I like flying. Particularly flying with Finnair. I take my seat at the window, a pillow and I read through the BlueWings magazine. It’s just so cozy. And the food is good. Minimal sometimes, but good. But the best part about flying is that it takes you to a different place- different weather, foods, people, streets, music, different colors.
Yesterday I flew back to Bucharest where I will be most of the time this year.
This summer holiday in Finland has been a morning breath of fresh air. There were afternoons with good food, brisk bike rides, fabulous new places to discover, cheerful evenings at the beach, invigorating new friends and many great moments.
As I was packing my things, I got over the stack of post cards I have collected this summer. I love post cards! I collect them, and I’ll always buy a cool postcard I see. I love receiving them. I treasure every single one I received! And I get excited with choosing a postcard to send to a friend. I believe post cards are so cool. They make me happy.
I really hope this will make you happy also, because I’ve decided to give a stack of really awesome post cards to one lucky reader. I think of this as an optimistic way of starting the fall. To decide where the post cards will be sent, I’m hosting a contest! The winner will receive a pack of post cards I’ve hand picked over time- from various locations in Europe!
Here are the rules and details for the contest:
#In order to compete you must leave a creative comment about a distinctive moment or experience from this summer (2009). It can be funny or sad or weird or any kind of moment you like to think about when thinking about your summer.
#You must leave your full name and a valid email address so I can contact you if you are the winner.
#One entry per person.
#I would appreciate if the comments were in English, but if you do not feel comfortable with English you may reply in Romanian or Swedish.
#The deadline for entries is Monday, October 12, 2009.
#I’ll be announcing the winner on my birthday- Oct. 14.
***UPDATE: I’m having a 10 hours sketch exam on my birthday, and I’ll be in school for a long long day. I’ll be too tired to post Wednesday night so I’ll be accepting entries until that evening.
Happy fall semester!
Citeste in limba romana.
Ieri am zburat inapoi in Bucuresti, unde voi fi in mare parte in aceasta toamna.
Cand imi faceam bagajul am descoperit teancul de carti postale pe care le-am colectat in aceasta vara. Ador catile postale! Le colectionez, asa ca daca vad una care imi place o cumpar intotdeauna. Imi place sa primesc ilustrate si pretuiesc fiecare ilustrata primita! Si ma bucur sa trimit vederi prietenilor.
Cred ca ilustratele sunt foarte cool. Ma fac fericita.
Sper ca vederile sa te bucure si pe tine, pentru ca m-am decis sa fac cadou cateva carti postale foarte faine unui cititor norocos. Putin optimism de incepere a toamnei. Castigatorul va fi decis printr-un concurs! Castigatorul va primi cateva ilustrate alese de mine din diferite locatii din Europa prin care am umblat, din colectia personala.
Acestea sunt regulile si detaliile competitiei:
#Ca sa participi trebuie sa lasi un comentariu in care sa povestesti un moment din aceasta vara (2009). Poate fi un moment amuzat, trist, ciudat, sau orice moment la care te gandesti cu drag.
#Trebuie sa mentionezi intregul nume si o adresa de e-mail reala unde te pot contacta daca vei fi castigatorul.
#Doar un comentariu de persoana.
#Daca stii engleza lasa cometariul in limba engleza ca si altii sa inteleaga, dar daca te exprimi mai usor in limba romana, poti sa raspunzi in limba romana.
#Vor intra in concurs comentariile trimise pana luni, 12 octombrie 2009.
#Castigatorul va fi desemnat de ziua mea- miercuri, 14 octombrie.
O toamna frumoasa!
Not a contest entry: I just wanted to say that October 14 is my two year anniversary with Alexandra and also her mother’s birthday.
..just sayin’
Comment by Andu — October 4, 2009 @ 8:02 pm
This summer I went on a trip in the Fagaras mountains with a group of friends. We were on our way to the highest peak (MOLODVEANU 2544 m).We were at about 1 km away from our destination and the road was pretty steep and hard to climb. I was holding in front of the group just because I get depressed when I`m behind someone ..and I also had the idea of being the first one to reach the peak.My best friend , who was a little bit behind ..started coming very fast and he passed me ..I thought he wanted to be the ,,first one,, but on the way …he told me he wanted us two , to step on the peak together ..and so we did ….Having friends…simply wonderful
Comment by Andrei Pop — October 4, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land. And the little moments, humble though they be, make the mighty ages of eternity…
I never read this kind of rhymes. They just aren’t my pigeon. But that summer changed my way of seeing things. Yeah. It was The Summer. The Summer of 99. I’m thrilled. It’s been ten years since I met B., an adventurer from Rotterdam who travelled all over the world to capture precious little moments into his dear heart… he’s gone, but these rhymes he so much loved are still echoing in my ear. They’ve been somehow my take alongs. Especially of this summer.
Your lines challenging to write awaken uncountable little moments of this summer. A beautifully colored mix in violet and ivory, light-apricot and deep amber, cherry blossom pink or deep fuchsia, chocolate, cornflower blue, silky champagne… it’s been sometimes the desert sand, some other time the relaxing lime green or the ferrari red energy, it’s been the golden yellow meadow, the hot magenta sun, the lavender blue fields, the pumpkin sunsets on the hills behing our house… oh, that sweet sundown while playing hide-and-seek with adi and the kids in the poppy-stained-cornfields… it’s like a precious pearl in my memories. Or the talking through the night in the moonlight… or the soaking into our “Lesson One” summer song from the Jars-of-Clay-guys… I love little moments like these. They make me rich. They make me aware. Aware of the fact that the world consists solely of moments like these… Little drops of water, little grains of sand… Thank-you, B.! I can’t wait to hug you when I get to our out-of-time-home!
Comment by Adina Muntean — October 9, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
funny,sad,weird,….mmmm…i choose sad…i’m sad and confuse now, and i can only think about sad moments…i was busy all the summer: exams, weddings, internship in istanbul, another exam i didn’t pass before, working at our new house and trying to put things together, family reunion, the neverending falling in love with wrong guys….but after all the saddest moment was when Andreea left Romania and went to Madrid and i realised we didn’t have time to spend together before we were set apart again by our own lives… days are too short. why does a day have only 24 hours? we are grown ups trying to make our way through life. i miss the moments when we were in high school and we were together all the time…our lives are now separate….how many times will they come together again? i think to myself that sometimes in not so good to be a grown-up….i’m so angry about my incapacity of organizing my time better and use those 24 hours we have in the most proper way….SAD….i’m sorry Andreea
but we still have one thing that keeps us close to each other: letters….
Comment by Paula — October 12, 2009 @ 7:53 pm
Am sa scriu in romana pentru ca scriu despre ceva drag si doar asa pot fi mai aproape de ceea ce simt… Am sa scriu despre scurta vizita in tara pentru maratonul din Piatra Craiului…
Am iesit de la aeroport si niciodata ambuteiajul de la Baneasa nu mi-a fost mai simpatic…
Am fost la policlinica pentru un control de rutina si niciodata peretii scorojiti si scursi nu mi s-au infatisat intr-o imagine mai pitoreasca…
Niciodata drumul spre Brasov, drumul de 3 ore cu IC-ul pe cei 100 si ceva de kilometrii, nu mi s-a parut mai plin de emotie si de nerabdare, mai plin de vise si de inchipuiri…
Niciodata autobuzul prafuit de Zarnesti, cu scaunele imbracate in vinilin unsuros, aramiu, nu mi-a parut mai familiar…
Niciodata vorba oamenilor din jur nu mi-a fost mai aproape si niciodata cartelile lor efervescente nu mi-au parut mai dragi…
Niciodata zambetele si incruntarile, ochii plansi, privirile vesele sau cearcanele obosite din jur, nu mi-au umplut mai tare sufletul…
Ploaia pe munte nu mi-a parut niciodata mai calda si mai invioaratoare, iar oboseala de la sfarsitul zilei, niciodata mai intaritoare…
Bucuria celor din jur era atat de “acasa”…
Piatra Craiului nu a fost niciodata mai frumoasa in soare ca in dimineata rece, amara de octombrie cand am vazut-o iar din avion…
Comment by Ruxandra — October 12, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
Too many unique moments in the summer of 2009.
Still, I’ll pick the most unusual one.
When? July something.
Where? Bratei, Romania (somewhere next to Arad) , summer camp
What? Mud games.
Why? Because life is about taking chances.
Cloudy Thurday afternoon. They said there are gonna be mud games and everyone who wants to get involved, should be on the field at 5:00 pm. And we should have considered to take some clothes we don’t really want to wear anymore.
Me? tired, wearing my eye contacts. I actually have had some knee injuries from beach volleyball, few days before. I was barely even walking, but I thought: why not? something new, something fun.
so there I was prepared for the mud games. The fist thing we had to do was to to find rocks in a hole full of mud mixed with cow’s ****. imagine the delicate smell!!(it stayed 30 minutes under the shower after that and the smell was still there, all over my body).
The second thing we had to do (one of each team) was to go in the hole and get as dirty as possible. After, other teams would try to throw wather ballons in that person. The dirtiest one (after the ballon fight) was supposed to win the contest. I was picked to represent my team. I jumped in the so beautiful smeling hole and wrapped myself in mud , like a satisfied pig after lunch, just wanting to play and get dirty.
(I won the 2nd place)
(ah, and then I had to go in the cold river to get the mud off my clothes)
The picture with me wrapped in mud is my host family’s favorite one.
Comment by Ioana Istrate — October 13, 2009 @ 12:03 am
that would be a really nice postcard that i would choose for my collection, with you, Ioana, covered in mud :)
niceee
Comment by Paula — October 14, 2009 @ 7:20 pm