Busy Seminar Day, Happy Mail! A Postcrossing Surprise from the Netherlands
Hello my lovely friends! Phew! What a long, busy, but super interesting day it has been! Today! My feet feel a little tired from walking around, but my heart feels full and happy. Why? Because today, I got to be a helper for something very important!
My Super Helper Job!
Today, Kak Mawar was part of a special team. Me and other nice ladies! We were like busy little bees, helping to run a big learning seminar. It was organised by a wonderful group called PUSPANITA JPM.
They are like a club for ladies who work with, or whose family works with, the Prime Minister's Department here in Putrajaya, Malaysia!
Who was the seminar for? It was for about 60 amazing teenagers! These smart boys and girls are getting ready for a super-duper big test soon, maybe next month in November. The test is called SPM, it is like the final boss level of high school here! Very important!
And guess what? My own dear youngest son is also taking the SPM test this year! So, my mommy heart was feeling extra fluttery today, like little butterflies cheering for all the students.
My son studies far away at a boarding school, so I was also taking notes like a super-spy mommy to share with him later! Hehehe.
The seminar was called "Pecutan Akhir", that means like the "Final Sprint" before the big race! It started super early, 7:30 in the morning! And finished when the sun was getting ready for bed, 5:00 in the evening! A long day!
We learned so many cool tips! There was a session for Bahasa Melayu, our national language. The teacher shared secrets on how to get super good marks, like A+!
Wow! There were also sessions for History, learning about old stories! And Math... numbers, numbers, numbers! At the end, the big boss lady of PUSPANITA JPM came to say nice words and close the seminar.
Even though my job was just being a helper, an 'urusetia' making sure everything runs smoothly, like checking names and giving out papers, it was so much fun!
I loved seeing the students listening so carefully. I loved feeling the hopeful energy in the room. Everyone wants these kids to do their very best! It felt good to be a small part of helping them get ready for their future adventures.
My Brain Needed a Little Holiday!
After such a long day of helping and thinking, my brain felt a little bit like a full, busy beehive! Buzz buzz buzz! So, when I got home, I did my secret magic trick. I went to my treasure box! My box of paper holidays! My happy postcards!
And look what I found! A postcard that made me smile extra wide today! It has a cute drawing on it. There is a laptop computer showing a map of the whole wide world! Next to it is a little lamp, a mug (maybe for yummy coffee!), and a spiky cactus plant.
And flying above is an old-style airplane pulling a banner that says "Happy World Postcard Day!" Yay! There is also a blue mailbox with postcards flying into it! It looks like happy mail is traveling all over the world!
Where Did This Happy Mail Come From?
I turned the postcard over. It came all the way from... The Netherlands! That's Holland! The place with windmills and tulips! And guess who sent it? A kind stranger! Someone I don't even know! How cool is that?
How did a stranger from Holland send me a postcard? Through a magical online club called Postcrossing!
What is Postcrossing? A Super Fun Hobby!
Have you heard of Postcrossing? It is like a giant, worldwide game of sending and receiving surprise postcards! It started a long, long time ago. Back in 2005 by a clever person in Portugal. He loved getting real mail, not just emails. So he made a special website:
How does it work? It is simple!
You sign up on the website. It's free!.
You ask for an address. The website magically gives you the address of another Postcrossing member somewhere in the world, maybe near, maybe super far away!
You choose a nice postcard, write a friendly message, put a stamp on swzit, and send it off on its big adventure! Whee! Go, postcard, go!
When your postcard arrives, the person who gets it registers it on the website using a special ID number.
NOW comes the super exciting part! Because you sent a card... your address will be given to another Postcrossing member somewhere else in the world!
And soon... Surprise! You will get a postcard in your mailbox from a place you might never have heard of before! Yay! Happy mail!
Why is Postcrossing So Much Fun?
Oh, so many reasons!
Surprises! Getting real mail (not bills!) is always exciting! You never know what picture or message you will get!
Learning! You get little paper windows into faraway lands! You see pictures of cool places, funny animals, beautiful art!
Making Friends! Even though they are strangers, people write kind messages! "Hello from Germany!" "Greetings from Brazil!" It feels like you have tiny friends all over the planet! It connects people!
Collecting! The postcards are like little treasures you can keep!
Who Loves Postcrossing? (Lots of People!)
Guess what? This fun hobby is SUPER popular! Millions and millions of postcards have traveled all over the world because of Postcrossing! Which countries love sending the most postcards? The Postcrossing website tells us!
The top countries are often places like Germany, Russia, USA, China, and guess what? The Netherlands, where my postcard came from! is usually in the top group too! So many people love sharing little paper smiles!
Connecting Worlds, Big and Small
Thinking about it... my day today was all about connecting people too! The seminar connected the teachers with the students, sharing knowledge to help them reach their dreams. It connected the mommies together, sharing food and support for our children.
That's like gotong-royong for exams! And Postcrossing connects strangers across big oceans, just with a simple postcard and a kind word.
Maybe the world is not so big after all? Maybe helping a student understand Math is a bit like sending a postcard? Both are small actions, but they can make someone's day brighter. They both build little bridges between people.
This postcard from the Netherlands, celebrating World Postcard Day, arrived just at the right time. After a long day of helping others prepare for their big future, this little paper surprise reminded me of the simple joy of connecting with the big, wide world, one small kindness at a time.
Okay, my busy bee brain is finally feeling sleepy now. Zzzz. It was a tiring day, yes. But seeing the students learning, feeling the warmth of the mommy-team, and getting this happy mail surprise... it was a really, really good day too.
Good luck to all the SPM students! You can do it! And happy Postcrossing to all my fellow mail adventurers!
If you'd like to read more gentle thoughts about how different brains learn, you can find my little story about understanding dyslexia here.
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