Paradise 天堂乐土

Ever since I realized that some of my readers might be very young, I decided not to write anything negative/pessimistic as I did in some of my personal blog. I feel the responsibility that teenagers should be presented a world as beautiful as depicted in postcards. Here, after a few days of delay, for this blog entry, I pick up two cards of Tahquamenon Falls I bought during the trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula last weekend. I think the cards are beautiful although the trip was not. I just don't have the mood to write on the many gorgeous cards I have received recently. Sorry.

Tahquamenon Falls consist of Upper and Lower Falls on the Tahquamenon River. The Upper Falls are earlier to access and more spectacular in all seasons. It's hard to miss the Upper Falls on the trail due to their notably loud sound. After all, they are one of the top waterfalls, if not the second, only after the Niagara Falls, east of the Mississippi River in US. The amber color of the water is neither rust nor muddiness as seen at Hukou Waterfall on Yellow River in China, but caused by "tannin leached from the cedar, spruce and Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river". The extensive amounts of foam, which can be even seen in winter, are considered as the "trademark" of the Tahquamenon Falls.

The town where the Tahquamenon Falls are located is called Paradise. What a unique and blessing name! What an opportunity to send postcards with "Paradise" postmarks! I brought with me a dozen of postcards I was supposed to send to fellow postcrossers and bought tens of postcards over Mackinac Bridge, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Tahquamenon Falls State Park. But I didn't mail any. It's probably the first trip I didn't send any postcards, not even to myself. Paradise is too beautiful to be a destination for new graduate students from China during fall break. May the young lives lost on their way to Paradise rest in peace.

塔库梅农瀑布位于美国密歇根州上半岛的“天堂乐土”镇。说这里是天堂乐土也不为过，只看那瀑布，便被其壮观而不失俊美的景色，深深吸引，流连忘返。顺着瀑布公园的林间小道，循声便可找到上游瀑布，而下游瀑布则要步行数公里才可到达。这里瀑布的两大特征是琥珀色的水和大量的泡沫。不要想当然的认为是污染所致。琥珀色是因为河水溶解了雪松、云杉及铁杉等树木所含的鞣酸所致；至于泡沫，则是因为硬度极低的河水，在瀑布的巨大碰撞下，泛出层层不绝的气泡。只可惜，我未能在天堂小镇寄出明信片。更令人扼腕怜惜，伤心欲绝的是，学校的两位新生在驱往“天堂乐土”的途中不幸遇难。愿他们带着对天堂乐土的憧憬，在父母温暖的怀中安息永眠。

Please Vote: Poll of Michigan Map Cards

I have noticed that many postcard collectors like map cards. Me, too, which could be predicted from my childhood favorite toy: a plastic map puzzle. So far, I have had seven versions of Michigan map postcards, and I am eager to know which one of them my readers/swappers/fellow postcrossers like the most and why.

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Please VOTE in the following poll and feel free to comment on why you like the design of that map card. There will be a giveaway of the above map cards to at least three people whose comments inspire me.

Central Stations 中央车站

Almost all metropolitan cities have a central railway station, which building has likely become a famous landmark in the city. I have been to the central stations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago and Pittsburgh. In my opinion, the central stations are the heritage from the industrial revolution or the indicator of the rapid growth of a city in a new era. Of course, Detroit is an exception. Michigan Central Station was abandoned and threatened to be demolished. This National Historic Place has witnessed the bloom and decline of the Michigan's auto-based economy. No wonder it is so hard to find Michigan Central postcard nowadays.

Fortunately, I have had cards of two famous central stations in the world: Japan's Tokyo and the Netherlands' Amsterdam Central Stations -- they even have something in common. The Amsterdam Centraal was opened in 1889, while the Tokyo Station in 1914. It was rumored that the latter was fashioned after the former one. Although there's little evidence to support the rumor, it's obvious that the two grand brick-buildings do look alike. To me, it's more amazing to see two buildings half world apart independently developed this resemblance. The great minds of the architects did think alike. Some says the two buildings are of Renaissance revival style. But I can't find the reference. I am always confused with the classifications of architecture styles.

Tokyo Station 东京站

Amsterdam Centraal 阿姆斯特丹中央车站

(Notes to myself: Amsterdam Centraal is twinned with Liverpool Street Station in London, UK. I'd like to pair them up in my postcard collection. I'll try to buy other central station's cards from US and even China, regardless of classic or modern architecture styles.)

世界各大城市基本都会有一座著名的火车站。我去过纽约、费城、华盛顿、波士顿、芝加哥和匹兹堡的火车站。在我看来，它们都是工业革命在这些城市留下的烙印。底特律其实也是有密歇根的中央车站的。但是早已废弃，甚至还要被拆除。这也代表了当地经济的衰退。

我有幸得到了两张中央车站的明信片：日本东京站和荷兰阿姆斯特丹中央车站。这两座像个半个地球的车站，甚至还被人认为有很大的相似性的。据说，1914年开通的东京站可能是效仿1819年运行的阿姆斯特丹中央车站。但是此说法证据不足，权当小道消息罢。

Purple

Soon after I figured out what "tag" means at postcrossing forum, I wanted to participated in "request a color" tag, meaning: sending a postcard in the color someone asks for and requesting a color for the card someone sends to me. So I requested purple, my favorite color. In my opinion, purple is somehow an awkward color in that it looks pleasant/attractive/meaningful to me but not a lot of stuff, including clothes and postcards, looks aesthetically "right" in purple. For example, a purple down coat would make me look like an eggplant with two legs, then I have a collection of purple accessories only to accentuate my favorite color in my outfit. I was wondering what kind of purple card I was going to get.

Then it arrived this beautiful sunset view card of Brisbane, Australia. How creative C. is in finding purple in our everyday life! She also tells me she loves to ride on the City Cats, the high speed ferry service, across the Brisbane River.

In the "purple" tag, I sent a Simpsons card. In return, L. tagged me back with this gorgeous card that shows the only object I possibly imagine on a purple card - lavender! L. says she wants to visit France one day to see those amazing lavender fields in person. Me, too! Or anywhere similar to Provence to bring me sunshine, aroma, and peace of mind.

 我最爱紫色，可是紫色的明信片却不是很多。这里是我收集的紫霞下的澳大利亚城市布里斯班，以及满眼雪青色的薰衣草。

Goals or No Goals?

I am very glad that my family in China is going to support me in collecting postcards! Mom and Dad are going to Shanghai Expo next month, so I asked Mom for a postcard. Mom showed her interest in my newly regained hobby and provided "indirect verbal evidence" to show I have been postcard enthusiast for many years: they have many cards I sent from the places I had been to. (Ha, when talking about my family, I am always sarcastic as the only one who does nothing to do with law.) My brother will take his family to Hongkong and Macao during the National Day long weekend. He asked me about my goals in collecting postcards, and hence he would know what cards to send.

Hmm, goals... I really don't want to set serious goals for this pleasant hobby, which is supposed to be a gateway to freshness and relaxation out of stress at work or study. However, I do know what are NOT my goals. I definitely don't aim to set Guinness World Record on receiving postcards from the most countries. I never expect unrealistically to collect a full set of postcards out of the ever-increasing list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I only want to broaden my horizons on the world (or even the outer space, :)), to be able to learn from the card, and to feel or connect with the person who writes on the card.

Here is an example on what I can learn extensively from a postcard.

This lovely lighthouse card was from L. in the Philippines. I'll have a lighthouse blog entry in the future. What I would like to incluse here is the geography I have learned from this card.

Basco is the second largest island among Batanes Islands. Neither geographic name yet sounds familiar to me.Then a little search on the position of the islands on google map shows that Batanes, which is the northernmost of the Philippines, lie in Luzon Strait between the major islands of Taiwan and Luzon. This zoom-out gives me a clear image of the waters that connect South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. What really amazes me is the names of the channels that constitute Luzon Strait: Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel! They remind me of the weather forecast on cyclone/typhoon warnings that I heard so often when I was in China: with the background music of the Weather Forecast on TV, the meteorologist says that the tropical cyclone has traveled to Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel and that it is predicted to land on ... So familiar, so familiar! I know I sound very geeky. But who doesn't have some memory that long lives, especially when it relates to the dream job you wanted when you were a kid? Now my two-year old nephew's favorite TV channel is Weather, too!

(Notes to myself: There are two islands in Luzon Strait: the Batanes and the Babuyan, from north to south, respectively. There are three channels that constitute Luzon Strait: Bashi, Balintang and Babuyan, which are divided in Luzon Strait by the Batanes Islands and the Babuyan Islands between the major islands of Taiwan and Luzon, from north to south, respectively. Bashi Channel is of the most importance in military and communication in that the water is deep enough for shipping (no wonder there are lighthouses in Basco!) and many underwater cables pass through.)

为了方便亲爱的爸爸妈妈了解女儿的兴趣动向，我决定每篇博客之尾都加上中文摘要。
这张明信片反映的是菲律宾最北端的巴坦群岛的巴斯克岛。画面是我喜爱的灯塔。然而本篇却不是说巴斯克岛本身，因为这个地理名词对于我很陌生。我熟悉的是群岛北部可遥望台湾岛的巴士海峡。小时候经常在气象节目里听到巴士海峡和巴林塘海峡，现在才真正知道它们的地理位置，并且还能从明信片中发散性的体会到巴士海峡的重要性，真是很奇妙。

First cards

On early morning last Thursday, I was certainly not lightened with the dream I had the other night, nor the task I assigned to myself on that day was pleasant. I was still in bed and wished I could delay the start of the day when I checked my phone for schedules. Then suddenly my day became so shiny that I got up quickly and started working with the enthusiasm I should have always had. What happened? I received a message from the first receiver of my official postcard on postcrossing -- he just registered my card! Luis from Spain said he liked my card and that was his first, too.

Bringing happiness to others makes me happy, too. I think Xiaoyu believes this.

Xiaoyu is my good friend here at Michigan. On her way to vacation in Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend, I texted her for a postcard. And last Friday, I received this very first postcard since I regained the interest in postcard collecting. Imagine how happy and appreciative I was!

This cards showcases MGM Grand Las Vegas, a hotel casino (of course, it's in Sin City and the Entertainment Capital of the World), which is the second largest hotel in the world, only behind the Venetian, also in Vegas. MGM's mascot, Leo the Lion, can be seen in the lower middle part of the card. An interesting story about Leo is: when MGM first opened, the main entrance was inside of a giant Leo, which scared away Chinese gamblers because Feng Shui belief indicated this was a bad luck. I would believe many Asian visitors, especially those from Hongkong, went gambling there. But was it because of the Feng Shui that MGM changed the main entrance? Maybe. I never believe any superstitions. But I would feel weird to walk into the mouth of a beast. Who wants to be swallowed by a predator anyways?

There is a MGM Grand signature attraction that is not shown in this card: the glass-sided lion habitat. I'll definitely check that out next time I visit Vegas. Hope the lion keeper who got injured recently will recover soon and presents us with amazing but safe display. So Vegas is on my trip plan now although it's not the type of destination I long for? I think so and I trust the recommendations by no less than ten people in the last two years, including Xiaoyu.

Oops, busted!

I have had this hobby of collecting stamps and postcards since I was little. That eagerness of receiving greeting cards from an American pen pal remains fresh and sweat deep in my mind. I had even self-designed some cards and sent to some friends. In college, many of my friends' mail had a "window" on the upper-right corner of the envelope -- the stamps along with the postmarks were cut for my collection! I've learned a lot from the postal service products: geography of the sending places, unique culture commemorated on the stamps, must-see attractions displayed on the postcards, and ... you name it.

However, I don't even remember since when I have changed to be a body with no interests. Once I was asked about my habit. After a long search in the folding of my brain, I came out with the answer "sleep". So sad, as I am diagnosed psychologically. But who doesn't want to be happy and enjoy something in everyday life?!! That's why I pick up this old-fashioned hobby with the convenience of 21st century technology.

I searched online on postcard swap programs and postcrossing.com came up. Perfect, it could be the beginning of my true joy! Maybe I was too eager -- I registered multiple accounts. On my way to send the cards which I custom-shopped for each fellow postcrosser, I was busted by the founder of the postcrossing project, Paulo, in emails. Oops! I swear I had and have no intention to "fetch a high number of addresses". But I understood where the concern came from. Ok! As a model world citizen with pristine record, I corrected myself immediately after the warning. Now I only hope they won't blacklist me as my enthusiasm has already been damped, well a little. Fingers crossed!