The weather has been really terrible this weekend... I try hard not to let such things bring me down, but I admit that the gray sky and lack of sunlight have some impact on my mood. Have I already mentioned that I love both autumn and winter, but the period between them becomes just unbearable sometimes? On Sunday all the streets and sidewalks got really slippery, so I've fallen for the first time this winter (okay, it must also have something to do with me being quite a clumsy person) :/ Fortunately, I've managed to write two essays over the weekend, so I don't blame myself for being totally lazy - I'm just a bit lazy :) Most likely I'll have one more stressful week ahead of me and then it should get easier. Anyway, I'm so much more relaxed about my exam period than I used to be a few years ago... Isn't it a paradox that the more relaxed attitude I have and the less I care about my marks, the less I procrastinate? Yet it took me 5 years to find out! :)
Monday is a day off for me this semester, so my weekend isn't over yet, but I can already tell that this new week has started in a very nice way for me! :) First of all, it's been snowing almost all day long! We've got snow! A lot of white, shiny snow! :D Not that it's anything unusual for Ukraine in December... But it finally feels like real winter has come! I think I'll have to take some pictures of snowy Lviv to share with you this week :) Moreover, it's been a great mail day for me! I've received three books as an early Christmas present from my best friend, who happens to be my Dad at the same time :)
Two of them are about Ukraine, but written by a British author, so it'll definitely be an interesting and developing read. And also helpful when it comes to my thesis :) The third book is something that should help me with the meditation practice. I was trying to find this one in Poland, but it wasn't available, so I'm really glad to finally happy. Now I have no idea which book should I read first :)
As for my mail, today I've received two letters:
This wonderful, long letter comes from my Israeli friend Stav, whom I'm going to meet very soon! But as her letter arrived surprisingly quickly, I should be able to send my answer before traveling to Israel :) She's also enclosed two beautiful postcards and a very interesting tea :)
And a very nice letter from my Italian penpal Martina living in Slovenia :) It looks that my pile of mail is growing, but no, I'm still not really behind and hopefully I won't be, because it always makes me feel terrible, when I'm not able to write back to my penpals within a reasonable period of time.
I've also sent two letters lately:
This one started traveling to Kathrin in Germany on Saturday. Hopefully it has at least left Ukraine by now, but you never know with our postal service ;)
And this one went to Fariza in Singapore today. I know the envelope doesn't look great, but I've decided to send a small surprise for Fariza's birthday and here's the result ;) Actually, I've had a huge dispute with the post office lady on why I shouldn't be sending it as a letter and she's warned me that it might get returned... But I've already been sending much heavier "letters" with more suspicious contents and they all arrived. I think it's more comfortable to send letters instead of packages, because I don't have to fill the customs declaration and the receiver doesn't have to go to the post office to get my mail. Well, I just hope it doesn't get lost, which would be a huge pity... And anyway, if it's forbidden to send anything but the actual letter + postcards as a "letter", then why the weigth limit for "letters" is 2 kg? I think my most extreme "novel" weighted just about 200 g, so it doesn't make much sense to me. Do you ever face some stupid postal regulations?
Last but not least, I'd like to share a song that I've been listening to this weekend with you :) Flёur is one of my favourite Ukrainian groups, even if they sing in Russian. But they also have at least one song in Ukrainian, so I can forgive them ;) This song is about the pain of coming back to the places, which have a very special place in your memory... but once you come back, you realise that everything has already changed. I can really relate to this feeling. And, after watching the video (which I've only discovered on Saturday), I think I know where I'll go for my New Year's Training ;)
I often have disputes with a woman at my post office as well. She is a part-time employee and I have to often explain to her which countries are within the UK and that many countries are now their own, independent countries and no longer "Russia". I have even have to argue with her about countries she thought were cities and cities she thought were countries. I often take my letters and parcels and leave, waiting until the post master comes back to mail things because I don't at all trust she is sending things properly and they will arrive where they need to be if I let her handle my items! Love the song, by the way.
ReplyDeleteSome postal workers are really ignorant... I love it how they ask me, which country I'm sending my letter to, while the price is the same for all countries (there's only a difference between surface mail and air mail, but technically I could even send a letter to you by surface mail), or how I know the tariffs better than they do. One more reason why I avoid sending parcels is that, for so called "safety reasons", you can't pack them yourself, you have to do it in presence of the postal clerk, which feels quite uncomfortable... I'm glad you liked the song :)
ReplyDeleteI weigh and stamp my letters myself and drop them in a postbox outside the post office, so I never have to deal with the post office employees. I'm pretty sure I would have had to argue with them once or twice if I did though, because they probably don't like it when I send 500g packages as letters, since sending them as package would earn the post more money. It always arrive anyway, so I'm not going to change my habits ;)
ReplyDeleteMay I have some of your snow please? :3 I'm so looking forward to seeing the first snowfall here.
Tari, I wish snow could be sent by snail mail! :D
ReplyDeleteHere I unfortunately have to deal with the post office clerks for a stupid reason that I've already mentioned on FB for several times: the prices for international mail are in US dollars. The exchange rate is different each day... So the only way to send letters abroad without asking "Have I used enough stamps?!" everyday is to use the standard stamps which have a letter instead of nominal value on them. For example, "Є" stands for 0.7$. But stadard stamps are boring, so I have to cope with those ignorant people somehow. Actually, they're nice for most of the time, so I shouldn't complain ;)