sundial at Mont Sainte-Odile, Alsace

This postcard comes from the ever constant Dominique, who writes in English this time! I always thought he didn’t speak much English, but I must have misinterpreted that from our early correspondence. It’s a beautiful sundial here—and a new vocabulary word for me in French! I can’t say that I ever had the need to learn how to say “sundial” before, but know you know: un cadran solaire. This postcard depicts the famous Mont Sainte-Odile, a peak in Alsace, France with an abbey there (also known as the Hohenburg Abbey) founded in 690! What a beautiful place; I hope to visit it on my next trip to France!

Shee (“Peace” in Manx)

More fantastic news from the language revitalization corner of my social networks! This postcard was sent by my friend and former cohort-mate Lauren who’s learning Manx as a heritage learner. She even wrote some beautiful Manx for me to read, which I’m copying here for you, too:

Laa mie, Kristopher! Kys t’ou? Ta mee goll as gaccan, agh mie dy liooar. Gow kiarail, as hee’n oo dy gerrid!"

I hope I didn’t misspell anything in the original Manx, which translates to '“Good day! How are you doing? I’m ‘going and grumbling’ but well enough. Take care and see you soon!” I hope I can see Lauren soon, either here in SF, there in Pittsburgh, or somewhere else! Thanks again!

Pride from Åland

This is the first postcard I’ve received from Åland, which as its own country-code on Postcrossing! If you’re not familiar with the island territory, it’s an autonomous area of Finland situated between Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden and Finland’s only monolingual Swedish-speaking area. Finland itself is officially bilingual (Finnish and Swedish), and also recognizes other regional languages. I love that Åland has its own postage stamps as well!

On my Postcrossing profile, I invite senders to tell me about LGBTQ life where they live, which I think explains why this person sent me the Pride flag! What a great gift in my mailbox!

Natural postcard from Lijiang, Yunnan, China

I’m not sure the scan here will do it any justice, but this postcard is actually a real leaf (I wonder what kind?). It was sent to me by two of my most memorable private students from their recent visit to 中国 云南省 丽江. I was so thrilled to receive this card, and I think back fondly on the time I spent with them in Hangzhou just over a year ago when they spent the day giving me a tour of their college town, introducing me to delicious restaurants, and dedicating their hard-earned time off to welcoming me with open arms. I hope I can return to China again some time soon, and that they can travel to the US again. Until then, I’ll be sending them a thank-you postcard. But where to find a postcard of comparable beauty and uniqueness?!

Taganskaya Metro Station

Here’s another fantastic Postcrossing postcard, this one from a Russian postcrosser. Russia is not just a very populous country, but it also has a high proportion of participants in Postcrossing, so it’s very common to both send and receive postcards to and from Russia. This one is particularly lovely since it highlights one of the aspects of architecture that I associate closely with Russia: ornate, high-contrast designs. This subways station is in Moscow. I hope I can visit it someday!

From the back (English only): Taganskaya Metro Station (Circle Line) Opened on January 1, 1950.

Happy New Year (in Japanese)!

Once in a while, I get handmade postcards and they always make my day! This one comes from a good friend and former classmate of mine who now lives in Pennsylvania (again). They spent quite some time in Japan and they’re my go-to person when I have questions about a whole host of things, not just Japanese. As many of you may know, this upcoming lunar new year will mark the beginning of the year of the Ox, hence the bovine drawing here. This leads me to two questions:

1. What’s your Eastern zodiac sign? I’m a Dog!

2. How do you prefer to translate this upcoming year’s animal? Ox? Bull? Cow?

Philadelphia LOVE

This postcard arrived via Postcrossing just a few weeks ago. But in fact the sender had emailed me over a month prior to tell me they’d forgotten to write the postcard ID and to send it via email so I could register it. I was surprised that a domestic postcard had taken so long to arrive, but with the holidays and the elections, I think the USPS was just a bit overwhelmed! Well, arrive it did and with such clear and beautiful handwriting on the back. I was very grateful because I usually have a hard time reading handwritten Chinese. Sometimes I take a photo of the message and ask my friend to transcribe it for me so I can work out any words I don’t know! This time, there was no need as I could make out all of the words quite clearly.

This is the famous LOVE sculpture.

From the back of the postcard: Perhaps the most familiar of Philadelphia’s many artworks that embellish public spaces is the painted aluminum LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana. It was erected in 1976 as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration. Photographer - Catherine Gehm.

En Périgord Nord

Cette carte postale vient de mon ami de lettres depuis assez longtemps en France. Celle-ci réprésente la Place de la Liberté à Sarlat en Dordogne, France. En fait, elle est la quarantième carte postale que j’ai reçue de lui! Ce que j’adore de cette carte est le beffroi courbe dans le centre de l’image. Il me rappelle un peu le beffroi que j’ai passé chaque jour en allant à mon travail comme assistant de langue anglaise à Avesnes-sur-Helpe. Je reçois une carte postale de lui, je dirais, chaque mois au moins, peut-être plus fréquemment.

George Washington Masonic National Memorial

In early January, I received this postcard from a new penpal that I met through Postcrossing. This card depicts the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. I particularly love the scalloped edges, which is something you don’t see very often in contemporary postcards. Judging from the paper and overall state, this is definitely a vintage postcard. I also enjoy the stamps that were affixed: a 13-cent Clara Maass stamp and a 22-cent stamp depicting part of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution!

Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan

我一個學生給我發到這張明信片。我真的很喜歡！我都每一個字看不懂，可是他用英文別便幫助我看得懂。我很久沒去台灣所以呢張照片就讓我很開心啊！謝謝！

Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy

This beautiful postcard comes from my equally beautiful friend Linda who never fails to send excellent postcards at every turn. She writes that her home of Portland has been as foggy and rainy as this postcard depicts: "the Italian ambiance!"

Tipsoo Lake, Mt. Rainier, Washington

I have a new penpal who reached out to me via Postcrossing and this was the first postcard he sent, even though he lives in Florida. The beauty of our national parks is unsurpassed and underappreciated. What a great way to get out and enjoy our nation's bounty during the pandemic. Which national parks have you visited recently?

New River Gorge, West Virginia

This is a postcard sent by my colleague James whom I've only ever met via video calls, but I hope we can meet in person when the TESOL Convention meets in person again! Until then, I continue to travel and "see" friends, family, and strangers via postcards that come and go with my mailbox!

Ashland, Oregon

This beautiful postcard comes courtesy of Christina and Evan who stopped in Ashland on their way home. Just a day prior, we'd had a great day walking on the beach and eating a distance lunch. I miss them but it was great to receive this card and the thoughtful message. Thanks, friends!

Beast Mode: Oxford, Michigan

This beautiful postcard came along with a fantastic dried orange, anise, clove, and cypress garland, both of which were handmade by the absolutely inimitable Kevin and Natasha. I absolutely adore this card and the garland which is hung in the kitchen where we can enjoy it. Thank you for the handmade holiday greetings!

Le Pigeonnier, Eguishem, France

Normally I write in French about these postcards but in case it's easier for folks to read in English, here it is. This postcard is from one of my most prolific penpals, Dominique and this is the thirty-ninth postcard he's sent from France (because he lives along the border, I often get postcards from Germany too). It's such a pleasure to carry on for years with the same person, exchanging information and thoughts, and of course postcards.

Hansestadt Lüneburg, Germany

This is another excellent postcard that came thanks to @postcrossing . The sender is one of the most prolific senders from Germany, no less (itself a very prolific country on Postcrossing), so to receive such a personal message is really something. Sometimes when you receive a postcard sent by someone with thousands of sent and received postcards, the message boils down to "Happy Postcrossing from Germany!" which is fine enough but sometimes it's not even handwritten. But this person really took the time to read my profile and send a postcard I'd like, and write about what we have in common. The disappointing cards are really quite few and far between. This is part of what I love so much about Postcrossing. Have you considered joining?

Love from Bavaria, Germany

In my @postcrossing profile, I invite senders (whom I don't know) to tell me about LGBTQ people where they live. I've learned so much and made a lot of friends this way. The German sender of this terrific illustration wrote that although she grew up in a conservative Catholic area of Bavaria, her family was open and accepting of LGBTQ people, and she feels this way today too. I'm glad to have a reminder that good people exist in this world, even when they grow up surrounded by discriminatory religious practices. It gives me hope for the future, something i think we desperately need this year.

Slaynt Vie! (Manx)

What a great postcard from Lauren C! I love the seaside vibes and a sparkling drink. It's reminding me that safe and responsible travel may be in the cards for (late) 2021! I love, too, that this card is written in Manx, a language in the process of revitalization. With luck and perseverance and the hard work of its speakers, I hope we'll read about Manx alongside Hebrew as successful cases of language revitalization. Gura mie ayd!

Yorkshire Coast, England

What a beautiful painting coming via Postcrossing from Jane in England. I've seen very little of England so I hope to visit it someday soon and see this scene myself! Until then, I travel safely and responsibly via the terrific postcards I send and receive through Postcrossing.