My three friends, Diane, Mavis and I once wrote to three penpals in Norway when we were young teenagers. My penpal was Kirsten. Diane had Mona and Mavis had Eva. It was fun learning about their country and discovering that many of their teenage feelings were so similar to ours even though the customs may have been different.
I can't remember when the letters stopped or why. I wish I still had some of them, BUT during one of our many moves those letters were lost. My friends tell me they've lost their letters too.
However, last year... I was emptying my 60 year old piggy bank looking for some $1 American coins to send the grandchildren and found these photos that Kirsten had sent me of the three Norwegian penpals that my friends and I here in Hawaii were writing to.
I wonder what happened to them. Their names have probably changed by now.
It's fun to remember the joy of connecting to someone who lived almost on the other side of the world. And it's amazing to think that we can now connect to people around the world through the wonders of Internet.
And when you think about it, aren't our blogs or commenting on blogs a form of being penpals? I guess we're all cyber pals.
Did you have a penpal when you were growing up?
I did have a lot of penpals from all over the world and we exchanged gifts! It must have been replaced by blogging! Thanks for reviving these memories.
ReplyDeleteI had a penpal in Sweden as an adult and later married him...unfortunately year later we ended our marriage in divorce .
ReplyDeleteThanks to a grade 4 teacher, I started a penpal relationship with a girl in England. 55 yrs later, we're still going strong. We've visited back and forth over the years; we spent our 60th birthdays together in Portugal. And they are due to arrive in 4 weeks! We've weathered the years from teenagers to retirees. We communicate more via email now but still exchange written missives at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI had a pen pal from Maine when I lived in Key West. We both had and loved horses and like you, I can't remember why we quit writing. Yes I do believe blogging is another form of that fun activity. We meet people blogging that we would never run into in our normal lives and get to learn about all parts of the country and even the world.
ReplyDeleteI did. He was from Greece. Panayiotis Tsirkinidis. He was looking, as it turned out, for a family to sponsor him to come to America to go to school. Unfortunately, he was writing to an American girl living in poor circumstances, the daughter of xenophobes, who were very suspect of 'educated idiots' (which is anyone who aspires to go to college or has been there). Writing tapered off quickly when he discovered that my family was not willing.
ReplyDeleteI actually googled his name a few years back and found that he'd been arrested for smuggling artifacts from his country.
No pen pals that I remember, but when I was spending one summer semester at Colorado State, my room-mate was a girl named Laura who was actually from a ranch in Colorado. We wrote for a bit... then after we both graduated and married, lost touch. I have forgotten her last name (which has probably changed anyhow), but would love to know how she was... so much for lost contacts.
ReplyDeletePen pals were quite the thing! I had one from Barbados. With a common name like Kirsten, you would never be able to locate her. Perhaps with her last name if she kept it when she married or never married, but even then...
ReplyDeleteI never had pen pals, that I remember anyway. I do think blogging is a form of that activity, though, and I love having contacts all over the world! :-)
ReplyDeleteI never had a traditional pen pal
ReplyDeleteYou guys are my cyber pals and my Oahu neighbors!
ReplyDeleteI didn’t have penpals but before blogging I has several email pals. I am still loosely in touch with one on FB.
ReplyDeleteI had a penpal once from finding one of those balloons classes used to release into the air with messages before we knew of the damage it could do to wildlife. We wrote back and forth a few times but that was it. I don't even remember where they were from other than English wasn't their native tongue.
ReplyDeleteI remember that we had to have a pen pal when I was in elementary school and I wrote a few letters, received a few but I wasn't really into it and neither was my pen pal so all is lost and forgotten. It was a good experience - writing and mailing away letters. Unfortunately for the current younger generation, writing letters is a lost art because it is so much easier to send texts or emails.
ReplyDeleteI did not have pen pal, but I did meet up with 3rd cousins when we traveled in Norway. Norway is a beautiful place in the spring time. Oh, the waterfalls! I would love to go back.
ReplyDeleteYes, I had penpals, arranged through school. I found some for my granddaughter, but it's so difficult these days.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought that blogs are in a way like pen pals. My brother has had a pen pal since he was about 10. They have visited several times. When a letter arrived we all had to read it. I even remember her name.
ReplyDeleteNever had any pen pals. I was doing good to pass penmanship, the old printing version with the dotted horizontal light blue lines and getting through cursive. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI never had a pen pal either. I did write to a boy friend who moved from Kansas to California for 2 1/2 years. I wrote to him every day.
ReplyDeleteMother set me up with a pen pal in the mid sixties.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a pen pal but I remember wanting one -- so blogging is fulfillment of an old wish!
ReplyDeleteI did not, but I can see the comparison with blogs.
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