Kirov is a Russian city of just over a half a million people. It looks like it has about the same climate as Medicine Hat - cold winters, and hot summers. Kirov was previously known as Vyatka but was re-named by the Soviet government to honour a slain Soviet leader in 1934.  The sender is a university student but doesn't say what she is studying.  It's a great card that looks like one of those rough sketches for an animated movie. 

Another expat, only Ian is from rural England and has been in Hong Kong for a quarter of his life. He's a hiker and photographer (here's his website of photos - https://hknature.weebly.com/).   Hong Kong is another densely populated urban centre of 7.5 million people. Skyscraper dominate the landscape of Hong Kong, as well as Victoria Harbour which is bustling with commercial shipping, cruise boats, water taxis, ferries, fishing vessels, and whatever else you can put in the water.  Ian's also used a huge, beautiful stamp that depicts the Storm Riders. I am assuming storm riders are some sort of deity, but can't seem to find anything after a short search. 

It must be insane living in Tokyo  東京  and the Greater Tokyo Area. There are 14 million people in Tokyo, and 37.5 million in the GTA. Canada only had 35 million in the 2016 census! I don't think I could imagine living in such a densely populated city.  Daria, a Russian ex-pat from Siberia, lives in Tokyo (nothing in her bio or on the card to suggest why). She sent me a beautiful drawing entitled "Spring on River Sumida." She also fairly new to Postcrossing as her 'sents' and 'received' only number in the teens. Hopefully she will stick around because she has good taste in postcards.

My first Postcrossing Meetup card from India! I think it is the 15th anniversary of their Postcrossing group. The neat thing about meet up cards is everyone in the meet up signs the card, or they have a personal rubber stamp, or they have a personal sticker they place on the card. Looks like about 20 different people personalized this card. Another thing I think is neat about the card is the 10 rupee stamp. It celebrates "Covid-19 Warriors." This card was sent by Flynn who actually grew up in Oman. She now lives in Thrissur, which is considered the cultural centre of the State of Kerala. Flynn doesn't say what she does for a living, but seems to be a very positive and warm young lady who seems to love life and travel. 

Lyubov works as a architect-urban planner and educator at the Novosibirsk University of Architecture. She has sent me a cute little tourist card. And she has some of the loveliest penmanship I've seen in a while.  Novosibirsk  Новосиби́рск  is the largest city in Siberia and Asia-Russian and is a cultural centre of the region. 

Dasha, who works in musical theatre, chose this card that shows a weekly schedule of a "sweet diet." The card has the days of the week in Russian with a sweet dessert. She says the this would be the best present for a teacher! Yekaterinburg  Екатеринбу́рг  is Russia's third largest city. The name was changed in 1924 to Sverdlovsk, a a hero of the revolution, during Soviet times. It returned to its original name after the fall of the USSR. 

Felice is an experienced Postcrosser having sent out and received more than 6000 cards. She is in Chicago. I think she has sent me one of the coolest cards I've seen in a while - a moose playing the accordion.  She says she has an accordion in her living room and "it is waiting for her to sign up for lessons." Hopefully she listens to the accordion and learns to play it. 

Maddie is 18 and is from just north of Spokane, Washington, and is also a new Postcrosser. I am the 20th card she has sent out. She sent me a photo of Pluto's moon, Charon, taken by New Horizons in 2015. When I was in school back in the 80s, photos of Pluto and Charon were blurry. To see such a high resolution of Charon astounds me.  Charon is one of five moon or natural satellites of Pluto. Charon is the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology. Pluto's other moons are Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra, all characters in Greek mythology.

Jojo is a new Postcrosser and I am her fourth card. She is a high school student and loves to penpal, too. She sent me a cool card of the Grand Canyon. I have never been to the Grand Canyon, but hope to see it one day. 

From Minsk, Belarus, Lera sent me a card of the main post office which has a beautiful stained glass window of the Mir Castle. Its a great postcard that has a rounded corner on an otherwise standard postcard.  Mir Castle  is a historic fortified castle and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mir. It was built in the 16th century. During the Second World War, German forces used the castle as a Jewish ghetto, prior to their murder. 

I love vintage photos of athletes and Raisa from Espoo, Finland, didn't disappoint. She apologized for not sending a lawn bowling card and then said that it is an outdoor sport and there is green grass.... Awesome. The photo is of Elmer Niklander Elmer Niklander (1890-1942) participated in four Olympic Games - 1908, 1912, 1920, and 1924 - for Finland, winning a gold medal, two silvers, and a bronze. In the 1912 games in Stockholm, Niklander won the silver in the men's two handed discus throw, and bronze in the men's two handed shot put (I didn't know these were a thing).  His only gold was in men's discus at the 1920 games in Antwerp, Belgium.  His death in 1942 suggested he was a war casualty. However, he died from stomach cancer. 

Wang from Changsha sent me this great card of stationary - tape measure, pencil, compass, pen, notebook, eraser, and eyeglasses. It looks like she is a university student. She says she is impressed with the fact I teach social studies and physical education. In China, they need to have different certificates from two different faculties to be able to teach both subjects.   

Guzel, who lives in Kazan, sent me a great card. It's all in Russian and there isn't an English translation. I think its an information card about Moscow. Guzel writes that it is -25 Celsius outside. Thank makes sense because he wrote it on 20 February - 60 days ago. The Russian postal service isn't famous for its speed.  Guzel also included a couple of huge stamps on the back.