Why I'm obsessed with Postcrossing

If you don't know what it is, Postcrossing is this online platform where people all around exchange postcards. Basically how it works is (after making an account) you request an address to send to, it gives you a random one, and you send a postcard towards that address. When the recipient gets it, they register the postcard, and then your address gets sent to a random person. Then you wait to get a postcard! The cycle repeats itself however many times you want it.

Anyway, upon joining, I knew that I wanted the postcards to be posted on my dorm room wall. Here is what my collection looked like towards the end of my freshman year, after around two months of being a member–

Haha, yes, that is a globe pillow

Since then, I've accumulated quite a few more, from all around the world! I can't wait to post them in my new room for sophomore year, and to talk about them when people ask where I get them. 

Why I enjoy this so much is because it's a way for me to get to know people from different countries without actually taking the time to travel (because I do have school...). I love receiving mail and I love writing it. It's just really exciting thinking somebody took the time to write a few words to you on a postcard, even if they know nothing about you (besides what you write on your profile) and may never meet you. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm always looking for ways to be involved with the world outside the Harvard bubble, and taking a few moments from time to time to think of somebody else leading a completely different life far, far away is just another way to do so. Postcards are also a way of making people happy, and it's nice to know that a small gesture on my part can accomplish that for someone I don't even know.  

Another convenience of Postcrossing for me is that it has a high number of German members, and I've had to send cards to many addresses in Germany. These are occasions for me to practice my written German, which I really wouldn't be doing much of otherwise. I often get compliments on it written back in German (in the thank you messages that are sent digitally), some along the lines of "Are you German?". (People are too kind.) In fact, the first of my postcards to arrive was one that went to a German girl, and she and I are now exchanging letters as pen pals! It makes me so glad. This means I'll really have to make it a point to spend more time in Germany in the future!

Besides my German, I also get a lot of compliments on my handwriting. Hehe. Can't get enough of those, as I actually obsess over making my handwriting look good. 

Nowadays, I'm always on the lookout for fun and quirky postcards to send people, and am always anxious to receive some in my mailbox and to get a glimpse into the lives of people from places I've never heard of, places I wish to go to, or from places I know well. So glad to have my snail mail fix without nagging people to write me!