Pen Pals.....did you have one?

[live4christp1]

I had a pen pal in Romania when I was a teen. Anyone else have a pen pal in another country?

Do you still keep in touch? Lost touch with mine last couple of years of high school.

Was just thinking how much the internet has changed everything and kids can contact anyone/anywhere now via the internet. We had to use snail mail and postage to another country was more than a stamp (not something my mom was thrilled about).

Do kids today even write letters?

I know my DS doesn't. He uses email randomly (not very much at all).

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I've had a penpal in Ireland for 30 years. We're down to just Christmas cards now, but we do still keep in touch. She invited us to her wedding a few years back (unfortunately we couldn't go). I did meet her parents when they came to Boston to visit several years ago. (They drove 2 and a half hours here, felt like we knew each other after so many years of correspondance with their daughter!)

Kids today, writting letters, I don't know. I think they make them do it in English class, lol. I do make mine do actual written and stamped thank you notes!

(On the flip side though, we have friends in Germany the kids are in contact with, we can call them for free {thank you Vonage and cell phones!}, cheaper than the stamp, lol)

 

[XYSRUS]

I've had a pen pal (from Australia) for 31 years now. Started writing each other when we were 12. Lost touch after we were married and then found each other on Facebook. Never met each other in person, but feel like I have a friend for life! I don't know how she signed up for a pen pal but I remember filling out a form from school in 6th grade. It was to encourage letter writing. You picked 3 countries from which you wanted a pen pal and I got lucky and got Michelle!

 

[C.Ann]

"Did"? I still do - LOL..

Actually, I didn't start writing to pen pals until I was an adult.. There used to be two great magazines - "Women's Circle" and "Women's Household" - that was nothing but other housewives; mom's; and single women looking for pen pals.. I started writing in 1966 and I'm still at it today.. I have one pen pal that I have been writing to for 35 years now.. Most of the others are 20+ years..

We've shared our kids growing up; becoming grandparents; and some of us becoming widows.. They're not simply "pen pals" anymore - they're close friends.. I've been fortunate enough to meet several of them in person and hope to meet all of them in person someday..

In the past 2 years I've taken on some new pals, so right now my total is 22 - all long-letter pals.. All of them are in the U.S. - in various states..

I love writing and receiving long letters - as do my pals.. It's sad that "snail mail" is becoming a lost art.. Emails would never work for us - too impersonal.. There's just something about reaching in the mail box and pulling out a "real" letter - not just BILLS.. LOL.. It's a great way to brighten someones day..

 

[AKL_Megs]

I had a pen pal from a town outside of Milan, Italy.

It was nice! We sent letters to each other for about a year. She even sent over these delicious smelling native flowers that smelled like honey. I used to send her maple leaves!

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I had a pen pal in Australia. We happened to meet and become friendly in Yosemite National Park over Christmas vacation when we both were around 10yo. We exchanged addresses and became pen pals from then on until sometime in high school when we dropped off.

 

[Stargazer]

I had a pen pal in Germany and England. It was a class assignment in elementary (I think 4th grade), but I lost touch with them when I started high school.

 

[MushyMushy]

Yes! When I took French in high school, we were encouraged to pick pen pals and I got three -- from Italy, Germany, and India. I really loved writing to the one from India. We sent pictures and cassette tapes. Probably sent/received a letter every week from him!

We lost touch when I went to college. He assumed we were going to get married, even though there was no romantic talk whatsoever. I made it clear I wasn't ready to marry anybody and he stopped writing to me. I was sad, but geez, what are ya gonna do??

 

[murcor]

Yes, I did and enjoyed writing and receiving each and every letter.

Too bad we let it go to.......

I would like the same experience for my kids.....Hey, any Diser's out there with kiddos 10 ish and 9 ish

 

[JustineMarie]

I had a pen pal in Elementary school too! I loved getting letters from her. We lost touch once I started 10th grade and I have tried to find her on facebook with no luck! I have 2 girls, 11 and 8, who would probably love to have a pen pal. It's a shame that kids don't write letters anymore.

 

[Micca]

I had a few pen pals in Europe. Years later I went to Europe and met them.

 

[kangareaux]

I've had the same pen pal since 1984 (or is it 85?). He's from France. We've lost touch a few times but always seem to find each other. Of course, we're now in the age of Email, so we rarely go more than a week without talking. (Except times like the past 2 weeks...he's on a THREE WEEK vacation to the french coast. Yeah....I'm jealous! LOL!)

He's been there so long it's like he's family. He even calls me his 'American Cousin'. And I no longer ask how his mother is, but instead refer to her as 'Aunt Julia'.

 

[Camicar]

I had forgotten all about a pen pal until I read this post, but yes, I did have one. Her name was Susan and she was from England.

We corresponded for years until she asked me to visit her and I declined. I told her that I'd LOVE to be able to visit England but my family simply did not have that type of money. I explained that we were 'working class' and had little spare money (as examples, I told her how I had one pair of shoes and 5 shirts per year and so on.)

She became incensed and wrote me a scathing "BITE ME" letter in which she stated that she knew I was lying about not having the money because "Everyone knows all Americans are rich. So you must not want to visit, so our friendship is over." And that was that. I write her a few more times and never heard from her again.

That was about 30 years ago. Hope she's learned something different in that time!

 

[aunties]

I have a penpal, or as I now say, a good friend who lives just outside of Milan, Italy. We started writing in 1975 and have kept in constant touch ever since. I don't really speak Italian but her English is perfect. We have visited with each other many times. They usually come here. I have only been able to get to Italy twice. One of my favorite trips to Disney was with her family in 1996. Her daughter was 6 at the time and it was such a joy to watch her face light up as she as met with all the characters. Disney magic let us communicate quite well.

Our last visit was in 2006 when I took my nephew to the Olympics. We spent time with her family. My nephew was 18, her daughter was 16. Her daughter and her friends took my nephew out for gelato. Even with a major language barrier, they had a great time conversing. We had dinner at their house. My nephew will tell you that the Olympics were great but visiting with them was the best part of the trip.

I have all the letters and cards from all those years. Now, we usually just email each other. It doesn't take months to get news back and forth now.

 

[tar heel]

I had an American pen pal from a teen magazine. You filled out a sheet and they sent someone yours and sent that girl's to you. It was a really good experience for me. She lived in Chicago and went to Catholic school. I lived on a farm and went to a country public school. Her name was Arlene Rekas (last name might not be exactly right). It would be so cool if someone knew her!

My cousin signed up for a pen pal through the same magazine, and she ended up with someone who wrote about sex! We were, I think, 12 and her mom ended her pen pal relationship.

In high school, I had a pen pal from a French-speaking African country for two or three letters through French class.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I exchanged letters with a girl in Taiwan for a while back in Jr. High. We eventually lost touch, but it was fun writing.

As for whether they still teach "snail-mail" skills in schools, DS's 1st and 2nd grade classes both had pen pals at our Senior Center. (Not the same as over-seas, I know, but a great program!)

 

[MIGrandma]

I had a Korean pen pal when I was in high school. We wrote for a couple of years then when I got married she dropped me. It was odd because she continued writing during the planning stage, but immediately after the wedding she just stopped. I always wondered why. She wouldn't answer when I asked if anything was wrong, if she was okay, etc.

Then in 1976 I was a SAHM and like C.Ann, I too enjoyed the "Women's Circle", "Women's Household", and "Women's Comfort" magazines. They were filled with letters from women wanting pen pals. And I even submitted a couple letters of my own over the years.

I had over 100 pen pals at one time, but could not keep up so had to give some up. My usual number was around 40 I think. Some were long-term (20-30 years) and some we only wrote each other a few months and then lost interest.

I haven't had pen pals in years now, just lost interest in letter writing I guess. I have kept in touch with a few at the holidays, and recently got in touch with a few on Facebook as well.

 

[Golf4food]

I had a penpal in Turkey when I was in elementary school - a class project thing originally. A few months after we started there was a big earthquake in his region of Turkey and I never heard anything from him again. I always wondered if he died in the earthquake (thousands were killed). So, yeah, that kind of sucked...

 

[MushyMushy]

I had forgotten all about a pen pal until I read this post, but yes, I did have one. Her name was Susan and she was from England.

We corresponded for years until she asked me to visit her and I declined. I told her that I'd LOVE to be able to visit England but my family simply did not have that type of money. I explained that we were 'working class' and had little spare money (as examples, I told her how I had one pair of shoes and 5 shirts per year and so on.)

She became incensed and wrote me a scathing "BITE ME" letter in which she stated that she knew I was lying about not having the money because "Everyone knows all Americans are rich. So you must not want to visit, so our friendship is over." And that was that. I write her a few more times and never heard from her again.

That was about 30 years ago. Hope she's learned something different in that time!

OMG, I forgot about a similar experience until you just brought that up! I had another male penpal, can't remember where he was from. Somewhere exotic like Egypt or something like that.

As soon as we started writing, he wanted me to buy him a baseball mitt. As a gift, he sent me a subscription to Newsweek (I was a 15 year old girl!!! NO interest in Newsweek). I did ask my parents for the money to get him a mitt, but they were having nothing to do with that, and he had the same reaction. He was ticked and went on and on about how rich we Americans are and that I was just greedy and stingy.

 

[EMom]

I got a male penpal from England when I was 13 and he was 16. That was something like 30 years ago. We started writing and never stopped. I think I got an email from him tonight. Over the years, I visited him a few times and he's been to see me. I'm closer to him than my own brothers. So yes....I'd say it lasted.