Teachable Moments from Around the Globe Via Postcard

A postcrosser by the name Pirjo send us a Santa with reindeer postcard from Finland very sweet, thank you.

Tuija K. a postcard swapper from Finland has sent us 3 nature inspired postcards! She writes: Thank you very much for your lovely postcards you sent. I have sent your three cards from Finland and I hope you like them (we love them thank you). Do you swap anything else ( no at the moment we only can budget for postcards)? I swap cards, tea, stickers, magnets, and more little things. My name is Tuija and we have three cats and 9 rabbits. I hope you have a lovely day and write me so we can swap again. All the best, Tuija.

Card #1 at the top is done by Finland's Famous painter Martha Wendelin. Postcard #2 bottom left is Finland in winter. Postcard #3 bottom right is a photo of Roses from Tuija K's yard!

From our postcrossing friend Marika in Finland, she sent us this interesting postcard with a Moomin Character. She writes: Hello and Greetings from the Southern Finland small town called Orimattila. Do you like Moomins? This character is  the Groke (yes we happen to be enjoying the interesting Moomin that we are learning about from our friends in Finland). My home town is quiet and known for horses. Even the name Orimattila appoint to horses [Ori = stallion]. Happy Postcrossing! Love, Marika

Welcomed greetings from our most dedicated friend Tarja in Finland. She writes: Hello Again! This card says "For a Friend" and "Hello Friend." These Characters are called Moomin, probably best known characters from Finland and created by one woman by the name of Tove Jansson. In this card you can see "Stinky" (the black one) and Niiskuneiti (not sure what that translates to in English she writes). Lots of hugs, Tarja



We love the postcards all of them and the postage stams are so festive and child friendly our little girl thanks you so much and so do we for being so dedicated to Teachable Moments. Many thanks from the bottom of our hearts.

Another outstandingly thoughtful postcard arrived today from our marvelous friend Tarja K. in Finland. She has provided us with so many interesting facts about her home. Today the postcard had a wonderful added touch the stamp was much like our Mr. Potato head with added features eyes, mouth feet, ears, etc. The postcard itself was also very whimsical. She writes:

Hello again! This card is showing something different about Finland, one popular cartoon character  "Kiroileva siili"/ "The Swearing Hedgehog". He is always complaining about everything and in a bad mood. But this one on the postcard isn't the angry one, it's a female with eyelashes!  ;-) HUGS.

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!

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.

Today we received our very first postcard from Finland (and in record time from what other postcard swappers tell me.) The card as you can see displays some of Finland's rich architecture along with its lush greenery. The card was sent by Tarja, it reads: "Hello There! Greetings from Finland. We Have an old castle her in Hameenlinna, "Linaa" means castle in Finnish and "Hame" is our region. The pics in the middle show hotel Aulanko with it's huge and beautiful park. Verkatehdas is an old clothing factory, and Nowadays it is our popular culture & congress center including cinemas, concerts, theater, etc. Thank you Tarja again for this fantastic piece of Finland information of things not often read in books but heard only by people like yourself who enjoy these facts of their homeland everyday.

My daughter and I also went to Google Earth to look at the latest visual of Finland. Loved it!