Sending Intergalactic Mail: Alphabet

• Addresses
• Postage
• Alphabet

Alright, so you may be wondering how people from IGM can read English and the Roman alphabet. I mean, how stupid do I think you are, right?! Well...very. Just kidding.

People from IGM can actually read a variety of languages. It's pretty essential if they're going to be delivering to an array of planets with different alphabets and languages. They do have an "official" alphabet that they used more often in the past; it would have been under the Earth address on our envelopes (the Earth address in the Roman Alphabet so that it can be read). I don't know how it was before, when people used pigeon post and such, -- I suppose they just beamed them down. No, really, we didn't have much alien contact at the time, I've heard of some obscure tales, but I don't know which ones are true and which are not.

Each letter in the alphabet is pretty much equivalent to the letters of the Roman alphabet (seen on right, click for full size). It's malleable, however, to a variety of alphabet sounds, sort of like when we use R/r for a flat, trilled, or rolled R/r sound without changing the letter itself (Ex. English rake, Spanish flor; Japanese roku).

The alphabet began in an attempt to have a universal alphabet (being that math, the universal language, might not be ideal to send mail). The creators tried to achieve an alphabet that would look uniform and organised.

The alphabet is still in use as the "official" IGM alphabet; however, its use has declined for at least two reasons:

001. There are so many people from all over using IGM, it became difficult to even send letters back to the sender, because they couldn't read the return address, due to the fact that many people wouldn't use the IGM alphabet at all, never mind on the proper parts; and

002. The alphabet proved to be a pain for those with dyslexia.

The alphabet is therefore no longer a requirement unless the language of the sender is not among those acceptable by IGM. Most languages are, but I can't seem to get my hands on an official list at the moment. (Sorry.)

Sending Intergalactic Mail: Postage

• Addresses
• Postage
• Alphabet

Okay, so you know how to address your envelope to be sent via IGM, right? What next? Stamps! (If you don't know how or need a refresher, you can go here.)

Well, this is pretty simple: It works like everywhere else! The difference is you don't need to put the postage anywhere specific, because different planets have different methods of mailing things.


On Earth, we put postage in the top right-hand corner, so I usually put my stamps somewhere to the left of the to-address and below the from-address, so that we can keep it separate. Of course, some people are very messy, but on Earth they will sometimes send things back, and I don't want to risk it. Plus, why not give them a break, huh?

As I said in the previous post, those stamps are cancelled out before getting to Earth. You can also cancel your own stamps, like you can have your own USPS cancellation. -- This requires your own IGM number and cancellation stamp (mine).

Sending Intergalactic Mail: Addresses

• Addresses
• Postage
• Alphabet

Intergalactic Mail (IGM) is similar to mail sent on Earth, except you need a longer address and extra stamps. Those stamps are cancelled out before getting to Earth. You can also cancel your own stamps, like you can have your own USPS cancellation. -- This requires your own IGM number and cancellation stamp (mine shown above).

Maybe you want to send mail via IGM as well, you know, when you're on holiday on Mars or visiting another galaxy? Perhaps you've decided to take up intergalactic space travel as I have, but want to keep in touch with fellow Earthlings? Well, I can tell you how.

Here is how if you're from Earth (at least):

First, you need the Earth address:

Name
# Street
City, State, Zip
Country

Of course, different countries have slightly different addresses, depending on where you are, but we'll use this general address by the US. -- I'm sure you know how Earthly addresses work.

I draw a line below this address, to make sure the people on Earth and the people at IGM know where to read. IGM is more used to messy envelopes, but Earthlings may not be used to everything all over the place, so I advise trying to keep things as neat and orderly as possible.

After the line, I expand the address so IGM knows where to send the mail from space.

Sometimes I include the country down here. -- If you're unsure where the country should go, it's best to keep it above the line, just in case. Usually, you will know which country your mail is being sent through, and if it's within that country, you can keep the country below the line. If your mail is travelling from IGM to an Earth country and then to another Earth country, it's best to keep the country above the line.

So country, then hemisphere, and the planet (Earth). The next line is the solar system, and ours is called "Solar System," so we abbreviate it "SS." Then where SS is in our galaxy: We are on the Orion-Cygnus Arm (also called Orion Arm, Local Arm, Orion Spur, and Local Spur). The next line says which galaxy we are in (Milky Way Galaxy) and where our galaxy is in the universe (The Local Group, abbreviated "TLG").

So that's...

Name
# Street
City, State, Zip
Country
--------------------
Hemisphere, planet
Solar system, location in galaxy
Galaxy, location in universe

Examples:

US to US:

Major Tom
52 Spaceship Blvd.
Notinthisworld, ST 13723
--------------------------
USA, N.Hem, Earth
SS, Orion-Cygnus Arm
Milky Way Galaxy, TLG

US to Another Country:

Major Tom
52 Spaceship Blvd.
Notinthisworld, ST 13723
ANOTHER COUNTRY
--------------------------
N.Hem, Earth
SS, Orion-Cygnus Arm
Milky Way Galaxy, TLG