve received from Lithuania. Seems like an interesting place.

It sure took a lot of stamps to send the postcard to me. I wonder how hard it would be to learn Lithuanian. It doesn’t look particularly easy.

Never been to New Hampshire, but I would like to travel north one day – only in the summer though. I can’t stand cold weather. I’d rather be hot and melting than cold and frozen.

I sent Audrey a postcard, and she was nice enough to send me one in return. I find it funny that the Post Office let it be sent with the 26 cent stamp, instead of the new 27 cent one.

This one is from Wisconsin, another state I’ve never been able to visit . . . yet.

My first postcard was from a 9 year old boy in Finland. It’s nice to see young people participating in Postcrossing.

Postcrossing is making me obsessive-compulsive about my mailbox. Seriously.

When I first looked at this, I was like, “Did someone just send me a picture of naked people?” Then I looked at it a little closer and figured out it was Adam and Eve and that they had just watched their underpants. I found it pretty funny. I’m confused why Adam is wearing shoes though. I didn’t think they had that type of attire in the Garden of Eden.

The kitty Keller is speaking of was temporarily possessed this past Saturday. She was panting like a dog and looked very, very evil. I knew something was very wrong when she let me pour several water cans over her and she didn’t move. She seems to be better now, but she would have been a perfect fit for the resurrected cat in in Pet Sematary.

This is one of the most unusual cards I’ve received thus far. I had no idea this was a Salvador Dali painting. I’m telling you, I learn something everyday.

My mother and I both got a card from Germany on the same day. I noticed that both senders wrote their 1’s exactly the same. I’ve never seen anyone write a 1 like that before. It looks like an upside down V. I wonder if all Germans write their 1’s like that.

New Zealand. Phil really wants to visit this country. Neil and Kaliah, two people who taught with me in Fuyang lived in New Zealand for a spell. They showed me pictures of the view from their house. Man, was it beautiful. It didn’t seem real.

I found it odd that the stamps weren’t canceled out like ours. Does this mean I can take the stamp off and put it on another postcard if I happen to be in New Zealand? If you are from New Zealand, and you are reading this, please comment.