MILKA: Send a Tender Message Along with the Last Chocolate Square

I have to share with you a recent idea launched by Milka. You may have seen the new Milka chocolate bars at your local supermarket. They are missing the last square as part of a new marketing campaign with the slogan "Dare to be tender".

How does it work?

It's really simple. You buy the chocolate bar and of course the last square is missing. 

Inside the wrapping you will find a code (in red in the picture above, where the last square would be) and you just need to go online to this website and click on "Enviar mi onza" (send my last square). Once you do so, you will have to type in the recipient's name and address and after that, the personalized "tender" message you would like to send. 

If you like, you can also explain the story linking you and the recipient, and they claim that there will be an extra surprise if they like it.

Does it cost any extra money?

No, you just buy the bar and they will send your last square to any address in Spain.

Well, I don't know how successful their campaign will be, and I am not a big fan of milk chocolate (I'm more of a dark chocolate addict), but for now I've availed myself of quite a few bars to send my last squares to some recipients who are most certainly not expecting them.

Don't you think it's a beautiful idea?

Postcard Exchange Network: WE ARE READY TO START!

I started this project in September 2015 with the main objective of encouraging creative writing in different languages by establishing links among different schools. One of the ways to achieve that were traveling notebooks, which are already being sent and received all over the world, much to the satisfaction of students and teachers alike.

One other action we had in mind was "pass the parcel", which proved to be a little overambitious (at least for a newbie project organizer like me). I don't mean to dismiss this idea, because I think it can prove to be very enriching, but it takes some planning ahead and starting earlier in the year.

As it is, over the past few months, I have been trying to get in touch with schools all over the world interested in promoting writing among their students and in doing so by using snail mail, in this case, by means of postcards. The initial commitment is only ONE exchange, given that we are in January and it's a busy time of year and most schools also have other projects going on which take up most of their time and efforts.

However, I must confess I am deeply impressed by the interest and enthusiasm teachers from all over have shown in the project, and by their willingness to collaborate and join efforts.

As of today, there are 20 schools (other than the ones already participating in our traveling notebook project) wanting to exchange multilingual cards with our local schools. There are schools from Albania, Australia, Austria, Bahrein, Canada, Colombia, France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico, The Netherlands, United Arab Emirates and the USA.

You can check out the map showing our network here. It will be updated as soon as I have all the schools' addresses.

I am so excited to see this project grow and take on new dimensions! 

 

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): ELENA from the UK

The fifth card we have received was sent by Elena from Saint Albans, a city in Herfordshire, England.

 

Elena has sent us a gorgeous large-sized card of  The Shambles, a quaint old street in Oxford with timber-framed buildings.  

The content of Elena's card is as beautiful as the card itself. She tells us about what writing means for her, both as a learning experience (to learn about others and about herself) and as a way to come to terms with her own emotions. On a personal level, Elena, I totally agree with both functions of writing to others. Even though I keep a journal, which helps me reflect, when I am writing with a recipient (other than myself) in mind, it helps me organise my own thoughts and put my own feelings and experiences into perspective.

I am sure that is the case for many of you letter and postcard writers out there, right?

Thank you, Elena, for your generosity in sending this card and sharing an intimate piece of yourself in your card too!

Postcrossing in our EOI: BLOGS

I know most of the readers of this blog are Postcrossing members themselves and are familiar with how much fun and happiness can come from writing and receiving postcards to/from different parts of the world.

We know that, and that's the reason why we have decided to incorporate Postcrossing to our classes, as an excellent way to practice writing skills in a real context, improve creativity and learn. I am very pleased to introduce the three teachers and their blogs below. Please, take a moment to explore them, they are well worth your time.

Ana Losada, working at our satellite school in Sar:

http://postcrossingateoisantiagosar.blogspot.com.es

Manuel del Río, working at our satellite school in Noia:

http://postcrossingnoia.blogspot.com.es

Carla Dechant, working at our headquarters in Vite (Santiago):

http://postcrossingateoisantiagovite.blogspot.com.es

We are sure this creative writing project will continue to increase in members and followers.

Thank you, Ana, Manuel and Carla for your hard work!

Traveling Notebooks: MALAYSIA'S NOTEBOOK IN CHINA

Alina, from China has sent us an update about the traveling notebook they received from Malaysia about one month and a half ago.

Last month, Zhoushan Senior High School had an "Art and Culture" festival and, since they had the traveling notebook from Malaysia, they organized several activities around it and had it on display.

She has kindly sent us some pictures which you can see below:

We are really glad that traveling notebooks are being used to learn more about culture and languages across the globe and that they integrate in our school activities. 

Malaysia's notebook will now travel from China to Russia, to Ulyanovsk school nº 76. 

We hope it has a safe trip! 

Meet the Schools: CPR PLURILINGÜE GALAXIA

Here we are after the Christmas break, with renewed strength and energy to continue with our project.   

We are pleased to introduce yet another school in the Barbanza area which is participating in the traveling notebook chain. Marta González has written a presentation of the school for us, take a look!

Hello from Galaxia School!!!!!

We are willing to take part in this Project since our school has already been involved in a similar project. It was about ten years ago and it was called “A Parcel to England” and we exchanged letters and projects in English, using snail mail, with students from different countries.

The experience was so motivating and exciting for the kids that we have decided to take part in “CadernosViaxeiros”.

Our school is located in the city centre of Santa Uxía de Ribeira. There are about 570 students from infants to bachillerato. This is our first year as a plurilingual school and through this project we want to make our students realise that we can make friends, share experiences and learn lots of things using the different languages we know and we are learning.

Wishing to receive your TRAVELLING NOTEBOOKS!!!!

Thank you, Marta! 

We are really glad you joined us, specially since you already have experience in this type of projects. 

I hope it meets your expectations and it turns out to be a significant learning experience!

Special THANK YOU cards on their way

The Christmas break gives us time to do a lot of things, and the rainy weather actually encourages you to do a lot of indoor activities, don't you agree? I took advantage of the extra time off to write some long overdue thank you letters to all the colleagues who are participating in this creative writing project in some way or another.

I know some of them personally, others I don't, but we have been in touch long enough to realize they are dedicated people, full of stamina, enthusiasm and an innovative spirit. We almost have one person for each letter of the alphabet:

Alexia, Alicia, Alina, Ana, Belén, Carla, Carlos, Carmen, Cristina, Dolores Gómez, Dolores Olveira, Esther, Eva, Galina, Iván, Laura, Lola, Luís, Manuel, María Basterrechea, María Valdés, Mariló, Marisa, Nancie,  Nerys, Nieves, Nuria, Pablo, Tamara, Sandra, Marta, Uxía, Vicky, Zoraida.

I am really grateful to all of you! You have served as an inspiration and I really hope we can continue to exchange ideas and enrich this heartwarming project.

I have sent you some special cards which have been beautifully drawn by Galician designer Eva Rieiro. Eva is a friendly girl with the sensitivity to capture the essence of things in a fresh, naïve way. I have sent some cards designed by her to different destinations all over the world through Postcrossing, and last December  at Mercado da Estrela when she showed me her new drawings which she had designed for a 2016 calendar, I immediately fell in love with them! She has also made them into postcards, so these are the ones that you will be receiving shortly.

Would you like to see some of them up close? There are 12 different designs, but these are my own favourites. 

Hope you all like the cards.

Graciñas, Eva, polo teu traballo e pola túa atención e interese persoal!