Postcrossing & Postcards

It's been a long time since I last posted an update on the postcards I received and sent via Postcrossing. I haven't been very active over the last six months (or year?), but a few weeks ago I remembered my 101 in 1001 project. Of all the goals I have come up with for that project, reading is the only one that I have been serious about. Besides reading, I think sending mail is my favourite, so one of the goals I set was to send 100 postcards. I am short of three postcards, and I'll be able to cross another goal off the list. 

Here are the last five postcards I received and I have a photo of. I've decided to take a photo of every postcard I send and received in order to upload it on the site from now on. Makes me feel more organised and serious about the whole affair.

 I love this postcard!

 And here are some I sent:

In May I spent  two days in Cluj-Napoca and I stayed overnight at a cousin and her husband's home. She is an avid postcrosser. She was kind to give me a lot, and I mean a.lot.! of postcards. This may have contributed to rekindling my love for sending postcards. 

A few weeks back, I got a surprise email. Of course, initially I thought it was spam because I am calm and never jump to conclusions. (that is sarcasm, btw, if you didn't catch it). The sender, Ana, the community manager at Postcrossing, congratulated me for winning third place on the latest giveaway. That means ten free postcards from Natuurlijkefoto. I get excited for everything free, but to have won a giveaway made me even more excited. Today I got the postcards in the mail. It came as a lovely surprise because I completely forgot about it. It's been a full and stressful month this July, and it's not even over yet. But, the postcards: 

 

 This is the "extra" postcard letting me know I won. Isn't it pretty that little birdie whose species I don't know?

 

 

 

And that's my update on Postcrossing. I think I should pick a postcard and send it on its way, and have the last three postcards traveling together towards the fulfillment of my goal.

Aww, doesn't that sound poetic and cheesy? 

PS. Excuse the lack of quality these pictures of postcards have. Winning a Pulitzer for photography is not a goal of mine.

Away from China - by Roberto G. Ferrari -- Book Review

On the 20th of May I won!

A book!

I won Away from China on a GoodReads giveaway. Since I don't like to do things in equilibrium, when I found the option to enter giveaways on the said site, I entered many (I mean, many!) giveaways. When you act like that, it's impossible to not be surprised when you win. So I was surprised when I won, although it was the first book I entered to win. Coincidence?

The book is one man's story of adopting their second child, a Chinese boy, Yong. The author gives some background information about himself and his family, but he dives into the story quickly. He confesses that adoption is not a normal and usual thing done by Italians (I didn't know that) and we later find out that a second international adoption is a very rare thing in Italy (of course, I didn't know that either). 

This is a fairly easy read, especially because of its style. Simple language, short sentences are predominant especially in the beginning, but as the book progresses they are more expanded and add a fluency to the book. From the very beginning it felt like I was reading someone's journal, and this is probably exactly as it was written. The author mentions that he used an iPad to record his thoughts and feelings about the whole experience. This, I think, brought an even greater layer of authenticity. Speaking of which. This man is sure honest about the whole thing. So honest and open that a few times I had to ask myself if these were best left out. But in retrospective, this is what makes the book so enjoyable. His relationship with his wife and daughter, and then with Yong, his daughter's reactions and behaviour during their  stay in China, his bonding (not struggle-free!) with Yong... all these were openly shared. It's interesting and useful to see how he tries to find the right way to treat Yong, how to make the child trust him, but also obey him and his wife, Laura. Probably one of my favourite parts was when he had a "turning point", as he call it, when he understood that it was him, not Yong, that was the problem in their deficient bonding. This is such a fascinating thought, as he mentioned a few times that it rarely seemed to be a linguistic barrier; Yong seemed able to understand what they communicated to him and could even answer some of their answers with "yes" and "no".

This book is really helpful for those considering an international adoption, whether it is from China or another country, as it offers insight into some worrisome aspects of adoption.

There are also pretty lengthy passages of Chinese historical facts. He is obviously interested in these details, as he should be, but for someone who's less keen on this aspect, it's a part that can be skipped since it doesn't harm the understanding of the "story". In all these mini lectures on Chinese history and touristic guide-like information, I never once got the feeling of superiority towards the Eastern lifestyle and mentality. Not once did I get the feeling he's a superior Westerner. Speaking of which, there is a great passage on this on pages 68-69.

What I found to be a little annoying were the commas and the grammar mistakes. In the beginning it was more annoying, but as you get swept into the retelling of the events you can overlook them, although you have to re-read a sentence to understand it; it's the misplaced comma's fault. ;))

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, as the author wrote in his autographed dedication.

Book in the Mail

This goodie came in the mail last Friday. It's a book I won on a GoodReads giveaway. I've started reading the book that very day. I'm not one who can resist beginning a new book. And it's for a good purpose, I tell myself. After I finish reading this book, I am to write a review for the book. So far the book is really interesting (don't like the word, but the book really is so). So, review to follow.