I think most of us have probably had a penpal at one time or another. I started writing to my first penpal at around the age of ten. I can thank my mom for that since she volunteered with a man who was known for getting penpals together.
My first penpal, a girl, was from The Philippines and I can remember being excited to be able to write to someone in another country.
We wrote for around fourteen years. It was a quite innocent penpal relationship, at least I thought so. It was not until I wrote her and told her that I was planning on getting married that I realized our friendship was not as innocent as I thought. At that point, she made it pretty clear that she had thoughts of me proposing to her. I felt bad, but I had no idea and had no romantic feelings. I was glad to find out that things worked out for her about a year or so later when she told me she was getting married.
I had a couple other penpals from The Philippines during the early years, but they were all boys. I figured I better play it safe.
It was not until I was a little older I got more involved in writing to guys around my age in other countries. I wrote to a man in Germany, Ireland, Norway, Belarus, England, India, Ukraine, The Netherlands and Sweden.
The guy in Belarus actually came to America one summer as a youth volunteer at a camp. My wife and I were able to meet him while on his way back home. He stayed with us a few days and our family got to know him and enjoy his company.
I also got to meet my penpal from India. He actually came to the USA to go to college in the town we live, and we got to spend a lot of time with him. He became a good friend of the family.
Our friend from Belarus and from India are still people we stay in contact with today, although they both now live in other countries.
My penpal from Sweden has been my longest and most consistent writer. We still hand write or type letters to each other after thirty-five years. He and his wife came to the United States a few years ago on a vacation and toured some cities in the south. Unfortunately, it did not work out for us to meet up at that time. It was disappointing, but hopefully some day in the future we can do that.
Currently, I have several people I write to via email in various countries. It is much easier and quicker to email people, but it is not quite the same as sitting down and hand writing or typing a letter and putting it in the mail. There is a special feeling about getting a letter in the mail from a friend in another country.
When my wife and I take vacations to the beach, I often find myself sitting on the beach and staring out at the ocean wondering who I might know on the other side of the water.
Who knows, I may never meet another penpal in person, but I feel by letter writing and getting to know them, I can certainly learn and promote friendship with others around the world.
I really think penpals can be a big help in learning about other countries and other cultures. It is a small way of creating global peace and understanding. It does not take long to realize that no matter where we live, people are basically the same.
What started out as a childhood hobby of letter writing certainly continued into adulthood and became a meaningful experience. So, if you have any interest in penpals, remember, it is never to late to start. It will be well worth your time.
Yes! I still write letters though have taken breaks. I have kept the letters I received, though my early ones, I cut the stamps out of the envelopes. Stamp collecting is another thing too, though I'm not an organised collector. Do save the stamps, be it for yourself/family/friends who are philatelists, or for charities that can sell them on to raise funds (e.g. Oxfam, disease research & support charities...)