Hey! I was on a holiday in eastern Finland for 5 days, that's why I haven't updated my blog in a while. We stayed near to the Koli National Park, which is one of the 35 national parks in Finland. We visited the highest point (347 meters) and it was really beautiful. We also visited Joensuu (which is a city near to the border of Russia) and a Kaj Stenvall art gallery in a town called Juuka. You know, I really didn't like Kaj Stenvall's art before I started Postcrossing, but now I love his style!

But here comes the best moment of my holiday: I visited a festival called Ilosaarirock and saw my favorite band Bad Religion! gosh it was amazing. I was in the 2nd row so just guess how crazy it was when everybody just screamed and jumped. I lost my voice and every single muscle of my body hurt next morning (and still!!!) but it was totally worth it!

I sent postcards from Koli to my 10 Postcrossing friends, if you think you weren't on the list and would like to get a card (I still have some), just ask :)

Here you can see the direct swaps and tag cards I got during the 5 days:

^ from Tampere, Finland

^ from Santa Monica, California, USA

^ from Tyumen, Russia

^ from Novomoskovsk, Russia

Strawberries!

Must have known I forgot something! Another delicious card from Asta... I guess we all love strawberries?! ;D And 'kesä' means summer, in case you were wondering.

Chocolate!

This is one of the cutest cards I've got... I mean 'cute' in its own way ;) Totally makes me want to bake some chocolate cake. Yummy! Thanks Asta!

Damaged cards

Today I got 4 cards: 3 from Finland and 1 from Taiwan. The one from Taiwan was in perfect condition, but these three Finnish cards were damaged. WTF?!?? Our postal service has done lots of these lately. There are all kinds of white scratches and other damages. You can't see them so clearly in first 2 cards (my scanner hides them pretty well), but just look at the third card.

From this moment I will have to ask Finnish postcrossers to send their cards in envelopes, and I will also do that same myself. I don't want my sent cards to arrive in this condition. :(

Isn't it funny that cards from 8000 kilometers away arrive in perfect condition, but cards from your homeland are always damaged?

Official cards

This one is from Netherlands. I've always adored these aerial views of islands, and finally got one! This island is called Aruba and it's located in the southern Caribbean Sea, near to Venezuela. It's 33 kilometers (21 miles) long. Even though this island is located far from Netherlands, it's one of the three countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It became autonomous from Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

The card was sent from the middle of Netherlands, not from Aruba, but it's still awesome! So unusual to me. :) Thanks Paul!

My first Kaj Stenvall card, and from Finland, of course! Before Postcrossing I really didn't like his art, but thanks to this hobby I've seen more paintings and started to like them. I even added it to my postcard wishlist :) Thanks Raisa-Hannele!

Pori, Finland

I got these 2 cards a while ago, but forgot to upload them. I got them from my Kesäkorttikaveri, which means something like 'Postcard friend for summer'. It's a thing we Finns started on Postcrossing forum. The main idea was to choose somebody and swap cards with her/him during this summer :)

In the 2nd card the text "Hiukan liikaa on juuri sopivasti minulle" means "Slightly too much is just enough for me". xD Thanks Asta!

Ewan McGregor

A thank you card from Milla & Kati :) Thanks soooooo much, I love this. n_n

Random Act of Smileness

My 2nd RAS card: I told I really like Japanese landscapes but I hadn't got any postcards from Japan yet, so a fellow Finnish postcrosser send me this! I just don't know what happened to cause those major damages. It's funny that postcards from abroad arrive in better condition than cards sent from Finland! I really wouldn't like to ask to send cards in envelopes, but Finnish postal service isn't supporting me. :( But thanks Kati, this is a really beautiful landscape!

Random Act of Smileness

My first RAS (Random Act of Smileness) postcard :) I love these Mole cards (in Finnish: Myyrä), thanks so much Jonna!

Harry Potter / Hufflepuff

Yay, another Harry Potter card! Thanks Suvi!

Nummela, Finland

Beautiful summer view. Thanks Anu!

Digimon!

I've always loved Pokémon, but when I was younger I also liked Digimon. This is very nostalgic, thanks Raili!

Pori, Finland

I told I like Formula 1 and that's what I got xD Love this, thanks Asta!

Helsinki, Finland

Nice aerial view of Helsinki. Thanks Jaana!

Linnanmäki, Helsinki, Finland

This is a thank you card which shows one of Finland's amusement parks, Linnanmäki. I love amusement parks! Thanks Heidi!

Kuopio, Finland

My friend sent this from his hometown, Kuopio. Thanks Hannu!