I'm taking a break from blogging.

Hi everyone!  I'm still alive. :)  I'm so sorry for my silence.  I have been thinking about this while I was quiet here and am kind of thinking to take a break from blogging.  Since I started my fumi no hi giveaway project and put my email address online, I have received many messages asking me for stationery swap or to help them buy Japanese stationery for them (esp. washi tapes) which basically is that I buy stationery that they specifically want and send them and they will pay me when they recieve the package.  When I turn down their messages, very few but some of them told me that I'm bad because I have very easy access to nice stationery in Japan but not willing to help others who can't buy them in their home.  These messages gradually took my motivation for my giveaway project and my blog. :(  I tried to bring myself back to blogging few times, but I just couldn't feel like writing anything here...at least now.

 

By the way, my big apology goes to those two winners of my previous giveaway project.  I have your packages ready and will have your lovely letters for the project posted very soon (I will have at least this posting about your lovely letters before I close this blog) with a picture of pakages for you.  Sorry! :(

 

I may start a new blog with fresh spirits without my project or keep this blog as closed blog or...I haven't decided.  I haven't decided anything concrete but soon will.  Is there anyone still out there who is still interested in my blog?

Outgoing Mail/お手紙発送

I would say that the most beloved flowers in Japan is cherry blossoms.  At this time of the year, the weather forecast closely follow so-called "cherry blossom front" in their "cherry blossom forecast" and tells you when the cherry blossoms in your area come out.  The cherry blossoms start opening in the southern islands of Okinawa as early as January while on the northern islands of Hokkaido they open as late as May.  What about in between?  Well, the Meteorological Agency announced that cherry blossoms in Tokyo opened on March 25th this year.

 

Why is this time of the bloom so important?  Well, it's because we don't want to miss the right time for hanami or picnic under cherry trees to welcome the arrival of the spring and enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms.  The cherry blossom season is short - usually about one week after the opening of the first blossoms, they reach their full bloom, and another week later they start falling from the trees, so once the cherry blossoms open in their area, people start planning hanami with family or friends.  There are many nice hanami spots in Tokyo, and I've already picked some places I want to visit this year.  I'm pretty excited!! :)

 

This picture shows how it looks like when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.  It was taken at a park a couple of years ago.  Like a tunnel of cherry blossoms, right? :)

Around this time of the year, my penpals usually receive a postcard or pictures of cherry blossoms from me.  Here are some of my outgoing letters this week.  This one is flying to the US with a postcard of cherry blossom. :)

Do you like the cat stamps? :)

This letter is for my pal in UK.

My drawing matches to the stamp on the envelope. :)

And the back side of the postcard.

I hope my letter will bring a smile to my penpals. :)  Has the spring arrived where you live?

東京の桜の開花宣言は昨日でしたが、まだ通勤途中で見かける桜の木には、花が咲いていません。今週末にはもう少し咲いてくれるかな。楽しみ楽しみ☆ところで、日本人って桜が大好きですよね。以前、外国人の友達に『なんで「お花見」っていうと、みんな桜だと思うの？花を見るって書くんだから、他の花でもいいんじゃないの？』と聞かれて困ったことが（＾＾；私の答えは『長く日本に住めば、きっとその理由が分かるよ。』でした。それが理由か分かりませんが、その友人は日本で就職が決まりました（＾＾）写真は数年前に東京の上野公園で撮った写真です。いや～、花見客でごった返していました。でもすごく綺麗で楽しめました。

この時期、ペンパルには桜のポストカードや写真を送ることが多いです。とっても喜ばれます☆

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村 

BLOGLOVIN

Incoming Mail/オランダより手紙到着

Some people say that Monday is their least favorite in a week because it's after the weekend which means 5 more days to work, but I love Monday.  Why??  Because I tend to receive more mails on Monday than any other weekdays. :)

 

Let me share this lovely letter from my dear penpal in The Netherlands.  She enclosed a cute magnet that says HOLLAND. :)  I put it on my fridge so that every time I open the fridge (which happens pretty often as I often look for something to eat. lol), I remember her. :)

She put nice stamps. :)  I wonder who they are...

I totally agree with the message she put on the envelope.  And you??

I already have one missing letter to Singapore this year. :(  I hope there won't be any for the rest of the year.  Have you had any missing letter in 2014?

 

Have a nice day everyone! :)

 

月曜日は一週間の仕事始めの日なので、元気が出ないと思いきや、私は、郵便が他の曜日より多い月曜日を心待ちにしています（＾＾）

 

オランダのペンパルから、手紙と一緒に素敵なマグネットが届きました。可愛いな～。早速、冷蔵庫にくっつけました。切手も素敵☆封筒に『お金と時間を手紙にかけています。なくさないでください。』と印刷されたシールが貼ってありました。私の場合、今年はすでにシンガポールに送った手紙が行方不明になりました。心を込めて一生懸命書いた手紙がなくなることほど残念なことはありません。全ての手紙が無事配達されますように。

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村 

Outgoing Mail/お手紙発送

I think something is wrong with my laptop or this blog account or something because I can't follow new blogs!  There're some new letter-writing blogs that I want to follow, but if I try to follow the blog by pressing the button of "Join this site" like I always did before and log in through my google account, they tell me "the address/link might be too old".  What does that mean?!

 

OK anyway, yesterday I found these stamps at my favorite stamp shop.  Aren't they cute?

These stamps were issued in 1998.  At such shop, you can buy older stamps that you might no longer find at a post office, and I can spend hours there just looking at all the different stamps. :)  I put rabbit one and birds one side by side like in this picture and added some words for them.

 

I hope they will become good friends with the raddit while traveling to Europe for a week. lol  Good luck! :D

 

Have a nice weekend everyone! :)

 

他のブログをフォローしようとすると、何か設定がおかしいのかできません。なんか変なところでも押したかな…（- -）

 

さて、近所の切手ショップで1998年発行のグリーティング切手を見つけたので買ってきました。切手屋さん、大好きです。イースターをお祝いする国のペンパルにウサギの切手は喜ばれそうですね☆インコが何か相談してる風に見えたので、インコとウサギの切手を並べて貼って、左のインコは『ウサギがこっち見てる！逃げた方がいいかな？』、右のインコは『そうしよう！』と相談しているように、台詞を書き込んでみました。ベルギーまでの長旅、インコ達はウサギの仲良くしてくれるといいのですが（＾＾）

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村 

American souvenirs / アメリカのお土産

My American friend was visiting Tokyo for his job interview, so we met up. :)  He was very proud of himself that he did well at the 3-hour interview all in Japanese. :)  He still has to finish his last couple of months at university in the States, but if the visa thing all goes well, he will start working in Tokyo by the summer.  I’m so happy for him!! :)

 

He brought me something from Boston.  They're American beer called “Samuel Adams”.  Honestly, I only knew Budweiser as an American beer, so I'm very excited to try a new taste!  I wonder what other American beer brands are…

He brought me some of his old books from his Japanese history class at university.  I love reading history books, so this is perfect for me. :)

The Samurai book is interesting.

And lots of lovely postcards from Boston!  He knows me so well. :)  This postcard shows Boston seen from the South Slope of Beacon Hill, older part of the city.  Very beautiful!

The Harvard University Shield.  Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the US.

Whale watching off Massachusetts

Postcard from Salem.

According to the postcard, Salem is one of the oldest towns in America.  It has tourist attractions, museums, historic homes and natural seaside beauty.  Salem was a shipping center for many years.  The famous witch trials of 1692 that resulted in the hanging of 19 people gave the city its nickname.

A postcard of "La Japonaise" by Claude Monet.  The woman is wrapped in a kimono, Japanese traditional costume.  This card is from a famous museum, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. :)

I added Boston to my list of “Must Visit Before Die”.  Do you have a list of “Must Visit Before Die”?  Maybe some of you have Japan on the list?! :D

 

去年、日本での１年間の留学を終えアメリカに帰国した友人が、日本での就職活動のため来日したので、会ってきました。３時間に及んだ日本語の面接を無事終えて、日本語に自信がついたみたいです。まだ、大学４年生が数か月あるので、またアメリカに帰りましたが、ビザなどの手続きが順調に行けば、今年の夏には日本で働けるそうです。海外で働くなんて尊敬します（＾＾）

 

さて、今回お土産にと色々持ってきてくれました。まず、ビール好きの私にぴったりのアメリカビール。バドワイザー以外知らなかったので、楽しみです。また、歴史好きの私に、アメリカの大学の日本史の授業で教科書として使った本を持ってきてくれました。嬉しい（＾＾）『サムライの秘密』という本では、剣術などについて絵入りで解説されていて面白い。読むのが楽しみです。

 

そして、沢山のポストカードも持ってきてくれました。ボストンの街並みや、ボストンといえばのハーバード大学のカード、クジラのウォッチング、セイラム（Salem）という町のカード（アメリカで最も古い町のひとつで、17世紀に起こった魔女狩り（セイラム魔女裁判）で有名だそうです）、そしてクロード・モネの「ラ・ジャポネーズ」という絵のカード。どれも素敵です。

 

ボストン、いつか行ってみたいです。

 

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村 

Outgoing Mail/お手紙発送

I’ve been lazy and didn’t take pictures of my outgoing letters lately, but I’m starting it again now.  These letters are for my pals in Japan, Germany and Greece.  Last time it took more than a month for my letter to arrive in Greece.  I thought it went missing.  Hopefully it will be delivered sooner this time!

Flower stamps are always one of my favorites. :)  What’s your favorite?

Have a good day everyone! :)

最近送ったお手紙です。日本、ドイツ、ギリシャのペンパル達へ。前回ギリシャに送った時は、届くまでに１ヶ月以上かかり、もう行方不明決定かと思いました。今回は迷子にならず、早く届きますように。色々切手を貼ってみましたが、やっぱり花の切手が好きだなぁ。みなさんはどうですか？

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村 

Cute wrapping bag/ラッピング用品

I was looking for some nice gift-wrapping items to dress up the gifts I was sending for the winners of my fumi-no-hi giveaway project, and I found this.

It comes with a little plastic bag and a designed paper which is thicker than a normal wrapping paper, and you can make a little bag with them to put something small like chocolate, candies, cookies (my list goes on and on with something delicious, but you can of course put something uneatable. lol).  OK, I will show you how to make the bag with them. :)

 

This is the set.  They're 8 sets in the package.

I put chocolates and a tea bag in the plastic bag and then put the paper over the top of the plastic bag like a hat.  The top of the plastic bag has a sticky part so that you can put it to inside the paper, but I stapled the plastic bag and the paper instead to make it a bit secure. :D

Here are nicely gift-wrapped goodies. :)

I love wrapping the gifts because I think gift-wrapping is love. :)  Even though they know that the person who received the gift won't keep the wrapping, I believe still many people like to spend their time and money on giving a nicely wrapped gift to someone because they want to see someone's smile. :)  My giveaway project is through my blog and so I don't know the winners in person, but I still enjoy wrapping the gifts for them because I want them to smile. :)

Have a nice day everyone!

ふみの日プロジェクトの当選者の方達用のプレゼントを包装するのに、ダイソーでバレンタイン用の小袋ラッピングを買いました。最近は色々可愛いラッピング用品が１００均で手に入るので助かります☆今回はチョコレートとティーバックを入れました。ちょっとしたひと手間ですが、相手も喜んでくれるので、ラッピングは大好きです。そのまま送ってもいいけど、このちょっとしたひと手間が相手を思う気持ちを一緒に運んでくれる、そんな気がします。

↓いつもありがとうございます。押していただけると励みになります☆

にほんブログ村