Golden poop

My Korean friend has been to Toilet Museum. It is in the toilet-shaped house - Mr. Toilet House (Haewoojae) in Suwon City. Mr. Toilet House has the meaning of a house to relieve worries. It was built by Sim Jae-duck, also known as Mr. Toilet, who lived the life in full and passionate devotion to develop the toilet culture movement. This movement bagan in Suwon in the late 90's and spread out to Korea and overseas as one of the improvement movement of mankind. The purpose of it was to change dirty public toilets into beautiful and clean ones before the 2002 FIFA World Cup games. It gave birth to World Toilet Association (WTA) which purpose is to improve the health and sanitation of the world by building and improving public toilets in developing countries.

Obviously inside the Mr. Toilet House the visitors can see all kinds of toilets and learn toilet history. You can find more information about museum and photos of the toilets here

Isn't it amazing what you can find out through penpalling? :D

 Aaaand I got the golden poop XD

A postcard from... Fukuoka, Japan

This pretty picture is the summer in Fukuoka but according to the sweet sender, winter there is lovely too. I find this postcard very peaceful and wish I could see this place in any season.

According to wikipedia, Fukuoka is the 7th largest city in Japan. It is located in the Kiushu island and it's the closest city to China and Korea. Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting... I guess the postcard shows that well:)

Been there, done that, ate this and that... Rome, Italy

The winter is depressing and I am dreaming about vacations already... but for now I can only recall the last ones, that I had in the end of October/beginning of November and which I spent in the beautiful and tasty Rome <3

 

Heheh, I was always wondering what's behind the leaf ;P

 

Om nom nom... :9

 

And my favourite pic which I had to take in rush because my friend was in panic due to birds in the sky... ekhm and it turned out she had right :P

I loved the fact that every here and there are parts of ruins and the monuments. I loved that the whole city smells with delicious Italian food. I was amazed with Italians talent to park cars so close to each other that it seemed impossible... I was in Italy before so I did see it before but this time I had ocasion to observe how they actually squeeze in this tiny space between other cars! Okay, I'll add that too... hearing all the compliments from strangers - policemen, soldiers, waiters, random guys in the streets was a nice change too:P I loved the atmosphere of Rome, gelatos, pizza and good wine. Oh, I miss it.

A postcard from... Mexico

When I think of Mexico, I think of colors...

The first letter I wrote in my life!

My mum was cleaning her room today and she has found the first letter that I have ever written! What a surprise!!! And how excited I am about it :D I sent it from school trip when I was 9 years old (in 3rd grade) to my parents. It contains only one ortographic mistake (that is a reason to be proud of!;))

The letter sais:

Dear Parents!

We arrived to 'Fir Mansion' happily.

When I went into the room with Natalka and Magda we got a fright because the wall was scribbled and there were captions in the wardrobe. Still the same day we went for a trip and we saw how iron is being made. Me and the girls from my room didn't sleep the first night. Later we fell asleep.

The next day fifth, fourth and third grade went to the Holy Cross Hill and second and first ones to the swimming pool. I am doing well here. It's fun. Near the resort there even is a playground.

P.S. You could come here.

Yours Agnieszka

A postcard from... Montreal, Canada

I think this was the first postcard that I got this year. It was sent to me by Crystal from The House of Hearts (click to check her blog;)). It shows Canadian Ecowatch Center that is located on an island off the island of Montreal. Inside are the gardens of different parts of the world and according to Crystal the place is magical and I believe her:)

Have a sweet day!

Is is the last thursday before the Lent which means we celebrate today Fat Thursday!

 [source]

The tradition of Fat Thursday is very old, even older than the donuts themselves! In the Middle Ages, when they were not yet known in Poland, people were eating pork fat, bacon and fat meats and drinking heavily. The tradition of eating donuts started in XVI century. The supersticion sais that who doesn't eat a donut on Fat Thursday will have bad luck.

In average each Pole eats 2,5 donuts and in total the Polish eat 100 million of donuts that day. An average donut has 200 kcal.

Have a sweet day!:)

Not a great offer but...

I have been making order in my little home library because I got a new bookshelf and found this book that I must have bought some 10 years ago. I'm not really into chick lit so I don't think I'll ever come back to it and I thought that maybe someone would like to get it? It's not really in a good state to tell the truth, the spine is bent and I must have poured some water on the last pages although it's not stained or dirty. You can appraise it's looks in the photos.

What is the book about - the description from the cover:

Amy's life is not working out the way she always dreamed it would. She's about to turn the dreaded three-o, her career is going nowhere fast and her love is not exactly flourishing. To make matters worse, while things are falling apart for Amy, they seem to be coming together for everyone else in her life...

Visiting her friend Jodie, Amy finds that she and Jack, the man she once thought she might marry, have spent the night together. Her younger sister Suzi has just arrived home with her 'Golden Delicious' Australian fiance in tow and announced their May wedding. And now Amy discovers that her best friend Beth is also planning on tying the knot, and Amy is asked to be bridesmaid. With a sinking heart, she remembers that old saying: always the bridesmaid, never the bride...

Surely it can't be true?

I know it's not a great offer but if someone will be eager to have it I'll gladly send it away. Just let me know. It's in English of course:)

Sent to Bree

Valentine envelopes

A letter in a little notebook

Some time ago I bought these little notebooks. I thought they'll be perfect for letters.

 

Inside they're simple, just checkered but I decorated it with stickers and deco tapes, added some text :P

And ta-dam - letter is ready:)

Good idea if someone is lacking stationery;)

Got that swing

Some time ago I suggested that the crafty Bubbles could make swing theme card. I screamed

when she made it but didn't really think I will be the one to get the card since I was the one who suggested the theme and I am the one who has swing in the 'name'=) It would be too much of a coincidence but coincidences happen in life and I won:D Yay! So I now got that swing to hang in my room;)

Thank you Bubbles:D

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing

doo-ah doo-ah doo-ah... ^^

Monday -.-

A Charming Mass Suicide by Arto Paasilinna

After starting my adventure with Finnish literature with Moomins book, I reached for another Finnish author Arto Paasilinna. I got this book from book exchange otherwise I probably wouldn't bump into it. The title intrigued me:) Although it sounds scary, the book is truely positive. It starts when two men decide to commit suicide and they choose the same place and time for it. When they meet there, they decide to postpone the suicide and moreover they come to an idea that there must be much more people with the same intention in Finland. They send an advertisement to the newspaper and gather a group of desperates who want to finish their life and they set off by bus in a journey through Europe to look for the perfect place to commit mass suicide. The story is a bit predictable but it 'radiates' with positive emotions and it contains considerable dose of black humour:)

The Insurgent Post

I was looking through old photos and found some from my visit in the Warsaw Uprising Museum some 2 years ago. Among them are photos of the letters that people were sending during the Uprising and I thought it might be an interesting topic for mail lovers. Sorry, the photos are not of best quality.

"On 1 August 1944, the Warsaw Uprising was launched that lasted for 63 days involving the civil population, including women and children. Upon its failure, the residents were driven outside the city or placed in camps and the city was razed to the ground. The losses of the civilian population as well as Polish culture were formidable: burnt libraries and museum collections, temples and palaces. Nearly 200 thousand Warsaw residents perished and 84% of the buildings were destroyed". [source]

As soon as the fights started people organized the Scout Field Post (I hope I translated the name well) that was functioning within the limits of Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising. The post was run by volunteers and sending letters was free of charge (although people were willingly "paying" with books, bandages and food for people in hospitals). It produced it's own stamps in 5 different colors for each of 5 districts. The post boxes with the sign "The Insurgent Post" were located in 40 points of the city. The letters were delivered by scout boys and girls. They could contain up to 25 words and were cenzored (there could be no military information in them). Daily were sent from 3 to 6 thousand letters. During the 63 days of the Uprising 200 thousand letters were delivered. It was one of the biggest organisational phenomenas during the Warsaw Uprising, functioning in extreme circumstances.

In those letter people were writing mostly about their situation, if they are alright and asking for health of their relatives and saying that they're missing them.

If you ever visit Warsaw don't miss the Warsaw Uprising Museum:) It's organised in a very interesting way, even for those that are not particularly interested in history.