Teachable Moments from Around the Globe Via Postcard

We received another wonderful postcard from a friend in Malaysia Shurbani T. He is also doing this wonderful project with his child who will also be 4 (For more info on their postcard project check out: http://projeksatudunia.blogspot.com/). This postcard is so interesting because I have watched how these Towers known as the Petronas Twin Towers where erected on a National Geographic Channels: Mega Structures. It is so interesting to discover that we know someone who has been in these towers. Our friend Shurbani writes from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Hello and Salam to you. Apa Khabar (How are you). Here is a postcard for you and I hope you like it . I work in the city of Kuala Lumpur and my office building is very near the Petronas Twin Towers. In fact, I am now staring at the towers from my office room. I sometimes walk to the towers in the afternoon with my colleagues to have lunch there. Have you been to Kuala Lumpar before? < Not yet but we hope to travel there someday, it sounds wonderful> Wishing you the best of luck and health and "gembira selalu' happy always.

Thank you Shurbani T, I was able to use the Internet and pull up many facts about the Petronas towers to share with our little girl. I also searched on the Internet for the video my husband and I watched on National Geographic a show called Mega Stuctures and show her that as well. How interesting it wasn't long ago that we watched this show and now we have a postcard from such an interesting place. Simply Amazing what you can discover about the world from a postcard. Thank you again and best of luck to you.




Petronas Towers



Vital Statistics:
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Completion Date: 1998
Cost: $1.6 billion
Height: 1,483 feet
Stories: 88
Materials: Concrete, Steel
Facing Materials: Aluminum, Stainless Steel
Engineer(s): Thornton-Tomasetti and Ranhill Bersekutu

Until 1998, the world's tallest skyscraper had always been in the United States. But that year, Malaysia's Petronas Towers laid claim to this distinction.
Petronas Towers


Squeaking past the Chicago Sears Tower by 33 feet, the spires atop the Petronas Towers peak at an impressive 1,483 feet. Yet there's a controversy. The highest occupied floor in the Sears Tower is actually 200 feet higher than the top floor of the Petronas Towers, and its antennae stretch higher still.

So why are the Petronas Towers considered the world's tallest buildings? According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, spires count, but antennae don't. Spires do not contain floors, but they are counted in the world's tallest building race for one architectural reason: they're nice to look at.

Built over a former racetrack, the Petronas Towers reflect a unique blend of religion and economic prosperity. The $1.6 billion towers contain more than eight million square feet of shopping and entertainment facilities, underground parking for 4,500 cars, a petroleum museum, a symphony hall, a mosque, and a multimedia conference center.

Each tower's floor plan forms an eight-pointed star, a design inspired by traditional Malaysian Islamic patterns. The 88-story towers, joined by a flexible skybridge on the 42nd floor, have been described as two "cosmic pillars" spiraling endlessly towards the heavens.

Here's how this skyscraper stacks up against the biggest skyscrapers in the world.
(height, in feet)



Chart showing the relative size of the biggest skyscrapers in the world Petronas Towers
1,483'

Fast Facts:

* The Petronas Towers were featured in the blockbuster movie Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
* It took 36,910 tons of steel to build the Petronas Towers. That's heavier than 3,000 elephants!
* It takes 90 seconds to travel from the basement parking lot to the top of each tower.
* Together, the towers have 32,000 windows. It takes window washers an entire month to wash each tower just once!

Thanks to our old friend Olger T for sending us this wonderful postcard. You have shown us where the story of the Princess and the Frog truly takes place. Our daughter loves the latest Disney story and she can't get enough but it is always great to show her that sometimes things aren't always magical and sweet. When getting this postcard with all of the beauty I couldn't help but wonder how this location was effected by "Hurricane Katrina". So we took to the internet this time for a fast and up to date answer. This postcard displays the St. Louis Cathedral and according to the facts on the postcard this church was built 3 times on this site. The 1st was destroyed by a hurricane in 1722 and the second by a fire.

While not the largest or grandest of the city's Roman Catholic churches, this historic Cathedral is an important religious and social center, as well as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, officially in Latin Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church administered from New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the second-oldest diocese in the present-day United States, having been elevated to the rank.On the site of three previous churches, the cathedral was expanded and largely rebuilt in 1850, so little of the 1789 structure remained. Located next to
Jackson Square and facing the Mississippi River (which happens to be the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico) the St. Louis Cathedral is at the heart of New Orleans and is one of its most recognizable landmarks. It is often used as the backdrop for newscasts and political speeches featuring the city.

It is situated between the historic buildings of The Cabildo (was the seat of colonial government in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is now a museum. The Cabildo is located along Jackson Square, adjacent to St. Louis Cathedral The original Cabildo was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire)and The Presbytère, is an important historical building in New Orleans, Louisiana and is located in the French Quarter.

One of the few Roman Catholic churches in the United States that fronts a major public square, the location of St. Louis Cathedral demonstrates the French Catholic origin of New Orleans.

PS we love this postcard thank you Olger T.

Our postcrossing friend Joanna from the Netherlands writes:
I am sorry I cannot think of any facts about our location that you can't find on the internet, etc. But here are some things about myself: I'm Joanna married to an Italian. We have 4 children and 1 grandchild. We live in Apeldoorn with our dog and Wetherhoun and 1 chicken. The others died recently. Greetings from the Netherlands.

Thank you for this wonderful card just this week we bought strawberries from our local farmers market. We took the time to look at the Netherlands on Google Earth what a wonderful looking place. We will go to the library on Monday to learn more. Thank you

This card is so cute and one of the first we received today from another postcrosser in Finland. This postcard reminds me of the 3 of us our daughter, me and my husband (her father). Thank you Nunneli and family!

Since we are members at postcrossing our very first receiver Mark Y was kind enough to send us a thank you postcard. It reads: Hello thanks for the Charlotte card. I live in Texas and this Tornado is in Oklahoma...but we have many of them here in North Texas. Fortunately for me I have never seen one, but I have seen the damage one can do.

Mark Y, thank you so much. We have recently in Charlotte, NC had two scares with Tornadoes and our daughter is getting to the age where we can explain what these natural occurrences are. So thank you again for another teachable moment. I decided to show our daughter for the first time the Wizard of Oz and based on her reaction to the tornado portion (which was fine she was full of questions and not scared)I would go further and show her more info online. Since the movie was so long we will have to do the book and online portion tomorrow but she is very interested in the locations these occurrences happen in and wants to know more. Oh and I pulled up the song Oklahoma for her to hear and she thought it was silly. So from one postcard came many teachable moments, Thanks again.

PS we love the picture you drew on the written side of the rancher in a cowboy hat and boots saying Greetings from Texas!

Another great postcard also mailed by our fantastic friend Beki M. Albany, NY is the capital of New York state. She writes I go to college here and this is right next to the Hudson River (which flows all the way to new york city.) They call Albany and its surrounding cities the Capitol District. It gets pretty warm in the summer, but in the winter it gets so cold and windy!

The postcards facts state: New York's elegant stone capitol. Highlights of the capitol include the Senate Chamber, considered on of the world's most beautiful legislative chambers and the " Million Dollar Staircase". Tours of the state capitol are offered year round.

Here is some of what we learned: The Great Western Staircase, also known as the "Million Dollar Staircase," was designed by architect Isaac Perry and took 13 years to complete.This staircase, made of Corsehill freestone from Scotland, is 119 feet high with a 3000 square foot skylight at the top.

To complete this complex staircase, 600 stone carvers were employed to carve the structure by hand. There are approximately 77 famous faces carved into the pillars. Among those are: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Generals Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Christopher Columbus, Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton. Once all the famous faces were carved, the stone carvers were then allowed to carve faces of anyone they Carving of George Washington's face on staircase chose, including friends, family members and people off the street. These less famous faces are known as the "Capitol Unknowns." Along with faces, many animals, birds and fruits were carved into the banisters of the staircase.

Over time, the staircase was altered. The Capitol fire in 1911 left the masonry soiled and darkened by soot. During World War II the skylight was covered to protect the building from possible air raids. After 60 years of darkness, the skylight was uncovered in August of 2002, and in September of 2006 the cleaning of the staircase masonry was completed. The pictures above show the domed glass daylight above the staircase. This daylight is then covered by an angled skylight on the Capitol roof.

This is a wonderful postcard from our new friend Beki M. The card comes from Oswego, NY (also known to city New Yorkers as upstate New York). The card reads: This is as close as I can come to a postcard of my hometown! This is looking out onto Lake Ontario. There is a big harbor with lots of ships and every summer they have Harborfest- a long celebration of summer! In the winter though it gets very cold with a lot of lake effect snow. A few years ago we got more than 100 inches in 1 week! If you hear about places getting tons of lake effect snow in NY its probably near me ;-)

Facts on the postcard: Tallship "Faire Jeanne" entering Oswego harbor.

Thank you again wonderful Beki M.

Well it has been two days an no postcards in the mail so I decided to tell you a little about our home town and show you a very NEW postcard of our great city. The postcard is of our city skyline embossed with sparkles in the flowers below and the sky above. Charlotte, NC is known as the Queen City because it is named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Charlotte is the largest city in the two Carolinas. There are direct flight from many international destinations like Munich, Germany, Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Turks and Caicos, and many more from Charlotte Douglass International Airport (US Airways Hub). Charlotte is home to many wonderful sites for people of all ages. There are museums for just about everyone, from The Mint Museum of Art, to the brand new Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture, Charlotte Museum of History, Carolina Aviation Museum, Museum of the New South, and the Nature Museum. Charlotte is also home to many great sports attractions such as, the US National Whitewater Center, The Quail Hollow Golf Course where many pro golf players are attending the 2010 Championship this week, The NASCAR Hall of Fame, The Panthers Stadium (NFL),and The Bobcats (NBA) which are now partially owned by Michael Jordan himself. For people with children there are city things to do like walking, bicycle, Segway, and horse & carriage tours. There is also a great kid friendly space called Discovery Place, a library just for kids called ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center which is minutes from Discovery place. There have also been some upgrades to our transportation system when the LYNX light rail (train) system was added. The LYNX Blue Line offers fast, quiet, convenient light-rail service to 15 stations between uptown Charlotte and I-485 at South Blvd. Dozens of bus routes are timed to connect with trains at the Blue Line stations, making it easy to get to work, to shopping or wherever you need to be. There are also Trolley's that look like replica streetcars, climb aboard and feel like you have gone back in time. For the young single business man or woman Center City (common name for center of Charlotte near Trade and Tryon Street) has a lively night life and various performance locations throughout the city. These locations include Time Warner Cable Arena, The North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center which has 5 theaters which vary in size, Ovens Auditorium, and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Our latest addition is the EpiCentre which is also located in Center City and houses several clubs, lounges, and movie theaters. The EpiCentre has Strike City bowling, movies, and several clubs for every style of person, Whiskey River, The Pavilion, Mortimer's Cafe & Pub, Suite, Howl at the Moon, and Mez. And on Sunday or any day you can get away from it all in just minutes by taking a drive to our local lakes, Lake Norman, Lake Wylie, or on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Whatever your style there is something for everyone here in Charlotte. We hope you enjoyed a glimpse of what this great big Carolina city has to offer, we sure do.

Thank you Magali T for the five postcards you sent us from France. The postcards display wonderful scenic views of the capital and the coast of Agde, France. It is not often we see the local side of France but this was perfect for our postcard project. Enjoy

Today within all of the postcards we received two from Italy from our friend Roberto I! In the first postcard he writes: This card shows you the famous " Castello Aragonese", one of the main attractions of the island of Ischia (Naples), and probably one of the oldest castles in Italy! Many Greeting from the bay of Naples to Charlotte, US.

Fact on the postcard itself says: Isola D'Ischia - A paradise in the Mediterranean

The second postcard reads: this postcard shows you the little town of Assisi in Umbna, a region in central Italy, very beautiful!

Thank you so much Roberto I, these postcards are our very first from Italy and you are so creative you made them interesting and quite festive with the designs you added on the written sides. We love the purple postcard of Castello Aragonese, the color is simply out of this world and well as all little girls are the princess she is excited to now have a picture of a castle (simply delightful)! We did use Google Earth to get a look at the castle and Assisi so thank you for opening our eyes to other parts of the world.

Our wonderful friend Tarja K from Finland has graciously sent us another postcard with even more facts about her wonderful country Finland. Each postcard is just as remarkable as the last. This card reads: Hello again from Finland! This card shows you some idea of our capital Helsinki and sea life there. The big picture shows the central market, doom church, and in that yellow building our president Mrs. Halonen is residing. The large white ship is a Silja Line Cruiser to Sweden or Germany.

Wow were are amazed at all that you wrote of Tarja but more then anything the female president is news to me, and our daughter's favorite part is the flag she loves learning about flags as well as geography. We looked up this part of Finland on Google Earth to discover more about it. We will soon make a trip to ImaginOn (http://www.imaginon.org/index.asp): The Joe and Joan Martin Center here in Charlotte, NC to collect some more information about Finland as well as other places we have received postcards from.

This is for all of those who do not believe there is a home for Santa and yes it is real.... (shhhh) but its location is still quite secretive. Our friend who is traveling through Alaska (Beki M) writes: Hello from Alaska! I am staying in Anchorage but took a weekend trip up to Fairbanks and the North Pole! All the street light poles were painted like candy canes and they even had an official "North Pole"! Very cute town.

So after I read our little girl the postcards she said: I thought it would be made of candy canes ... well she is still very excited about the postcard she posted it up right away and we looked for it on Google Earth but since it is a secret we couldn't find it (wink wink) but she now is very aware of Alaska.

The second postcard also from our friend Beki M., is from Fairbanks, Alaska. She writes: Here's another card from Alaska displaying some of the native people and their heritage center.

The postcard facts state: riverboat Discovery III drops visitors at the Chena Indian Village on the banks of the Tanana River. Visitors listen to a guide among authentic log cabins at the Chena Indian Village. Cherilyn Gho, dressed in and authentic Yupik fur parka, is a guide at the village.