Snail-mailers around the globe: Canada

Here's our Snail-mailer for June, Fiona! She is a really lovely Brit who's living in Canada and not only she answered this interview but she also shared some photos you'll get to see at the end.

In what snail-mailing activities do you take part?

Penpalling and card swapping. 

How did you became a snail-mailer? 
Another fellow Brit who also lives in Canada mentioned it one day, a few weeks later in one of my "I'm bored, what can I look at" internet moments I found the site and that was it... hooked.

For how long have you been doing this? 
Just over 1.5 years

Can you show me 3 of your favorite postcards and make a little explanation on why you like them? 

Russian blue kittens- I'm a crazy cat lady, what more can I say!

I love this card from Bulgaria, the shape, the colors and all the different snippets of Bulgarian life.

This card is from Lichtenstein and the ref number is 234, so not many cards from this country have been sent. This was a "WOW" just because where it's from. The country is 26 km long and 10 km wide and it only takes 30 minutes by car to cross the country.

How much does it cost to send a postcard in your country? 
$1.10 to USA and $1.80 to the rest of the world. 

Do you have any theme collections? If you do, why are you collecting them? 
When I first started I only thought there was "tourist" type cards, I was amazed there were so many other types and styles. Over the year and half my wish list has got longer and longer at the type of cards I like, all due to ones that I have received. I love skiing & winter so anything to do with that. Russian Blue cats - mine sadly died last year so my aim is to get lots of these and get them framed up as one big picture as a momento to her. My husband loves the pin up style girls so he is kept happy! Anne Taintor - I love the humour.

If you are into pen-paling, from which countries do you have pen-pals from? 
England, Netherlands, Czech Republic, USA, Germany & Russia.

Have you discovered any destination you'd like to travel to thanks to a postcard? 
Neuschwanstein Castle & Burg Eltz Castle (Germany)

Please share a few facts about other countries you've learned thanks to postcards or letters:

• Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, Finland 
• Washington is known for its apples
• I found out what Luminarias (small paper lanterns) are 
• Tomsk in Siberia can get up to 35ºc (I always imagined Siberia to be freezing cold and covered in snow) 

A few fun/strange/surprising facts you'd like to share about your country? 

• Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 243,977 kilometers – 151,600 miles.
• The longest highway in the world is the Trans-Canada Highway which is over 7604 kilometers (4725 miles) in length.
• About 90% of Canada’s population is concentrated within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of the Canada/US border.
• Canadians like to finish a sentence with the word eh. 
• The CN Tower in Toronto was the world’s tallest free standing structure until 2007.
• A black bear cub from Canada named Winnipeg (or “Winnie,” for short) was one of the most popular attractions at the London Zoo after it was donated to the zoo in 1915. Winnie became a favorite of Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the stories written by his father, A.A. Milne, about Winnie-the-Pooh.

In your opinion, what is it that makes sending postcards and letters through snail-mail special?
It's a dying art, no one seems to want or have time to sit and write a letter, its all rush rush rush, now its just quick text messages or emails.  Its wonderful to receive a card from some far flung place in the world, a little snippet of someones life. 

Someone cares enough to go out and buy a card, write it & post it - which isn't cheap! I love sending cards as I hope that I can make the receiver smile.

And Fionna was nice enough to share some photos! 

"This one is the lovely ladies Margo and Andrea at Little Britain Post Office. Margo thinks its so cool seeing postcards from all over the world turning up."

"This is Little Britain Post box"

Thank you very much Fionna!