Letter #252 from England

Letter #252 comes from Gavin in the capital of England and of the United Kingdom,which is London.The United Kingdom consists of four seperate countries - Scotland,England,Wales and Northern Ireland.Gavin is originally from Scotland,but moved to London at age 18,which is when he discovered a city with a population that was larger than his whole country,which was quite shocking to him.

Gavin lives in a flat (apartment, for us in the US),as most people there do.Above him is a family from Bangladesh,below him is an Englishman and below that man is a couple from Nigeria.That goes to show you how diverse London really is because you can find people from almost any country living there.He lives in the central part of the city,where the neighborhood is predominately Bangladeshi,with a mix of white British.Gavin says it is quiet difficult to find someone born and bred in London that actually lives in London since it is so diverse.He says that it is a very cosmopolitan place and it shows that everyone can,on the whole,live together and get along together no matter where they are from.

They also have lots of little squares that are live parks,but smaller.The places he sees on his walk are some well known places,such as St. Paul's Cathedral,Tower of London,Bow Church,Big Ben and Covent Garden.He says he is fortunate to live within walking distance to all of those great places.Makes me really wish I was there.The downside,he says,is that he lives where the tourists come to stay,by the thousands.Less than a minute from his flat are six large hotels and two youth hostels,so it can be quite noisy,but since it is the noise of people having fun,he doesn't mind.

Gavin's are is called Bloomsbury and is famous for a literary and artistic community called the Bloomsbury Set.The most famous person from there would be Virginia Wolf.She wrote a book titled,"Orlando" and Gavin says they have turned it into a fanous movie and he recommends both highly.

There are many museums in his area,the most famous being the British Museum,which is where he used to work as a book buyer.His favorite museum is The Tate,which he says is worth looking up online.He says the British Museum would most likely be helpful for homeschooling since it covers world heritage....he also noted to check out the Assyrians artifacts on their website since it is lovely stuff and very dramatic.I will definitely have to check that out since he made it seem really interesting.

When Gavin was at school in Scotland,all children were taught to knit,but that has sadly stopped just this year.Hmm,wonder if the internet is the cause of that?Anyways,he has started knitting again since it is very relaxing to do,unless you make a mistake,then you might want to rethink that. :) He likes that you can make something useful.He also told us that they call yarn,wool over there.I would love to learn to knit and crochet one day,too because I love the thrill of making something handmade.I always wished I had a crafty family that would give me all handmade gifts because I truly love handmade gifts the most.They are always unique and of good quality.

Gavin also told us that he loves to cook.On the weekends,they have a farmers market where farmers from outside London bring their wares to sell to the city folk.He tries to shop this way,but it is not convenient or cost effective.The city also recycles a lot and is very craft and food oriented.I think this may be my dream place to live. :) He also doesn't own a car since many people use buses,trains or tubes.The public system is very good there and most people in the UK use their services,but there are still a lot of cars in the city.

The main shopping street in London is Oxford St,which is best to avoid, if possible.He says that it is so busy that you would never believe there is a recession going on if you saw all the people there.Each different area of London has their own shopping areas.He also told us that London is made up on small towns and villages that have joined up in what they call an urban sprawl.Oxford St. was originally built about 150 years ago to provide shops for the whole city in a central location.

He ended his letter with some random facts,such as his flat was built in 1830 and that if you read any of Charles Dickens's novels set in London,then it is likely to be where he lives.His (Charles Dickens) former home is now a museum with a good cafe that is within five minutes of his flat.

Thanks Gavin for such a wonderful letter.... I can tell you are very proud of where you live and I really felt like getting on a plane to go and visit the areas you mentioned!Gavin's lovely letter can be seen below:

Letter #193 from England

Letter #193 comes from Marina in England.She is in her final year of high school,where she studies English Literature,Theatre,Textiles,and Spanish.She loves school and says that her mother is a Spanish teacher there,so they get to live in a flat at the school.Next year she plans to go to the University of Exter and study Film and Spanish.She is so excited about going to univeristy.

Her family is half English and half Spanish,which is obviously why Spanish is so important for her.She has also lived in Spain and the Czech Republic.Her mother has lived in Texas,Canada,The Philippines and France.Marina feels so blessed to have been able to experience different people and cultures.

Marina has a variety of hobbies that she enjoys,including postcrossing where she trades postcards,twice a week she enjoys Zumba dancing with her mom...I think they talked about that on The Biggest Loser. :) She is also a member of her school's drama club and at the time she wrote the letter,they were preparing for their production of "Grease".I hope it went well.I loved seeing that play when I was a kid and we went on field trips to see plays.I think it's one show people never get bored of seeing....it just seems like it resonates with every generation.

Marina's favorite tv show is "Gilmore Girls" and a debate show called "The Big Question"...I will have to look that one up on youtube to see if we can watch it.As for movies,she watches a lot of movies as a film student,including alternative,indie and blockbuster movies,but she simply cannot pick a favorite.As for animated movies,she did say that her fave was "Up".I agree,I loved that movie,too,I thought it was so sweet.

In terms of collections,Marina likes to collect pez dispensers.I know I had many as a kid.She also collected badges as a kid and even included one in our letter from a tourist attraction called "The Millenium Dome".It was once a huge interactive museum,but is now a huge concert hall and exhibition center.

Travel wise,she has been to many places,including Morrocco and China.She went to China in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics and said it was breathtaking.She walked along the Great Wall and even watched a basketball game between China and Spain...she was happy to report that Spain won. :) She said there were thousands of spectators and she got her face painted with a spanish flag on it.She was also was fortunate to visit the traditional Hu-tongs and the Forbidden City.The food was divine and she felt it was a hundred times better than any take away food in England,in her opinion.

In addition to her letter,Marina included some coins and a postcard from an art exhibition she attended last year.It seems like Marina is very fortunate to have been able to travel and learn about other places at such a young age.I hope that as she gets older,she is able to continue to travel and explore many more places.Thanks Marina for your lovely letter (we love Diddle),postcard,badge and coins,which can be seen below:

Letter #174 from England

Letter #174 comes from Gracie in England.She is originally from the city of Nottingham in the Midlands.She is currently taking off a year before going to university,so she is currently volunteering in the city of Chichester,caring for a lady in a wheelchair.She will be going home in a month and is so excited since her temporary home is 5 hours away from her family,so she rarely sees them.

As many may already know,Nottingham is where Robin Hood is from.There seems to be some controversy over where he is from.....many people say he is really from Yorkshire,so Nottingham may have no claims to him,although they do brag about having his statue there. ;)

Most of the wealth of Nottingham came from manufacturing lace and also bicycles later on.Now the lace maker buildings are used as a college since they are so beautiful.Gracie did her "A-levels" there.She said that homeschooling is very uncommon in England and that kids must attend school until age 16,but they are going to be increasing the age to 18 years old.When Gracie goes to university,she plans to study Englis and French.She will be going to university in London and is excited about it!It will be so different from where she is living,doing her volunteering work.Chichester is in the countryside and when she moved there in January,it was very cold and she thought it was so boring because nobody ever left their home,so the town seemed so empty.But once spring time came,everybody came out of their houses.Gracie loves having picnics in the cathedral gardens or on the beach.Chichester Cathedral is the only medieval building in Britain that has a free-standing bell tower and a still operational almshouse-hospital.

During the first part of Garcie's "gap" year off before university,she spent some time in South America,for three months with a host family.It was an exchange/volunteering program and she was among a group of 16 Bristish people who helped to teach English and build part of a nursery school.She says the thing that surprised her the most about being there was the huge gap between the poor and rich.She says that in Lima,Peru,the area was very built up and looked just like every other city where people live,but only one hour away from there,were people living in shanty towns and slums.Many people have no access to running water and their homes are made of wood.The school they were building had no regulations,so they mixed cement by hand and used nails to hold up the ceilings.She said that at first it was a big shock to see the people love like that,but she actually got used to it because even though the people were so poor,they were amazingly very happy people since they all lived together and shared the same problems/concerns.She said the shanty towns popped up in the 1980's and 1990's because the people were fleeing from terrorism.She said that she had a great time with her wonderful host family and recently learned that her host family had another baby,so she feels like she has another "host sibling".She says that this opportunity has made her realize that maybe we'd all be happier if we tried to be more of a community,rather than living in such a materialistic,money driven society.I couldn't agree more,we have definitely left behind the days when you would borrow things from your neighbors and ask them for help building your house,etc.We really love such sheltered lives these days and don't communicate with our neighbors as people did in the old days.It would be so nice to go back to those old days.I know where we lived in Michigan,they were trying to build more community friendly neighborhoods to bring back that feeling and in the center was a park for the kids.It was a really good idea,but I don't think it worked,people are too involved with their jobs and their own personal lives.I really love how people are trying hard to bring communities together with community kitchens and gardens.Hopefully these ideas will spread farther and become more popular.Gracie says she really misses the shanty town dearly and hopes to return.I think maybe we all should try helping volunteer to help those less fortunate so they we can really have the feeling of how truly blessed we are to have what we have,because at least in the states,we can get some help (food stamps,etc) that people in poor countries cannot even imagine getting.

Thanks Gracie for your lovely letter and all the brochures,ticket stubs (we love ticket stubs),pictures (one of Lima,Peru and then the other shows the complete opposite,the shanty town and also one picture of the school they were building) and postcards!They can all be seen below:

Letter #123 from England

Letter #123 comes from Abigale in England.Abigale works as a cook and says she has always loved to cool.She can remember baking in the kitchen with her mom when she was little.She even told us that come May,she will be working as a chef at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant.Now that is amazing!Congrats on the new job and for living your dream!

Abigale also enjoys reading (she has 300 books),dancing,yoga,music,operas,writing letters,making lists,cross stitching,decorating envelopess,scrapbooking and making little things for her friends.And since she loves to cook,she included a recipe with her letter,

Her dream is to tour Italy and learn to cook like a true Italian,so she is saving her pennies (or should I say euros :) ) to reach her dream,which she hopes to accomplish in the year 2013.

Abigale lives in Portsmouth,which is located on the southeast coast of England.It's the second largest city within the county of Hampshire and has a population of 200,000 and is about an hour commute from London.

She also shared some interesting facts with us about Portsmouth.She said the Charles Dickens was born and raised there and also Author Conan Doyle,in case that name doesn't sound familiar,he wrote  Sherlock Holmes.The D-Day Museum,Royal Navy Museum and the Portsmouth Museum can also be found in her city.

As for some of the fun things she said to see in her area,she told us about three great places to visit.First on her list was the Spinnaker Tower,which is the tallest free standing structure in the UK,it's taller than Big Ben and the London Eye.Second on her list is Gunwharf Quays,which used to be the site of the Royal Navy Shore base,but it has been renovated and now has 95 designer shops and outlets,bars and restaurants,a cinema and also Spinnaker Tower.She says she lives close by and is a great place to spend the day.Last,but not least on her list is the Isle of Wright,which is six miles off the coast of Portsmouth and has so many things to do,she included a brochure to tell us since it would be too much to write. :)

She also informed us that her sister, Mia has writen us a letter previously,so this makes the second (or third) family to participate in our project,which is amazing.Hmm,maybe we'll have to see if writing letters is a genetic trait.I know my grandfather used to be good at writing letters and my father-in-law used to write a lot,so I wonder if that's where my children got their love of writing from?Maybe we'll have to do a survey on the topic one day to find out.

Thanks so much Abigale for your lovely letter,brochure,recipe for Double Death Brownies and postcard (which shows her house,too),which can be seen below:

Letter #120 from England

Letter #120 comes from Emilie in England.She is from a historic market town called Bicester,Oxfordshire,England.She has been there for only six months now.The population is just under 30,000.The name Bicester comes from Latin,meaning "2 forts"

Bicester has two train stations,Bicester North has trains going to London and Shropshire Bicester going direct to London.She lives in an area with a lot of tourist attractions,like the Pit Rivers Museum (which she included pictures of).

She also told us that Bicester is in the Doomsday Book of 1086,recorded as Berencestra,two manors held by Robert d'Oily who built Oxford Castle.

Emilie's hobbies include photography,writing letters to her big sister (how sweet!),who is the one who told her about our project (thanks to her!)

Thanks Emilie for your lovely letters and wonderful photos and postcard!She included photos of Big Ben,London Eye (two things we'd love to see in London),photos from the museum,picture from Kew Gardens and some photos of Oxford City Center, and a postcard of the Roman Baths,which looks so beautiful!Enjoy all her goodies below:

Letter #116 from England

Letter #116 comes from Sukie is England.She is 15 years old.She says that when she turns 16,she'll be allowed to drive a tractor in England. ;) Maybe that was one of those laws that was passed in the pioneer days or something or maybe because there are a lot of farmers in the area.I don't know our laws on age requirements for driving a tractor,but since she mentioned it,I just thought it was something fun to share.

She lives in the south of England and they recently celebrated a sort of national holiday event.It's called Red Nose Day and it's a huge fundraising opportunity for a charity called Comic Relief.People all over the country do crazy things to raise money.Her school held a non-uniform day where they brought in money (one pound) so they wouldn't have to wear the uniforms and the money was donated to the charity.

She also told us that homeschooling is not a common thing there and all children go to state schools called comprehensives,which is like public schools here because people pay taxes that fund the schools.Sukie attends a private school,which you have to pay for as we do in the states.

Sukie has had to deal with the loss of a loved parent in 2009 at such a young age.She says that many people ask her how long it takes to recover from the loss of a parent,but she says,she doesn't really know because she is still grieving.It must be hard being a teen and losing a loved one and I am sure it will get easier.I guess the key is to maybe strive to do something good in your life,maybe achieve that goal you mentioned with your loved one.Do something that your loved one would have liked to see you do.I know that if I died,I would,of course want my kids to miss me,but I also want them to be able to go on with their life and be a good person.One could also do volunteering in the honor of their loved ones,so that their memory is not forgotten.I guess I would also tell people not to take their loved ones for granted because you never know when their (or yours) time will come to an end,so spend less time arguing over petty things and be thankful your loved one is still alive.I think Sukie would agree with that. :)

Sukie says that her teacher at school is actually from the U.S.She says that he tells the class that the differences between England and the U.S. are both big and small.She says that one example he gave them is that the idea of comedy in the two countries is totally opposite.She says that she even watched The Daily Show since her penpal told her that the show is hilarious,but when she saw it,she didn't even crack a smile.She didn't find it amusing at all.She said that British comedians have a lot more humility and aren't as blunt as Americans.She also said that she had heard that the word "lovely" isn't used here,I'm not sure who told her that because I use the word lovely and have heard people use it,too,so I know it's still in use.

She also says that England has a huge multi-cultural society.There are even people from every continent in her school.She says that there are a few places that aren't so multi-cultural,but most are.Another interesting fact she shared with us is that London is technically considered to be a forest,based on something to do with the amount of trees per square meter.Her brother goes to school in London,so he is always telling her little facts like that one.

She also told us that her name name is very Old English and is originally a nickname for the name Susan.

Sukie enjoys playing the guitar and collecting antique books.She has a poetry book by Robert Browning (one of her favorite poets) that is 114 years old and in good condition.Her mother has a book that is 60 years old that came from a library in New Zealand.She says that she got her love of literature from her father.He loved when she would read the classics and was thrilled to discover her love of poetry.

Thanks Sukie for your lovely (see,I always use the word "lovely" :) ) letter!She has also enclosed a postcard and a cute double decker note pad,which can be seen below:

Letter #86 from England

Letter #86 comes from Claire in England.She lives in Leeds,which is in the northern part of England.She grew up in Coventry,which is a smaller city right in the center of England.Coventry has about 300,000 people and is thought to have been a settlement during the Bronze Age.It was bombed heavily during WWII,so very few original buildings remain.The city was then rebuilt in the 1960's and 1970's with an abundance of concrete.It wasn't nice to look at so she knew she wanted to live elsewhere.

She has travelled around Europe with her best friend and they saw many different places,including Amsterdam,Berlin,Prague,Budapest,Salzbur,Rome,Venice,Verona,Florence,Sorrento,Nice,Paris,and the Jura.She says it was the best experince ever.I think that would definitely be on the top of my amazing things I did list. :)

She moved to Leeds to start working on a degree in Linguistics.She fell in love with the area and her four years of school flew by.

The population of Leeds is around 800,000 and is much larger than Coventry.It is the largest center for business,legal and financial services outside of London,there in the UK.She says that Leeds has so much to offer and so many different students to mingle with.She says that even though the city center is huge,but in only a 10 minute drive,you can see beautiful fields and countrysides and is only an hour from the seaside.She says the weather is not great and most days can be described as dull,gray and miserable.

Claire has gotten engaged last year,but has no wedding plans just yet.She says they have a lodger that she lived with for 3 years in university accomodation and is working to become a midwife.They also have a guinea pig.

She got a part time job working in local prisons and then decided she wanted to work with offenders and has been trying to persue that career ever since.She works full time with the parole department and she wants to be an officer one day.She also volunteers some evenings with young offenders (ages 10-16...yes she said 10) in police stations.She also enjoys writing to people in prison since she knows it can be very lonely.

Claire is also currently studying for a degree in Criminology and Psychology.She also says she is quite the night owl and loves to go to gigs and night clubs.Her favorite musician is Leonard Cohen.She also loves tattoos an has about 8 of them,one of which she sent us a picture of.

She loves all things vintage,such as cupcakes and old jewelry.Her main interest is photography.Her and her fiance love to collect old and toy film cameras.I have one of those Diana cameras that does lomography but haven't used it yet,but we've seen so many cool pics with the camera,that we just had to have it.I love to collect cameras myself.

Oh,she also sprayed the letter with her favorite perfume,Issey Miyake L'eau D'issey.I will have to see if our stores sell it so I can sample it. :)

Thanks Claire for the letters,card, brochures and pictures that you all can see below:

Letter #85 from England

Letter #85 comes from Craig in England.This is another lovely letter with beautiful penmanship,just look at the "hello" greeting,it's simply beautiful!He said that his letter was written with a dip-pen,a pen that is the next step from a quill pen,but made of metal to increase its life.

Craig lives in the most northernly part of the English counties on the east side of the country that borders Scotland.The county name (Northumberland) comes from a long time ago when the county was a lot bigger and more important than it is today.About 120 miles south of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne is a city called Hull,the river that runs through Hull is called the Humber and that is where the name Northumberland comes from - the land north of the Humber;Northumberland.

The county is a rural county producing food and has a small area,but is close to Newcastle,so it still has some "heavy industry" including shipbuilding,once the main industry in the River Tyne.The other big industry nearly 140 years ago was coal mining.Coal mining was so important,that a saying, "taking coals to Newcastle" which was pointless,was coined;nobody would bring coal because they had so much of their own. :) The area now produces automobiles (Nissan),beer, and is famous for its hospitality.He said that a few years ago it was said to be the 5th best city in the world for its nightlife.

He moved to the area he is in now 15 years ago and decided to stay because the area is so beautiful and unspoilt.He works for a well-known American company in a factory that produces perfumes for men and women.

He and his wife have many pets and his wife loves tropical fish...their fish collection seems to keep multiplying and they call their aquarium the cats television because their cats could sit and stare at it for hours....I guess they are wondering when they will become their dinner. ;)

Craig used to be in the army and spent most of his army life in Germany,but also went to the Falkland Islands twice,where he said he saw a lot of penguins.He also spent 8 months in the US and even drove from Florida to California,that must have been such a long and tiring trip,but also exciting to see so many states,although you don't get to see much from the highway,but you do get to see different landscapes.

His hobby is riding motorbikes and during the warmer months,he works with the police,teaching them how to ride more safely.

Craig loves writing letters to people all over the world.He has penpals in the U.S.,Canada,Indonesia,Germany and in England.He enjoys making his own envelopes,so that each letter is different.He also buys books from old book shops or clearance shops and turns them into something more interesting than store bought ones.We would love to see his transformed books.We bought some old books with beautiful covers just to do some art journaling in and make them unique,but we haven't started yet.It's always hard to start it for fear of ruining a great book.

As you can see from the letter,he loves to use fountain pens and having people to write to gives him an excuse to buy more pens,paper and ink.He loves the pens so much that is he actually having a custom made pen being made for him in New York!I think we have a lot to learn about the different types of fountain pens obviously.I just thought they came in small,medium and large,but I guess there must be a variety of different types of pens.

Thanks Craig so much for your lovely and beautiful letter!Please see his letter below that he enclosed in a handmade envelope that we love:

Letters #72 & #73 from England

We received this envelope from a previous writer who works with the elderly and promised to have some of them write us letters,but since they couldn't write,Rachael typed up what they told her so that they could be a part of our project....how wonderful!

The first letter,letter #72 is from Teresa who says she is 78 years old.She left school at the age of 14 to work and her wages were 17 schillings and 6 pence a week.After working one year,she would get a raise of 2 schillings.She worked in Hunters,which was an old fashioned grocers and worked half days on Thursdays.The store had men who went around town collecting orders and Teresa and the other workers would put them together,She worked during the time of rationing and they had a box with an electric light in it.

On Saturday's she said a man named Davy Ray,who was the rat catcher would come in and they would close the door to the store room so the customers couldn't see what was going on.Then Davy would let his two little dogs loose to catch the rats.They would even find mice droppings in the dry goods but they would have to sift the food,such as the rice and flour.Since there were no refrigerators at the time,the meat would be hung up and would have maggots all over it.The would get rid of the maggots by using vinegar.I don't know about you,but I think I'm thankful I didn't have to grow up during that time.

Teresa also said that during the rationing,you got 4oz butter and 2oz of lard per person.Everything was rationed.After working in at the grocers,she worked at a pork pie shop on the same street.She would ask people,"Pork,beef or tomato sausages?"She would put the jelly in the pork pies through a hole in the top.

After that job,she worked at the co-op,where she served people.She worked at Oxford University,Corpus Christi,as a college scout,which was a posh name for the cleaners.After that job,she says she landed the best job in the world,she worked as a cleaner at the museum.

Teresa has lived all over the country,Ireland,Oxford,Plymouth,Barrow-in-Furnes and Hinckley.Thanks Teresa for sharing your story with us.


Letter #73 is from a lady named Kath,she's 76 and was born in Wilesden,a little village near Bradford in Yorkshire.She lived there until she was 11 and then went to Keighley Girls Grammar School.She also went to PE college near Sheffield for 3 years.From there,she went on to teaching college near Matlock.She was connected with the Methodist Church and from there she went to Sierra Leone.She was at a girls boarding school about 200 miles from Freetown.She taught all subjects and they had very little equipment.She stayed at the school overnight and most of her students stayes nearby or on school grounds.She says the students were very loving and generous.When she would check the school at night,she would have the company of Jasper the dog and a cat,whose name she cannot remember.The cat was great for helping get rid of the rats.

After that job,she got a job in High Wycombe,Buckinghamshire.This time she taught 11-12 year olds.She says she was a little behind in what was happening in PE and had never seen people use climbing bars.She taught PE to the girls along with a few other subjects.The boys had a different teacher for PE.

Kath loved to go on days out to the Lake District and especially enjoyed walking around the lakes and mountains.She says it's a very beautiful place in the summer.Thanks Kath for sharing your story with us!

Enjoy their letters and goodies below:

Letter #51 from England

Letter #51 comes from Emile, who lives in a little village in England called Stoke d'Abernon.It is located in  the county of Surrey,which is just on the southwestern border of London and is a very pretty area.It is a very old village.One of the oldest houses there has a painted sign on it showing the year in which it was built- 1415,about 80 years before Columbus set sail from Spain.St. Mary's church is also located there and is even older and goes back to about the year 1300.

Emile says she is very interested in local history and while looking around St. Mary's church with a friend,she found some pieces of Roman brick on the lowest parts of the wall.She says that the builders of the church would have used whatever material they could find in the area and that it could mean that there was a Roman village in the area,especially since Julius Caesar crossed the Thames River,which was only 10 miles from the church.

Emile's parents are from Goa,which used to be a Portuguese colony in India and she grew up in Kenya until the age of 13.She says that like many people in the past and present, they have moved to a new home,which for them is England.She says she thinks that is one way the world has become a better place and is more tolerant is because people now live next door to people that may have come from thousands of miles away.I agree that it does make the world a better place when you get to learn new ideas,try new foods (that's the best part) and learn to see things differently and sometimes appreciate what you do have when some people had nothing before coming here.She tells me about her friend that is about as English as you can imagine found the diary of his Italian great-grandfather and it mentioned how he walked (yes,walked) from Essex to Padua,Italy in the 1880's to sort out his father's will.I can only imagine the strength and will people had back then,yet we complain about having to walk just small distances in the parking lot of a store. ;) It's amazing how we as people have changed,sometimes I think we have more health problems now because of all the technology that keeps us from going out searching for things and doing more things.We can literally stay in our homes and have everything we need delivered or found online and not even have to deal with society.I wonder what the people of the 1800's would think if they could see us now.Would they like the luxury or would they miss doing things with their own hands such as building their own home,growing their own food,relying on neighbors to help you out,etc.On the other hand,with the invention of the internet,we are able to learn about so many things from so many different people without having to worry about travelling.

Thanks Emile for your lovely letter.Here's her letter below:

Letter #3 from England

Well,even though it's gloomy out and we are all sick in bed,we had something exciting happen! The mailman brought us another lovely letter for the letter project.I'll give you some clues below to see if you can figure out if it's your letter....

image from here

image from here

Has anybody figured out where this letter came from? Well,it's all the way from England! The lovely Rachael sent us this wonderful letter below with a postcard of her town and some photos,which we think is really cool.We love the train station photo,too. :) Rachael is a film maker and owner of Glass Completey Empty Productions.She's putting together a lovely art project about our favorite thing- penpalling! We think that is so cool especially since most people don't even write anymore...I even hear it's becoming a problem for kids and that some kids cannot even spell anymore because of all the abbreviations kids use when texting...so sad! Anyways,stop by her blog and tell her hi and that you love her idea for a documentary on letter writing.I hope it never becomes a total lost art.Thanks so much for the lovely letter Rachael and I hope you didn't mind us sharing your blog on here.... free advertising,right;) Enjoy her letter below:

Please keep the momentum going....tell everybody you know about our project to help us reach our goal.No letter is too short or too long.Maybe you know a teacher looking for a writing project for her class.We'd love to get some letters from children and their information would be anonymous since they would be mailed from school and each letter would be counted individually & posted on this blog so they could see their own letter on a blog.I think it would be so interesting to read about schools in other countries so we could compare them to the schools over here.

Rachael,I'm sure you'll be hearing back from my daughter once she's feeling better...she was so excited when you contacted her about your project!

If you're new to this blog,feel free to email me at the address on the right sidebar for more information about our project or with any concerns.Thanks and as always,please continue to help us spread the word to get more letters!