Following on from the What Time Does Your Post Arrive thread, and the various comments about what you get in the post (boring bills & flyers, mostly!) I was wondering about nice things in the post…actual letters and happy mail type things.
It got me thinking about a Pen Pal I had in the Czech Republic. I met her when she was over here working and she returned home. She was in her 30’s, and she had a girlfriend, so had to keep quiet about the romance to her friends and family. Anyway, we wrote back and forth for about 2 and a bit years, swapping presents and local sweets etc. It was a lot of fun, and she ended up buying a house with her g/f, which resulted in her being more open with her family. All well received, I might add - given that Czech Republic are very hard line about such things. We lost touch shortly before Covid kicked in, and I often wonder how she is. I sent an email to no avail, and I have lost her actual address, so I can’t keep in touch.
Have you had a penpal? Where were they from, and are you still in touch?
Not a penpal as such but I exchange emails with people all over Turkey. I met most of them in a language exchange site. Turkish is a language I have been trying to learn for a number of years. I used to visit Turkey 2 or 3 times a year before covid19.
there was girl in my primary class at school in the 50’s her family moved to Australia, and we started writing to each other for a few years then we lost touch, years later for some reason I started wondering about her, I wrote to the last address I had for her, and her parents still lived there, so we exchanged letters for a while again…
Yes I did have a pen pal when I was in senior school we kept in touch for years VIA the blue air mail paper even after we both got the internet (albeit) dial up in 2001 we stayed in constant touch until she died in 2003. I am still in contact with her family.
Had two other pen pals but we frittered out after a couple of months I think Jo and I just hit it off
Minx…ahh that’s a shame…but you have all of us, and we are from all over the world, so I guess its kind of like having pen-pals (albeit modern version!) Do you write letters?
I have an American email friend who I keep in contact with. I have known her for years, certainly well over 10 years & I don’t remember how we came to know each other. We sometimes go a couple of months between emails & never chat about anything too personal or political. But the conversation keeps going.
I had a penpal in america when i was in my teens, I think it was page in a magazine I saw Penpals adverts…, She was from Indianna, it sounded a really nice place and I wrote a couple of times got a reply back she was leaving Senior School to go into armed services . I didnt hear from her after that .
I never had a pen pal because the teenagers I wrote to were, a boyfriend and a girlfriend.
Oh those were the days, brought back memories, I used to love getting letters from both of them, so innocent in those days, they were both from Scotland,in Lossiemouth, nothing came of our childhood fondness of each other and that’s all it was.
Brian and I met again in our 40 s we had both been married and divorced ,of course we were mature adults when we met again ,it was great to catch up, no chemistry between us though, he was a nice guy and learnt later that he passed away in his early 50s…really sad, I still remember our first kiss as teenagers, strange what stays in your mind…
I have had pen pals from being a young teenager but eventually they all married & had families so we didn’t have the time to continue writing. Any I have had since are via e mail, but now most prefer to chat online.
I used to love getting a letter from abroad, reading it & then thinking what I should tell them in my reply… but I can’t see those days coming back!
See, that’s what I miss most…taking the time to think of a good reply, and including little anecdotes, or pictures. Email is fine, but its not as personal as a letter. Its a dying off thing, I agree though
Same as scot37, I wrote to people in a private mail online for a year or so. I wrote to a guy from Canada, one from Germany, one from Sweden and a few from the US. It was fun to learn about other people’s culture and views.
please…!! 
