Lost in transit

We get post on a Saturday in the UK.. we used to get two posts per day on weekdays too, but the Royal Mail decided to downshift these to 1.

Mail is delivered in the U.S. on Saturday.

I remember in Japan, the big deal about New Year's cards, and that (at least back then) they had to be delivered ON New Year's Day. So the post office would hold back all these cards, and then hordes of young (high school? college?) students were employed for that one day to make sure everyone got their cards on time.

I envy you! In Canada they didn't get mail on Saturdays when I lived there - which was ages ago. That was when I first noticed signs of addiction.

At home we had this slot in our frontdoor where the mailman shovelled the letters through. Ah, that clatter from the lid, the mail falling on the floor. Once my brother jumped up, ran to the door barking and pulled the mail inside.

We get mail on Saturdays too. Plus, I find the french postal system to be quite efficient... you always get your mail by noon! Quite different then in the US, where my parents street seemed to be on the mailman trainee route... new mailman every few weeks, often not even there before 4pm, geez!

I once mailed a letter/postcard to a friend in France--to her old address of a previous year, and my friend ended up receiving the new mail, even without her setting up a forwarding address. No complaints with the French postal system from me!

Back at home, in Brazil, mail has always been delivered on Saturdays also. Same in Italy, where I currently live. Although I have this really, really long list of complaints about the Italian postal system. Never seen anything like it! My Easter chocolate would get to Trinidad safe and sound, but would disappear on its way to Rome! Everything I've ever mailed to or from Italy has always, always reached its final destination with a delay of at least two weeks. Can't be a coincidence, oh no.

Get this: when you take a parcel to be mailed to the office of my town or the one nearby (12.000 inhabitants each), they'll cross the sender's address. I once asked why and the lady said, "just so the mailman won't get confused and send it back to you".

Leticia - it's funny you mention this crossing out the sender's address. They do this in Austria, too and I was as surprised as you were. :-)

Gingerbread - pepparkaka - is savored here in Sweden at Christmas time, as well, but there are only two versions, soft and crisp. The crisp version is much preferred, lovely thin cookies that one eats with a small cup of glögg (mulled wine).

The crispy ones - do they have patterns? That's maybe what we call Spekulatius. d e l i c i o u s!

Not the ones I've seen. They are very, very thin and are typically heart-shaped, although you can also get flower-shaped ones (less Christmassy) or little men.

ah, ok - those must be our Pfefferkuchen. Brown, not light, but a little darker.

Mmmmmmmmm ... Elisen-Lebkuchen ... (sounding and looking like Homer Simpson dreaming of donuts). I just ate my last one. Bought some at the German store here in the midst of the Silicon Valley.