France - Children from Lorraine in traditional costumes

I received this card some time ago in the World Languages RR, written in Ukrainian :) It's always a great pleasure to receive a card written in Polish or Ukrainian from people that live in some other countries. I doubt if any Slavic language might become an international one, because their grammar is just too complicated, but still it's so nice to see people trying to learn them :)
This card shows children from Lorraine region in traditional costumes.


Lorraine is one of the regions (another one is Alsace) that used to be a contested territory between Germany and France. I haven't been to Lorraine, but I've spent several days in Alsace and I've noticed a huge influence of German culture there. Even the names of streets in Strasbourg have double names: in French and some dialect of German. So I guess that the culture of Lorraine may also be some mix of French and German influences :)

Finland - People from Lapland in national costumes (FI-503381)

I'm glad to receive more and more cards showing people in national costumes :) Not surprisingly, most of them come from Finland and especially from Lapland, because this region is probably considered to be the most interesting one, when it comes to indigenous peoples' folklore and traditions.
In most European countries people don't wear the national costumes anymore, even in the villages. There are some groups of people, who want to save the unique folklore, so they wear their traditional costumes for some holidays and events. I wonder, if it's the same also in Lapland? Or maybe the old traditions are still and important part of Sami peoples' life?

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By the way, are these animals reindeers? I've never seen a real one, although I used to dream of meeting them, when I still had no doubts in existence of Santa Claus :)))

Finland - A girl from Satakunta in national costume (FI-495483)

When I received my first card with national costumes (which was also from Finland, but from another region - Lapland), I wrote honestly that I could see no big difference between national costumes from different countries. Of course, I meant only the European countries, because there's no way to confuse them with African or Asian ones :) And I'm glad to write that Postcrossing has helped me to learn something now - now I know that there are hundreds of types of national costumes in Europe and that they're not as similar to one another as I used to think. I've already received several cards showing people in national costumes from different countries and soon they became one of my favorites. Therefore I've created a new category on my blog :)

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This card shows a girl from Satakunta region of Finland in a national costume. Comparing this card to the one I received from Lapland before makes me sure that there can be a great variety of traditions even within one country with a small population. I doubt if there are many people wearing such costumes at least for some festivals nowadays, but it seems to me that folklore has been becoming more and more popular (maybe even fashionable, though I hate this word), so I think there's hope that national costumes will survive and that I'll receive many cards for this new category :)

Macedonia - Nevestinsko dance

I received this interesting card from Ana :) It shows Macedonian women dressed in national costumes, representing one of the Macedonian folklore dances called "Nevestinsko", which can be translated as "Bridal". I remember that P.E. teacher at primary school tried to teach us some Polish folklore dances, but for me it's been impossible to learn any dance... Anyway, I like folklore and I enjoy traditional dances, songs, costumes, even if I don't really know much about them :)

Hungary

That's my first postcard from Hungary and, as I received it in the World Languages RR, it was written in Ukrainian :)) If it was written in Hungarian - I wouldn't understand anything, although I think it's a very interesting language. It's funny that in Hungarian "sz" is pronouned like English "s", and "s" is pronounced like English "sh". In Polish it's absolutely opposite - Polish "sz" = English "sh" and Polish "s" = English "s" :)
I don't have any info about this postcard in English, but I guess it shows Hungarian ladies in very beautiful national costumes and the traditional Hungarian agriculture? Anyway, I like it very much and it makes me want to visit Hungary. Maybe I'd finally learn at least several Hungarian words?

The Netherlands - national costumes

I received this postcard in the Netherlands & Other countries RR :) In one of the previous posts I wrote that national costumes from different countries seem to be very similar in my opinion (probably because I'm a 100% ignorant) ;) But Dutch national costumes are so typical that I can easily distinguish them from any others :) Unfortunately, I haven't seen people dressed like that in the Netherlands :(

Italy - Abruzzo (IT-25856)

This card is actually older than I am :) I know it, because there's date 1988 printed on the back side (and I was born in 1991) :) Maybe I prefer receiving new postcards, but having some older ones is interesting as well, because it gives me some idea about the changes in postcard art.
This one shows the folk costumes from Abruzzo region in Italy.

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Ukraine - national costumes

First of all, I have to say that I hate it, when cards have some postmarks on the front side :( I have no idea, how to remove them. But well, it happens sometimes and still prefer receiving stamped postcards, because it makes me feel that they really travelled many kms to reach my mailbox :)
And of course, I love this postcard not only because it's Ukrainian (I think everyone already knows that I'm a bit - or a bit more than just a bit - crazy about the Ukraine) ;), but also because it shows something less typical than a city view or landscape. These are the national Ukrainian costumes from different regions. From the left side: Київщина (Kyivshchyna - Kyiv region), Східне Полісся (Skhidne Polissya - Eastern Polesia), Закарпаття (Zakarpattya - Transcarpathia), Покуття Городенківське (Pokuttya Horodenkivs'ke - Horodenkiv Pokuttya).

Finland - Sápmi (FI-381269)

This card was actually sent from Southern Finland, but shows Lapland, which is probably the most famous region of Finland ;) Of course, my first association with Lapland is the Santa Claus, but thanks to Postcrossing, I can see what it's really like :)

Sápmi is the name of the cultural region traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people. Sápmi is located in Northern Europe and includes the northern parts of Fennoscandia. The region stretches over four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Sápmi is the name in North Sámi , while the Julev Sámi name is Sábme and the South Sámi name is Saemie. In Norwegian and Swedish the term Sameland is often used. It is frequently mistaken for being synonymous with Lapland.

With the fall of the Soviet Union and increasing internationalization, cross-border co-operation is becoming more important, and existing state borders less important both for the Sámi indigenous population and non-Sámi inhabitants--the latter constituting the majority population of the region. Russians and Norwegians are the most numerous groups, and the Sámi make up only a small minority of about 5%. No political organization advocates secession, though several groups desire more territorial autonomy and/or more self-determination for the region's indigenous population.

The region has its own football team, the Sámi Spábbáčiekčanlihttu, that plays in the NF-Board, won the 2006 Viva World Cup and will host the 2008 event.

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Finland - a girl from Lapland (FI-359837)

This card is definitely something new for me :) It shows a girl from Lapland in her national costume :) Unfortunately, there are not so many postcards like that. By the way, I've noticed that national costumes from different countries (with really different cultures) are somehow similar. At least in Europe. But maybe that's because I don't really know much about it :) I hope Postcrossing can help me to improve my knowledge ;)

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Italy - Sicily (IT-22176)

This beautiful card shows a Sicilian cart :) I haven't heard of it before, but receiving this postcard was a great opportunity to learn something new.

The Sicilian cart is an ornate, colorful style of horse or donkey-drawn cart native to the island of Sicily, in Italy.
The carts were introduced to the island by the ancient Greeks. Carts reached the height of their popularity in the 1920s, when many thousand were on the island. Miniature carts, or Carrettino Siciliano, are often sold in Sicily (or in Italian shops and restaurants in other countries) as souvenirs. The Museo del Carretto Siciliano, in Terrasini, in the province of Palermo, is a museum dedicated to the carts.
Sicilian wood carver, George Petralia states, that horses were mostly used in the city and flat plains, while donkeys or mules were more often used in rough terrain for hauling heavy loads. The cart has two wheels and is primarily handmade out of wood with iron metal components. Carts are used for hauling miscellaneous light loads, such as produce, wood, wine, and people, called "Carretto del Lavoro" (cart for work) and also carts for festive occasions such as weddings and parades called "Carretto de Gara'. The Carretto is like the 'taxi' or 'truck' of today.

In modern-day Sicily, the tradition continues in small, three-wheeled motorized vehicles (called lapa). They are often painted in the traditional way.

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