Greetings from USA!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share the postcards I received from the USA!

Enjoy them:)

I believe most of you are familiar with this country, so I guess there is no need to give a brief introduction of it!

[Postcards from USA]

The first postcard is sent from the western North Carolina. It was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway which travels through the state and continues along the Appalachian Mountains on the east coast of the USA. 

The second postcard shows the famous arch in St. Louis in Missouri. The arch is located on the banks of Mississippi River. It commemorates Thomas Jefferson and symbolizes the door to the American West. 

The next one is sent from San Francisco. It shows a cable car climbing the steep Hyde Street hill. Interestingly, the sender retired from the US post office, so he really enjoys sending and receiving postcards very much. He also mentioned in the postcard, saying that he agrees with me that nowadays people spend too much time on the Internet, Sometimes, the old ways such as writing letters are even better. 

The next one is from North Carolina, which is the same as the first postcard. The Blue Ridge Parkway traverses about 469 miles of the Appalachian Mountains. First began in 1939, the way was completed in 1992. This parkway is known as one of America's most scenic roads. 

The following postcard shows the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller in Alabama. It is opened to visitors throughout the year. 

The next one is sent from the southern California. It shows San Diego from the Cabrillo Monument. Cabrillo is the first European to land on the West Coast of the US in 1542.  

The following postcard is from Michigan. The sender wrote a quote from Abraham Lincoln to encourage me,"In the end, it is not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years."

When I received the following two postcards, I was extremely happy! Postcards of Harry Potter! Harry Potter is definitely one of my favorite series, and it is awesome to receive cards with young Harry on it lol. 

Last but not the least, here are the stamps from USA!

It is interesting that there are Chinese style stamps released in the US! I think the Dumbledore one is quite special. 

Time flies, it soon comes to the last blog of this semester. 

Here I want to thank those who once patiently finish reading my articles and those who once left comments below since most of the articles are not really short. 

I especially want to show my deepest appreciation to Franky and Goonie for leaving comments on my every single article:)

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

What do you think of the postcards from USA?

Have you ever been to USA before?

Feel free to leave any comment below:)

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Greetings from the UK!

Hello!

Today, I am going to share some postcards I received from the United Kingdom with you! 

Same as before, I will give a brief introduction of the country before taking a look at the postcards.

Enjoy them!

What comes to your mind when you first hear the country UK? 

Big Ben? Red buses? Castles? the royal family? Oxford? the Beatles? Wimbledon? William Shakespeare? or David Beckham?

[The United Kingdom] 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, also known as the UK, or Britain, is a country located in western Europe. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the island of Northern Ireland and many small islands. The UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea in the east and the English Channel in the south.  

(Sources: Google)

[Postcards from the UK]

The first postcard is from London. There is no story of this postcard, while it only has a brief greeting on the back of it, so I am going introduce a little bit about the capital city. 

London is the capital and the most populous city in the UK. It is one of the world's largest financial centers. It is also the world's most visited city. 

There are many people from different countries and races living in London. Thus, there are more than 300 languages spoken there. Besides, the underground railway in London is the oldest railway network in the world. 

(Sources: Google)

The second postcard shows the famous tourist attraction in England: Oxford. 

Oxford is located in the south east of England. It is famous for the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking countries. 

(Sources: Google)

The third postcard is sent from Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The postcard shows the Scott Monument, which commemorates the life of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), a Scottish novelist and poet. The tower is about 200 feet high and was built in the 18th century. 

The next postcard shows another famous tourist attraction in the UK: Stonehenge. In fact, this postcard is sent by my high school friend when she traveled to England last year. 

Stonehenge is estimated to be built between 3000 BC and 1600 BC. It consists of several standing stones, and each of the stone is about 4.1 meters high,  2.1 meters wide, and weighs about 25 tons. The purpose of building them is still a mystery.  In 1986, Stonehenge became one of the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. 

Last but not the least, here are the stamps from the UK. Interestingly, they are all very similar. 😂

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

Do you want to visit this beautiful and historical country?

What do you think of the postcards I received?

Feel free to leave any comment below:)

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Greetings from Germany! (4)

Hello!

Today, I am going to share the fourth and the fifth envelopes from Germany with you!

Enjoy them!

My pen pal visited Hawaii and bought me some postcards! Since he forgot to bring my address to USA, he sent the letters when he came back from Hawaii. 

[Fourth envelope]

The first one is an adorable postcard with two cats. He mentioned some parts of his trip to San Francisco and Hawaii on this postcard!

The second one is a postcard with different views of sunsets.

The third one is the Bay Bridge with San Francisco in the background. I especially love this postcard since the night view was clearly and beautifully captured!

The next postcard shows the artwork by Kerne Erickson, which is called Pride of Hawaii. If you observe the postcard clearly, you can see the three words "Pride of Hawaii" on the large ship. 

He also sent me some beautiful coasters, but I never use them😂

I think the most special one is the adhesive bandage! See the panda on the top? It is the symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature. (WWF) It is an international non-governmental organization, aiming for wilderness preservation and the reduction of the footprints in the environment. 

[Fifth envelope]

In the fifth envelope, there is only one postcard along with other interesting stuffs. The postcard shows the venue of the football 2006 World Cup in Munich!

He also sent me two coins! 

This is the stamp I mentioned in the previous article. It is a special type of stamp that released in 2014 in order to celebrate the German's winning in the FIFA World Cup. 

He sent me two brand new one! These are almost impossible to buy in Taiwan. I know that some people asked their friends to buy for them when visiting Germany. 

These are the most special! Guess what these are!

They are stars from their Christmas tree!!

In fact, my parents have never bought a real Christmas tree before, so I don't have the chance to decorate it. Well, I actually thought all the stars on the Christmas tree should be like the five-angle star!

Last but not the least, these are the stamps on the envelopes! I like the fat mouse one very much haha. It is so adorable!

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

I hope you enjoy them!

What do you think of the things I received from my German pen pal? Do all these beautiful postcards make you want to find a pen pal and exchange with them? 

Feel free to leave any comment below:)

Greetings from Germany! (3)

Hello!

Today, I am still going to share the envelope I received from my German pen pal!  

Enjoy them!

[Third Envelope]

In the third envelope, there are several interesting stuffs!

The first one is a postcard, which shows the Neuschwanstein Castle. It might be familiar to some of you since I also shared a postcard of it last week!

My pen pal mentioned that this castle is a very famous tourist attraction in Germany. There are many people, especially Japanese and Chinese, visit it every day. 

Neuschwanstein Castle is built in the nineteenth century by King Ludwig II. The king built this castle in order to escape from public life. It was opened to public in 1886, seven weeks after the king passed away.  

The second one is a Christmas postcard! It was Christmas at that time, and I also sent him a Christmas card, too!

However, there are some German words on the card that I can't understand. If you are learning German, feel free to tell me what they mean in the comments below!

The next one is a player card! He is Marco Reus, one of my favorite players in the German national team. I was extremely excited when I received this card though it is a printed signature. 

In fact, I always asked people, especially those living in Germany, if they knew Marco Reus on the postcards I sent lol. 

Different from the players I mentioned last week, Reus plays for Borussia Dortmund, while others play for FC Bayern. Reus was once ranked as the fourth best football players in Europe. Sadly, he didn't play in the FIFA World Cup in 2014 since he was seriously injured in a friendly game right before the World Cup began.  

(Sources: Google)

Here is another player card sent by my pen pal. Philipp Lahm is the former captain of the national team. He is considered to be one of the best full backs of his generation. 

My pen pal also introduced his two rabbits to me! The pictures were took on a Sunday morning when he was working in his garden. 

This rabbit is called Susi! I wish I could lay on my bed every morning like this!

The other rabbit is called Max.

He also sent me some stamps this time! The stamps show some famous paintings and human heritage. I especially love the Christmas one. It is a famous work by Raphael. How nice the common stamps in Taiwan would be if they were printed in this way instead of fruits....

Last but not the least, here are the stamps on the envelope!

Interestingly, there are stamps of Felix rabbit! Felix is a travelling stuffed rabbit in the picture book series of a German author: Annette Langen. 

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

I hope you enjoy them!

Do you like the postcards or the stamps I received? 

Feel free to leave any comment below :)

Any comment is welcome! 

Greetings from Germany! (2)

Hello!

Today, I am still going to share some postcards I received from Germany!

However, there are some differences in this article compared with those I posted before.

The sender of all these postcards and surprises is the same person. His name is Hans, a nice pen pal from Germany. 

We had written postcards and sent some artifacts of our own country to each other for almost one year. 

Unfortunately, due to my college entrance exam, my mom forbid me from sending any postcard during my last year in high school, so we stopped sending postcards to each other. 

Here are some of the fantastic stuffs I received from him.

Enjoy them!

[First envelope]

I especially love the football stamp on this envelope.

It is a special stamp that Germany released in 2014 to celebrate their champion of FIFA World Cup, which took place in Brazil. 

In my self-introduction of postcrossing, I remember I wrote that I enjoy watching football, and my favorite team is the German national team; I even said that I hope to get the special stamp!

I could still remember how exited I was when I received this!

Inside the envelope, there is a postcard of Hamburg with his warm greetings. 

Another postcard shows an adorable seal. He mentioned that on the coast of Germany, there are many cute animals like this!

On the back of this postcard, he sent me a 2 Euro coin. 

He said that this Euro coin is a special edition. The back of the coin is a castle, which is quite different from the normal coins. 

There is also a bookmark of polar bear!

If you like the German national football team very much, you will definitely know this guy. His name is Bastian Schweinsteiger, the former captain of the national team.

I was so happy when I saw this card though he is not my favorite player!

[Second envelope]

The stamp on the second envelope are quite normal compared with the first one. They are quite easy to be seen on the postcards from Germany.

He also send me a player card in the second envelope. This guy is Thomas Muller, one of the most talented and famous player in the national team. 

There is a beautiful postcard with his warm greetings in the envelope, which shows the most famous castle in Germany: the Neuschwanstein Castle(新天鵝堡). 

The most impressive thing in the second envelope is the stamps! These are the stamps that he received from other postcards or letters, and he sent some of them to me! I was so touched when I saw these stamps since I also said on my introduction that I love to collect stamps from all over the world. 

I think these two are the most precious! They are from DPRK (North Korea北韓). In fact, I have never imagined receiving any postcard from North Korea, not to mention the stamp!

Take a close look at these two rare stamps! I guess it is not easy to see stamps from DPRK in our daily life. 😂

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my blog!

I hope you enjoy them!

I will share other envelopes he sent in the next article!

Feel free to leave any comment below!

I am very willing to read them :D