Postcrossing Philippines Fort Santiago Meet Up

When I joined Postcrossing, I thought it would be nice to meet fellow Filipino members to share this hobby with and talk about postcard-related topics.  Luckily, I found the Postcrossing Philippines Facebook group.

The group was having a meet up in Fort Santiago on April 5 and I decided to join even if I am a newbie. When I went to the Fort Santiago, I immediately spotted them in the picnic tables.  They were easy to identify because they have photo albums of postcards and stamp collections.

I was actually nervous when I was approaching them.  It felt like my first day of classes when I was a transferee, when I attended the freshman orientation day in college or when I first time met my UPSCAn brods and sisses. I had questions running in my head. Will they like me? Will I feel welcomed?

But when I got near them, I felt at ease. They smiled and said "hello" when they saw me. I smiled back because I felt their warmness. I felt like I belong. It is a nice feeling to be part of the group.  When I was in college, I was a member of an organization and I miss being part of one.  I think this will be my new group now. :-)

Photo Credits: Sir Willie Monzon, Willa Stock and Edgar Ruiz

It is interesting to note that we come from different places, near and far (Ate Arlene came all the way from Iligan, I think) and we belong to different age groups. Deltiology, the hobby of collectig postcards, is for all age groups and gender.

I had a great time talking to fellow Postcrossing members and browsing their collections. We also talked about what types of photos we want to see in postcards and the improvements we want in the postcards that are available in the bookstores. After lunch, we signed meet up postcards and had mail art tutorial courtesy of Jona.  We spent about five hours together but it felt like time wasn't enough to bond with everyone.

If there is one thing that I noticed about Postcrossers, they are a group of generous people.  They love to share what they have.  It is a shame that I wasn't able to give them anything when I took home so many freebies. It felt like I have no right to take them because I wasn't able to give back. These are what I got from the meet up.

 I am definitely attending the next meet up if it's in an area near me. (They have meet ups in Palawan, Bacolod, etc. I don't think I have the money for that right now.) I promise that next meet up, I will come prepared.  I will also bring postcards that they can sign so that I can send meet up postcards to people.  

I am thinking Tagaytay could be a good venue for the next meet up. The meet up cards could be a picture of  Taal Volcano. It's not in Tagaytay but it is best viewed in the city.  I can also suggest to sponsor our lunch. Hmm... I think that's a really a good idea. I hope they'll agree. :-)