British Student .ca

Yesterday my friend from back home, Beckie, asked me online if I had got the birthday letter she sent. I had memories of getting a letter from her at some point, but I couldn’t see where I put it and I’m sure I hadn’t got anything from her since my birthday and the winter break.

Today I checked my post to find a letter from the UK scribbled with multiple corrections. On the back of the envelope was a big stamp “MAIL WAS DELAYED BECAUSE OF WRONG OR MISSING…” and every box has been ticked. Beckie might be a bit embarrassed at me posting this, but I just found it so funny the amount they stamped and wrote on the envelope, I had to share photos.

There isn’t anything terribly wrong with the address. They get annoyed about the mailbox number, but if they had told me what it would be before I got here then I could have made sure everyone had it up to date. It was a close call with whoever processed the mail, they gave it a “Return to sender” stamp which later got scribbled out.

Thanks Beckie for the letter, also thanks for the Christmas cards Susan and Graham, my Nottingham relatives, and my parents. If anyone wants to send me some post, here is the correct address they want you to use:

Gregory Marler
Box 854
2525 West Mall
Vancouver, BC
V6T 1W9

I like sending old fashioned (aka snail) mail, mainly because it increases the chances of getting post yourself. When your away from home it’s good to send postcards, so it shows where you are and can be stuck up somewhere. But I’m fussy about choosing designs, and then I don’t like to send the same design more than twice.

My solution to this problem is a UK-started company called Moo. They do printing in a new way that allows you to order a small amount of a product but every item can use a different photo/design on one side. Most popular are their “Moo Cards” which are smaller than the usual business card but have become a techy and arty fashion icon. I have lots of fun saying “take my business card”, but even more fun saying “which of my business cards would you like?” as I hold out a few in a fan shape.

They have a base in the US, so they can deliver to me here in Vancouver! I thought it was taking forever, but 2 weeks and they’re here, just fitting in my mailbox! I kind of got a bit excited and ordered 60 (using 11 designs with photos I had taken), and I probably don’t have that many friends.

I’ll sell them to you at $1.50 a card or $7 for 5. E-mail postcards at britishstudent.ca or pop by my room if you know where I am. I don’t have stamps, but if your very nice and ask me before I make a trip to the SU post office then I might get some for you at cost. Also, feel free to comment below on your favourite design even if you don’t buy any.

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I was feeling a bit low after my classes today. Group Software Engineering work is not going to well as I my minimalist timetable of 14.5 hours seems to conflict with all my other group members, and the Eclipse/Jazz/Java project was throwing up trouble after trouble for me. I went for a 30min cycle across campus and back to cool down and was feeling a bit better.

Sending postcards got a bit boring after the first 3 as I don’t like to send out the same design too many times and I don’t like most of the selection in the student shop. So I ordered some postcards of my own photos and I’m waiting for those before continuing writing to friends back home. Meanwhile nobody has sent me a postcard or letter back. My parents sent me a postcard from their holiday on the coast in Cornwall, where I would like to be.

So after my cool down cycle I went to check my mailbox. The delivery of postcards wasn’t there, but I spotted a single postcard through the peep hole. Maybe it’s from my friend Beckie, who I think mentioned she was in the progress of writing/sending me a letter. No, it’s from my housemates last year (plus 1, minus 2, to fill a different house this year). I’m so happy to have received this I was talking about it to everyone and about Durham University. Amy, Dave (the great pretender), Jon, and James definetly deserve a blog post about how amazing they are, this is that post.

I should probably write to my other two ex-housemates (who are now living with two of my housemates from the year before), but I don’t think they read this blog so I should be safe until I get the postcard delivery and some more stamps.