Some nice Postcrossing arrivals from the holidays

My mailbox was full of festive and fun ephemera throughout the holiday season, much of it thanks to Postcrossing. Here are some of examples of the international goodness that came my way...

Above: The postcard showcases the museum port of Carolinensiel in East Frisia, Germany, near the Netherlands. The postcard is from Jeanette in Leiden, Netherlands, who writes: "Hello Chris! My downstairs neighbour's also called Chris Otto. That's really weird to see. Hope you had a nice birthday and I wish you happy holidays! This is the time of year that I love for the lights and coziness, decorations and friendly atmosphere."

Above: "13 Dec. 2018. 11° C. Hello, Chris! Greetings from Japan. My name is Michiko. I live in Yokohama where is famous for Chinatown. On this postcard, you can see one of a scene from The Tale of Genji that is classic Japanese literature written by Murasaki Shikibu. The left stamp is Issun Boshi (one-inch boy) of fairy tale. And the right one is a Japanese folk song Hamabe no uta (At The Shore). Now, I'm going jogging. Have a nice day!"

Above: The caption for this Ceci Chui illustration states: "Da-sui-yan. 'Hitting villains' is a popular folk ritual in Hong Kong. People going through hard times visit hitters to seek revenge against enemies or rid themselves of bad luck. For a nominal fee, these hitters exorcise demons by chanting, beating paper effigies of villains with a worn shoe, and burning the effigies." Meanwhile, the postcard message, in a lovely combination of print and cursive, states: "Greetings from Hong Kong. My name is Kathy. I work as a nurse in hospital. I love travelling and collecting dolls from different countries. Sometimes I take photos of my dolls when I go travelling just like my avatar. Merry Christmas!"

Above: "Hi, Chris. I'm CHIA-KAI, CHANG. I am a high school student. I live in Nantou in Taiwan. In Nantou, I can see the mountains, but Nantou is in the center of Taiwan; I can't see the sea. How about you?"

Above: "9/12/18. +19° C. Greetings from Taiwan! This is an ad card, but I like the Christmas image on it, hope you'll like it, too! Jenny."