Sweden

December 13, 2016

If this card looks familiar, it is because it was featured on this blog before as part of a Winter Holiday celebration.  However, I wasn't able to tell the whole story of this card there.

Debora sent this very short card to me with a lovely stamp and a friendly message on the back. She wrote,
"Hi Helen!
Greetings for the cold Sweden! I'm Debora and live in Uppsala for 3 years.  The city is full of students because of its famous university.  Here I live a very calm life, cycling around and enjoying the swom[I am not sure what she meant to say here] of this time of the year!
All the best to you!"

Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

In my Postcrossing Profile, I talk about celebrating the battle scars that cards receive on the way to me, and I do.  There is something special about a card that is ripped or notched or damaged in some way, that still arrives in my mail box.  This card was a prime example of that!

There was even an attached "ribbon" of a sort, a message from the Japanese Post Office.  Basically it is an apology for the damaged card and I believe a message that they taped the card. Generally, I admire the Post Office here very much (except when they send me other people's post cards just because they are written in English!!)

 This is the very beautiful stamp that was on the post card.  It is quite large and very clear!

Winter Holidays

December 17, 2016

The Blog Link Up Party's topic for this week and next week is Winter Holidays.  I am not sure if I will post next week as I will be celebrating the season with my special someone, but will post a few cards today.

Japan is fairly new to the Christmas thing.  It is not a Christian country and as such, celebrates Christmas mostly as a secular event with Santa Claus.  For many people, the ideal Christmas Dinner is KFC and indeed, the KFC outlets are very busy in December with people booking their buckets of chicken for their family's meal.  Christmas decorations often come down on Christmas day. I tended to work Christmas Day during my first few years here and one of the saddest things I saw happened during my lunch.  I was in a little restaurant near my work and the staff were taking down the Christmas tree as I watched, on Christmas Day.

Not surprisingly, there are Gotochi cards for Christmas time.  I have one!  Below is the card for 2014. After spending some time scanning the Posta Collect website, it looks like the same design was also used for 2015 and I haven't seen the design for this year.  It wasn't on the website.

Japanese Snowmen only have two parts, in Canada we have three.
How about in your country, if you have snow?

I found this card when I was shopping in Sendai earlier this year.  I haven't sent it yet, I'm waiting for the right person to come along for it.  I think it is very cute.

Hi! I'm Back!!
I love the food he has...the long negi in his hand, and the garlic and probably
onions in the bag! 

I don't often receive Christmas Cards, but I did just receive one this week from Sweden.  I'll feature it as usual later, but as it survived a long journey and came out scarred I think it deserves to be shown here too.  

Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

Thank you so much for visiting.  I hope that you have a Happy Holiday and that 2017 is a wonderful year for you.  Thanks for viewing my Blog Linky Party entries this year.

Tea from Sweden!

October 28, 2016

This big card came to me from Matilda in Sweden.  She wrote a bit about herself on the back of the card too.  Like me, she isn't living in her own country.  Unlike me, her life is quite similar to what it was before.  Here's what she said....

She wrote,
"Dear Helen,
My name is Matilda. I'm 20 years old and I'm from Finland. I moved to Sweden 2 years ago to live with my Swedish boyfriend.  My life here in Sweden isn't so much different than in Finland.  Finland and Sweden look much alike with big forests, many lakes and sea.  The food is pretty much alike too. And people look pretty same too except Swedes are more blonde than Finns.  The only big differences are the language and the currency.

I hope you like this card and I wish you all the best!  Matilda"

Illustrator: Annika Lundholm Moberg

This interesting stamp shows Queen Silvia of Sweden.  She is the consort of the King of Sweden.  I haven't received a lot of cards from Sweden, so I was happy to get this card and stamp.  

Yes, you may have seen this card before when I featured it during the Linky Blog Party of Tea, Coffee and Pastries.  This great card has all three!

Coffee, Tea and Pastries

November 12, 2016

Today the topic of the Linky Blog Party is Coffee, Tea and Pastries.  It's rather a delicious topic.  I have recently reintroduced coffee into my diet, but I love tea.  I have a huge bag full of different teas in my kitchen, and I drink them all the time!

 I have managed to find a Gotochi card that fits the topic.  Unfortunately, the Gotochi site is down at the moment so there aren't any links to the info for now.  This is a Morning Service. Many coffee shops serve customers coffee in the morning with sides that could include toast and salad.  It looks like this toast is being served with adzuki beans, a popular sweet in Japan. 

The next two cards are new and haven't been featured on my blog yet.  Their individual entries will be coming soon!

The first card came to me from Sweden and shows what looks like tea, coffee and some pastries, so really fits the theme.  There isn't any info about the card on the back, except for the illustrator's name: Annika Lundholm Moberg. 

It's a cute card!

Coffee and a doughnut...what could be simpler?  This cute little card arrived recently from Russia.  In Canada, most people go to Tim Horton's for coffee and doughnuts.  In Japan, the most common coffee shop is Mister Donut. Sadly, the one in our city closed recently.  

This beautiful shaped card came to me from the Philippines. It was sent by Susan who said this was in a series of shaped teapot cards.  She asked that I have a cup of tea for her when I received the card...I'm sure I did.  It got battered on the way, but I love the card anyway.

Thank you for joining me for today's Linky Blog Party.  Please visit the other members of the Party and see what they posted.  As for me, I'm off to have another cup of tea! 

Sweden - Movie

June 27, 2016

This fabulous movie card came to me from Sweden and was sent by Solan.  She wrote a lovely note to me and used great stamps, so this was a wonderful Postcrossing.

She wrote,

" Hi, I'm so happy to send this card for you, someone who actually loves the old time movie 'Casablanca'. Ingrid Bergman is still popular in Sweden and a special stamp was made last year, unfortunately I don't have it otherwise it would have been a perfect match for this card.  Bye from Solan in Sweden +17℃ "

One of the classics.  I adore Casablanca!

 I love these "fungus" stamps.  So beautiful and classy looking.

Thank you Solan :-)

Sweden

September 17, 2013

This is one of those unusual cases where a card's picture and mailing point don't agree.

The card was sent from Sweden, but shows a view of Berlin.

Antoinette wrote,"Happy Postcrossing from Sweden! Have a good time and enjoy this b/w view from Berlin."

I didn't realize what I was seeing in the photo until I used Google translate on the description.  This is the Berlin Wall.  I had no idea until then! It's a historic card.

Berlin Wall
Brandenburg Gate 1961