WordPress does an incredible job of putting together an overview of what happened on my website during the previous year. In 2014 for instance, my ‘blogs’ were read and my website was visited by people from 64 countries. This past year, in 2015 the number has gone up to 90. Ninety countries? Hard to believe that so many exist! Just joking.
WordPress made me smile with the following comparison: The New York subway train holds 1,200 people. It would take the subway six trips to move all the people who have visited, viewed, read or followed my website: 6,900 of them. I was born in a village with 1,000 inhabitants. 6,900 seems like a bigger small city to me! And to think that these people are spread all over the globe. For my own fun I have taken the time to check where all these people are located:
- 3,933 live in Canada. No surprise because that’s where I live as well.
- 1,164 live in the USA, our neighbour country. (or vice versa?)
- 460 live in Germany where I was born but uprooted and left in 1963.
- 260 live in the United Kingdom where I have many writer friends.
- 231 live in Brazil. Surprising to me. I have been cruising South America.
- 87 live in Morocco. I have toured this country and had a beautiful holiday.
- 76 live in Italy. Superlatives for wine and food. I love Venice, the sinking city.
- 74 live in Mexico. Several holidays to get the elusive Canadian sunshine there.
- 66 live in Australia, down-under. Will never forget my trips there. ‘Crocodile Dundee..’
- 61 live in India. Will I ever see the Taj Mahal in person? Sadly, too late for me.
- 34 live in Switzerland. Pretty country to see by car or train and so clean.
- 28 live in the Philippines. This was another surprise for me. Never been there.
- 26 live in Austria. Actually I had expected more because of a similar WWII history.
- 23 live in Spain. Naturally I have been there. Unforgettable is the ‘Alhambra’.
- 21 live in France. A week in Paris, first time eating raw oysters. Saw Versailles, yes.
- 14 live in the Czech Republic. I never had the chance to visit this country.
- 13 live in Russia. Russian soldiers invaded my village at the end of WWII.
- 12 live in Malaysia. Had just a glimpse of it but feel I know it. Maybe from books?
- 11 live in Indonesia. My sister told me how beautiful it is. No chance for me yet.
- 10 live in Greece. I toured Greece several times. It was hard to breathe in Athens.
Let me just list the countries with under 10 visits to my website in declining numbers:
South Africa 8, Argentina 8, Norway 8, Ireland 6, New Zealand 6, Chile 6, Pakistan 5,Serbia 5, Ecuador 5, Thailand 4, Poland 4, Croatia 4, Denmark 4, Peru 4, Turkey 4,Taiwan 3, Colombia 3, Algeria 3, Romania 3, Hungary 3, Vietnam 2, Bulgaria 2,Lithuania 2, Egypt 2, Venezuela 2, Cambodia 2, Gambia 1, Ghana 1, Senegal 1,Sweden 1, Estonia 1, Slovakia 1, Ukraine 1, Oman 1, Sudan 1, Ethiopia 1, Bolivia 1,Mozambique 1, Honduras 1.
Nobody from China or Japan? Very interesting! Maybe next year! To think that there are people in all these countries who speak English, have a computer and are able to browse through web posts interesting to them. I have posted 54 blogs in 2015; the 
busiest day with visitors was November 11th reading “We Don’t Talk About That” and the most visitors clocked in to “Cupid’s Arrow” on Valentine’s Day. Everybody loves a love story. My website now has 114 blogs archived for you, my readers, to peruse. You’ll find many stories of great interest, some might make you shake your wise head, others will make you laugh and some might make you think and compare the good ol’ times with what’s happening in the world today.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Giselle Roeder 