Gotochi Card - Miyagi Prefecture

September, 2014

I was in Miyagi Prefecture last month and was able to buy a copy of this year's Gotochi Card.  I'm a little surprised that this is on a Miyagi card, since I thought it would be on a Yamagata-ken card!

This is the volcanic lake on the top of Mt. Zao, a mountain that straddles the line between Yamagata and Miyagi. I have been up to the top of this mountain and have seen the lake, which is quite beautiful.

As you can see from this postcard which I sent recently, the colour is quite unusual.  

I do have a spare copy of the Gotochi, so you never know who is going to end up with it!

Germany

September 29, 2014

Andreas sent this card from Rostok, from the Baltic Sea in the north of Germany. He writes that Rostock is an important port city.  Every day a lot of ferries and freighters come there.  In summer, a lot of cruise liners come there too.  He writes that it is a beautiful place for living and for holidays.

His favourite movie of the last few years is a French one called "Intouchables", in German it is called "Ziemlich Beste Freunde". He says it is a very good movie, and I should check it out.

He sends me his best wishes.

Greetings from the Hanseatic city of Rostock

I love the stamp on the right.  I'm not sure what it commemorates.  I Googled the words, but only German articles came up.

Andreas, thanks for a great Postcrossing!

Japan - Movie

September 27, 2014

I got this great card from Haruko recently.  She writes that she lives in Aichi Prefecture.  She loves knitting and even made the figure in her avatar on Postcrossing.  (It is very cute!)

She hopes that I like her postcard and she wishes me good luck and Happy Postcrossing!

She put some cool older stamps and had a beautiful cancellation stamp put on the card.  The back of the card was beautifully decorated.  

Thank you very much Haruko! A great card.

Netherlands

September 26, 2014

Jannypim sent me a nice note on the back of her card.  She wrote that she lives in the countryside of the Netherlands.  She rides her bike through the fields going to her job in the hospital. She is in the midst of a shift change now.  Sleeping in the daytime when the weather is still warm.  She bades me to enjoy all that I am doing, and says bye!

I know nothing about the stamps, but the top one is unusual for me.  Readers, any ideas?

Thanks Jannypim!

China

September 26, 2014

Junting sent this great shaped card from China to me recently.

She very nicely explained about the food pictured on the front of this great shaped card.  She said that it is called Spring Roll in English [In Japan we call it a harumaki].  It is a kind of snack in which a variety of fillings (meat, vegetables) are wrapped in a very flat/thin dough and then fried.  Originally it was usually eaten at the Spring Festival, hence its name.

I like Spring Rolls/Harumaki a lot!  Yum

She also put these great stamps on my card.  They look like they are still joined together, and are quite big and beautiful.

Thank you Junting :-)

Belarus

September 24, 2014

The message on the back of this card is short and sweet.

Happy Postcrossing!  Olga          
            Belarus

Fox and Volcano

One of the Europa Musical instrument stamps.  Cool!

United States - Black & White Actor Card

September 19, 2014

Jenny sent me a nice chatty card along with this postcard of Marlon Brando.  She writes that she is from Connecticut in the US.  She works in a large hospital in the capital city, Hartford.

She hopes that I like this postcard, and says that she likes Marlon Brando, but unbelievably has never seen The Wild One! [Neither have I!]

She is jealous that I live in Japan and says that her and her boyfriend want to vacation in Japan rather badly, but it is expensive to get to Japan.  She asks if I like Japan and what my occupation is.

She chats a little about Canada, saying that she hasn't been to my hometown, but has been to Quebec City - which she thought was gorgeous.  She says it was easily the cleanest city she's ever been to.

Like me, she is a crocheter and is presently working on a Tunisian crochet scarf.  She asks if I've ever heard of Tunisian Crochet.  [Yes, but I haven't done any since I was much younger].

She closes with her best wishes.

Marlon Brando, The Wild One, 1954.  Photograph by Phil Stern

Thanks for the chat Jenny!  I love reading the back of postcards and feeling like I am having a conversation with the writer.

India - 100 Years of Indian Cinema

September 19, 2014

Rohini sent this card all the way from India.  She thinks that I will like this card about Indian movies.  She writes that it is a 100 year old Industry and Hindi movies are a big part of Indian culture.  There are many other regional languages that have a sizeable movie industry like Tamil, Telegu, Bengali, etc.  She wishes me a Happy Postcrossing.

100 years of Indian Cinema

On 3rd May, 1913 Dada Saheb Phalke, the father of 

Indian Cinema, released India's first full length 

feature film Raja Harishchandra.

The very cool thing is that this stamp is featured on the front of the card.  Unfortunately I don't have any information on this person, and IMDb was not very helpful.

Germany - Movie Card

September 19, 2014

Julia wrote that she chose this card for me because I'm a movie fan. It shows a reprint of the cinema poster of the movie Spur Der Steine which was made and released in the GDR in 1966 but after that was not allowed to be screened again for the next 20 years.

She continues that the last German film she had seen recently was Oh Boy, a black and white movie & a brilliant story about a young man in Berlin - made in 2012 - very worth seeing if we ever come across it.

She sends me sunny greetings!

If anyone would like to look up this film on the IMDb, you can find more info here.

Romania

September 19, 2014

Elena sent her greetings to me from Romania.  She writes that she is a wildlife biologist working for a national park.  She says that on the card we can see the Council Square with the Hall in Brosov - The Old Town built by the Saxon colonists.  She closes by wishing me all the best.

Romania, Brasov - Kronstadt

Look at these amazing stamps!  I've never seen them before and they are all gorgeous.

Thanks so much Elena :-)

Great Britain - Crafts

September 19, 2014

Rebecca writes that she hopes this card finds me happy and well. She lists her favourite movies as:

• Girl, Interrupted
• V for Vendetta
• Tank Girl
• The Labyrinth
• The King and I
• Black Swan
• Practical Magic

She says that one of her favourite things to do is watch a good movie.  She says it must be amazing to live in Japan.  She'd love to see it one day.  She closes with her best wishes.

Retro Days
From an original design by Martin Wiscombe

I did receive this card a few weeks ago from another postcrosser, but this is an official Postcrossing.

Thank you so much!

Russia - Actor

September 19, 2014

Julia wrote that she's 26 and lives in Siberia.  She hopes that I will like this photo of Willem Dafoe.  She wishes me a warm autumn!

Willem Dafoe

Thanks Julia!

United States - Wisconsin

September 19, 2014

Katie Rose wrote a lot on the back of her card, I'm happy to say.  I always appreciate people that write about themselves or their lives, or even about the card that they just sent me.

She writes that this is a typical view where she is from.  Sadly, she hasn't been to Canada yet, even though it is about 8 hours away from where she lives.  She lives in a small town, and the nearest city is 40 minutes away.

She used to work in a movie theatre for 4 years and has seen many movies, but her favourite is Breakfast at Tiffany's. She absolutely loves Audrey Hepburn!

She does wonder how I manage living in Japan without being able to speak Japanese....so do I most days!!

Thanks for a great chat!

Wisconsin River

The Wisconsin River cuts its path through a large part of Wisconsin.  This picture shows off its beauty as it blends with the state's rich green countryside and rolling hills.

Hungary

September 19, 2014

Sarolta sent this fabulous card from Budapest, Hungary.  She writes that on the card we can see a part of a tablecloth in the Kalocsa style.  She likes needlework too, she knits and crochets.  When winter comes, she buys new yarn.  She bids me take care and sends her best wishes.

There is a little bit about this fabulous type of embroidery here. The work is amazing.

Kalocsa embroidered with colorful motifs (called cifrapamukos) Pre-Drawn detailed table ("eradicates") and embroidered Ilus King of Folk Art masters, Kalocsa, 1940
(Sorry, it's Google Translated...The best I could do...)

These stamps are very interesting too.  Does anyone know anything about them?

United States - a Two-Fer

September 12, 2014

I have two great cards for you today, they both arrived from the US on the same day.

The first was sent by Renee and she sends greetings from Washington State.  She sends this beautiful view of Mt. Rainier, a famous volcano she can see from her hometown.  She writes that it is cool that I live in Japan.  She says that her cousin lived there for many tears to get her doctorates in French and Japanese.  She hopes to visit Japan one day.

I hope you do visit some day Renee...we have lots of volcanoes too!

Mt. Rainier

Julia writes from Michigan that she lives on a small lake with her husband, 2 foster boys and 2 dogs.  She loves to read, travel, and be outside.  She wishes me Happy Crossings!

Thinking to Some Purpose, 1952

Two vastly different, but very interesting cards today!

United States - Movie Card

 September 12, 2014

Jenny sent this great card from the US and wrote a little about the weather when she did...it was 26℃ and the humidity was 74%.

She wrote a lovely letter...I'll excerpt some of it for your enjoyment.

She wrote,"My favourite movie is "The Princess Bride. I wish I had some postcards of it, but since I don't, I'm sending  you this Star Wars one instead."  She wrote about a huge sci-fi convention in Atlanta and said there were enough fans in Storm Trooper armor to take over Atlanta without help! She added,"I avoided the city and spent the weekend working and watching Dr. Who. I am planning on attending Dragon Con next year however.  Steampunk and elf-ears and Iron Man, oh my!"

Love it!  I'd heard of the convention from a blog I follow.  And, anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE The Princess Bride.  It is one of my favourite films too!

X-Wing and Y-Wing Squadrons

These stamps are incredibly gorgeous.  I rarely put up US stamps because I get the same ones all the time, but these are worth a close up look.  Thank you so much Jenny!

Australia - Movie Card

September 12, 2014

This great card came to me from Australia recently.  It was sent by Joelle who is an ex-pat like me.  She moved from the US to Australia last year and married an Australian.  She writes that in July they visited Sydney & there was an exhibit in the Powerhouse Museum of the costumes from the film Strictly Ballroom.  She writes, "Wow: the color! & sparkle! Very impressive :-) "

Mexican movie poster. 1946.

I think I've had this stamp before, but it was a while ago, so it is nice to see it again!

Thanks Joelle!

Singapore Goodies

September 10, 2014

I recently received an envelope full of great stuff from Shan in Singapore.  I got the two postcards below,

a keyring from Singapore, a Hello Kitty bandage, and a money envelope with 10 Singaporean cents in it.  Sadly, the keyring's plastic was stuck to the view postcard and caused a bit of damage.

All of this great stuff was in an envelope, but there wasn't a note.  On the outside of the envelope she wrote, "Greetings from Singapore, something in kanji, How are you?"

This fabulous, beautiful stamp went almost all the way across the envelope.  How gorgeous is this?

I did feel a bit odd registering it however.  I didn't know which postcard to use, so I put both on my wall!

Thank you Shan!  I appreciate this lovely envelope.

Romania

September 9, 2014

I received this in my mailbox recently.  I don't often get cards from Romania, so it was appreciated.

"Hello, I'm Cornel, 50 y o, engineer live in Bucharest.  I'm collector of stamps, notes, coins and postcards.

In this written rows I put a little bit of my soul.

Happy Postcrossing!  Cornel"

I thought it was quite poetic!

1. Unification Boulevard
2. Palace of the Parliament 3. Romanian Athenaeum 

Thanks to Google Translate I learned that the stamp commemorates Hunting and Fishing.  Poor bunny!

New Zealand

September 9, 2014

Rosheen sent this card from New Zealand.  She was a little surprised by my story.  She writes,"Wow - an ex-pat Canadian living in Japan - what an interesting life!  I hope you like this 'movie' card - I bought it in Honolulu earlier this year.  'Kia Ora' from New Zealand."

She sends her best wishes.

Paradise Hawaiian Style

Grossed $2.5 million, which was 1/2 million over the cost of $2,000,000.

Elvis played Rick Richards and his co-star Suzanna Leigh played Judy Hudson (Friday).
The soundtrack LP "Paradise Hawaiian Style" did reach #15 on the album charts.

This is an interesting Christmassy stamp!  It's interesting finding that on a card in September, but also quite cool.

Thanks Rosheen!