What Have You Learned from Being a Postcrossing Member?

I’ve learned how much joy it brings to just sit down let all the technology be and start to write :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I have learned that my love for snailmail is bigger than I thought. Also when I first joined it was more about the postcard for me. Now for me the message is most important

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I’ve learned that a quick Round Robin while waiting for slots to open up as a newbie is a lot of fun. I work 5 days a week and am in lockdown on weekends so this week it was a joy to know I had 7 postcards to choose and write and post this weekend :smiley:

I also learned that I enjoy the WHOLE process of buying cards and stamps and stickers and washi and choosing and writing and sending when I thought it would be just getting mail that made me happy. I don’t even think that’s the best part, I love it all :love_letter:

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I learned a lot of cultural facts. Name (non-) usung in Finland, no red ink for the Chinese names ect., ect.
(And concluded- maybe I am Finnish genetically. I had some problem in my childhood to call the people names. I felt me very uncomfortabe, when needed do that. But nobody understood me.)

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Yes! I love it when I’ve registered a card and a profile comes up with a picture of a cat, there’s so many cat lovers in postcrossing :heart_eyes_cat:

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I’ve learned that I really like sending & receiving postcards & penpal letters. I like connecting with people over long distances, but through the connection of the postcard or letter, they seem really close-by.

I’ve learned that Postcrossing is a welcoming place & gives us a slice of our world but I’d like more people to be able to join too.

I’ve learned we like to send postcards that make us laugh.

I’ve learned to know what time it is in Lisbon, Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, Istanbul, Beirut, Tashkent, New Delhi, Hong Kong/Singapore, Tokyo, Perth, Wellington, Santiago, Montevideo, Timbuktu-Mali, Tamale-Ghana, & Arusha-Tanzania

I’ve learned more phrases in other languages & I will keep learning more!

I’ve learned to identify a bunch more country flags which makes me laugh as I was never into flags, lol

I’ve learned a lot more about how postal systems work & don’t work, but still I want to know more! and have an even deeper appreciation for postal workers doing a tough job, often without enough supports, why stamps get hand cancelled & how many beautiful stamps other countries have - way more than Canada!

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the most popular country is Germany and has been for awhile as they have 8 numbers.

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The habit of writing more genuine thank you messages. It’s a nice way to put a smile on a sender’s face. :slightly_smiling_face:

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This is silly :sweat_smile:

I read discussion in the following thread and found out that “tabula rasa” is an English word that came from latin phrase :sweat_smile:

I though tabula rasa is Indonesian word :sweat_smile: because there is a famous novel in here called tabula rasa. Well, everyday you learn something from Postcrossing :smiley:

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The term “tabula rasa” is also used in German. “Tabula rasa machen” (lit. to make tabula rasa) means to resart. To erase everything that has been and to start over new. Regardless of the losses/consequences.

tabula rasa = clean slate

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Technically:nerd_face:

It’s a Latin phrase stolen by English. :innocent: (As well as other languages, as @_Hawkwind_ notes.)

Vocabulary theft is the most fun kind of theft! :pirate_flag: Tabula rasa is here in this (non-exhaustive) list of common loan words and loan phrases in English.

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And it is the origin of the French phrase “faire table rase”, which always brings to my mind the picture of someone swiping things off a table…

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No robot? :pensive: It is a word invented by Karel Čapek for his play R.U.R. :blush:

By the way, this is not exactly a loan word but the word dollar also comes from Czech. The original word is tolar, which was a type of silver coin. And I believe pyjamas come from Hindi.

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In German there is another phrase for “Tabula rasa machen” which is “Reinen Tisch machen”. This literally translates to the French “faire table rase”.

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I’ve learned that the world is full of loving, kind people…not just those who are filled with hatred. Postcrossing is one of the best things in my life.

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Whoa!–I did NOT know that about “robot.” I had never really considered where “robot” came from–I guess “automaton” was used before that. Thanks, Mr. Čapek! :robot: :heart:

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Today I received card showing Cicada Invasion. I though it was sci-fi movie poster. I googled Cicada Invasion and found out it was real event. Somehow it reminds me of grasshopper attack in Indonesia and other Asian countries, but they attack the farms.

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I learned that Canada has pretty small stamps.

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Do you mean their size generally? Or the smallest denomination ones like these below?
https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/shop-magasin/en/stamps-timbres/canada/p-420001107.jsf?execution=e1s1

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I mean the size. Canadian stamps are often small in size, even if the face value is not just a few cents.

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