Letter #271 from Canada

Letter #271 comes from Melissa in Southern Alberta,Canada.She loves to travel and sometimes has to travel for her job.She really enjoys travelling by car since it's a slower journey where you can actually absorb and enjoy the beauty around you as opposed to flying to another destination.Isn't there some saying like it's not the destination,but the journey that counts,so I would agree.It's always fun driving on the roads and enjoying the landscape of new places you have never seen before.

Melissa works for a steel company as a material analyst/warehouse supervisor,where they manufacture pipes for the oil and gas industry.She was originally training to be a professional artist at an art school,then trained as an emergency medical responder.She then worked at her current employment as a medic,which then led to her getting the current position she is at now,so you just never know where life will take you.

She has lived in Northern Canada for six years now.She lived in the Yukon Territory at Watson Lake then at Dawson City,Yukon.In Dawson,she worked at a saw mill,elementary school,a casino and as a dog mushers assistant for four years.As a dog mushers assistant she had to cook dog food and train 36 sled dogs to take travelers out on the trail for a sled dog ride.She told us that we could google Fishwheel Chartered Services to find out more about dog sled rides.

This will come as a shock to many people,but she says she does not have a computer in her house.She says that she already has to spend 8 hours a day on the computer for work,so she rather spend her time at home reading a good book or handwriting letters,etc.She says that if she had a computer in her home,she fears that she would spend more time on it,which would take her away from the things she loves to do,plus she is close to her job,so her computer isn't very far away. :) She also told us that her preferred method of transportation to her job is on her 1974 Kawasaki Motorcycle since getting her motorcycle license just last year.

Thanks Melissa for your lovely letter and postcards,which can be seen below:

Letter #261 from Canada

Letter #261 comes from Shaylin in Canada.Her mother wrote us the previous letter and Shaylin was interested in writing and becoming penpals with my youngest daughter,Semeeah.Shaylin has one brother and will be going into 8th grade next September.She enjoys playing the piano,playing soccer and dancing.

She said that while we were having a heat wave,they were getting cold weather.She also shared some facts with us about Canada:

* There are 10 provinces and 3 territories
*It's the 2nd largest country in the world
*It's very cold! :)
*There are lots of beaches,forests and mountains.

Along with Shaylin's lovely letter,she sent us a beautiful postcard and said that you can see in the background of the postcard where they live,on the side of the mountain.

Thanks Shaylin for your lovely letter and postcard,which can be seen below.Semeeah will be writing back to you soon!

Letter #260 from Canada

Letter #260 comes from Susan in Canada.She lives in North Vancouver with her daughter (her letter will be posted next),son and her husband.Susan works from home as an editor,researcher and writer.They have three cats named Little Bit,Jamie (also known as Mr. Trouble) and Dottie.

In her spare time she enjoys all kinds of crafts,reading,walking,gardening and spending time with her family.She also said that she likes to do anything with mail...who doesn't?

She told us that North Vancouver is just across the Lions Gate Bridge from Vancouver,on the North Shore Mountains.They live 680 feet up one of the mountains,so steep hills are a part of their everyday lives....steep hills really scare me and I don't know how they deal with snow on the mountains...scary!They have a forest in their backyard and get a variety of wildlife visiting quite often,with the most offensive visitor being the skunks,then there are raccoons,coyotes and even black bears!She says that they don't live in the country,yet there was a cougar in their neighborhood.From her deck,she can watch a bear roll around on the lawn and also see the view of massive skyscrapers downtown.When her kids were in school,the teachers had to check out the playgrounds to make sure there weren't bears out to attack the kids.I don't think I would ever play outside if I thought there were bears.

Vancouver is a beautiful city and she says you can literally go sailing and skiing on the same day!There are forests,beaches,farmlands and all the things that come with a big,multicultural city.But it's also a rainy city,and not very snowy where people live.She says that they don't get as much snow as the rest of Canada does,so that's a good thing.

Susan is originally from the San Francisco area and says that life in Canada is very similar to life in the states.She says they get books,tv and music from the US and Britain,so they get a variety of choice.She also said that the stereotype that Canadians are very polite is absolutely true!

Thanks Susan for your lovely letter and postcards (we love olympic mascots),which can be seen below:

Letter #256 from Canada

Letter #256 comes from Carrie in Canada....say that fast five times. :) Carrie describes herself as a champion procrastinator,even though she has managed to get two university degrees and a college diploma by age 37.She gets things done,but it just takes her a little longer.

She even said that she was a little worried about how she would represent her country or city.She has lived in Edmonton,Banff,Calgary,Montreal, and currently lives in one of my favorite places I want to visit,Vancouver.She has a graduate degree in library and information studies,so she is an arccivist and librarian.She takes care of historically important documents,but with the current state of the economy,her job hasn't been a permanent one as of yet.

Carrie told us that it was because of the love for her sister that she moved to Vancouver and wanted us to know that life doesn't always turn out how you hope or plan,so basically always make room for the unexpected to happen in life.I'm so glad to hear that she made the decision to be with her sister to take care of her in her time of need and think that she sets a good example of how families should act.She says that her sister is getting better,I'm sure with time she will heal more and more.

Carrie has been with her partner for eleven years now and doesn't plan to get married since she's not one for traditions.She also told us that she has many tattoos,used to shave her head and dyes her hair various punk colors,with blue being her favorite.She currently has long dreadlocks and says the plus to that is not having to brush your hair,so I guess wind is not her enemy. :)

So to sum up Carrie,she has moved around a lot,sometimes writes reviews for money,edits and proofreads for money,watches a lot of tv,reads a lot of books (her favorite writer right now is Amelie Nothomb),watches a lot of movies,prefers walking to any other form of transportation,listens to a lot of music,writes letters,makes cards and bookmarks (and is thinking about selling them).Whew,that was a lot,but that is what she listed for us to know about her,yet she feels like even all those descriptions doesn't really tell us who she is.I hope Carrie is happy with this posting and how she comes across here.

Along with Carrie's lovely letter,she included some postcards,stickers,ticket stub,and their business cards,which can be seen below:

Letter #183 from Canada

Letter #183 comes from Jane in Canada.She lives in a small town in Northern Ontario,called Kapuskasing,which comes from the Cree Indian language,which means "bend in the river". The town was founded in 1911 and they will be having special celebrations this summer for their 90th anniversary.

The land in her area is flat with lots of trees,mostly black spruce trees,along with several lakes.The winters are long and cold,with January and Febraury being the coldest months,with temperatures around -40°F! I had to look twice to make sure that was right because that is cold!I remember a few winters ago the wind chill in Michigan was -32°F and it was terrible,your eyelashes would freeze and even the tears in your eyes would freeze.....it was absolutely terrible!She has noticed a change though during the past winter,with no wind chills and more clear and sunny days.

She says they are now starting to see signs of spring,green grass,buds about to come out on trees.Their summers are quite pleasant with temperatures in the 70°-80° F range,with the occasional 90° temps,but very rarely.She says that her town is beautiful in the summer months.Many people fill their yards with flowers and keep their lawns green and beautiful.

Jane has seen many ravens this past winter season and didn't realize just how big they were and thinks they are so beautiful!Many different animals can be found in her area,including black bears,foxes and moose

In the early days of her town,lumberjacking was big business.There is currently a large paper mill there which produces pulp for newsprint.Since 1928,The New York Times  has been printed on the paper produced there.The lumber business has decreased dramatically and the work force at the mill is much smaller.

She says that like most small towns everywhere,her city has lost businesses and population.At one time, there were 13,000 people in her city,now they have 7,500.Another one of their major employers in her town also announced that they will be shutting the business down in 2013.It's so sad to see so many businesses close and people lose their jobs.

Jane says that most people in her area speak French as their first language,but most are bilingual.When they realize you don't speak French,then they start speaking English.

She also noted that General Motors Canada has their cold weather development center there to test their vehicles in cold weather conditions.She says they have a race track where they drive on and that they also drive the cars on the highways to see how they work under normal conditions.We had the same thing in Michigan.

During the summer,they have an annual event called the Lumberjack Festival,celebrating the early days of the area.There are demonstrations and competitions involving lumberjack tasks.For example,there are contests for sawing logs with chainsaws and also with hand saws...it reminds me of the show called "Frontier House" where they had the same type of competition. :)

Jane and her husband live two hours from the next largest city and ten hours away from Toronto.They have both lived in the area for one year now.Jane grew up in South Dakota.They moved there for her husband's job.

She also says that the money looks different than US money,but is otherwise the same.There are no $1 bills,but a $1 coin called a "loonie" since there is a loon bird on it.There is also a $2 coin called a "toonie".The downside about living in Canada is that there is a 15% tax on everything,even postage stamps.She also said that if she orders something from the US,she has to pay the 15% tax upon delivery.Some packages are even opened and taped back shut by customs.

She says that it isn't really different living there,items in the stores are labled in both English and French,as well as most signs and ads.The people there are very friendly and proud to be Canadians.She also said that they eat their fries with gravy (I recall the letter from Terri in Oklahoma sharing a picture of it),but Jane still loves her fries and ketchup. :) They also put spaghetti sauce and mozzerella cheese over their fries,but she has not tried those yet,either.

Thanks so much Jane for your lovely letter and postcards,which can be seen below:

Letter #121 from Canada

Letter #121 comes from Elaine in Canada.Unfortunately the package arrived open with no letter inside,so I'm not sure if there was a letter enclosed or not,but she did send us a lovely book!After perusing the book,my daughter realized that the person who sent the book was also one of the authors of the book.How amazing is that?!It's our first author to participate in our project.Her wonderful book is titled "The Hippo and the Unicorn: A Rainbow of Words",which happens to be a series of letters between an earthy hippopotamus named Hroshi and an ethereal unicorn named Evangeline.So,it's a cute story about our favorite thing,penpal letters.I wish I would have had a book like this when I was a kid.

Here is the Pre-story that is found inside the book:

"Would you write to me?"
Imaginary or imaginative?You decide.
It all began with a phone call,late one starry night,between two friends...
"Evangeline,dear,would you be interested in corresponding with me?",asked Hrsohi the hippo.
On the other end of the telephone,in a cozy abode in Cochrane,came an immediate affirmative response from Evangeline the unicorn.
Thus,dear reader,"The Hippo and the Unicorn:A Rainbow of Words" was brought into being.
Soon both correspondents were inscribing their thoughts and dreams onto writing paper,tucking the letters into multi-hued envelopes,addressing them and licking them shut,and trundling off to the post office to mail them.
Now that their first letter-anthology has been compiled,Hroshi and Evangline invite you to lift the flap of each envelope to see what lies inside.May your hearts be colored by their rainbow of words.
"It's something Ive always dreamed of."

This is definitely a great book and should be in all schools.It's an easy book for kids to read and looks so fun to read.It really brings the fun of letter writing back to kids who may not even know what the word penpal even means in these days of texting and facebook.This is the type of book I would be thrilled seeing my child bring home from school or the library,since it's a nice change from most of the books available for kids these days that pressures them to grow up or all this vampire craze.This book makes you remember the fun of being a kid and having a special friendship with a deep connection, through the art of letter writing.It's the type of book that your child can read alone,but I also think it's the type of book that is best to be shared and read outloud with a loved one by your side.I would definitely recommend this book.The publisher of the book is iuniverse,so I believe you can maybe buy the book through their website, iuniverse.This will be a special book that I will read outloud with my youngest daughter and I'm sure it will provoke a lot of conversations about writing and friendships.I hope the next books in the series will come out soon because I just know we will have to have those,too. :) Please enjoy her book below and thanks so much Elaine for sending us this great book!

Letter #117 from Canada

Letter #117 comes from David in Canada.He grew up in Chester,Nova Scotia,but moved to New Brunswick a litle over a year ago.He says that Chester is located on the ocean in an area of Nova Scotia called the South Shore.It is situated on a body of water called Mahone Bay.The South Shore is known for their many small coastal towns.

Mahone Bay is said to have 365 island,one for every day of the year.That's pretty cool!That makes it an excellent area for sailing.Chester has lots of summer residents that come every year for the sailing.

He says that New Brunswick was actually part of Nova Scotia until 1784 when it became its own province.New Brunswick is Canada's only bilingual province,with both French and English as official languages.Fredericton is the capital of New Brunswick,but is only the third largest city.

David has said that he is working on improviong his handwriting,so sending a letter also helped him practice his penmanship.Your letter was very easy for us to read,so thanks for writing to us.He also enclosed a photo of a covered bridge and a bilingual stop sign.Thanks again for the letter and photo,which can be seen below:

Letter #80 from Canada

Letter #80 comes from Robert in Canada.He lives in a small town called Timmins,Ontario.He started off by telling us the good things about his city:
•It's easy to get around by car,he can get from one end of the town to the next in 25 minutes
•There are no long lines at the stores
•Not much traffic
•It's surrounded by nature and is a fairly safe city

Now on to the negatives of his city:
•Not much to do,limites restaurants and no galleries or museums
•You always run into people you know,which can be both positive and negative
•The weather is awful!Cold winters with lots of snow,so it's very depressing!

He lives with the same belief that we do,just make the best of it until something better comes along.Robert says he's a busy guy and is always on the go.He spends his weekends on postcrossing and doing mail art.He also likes to meet his friends at the coffee shop.His new hobby of mail art keeps him busy,as does his blog.

Robert also likes video games and old movies.He doesn't like the more recent movies that Hollywood puts out.He also likes nature and the outdoors.He says he can't wait till summer so he can hit the beach and start hiking and running.He loves running so much that he signed up for a 5k obstacle race in July (good luck on your race),he says he didn't realize how intense the race would be and he's a little nervous,but I'm sure he'll do just fine!As he says in his letter,he is on a "runners high" so take it as far as you can!He has ran 5k's,10k's and half marathons.He likes the half marathons the most.He hopes to run a full marathon one day,but it's hard for him to stay focused on a training plan....I say if you want something bad enough,you gotta work hard at it and sacrifice everything for it,give it your all and you can be successful at anything if you try hard enough.

Robert has also enclosed some wonderful postcards along with his letter,which you can see below:

Letter #77 from Canada

Letter #77 comes from Kelly in Canada.She lives in Camrose,a city of about 1,700 people and is located about an hour southeast of Edmonton,which is their provincial capital.She often goes to Edmonton to shop,go to concerts and attend sporting events.Her brother and her like to see the Edmonton Oilers hockey games.She has also been to a lot of concerts,seeing groups like Brooks and Dunn,ZZ Top and more.She really loves the music that came out before the 1980's.She says that if the singers aren't old enough to be her parents,then she doesn't listen to them because she doesn't like the more current music.

Kelly also plays the flute in the Camrose District Community Band.They are a group of non-professional musicians who play concerts for the public at different times throughout the year.When she wrote the letter,she was preparing to play at their annual formal concert at the university,which is where they get the best audience.Their members range in age 18-80.She says they had a person who was 91 that played the clarinet,but had to stop when he became ill.

Kelly loves to watch tv and read books.She says she will pretty much read anything,but her favorite genre is mysteries and non-fiction.She also loves reading about history.Lately she has been reading about the American Civil War.

During the summer she loves to go on road trips,it doesn't matter if it's only for a few days,she just loves to get away.She has taken us a on a little "tour" of Alberta.She first tells is about Banff and Jasper National Parks.Driving through the Canadian Rockies on the Icefields Parkway between the towns of Jasper and Banff has one of the best tours she says we can take.She says you can take a special bus that will take you right up to the glacier.There are also several lakes and waterfalls that you can also see.Both Jasper and Banff have a tram that will take you up a mountain for fantastic views.They also have great resorts for people who like to ski.

If you visit the town of Drumheller,you'll find lots of dinosaur and other fossils that have been discovered.The Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology is located there.There are some awesom dinosaur skeletons,dioramas and fossil displays there to see.There are even dinosaur statues throughout the city.You can even go inside the dinosaur statue at the Drumheller tourist information center and walk up to the viewing platform,which is in the dinosaur's mouth.

Kelly says that for some reason Alberta has a lot of towns that have interesting statues or some type of roadside attractions.Last summer she went on a little tour of southeastern Alberta to try to see as many of them as she could and she shared some of the pictures of them with us in her letter.She even bought a stuffed Ernie to that goes on family trips and is photographed everywhere he goes.She says that Ernie is quite busy.He's even going to Hawaii!

She also said that if you go to Canada,you have to stop at Tim Horton's (we had one on our city in Michigan,but not down here in VA).She also noted that the area northeast of Camrose was settled by lots of Ukranian immigrants,so you can see some statues that represent their presence in the area.She has also taken a picture with a goose statue in the town of Hanna,where she says the band Nickelback is from.

Kelly also tells us that Camrose is known for the Big Valley Jamboree,a three day outdoor country music festival.It has been going on fr 18 years now.There have been many country stars that have performed there over the years,such as Keith Urban,Brooks and Dunn,Randy Travis and many more.Also,in Edmonton,you can visit the West Edmonton Mall,she enclosed a directory to the mall and I must say there were a lot of great stores there that made me want to take a trip there.I wish we were back in Michigan so we would be a lot closer.There is even an amusement park and waterpark in the mall!How cool is that!?She says she is going to play tourist in Edmonton this year.She said something I really agree with,which is that we often look for places to visit outside our city or nearby areas and we miss out on some great things that are basically in our own backyard.I know there were many places we wished we would have visited while in Michigan,but we would go to Ohio or visit Chicago so we could see another state.Now I wish we would have spent more time exploring Michigan because they have a lot of great things to see.

Kelly enjoys plants and works in a flower shop.She would like to visit the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton,which has four huge glass pyramid-shaped greenhouses that each feature different types of plant displays.

Along with Kelly's lovely letter,which she also wrote on a cute paralymic games card (we love cute olympic characters),she also enclosed a couple of brochures and some postcards and even a picture of the Olympic torch that went down main street in Camrose during the cross Canada torch relay.Thanks Kelly for the lovely letter and goodies.Enjoy all of her goodies below:

Letter #52 from Canada

Letter #52 comes from Ashley who sent us a really fun letter.He wanted us to do the work to figure out where he's from,so I will let you figure it out,too.If you think you know the where he's located you can put your answer in the comments so we can see who gets it correct.

Here is what he tells us about his city.His first clue was that his city is called the "Festival City" due to all the festivals they host during the summer.His city lies at 52° 32' 43"N, 113° 29' 24" W.He is in the mountain standard time zone (the same as Denver,CO) and is 2,300 miles NW of Roanoke,VA.There is about 800,000 people living in the city proper and nearly 1.2 million people in the greater metopolitan area.

In 2004,they celebrated 100 years as a city.They were a major trading post for the Hudson Bay Company since as early as 1795.He did give away the country name in the next sentence,but I won't give you that,it will be to easy for you to figure it out. ;) There is a city that runs through his city and the parkland connected to it is twenty-two times the size of Central Park in NY.He says they have the most dedicated "green space" of any other city in the country.

Ashley also tells us that their economy is based on the oil and gas industry, but has a large diversity in their economy,including technology,bio tech and finance industries.He also told us that despite what Hollywood says,they do not live in igloos or drive dog sleds. ;)

Ashley works as a Child and Family Services case manager and moved to that area so he could finish his Psychology degree.His wife works at a not-for-profit company that is focused on providing recreational opportunities for people in a very busy city.They are also new parents to a set of 2 year old twins.Congratulations...now you and your wife get double the love. :)

He also says that we can go to google maps  (after you figure out the city) and follow 98th Avenue across the James MacDonald bridge for a nice view of the river valley and a very popular approach to their downtown area.

Thanks Ashley for a wonderful letter.It was definitely something we didn't expect.I never would have thought we'd get a letter filled with clues to find out where the writer lives....that was a great idea and so fun!Thanks so much for taking the time from your busy life to send us this fun letter!

Here's Ashley's letter below:

Letter #30 from Canada

We are now on day 53 of our project and now have 30 letters!We are so happy!This letter is from a woman simply named "snailmailfan".She lives in Winnipeg,Canada.She also noted that she is hoping to find her prince charming,so if you are him,you need to contact her now,she may not be available for long. ;)

Winnipeg is a city in the province of Manitoba and is a little under an hour's drive from the border of North Dakota.It was discovered in 1738 by Europeans.It was used as a trading post since it was where three rivers meet-the Red River,the Assiniboine River and the Seine River.She said the only place in the world with more extreme temperature swings than the prairie lands the city sits on is Mongolia.Even with the extreme temperatues,700,000 people live there in Winnipeg,which is Canada's eighth largest city.

Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba.Most people who live there work for the federal or provincial government or at the air force base.She says there is a strong transportation sector there with lots of big trucks,two major railways and an expanding airport.She also noted that Winnipeg is nearly the southern middle of Canada,geographically,so a lot of things pass through their city.

Winnipeg has lots of rich soil,which is really great for growing different crops."Snailmailfan" said there is a famous bakery in the downtown area that has it's own flour mill inside the shop.That would be really fun to watch them mill the flour that they use in their pastries.Winnipeg is home to two universities and many colleges,including a college for those who study in French and a religious university for Mennonites,who go to Manitoba to escape religious persecution or for financial reasons.

She also says that Winnipeg is an 8 hour drive from Minneapolis,which is the nearest big city.She says that the people are so helpful that the license plates read "Friendly Manitoba".They will go out of their way to help people because they can get some pretty brutal weather,so they need to be able to rely on each other for help.Winnipeg also has a diverse population,although people of European decent are the majority.

''Snailmailfan" has told us so many great things about her area and I wish I could share everything with you all,but it would just take too long,so I will share a few more facts she shared with us really quickly about Winnipeg:

-home to an art gallery holding the world's largest collection of art by the Inuit people

-home to the Living Prairie Museum

-has a minor league hockey team- The Mooose and football team- The Blue Bombers,baseball team-The Goldeyes,which is also the name of their local fish

-future home of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Below is a picture of "snailmailfan's" lovely letter,a picture of the prairie land she mentioned in the letter,some pages from a magazine featuring my fave kind of place-a book store and some wonderful pins!Thanks a whole lot "snailmailfan" for the great package!

Letter #22 from Canada

Letter #22 comes from April in Bay Bulls,Newfoundland,Canada.She works as a substitute teacher.Seems like we are getting a lot of teachers sending us letters.We'll have to take some statistics to see if most of our letters come from teachers.April also has a degree in Theatre...I think that could come in handy to make for one fun teacher. :) She has been to Scotland and in April she's going to Wales to visit a penpal.My daughters always hope to be able to meet their penpals one day.

April loves to read books and has sent us a list of books she recommends.I actually love when people recommend books to us because we actually try to find them to read them.One of her favorite books is Jane Erye...our favorite movie is Jane Eyre.We have the one that was original with parts missing but you wouldn't know it because they fixed it so good that you can't tell parts are missing.We truly love it...I don't think we'd like the other ones that are out,though.She says they are making a new version,but since Orson Welles won't be in it,I don't think it could be as good.

Becky has shared quite a bit about her city.Bay Bulls has been burned down eight times...six times by the French and twice by the Dutch.It has a deep harbor and close to the capital so it was a great military stronghold...it's the most often attacked and captured town in Newfoundland.This harbor was one of the earliest known harbors to European fishermen who came following Cabot's voyage of 1497.She also told us about the potential origins of the name of her town: 1.) The presence of bull walruses and bull birds that used to frequent the area

2.) Corruption of the French "Baie de Bois" or "The Wooded Bay".

Becky has shared so much great information in her letter but unfortunately I cannot type everything.Thank you so much Becky for sharing so much about your town with us.We really enjoyed reading it as we do with every letter we received.

Below is Becky's letter along with some pages that tell us even more about Newfoundland,which contains some interesting information for my girls.Thanks Becky!

Here's our first letter...it's from Canada

Drum roll please! Our very first letter has arrived from Lena in Canada.Hooray for our first letter!Sorry about the bad picture...it was very gloomy today & we don't have good lighting in our house,either,so I do apologize for the picture quality.Thanks for the letter Lena!I know there are more letters on the way....will yours be on here next?Stay tuned,and as always,please help us spread the word.Only 2,010 letters to go...I know we can do it! We are so excited about receiving the next letter!