Snail Mail : Written History

"Snail Mail" is a term my friend used in one of our letters we have sent each other.

At this day and age, sending letters might be something that is old fashioned, time consuming and expensive  compared to texting, sending a email or a message. I believe that there is a beauty in writing and sending letters and cards. 

I grew up in Japan when the internet did not really existed and was not accessible around me until I was in junior high school (I sound that I am old but I am not). Even that, texting and using the internet was something that was really expensive from my point. I saw my friends everyday and I did not have/see the need to communicate except for meeting up and arranging plans.

Letters, parcels are somethings that was something special for me. It meant that I could connect with my Australian side of the family, and most importantly I get presents!! Birthdays and Christmas was those special occasions where I was able to connect with my 'other side' of my heritage.

There are so many reasons I really like wringing hand written letters.
I really enjoy the atmosphere when I writing a letter. I normally go to a cafe, order tea, sweets(like scones) and then think. Carefully, and let my mind wonder, gather my thoughts to start writing.
I might write some keywords on a note pad before I start but most of the time I just start writing.

One thing I do not use a computer. I have few reasons for this and I prefer to hand write.
One is that as I said I just start writing while I think. I just let things flow. In the olden day,  there was no such thing as a computer where you can delete and edit!
The second thing us that I think nowadays people do not really do anything with their hands.
It is much personal and have more thought and connection when you see hand writing.
It does not matter if you think your hand writing is bad, it is the effort to write something and itself is beautiful and meaningful.

My friend once told me that letters are/were the way scholars understood what people lived and  figured out what happened reassuring old letters. When I was told this I was really amazed about this. Now I can see that this does make total sense because even when my aunt and my mother were looking though all of these olde letters which were kept written by my grate-grandfathers and grate-mothers. Letters are things that can be reopened and read again an again and even be a part of a genealogy history. I recently found one letter I received from my friend when I was going though some tough times in Japan. It makes me happy and feel really valued.

As internet access is one of the essential thing in the modern lifestyle,  I think it is also important to continue writing and sending letters.

It is such a small thing,  but it brings me joy and makes me feel special and valued and loved.

    

Happiness and the donkey.

If it is just making your life miserable, 

that is not something worth hanging on to. 

I have not lived long enough to know everything about life.
But I do think I know what I am worth and what makes me happy.

There are times and places where you want to be yourself but it is just difficult.
No matter that is about a relationship or a job or a school or a situation that you are in.

I moved to Australia to get away from a situation where I was not treated well and unhappy.

Since I moved and back here, I have been doing my best to become happy and be in a healthy environment. Recently, the situation I am in  has been pushed back to what it was like: negative  and miserable. The other day I had an epiphany. "I do not deserve to be treated like this!"

One doctor of mine has taught me an idiom.

Khar Plaar Kaa
Kaar Ravaan Kaa

It means, when you try and push the donkey to do something they will not move but you just simply leave the donkey alone and go your own way.

When you are in a bad and sad situation where you are not happy and do not deserve it, do not hang on to it. Just do what you have to do and move on. That can be just doing what you have to do or removing yourself from that situation.

I hope the world will become a better place for everyone.

See you soon!

The Mystery Parcels (Part 2)

Now it's time to tell you about the next day I got the first mystery parcel.

I woke up from the my mother knocking on my bed room door early in the morning(at least for me).
Mum had a parcel in her hand and handed it to me. I jumped awake and want up to the kitchen to open it as soon as possible so see what, what kind of book was inside. 

I opened it. The parcel had 'Cinder', the first for the Lunar chronicles!

Then I checked the receipt/order details and again it was from the US. At this point I had a more clear idea who it was from. I just need to conform it some how.

I checked my post on facebook, and there was another clue that pretty much conformed who it was from.

It was from my friend Rebecca!!

I opened messenger to write a thank you email and there was a message earlier in the month (that I have clearly forgotten about until then) when she asked for my address which is common for us because we some times write to each other.

I met Rebecca at university. She was doing her year abroad at my university. I have also lived together with for a short while when I was going through some tough times. But the time I spent with her was a positive thing for me. We talked about books, movies, culture, life and many things.

Our interests cross over at places and we have very different interests in some things.
Which is really good because we tend to introduce new things to each other and then talk about them and experience a broad range of things. I might write a blog post about us but I simply I miss her.

Rebecca is really good at writing and she loves reading. She actually has a blog called:
"The Lonely Reader" about books she enjoy and reads you can click here to go to her blog!

I have learned one thing about myself from these two mystery parcels.
I really like surprises but on the other hand I have this 'instinct' or 'ability' to notice signs(not always but most of the time).
But in this case, this surprise was a success and I did not notice a thing!

I hope you liked my story about the mystery parcels.

See you soon!
Ellen
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Instagram: @ellenkoala

  

The Mystery Parcels (Part 1)

I know it is a little late but...

Merry Christmas!!

and

Happy New year!!

This story was a few days after Christmas, I came home from the city. I said "Hello" to my mother in the kitchen and walked towards my room to drop my bags. On the way, I saw this white parcel placed on the side table(where we put our mail)before I reach the stairs. I was curious and had a look who it was addressed to.

It was addressed to ME! Yey! REALLY?! Is this really happening??

Wait, who is this from?

I looked all around the parcel to see who was it from but there were no names that I recognized. Only the company that it was sent from.

I wonder who is this from? I have not ordered anything online that I know of.

I went back to the kitchen and I said to my mum with excitement "I have a parcel! But I have not ordered anything online".  Mum replied to me saying, "We(My mother and my aunt) were wondering if you have ordered something. You might know who it is from after you open it".

So, I opened it. I knew it was a book in it because it felt like a book when I held it in my hand.

It was "Carry On" written by Rainbow Rowell inside!

I have been meaning to read it after reading "FanGirl" from the same author this year in English but I did not have a copy of it yet.
I was happy that I got a book that is on my 'To-read reading list' and I love getting books as a gift!!!

But there was still a mystery... Who is this book/Christmas present from?

There were few clues.

The Stamp/return shipment details: It said to return to a Australian address.
The Company address: It said it was based in the United Kingdom.
The receipt/order details: The order was payed in US dollars.

This made things confusing, but I have figured that it was from a friend of mine from the US that knows my address.

I had a feeling I knew who it was in the back of my mind but I could not be sure so I posed on Facebook to test the air, To make sure that Who I am thinking is really the person who sent this book for me for Christmas.

To be continued... ;)
Ellen
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Instagram: @ellenkoala

2016 Reading Goal Completed!

I have reached my goal for reading!!!

In early January,  I made a new year resolution that I am going to read at least 10 books this year in English.

Today, I have finished reading my 10th book!! I feel some accomplishment and a little more confident!

10 books might be not that much but it is quite a big deal for me.

I am actually a bookworm and I used to read I lot of books in Japanese when I was at school and went to the library quite frequently. But I was reading in JAPANESE not English.

My favorite genre were fantasy novels like: Harry Potter, Chronicles of  Narnia, Howls Moving Castle, Deltora Quest, Never Ending Story, Momo, and more!!

As I got older I started to read books from Japanese authors like Ishida Ira, Arikawa Hiromu, Abe Kobo, Dazai Osamu, Murakami Haruki, and many more.

I loved books and I read everything that interested me. I was curious at what the authors wanted to talk about. But everything I read was in JAPANESE not English. Of course I could read English but I did not feel comfortable reading in English. Maybe it was a type of fear and struggle that I have been avoiding for years. In terms of academic English I still did not like reading but I got used to it but I always wanted to read for pleasure!

Few years ago when I lived with Rebecca(my friend from America) for a little while, I started to push myself more to read books in English. I knew that I wanted to read more English books in there original language instead of waiting for it to come out in Japanese. I did not want to put too much pressure on myself so I did not made it big. But now I have finished and completed I am putting it down as a milestone here in my blog.

I have a couple of challenges that I want to complete.

1. Another reading challenge (I am not sure how many books I will set myself.)
2. Read all "Lord of the Rings" books.

For the second challenge, I have been inspired by a good best friend of mine and I have been meaning to read this book for years!!

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
Is there any recommendations?

If you want me to get into authors or particular books, let me know! :)

See you soon!
Ellen
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Instagram: @ellenkoala

Different types of Halloween

Halloween 2016 has been a quiet one for me.
I have been studying most of the day.

On the other hand, the last few halloweens have been different each year.

Most of the years when I was univeristy in Japan I dressed up and went to the halloween event was at the student hall or/and dress up for the halloween IAC(Intercultural Affairs Committee) dancy party as an IAC member.

In Japan Halloween is quite a new thing that the country and society are processing slowly. There have been problems especially in the middle of Tokyo on the Halloween weekend, there are a lot of people walking around in costumes and going to bars and having fun. However, because of the amount of people gathered at one area the traffic stops and the cars can not move at all.

When I was in the UK I had to experience the pumpkin carving and went to a birthday party.
Two of my friends had their birthday on the 31st of October and we celebrated together.
In the UK I also went to a bar which was pop culture themed and it was turned into a halloween event venue. It was quite spooky and I remember half of the time being a little scared of the decorations.

In Australia... I think Halloween is quite a new thing for Australia. The party supply industry loves the promotion and the sales for costumes for children and young adults who participate and enjoys it.
On the other hand there are the older generation where they only see it as an advertising, commercial event for people to spend more money.

I can see both sides of the argument but at the end of the day,  I think if people are enjoying it that is the best thing! For example, I made some ghost biscuits and dressed up as a witch and I enjoyed it.


One day, I would love to experience the true American Halloween in the future.

Ellen    

Felting for the first time!

Late January, I visited my friend's family house in the suburb of Sydney.
It was a really good opportunity to get out there and see different parts of Sydney.

I really enjoyed my stay there with my friend's family.

The family has a Russian background and we talked for a quite a long time about Australia.
I have also learned a little about Russian culture. I wound every thing curious!

Most of all, I have learned about felting.
I knew about felting but I have never had a chance to do felting.

I found it quite difficult because we had to layer and layer wool, and then rub the wool under a net with water and soap. It took a very very long time making felt.
Did you know that when you making it, the wool shrinks 2/3 from the original size?
We were on the table rubbing wool with wet hands for the whole evening.

It was also my friends first time to do felting so it was a challenge for her too.
She made the cat cover for a teapot and I made a mug cover with sheep on it.

It was a very good and new thing that I was able to experience and I am grateful for that.

I will love to experience interesting things like this more often!

Ellen.

Art Between Books

One of my hobby is to cross stitch.

I have been doing it for quite a while and have been working on some small project and big projects.

Recently I have been working on quite a lot of small projects:bookmarks.
I really like making them because it gives me the sense of satisfaction by finishing them.

Earlier this year when I started making book marks I just referred to patterns that are already made.
I had this idea of making my own pattern but I found it quite difficult when I was colouring in and then rubbing out the pencil marks I made in the gridded notebook I bought at the local newsagency.

After sometime of trial and error, I have discovered this software where I can create my own pattern!!
My aunt already had it in my grandfather's computer and since I have access to it, I stated to make my original patterns.

I have made custom designed ones and made similar ones in different colours.
My mother has requested quite a few of them for herself and for presents to her Friends.
I have made themed ones too.

Most of them time I will watch a movie and work on a project while I enjoy movies and television series. I enjoy the process and love to see the face of the person first opening there present.
I also love using something which has been hand made and that there is no exactly seme thing in this whole wide world.

See you soon!
Ellen

Am I smelling smoke?

One Friday morning, I got off the train and smelt something burning.

In Australia bushfires are quite common and I was quite concerned about it.

It is getting close to summer and there are days that are quite cool and days which are hot.

I arrived at Tech and I looked up where the fires is and what the status of the fire.

Have had experienced some major disasters in the past, I get quite conscious of the change of my surroundings.

It turns out that it was quite close but it was controlled and it was safe.
I was glad that it was not major and I am safe and other people were safe.

As my teacher arrived to the class, I asked about the smoke in the air.

She said, "Ah, do not worry, they are doing Prescribed Burning."

"What is that? Is that like burning to kill the bugs?" I asked.
"In Japan they burn the side of the rice paddies to kill the bugs before they start to grow new rice every year." I continued.

The teacher answered. " No, it is to eliminate the spread of bushfires."

That made so much sense because the college is no where near any farms or paddies that I am used to have back in Japan.

Apparently the first nations people, the people who originally owned the lands of Australia had their own way of control burning which surprised me and made me see another interesting side of Australia.

See you soon!
Ellen