Pen Pal
8 years ago by
I recently received a postcard from a friend in the mail. In my actual mailbox! The note was hand written, stamped, will all the post office markings and everything.
She isn’t backpacking in Europe, or road tripping across the country—she just wanted to say hello from the far and distant territory of the Upper West Side. I don’t see her much as we are both so busy… yes, the worst excuse in the world, but nonetheless that seems to be the case.
The postcard was from the Natural History Museum, which is right by her apartment. This made me laugh because it proves how detached we can become from one another based on location and proximity, despite being packed onto this tiny island- only 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. How is this possible?!
Her gesture felt very sentimental and thoughtful. I picked up the cutest vintage postcard I could find in the East Village and wrote her back. Something very strange happened – we started communicating more because we were so invested in sending these postcards back and forth – it wasn’t just another text you could miss. Odd as it is, I now have a pen pal who lives 25 minutes away. Strange? Eh maybe. But I know much stranger things have happened on this island we call home.
Do you have a pen pal? What’s your favorite place to get a one of a kind postcard or unique stationary?
-By Hannah, at the Studio
When my dad went into hospice and couldn’t deal with phone calls anymore (he couldn’t hold the phone), I sent him a postcard at least twice a week. Honestly, now they make me sad. But postcards are great for delivering a photo and a short message–a whole card or a letter is so much writing that maybe we don’t quite get around to doing it. And, on the other side, it’s so nice to get something like that in the mail, among the bills.
the last written card i got was the one announcing the birth of the daughter of my friends. i keep it on my fridge! :)
http://littleaesthete.com/
I used to have tens of penpals when I was a schoolgirl. In my own country and abroad.
Living behind the “iron curtain” a penpal was one of the few ways to get to know something about the countries on the other side of “the curtain”.
I have so many great stories about my foreign penpals!
I had a penpal from the U.S. and I ended up going to college in the U.S. and being her roommate! Hi, Stacey! And years later I went back for her wedding. We still keep in touch. And it all started from a hand written letter. :)
I had penpals on every continent. A guy from Italy sent me a telegram (do these even exist any more?) for my birthday. It felt amazing.
I sent and received all kinds of interesting stuff in the mail. Candy wrappers, local currency, cut outs from magazines…
A guy from Saudi-Arabia sent me a tape where he introduced his country and family and his letters came on scented paper – the stationery smelled like strawberries!! I had never even seen pink stationery. I was living in the Soviet Union…
I haven’t posted or received letters for a long time. I did receive a postcard from a friend on vacation.
https://sofaundermapletree.wordpress.com
I really like the idea to have a pen pal. I had one when I was younger… I think that I miss it but who know ? Maybe I would try to send a postcard with a beautiful view of Rennes to an old friend in Spain. It sounds good !
(Even if I would prefer to receive a postcard from Japan)
Have a nice day,
Alixe ~ A dreamy bird
getting an email or sms from a friend (wherever she/he is) is nice but getting a letter/post card is romantic. It brings
back old fashioned times which wasn’t the worst
That’s awesome!
I participated in an event a couple weeks ago and took a friend there. A shop was promoting a new paper line and invited us to come over and write letters. I think it was part of the Write_on campaign:
http://www.writeoncampaign.com
I wrote a letter to my grandfather who lives in France (I’m in Portland, OR). I was so happy to take some time to think about him and write a letter, just for him (even though we sometimes talk when he’s around when I Skype my parents).
I used to write my grandparents postcards from all my trips, then travelled a little less, or just forgot about it. But he’s the only grandparent I have left, so I’m trying to make a few moments special.
– Chloe
http://consciousbychloe.com
Je suis brésilienne et j’ai une pen-pal allemande depuis 30 années!
I’m obsessed with beautiful stationery, but sadly there are too few occasions to use it these days, so it’s more of a collection. Two of my favorites are Il Papiro (an artisanal Italian brand) and of course Smythson. Rifle Paper co has unique greeting cards though :)
A friend of mine in Texas (I’m UK based) and I send each postcards when we spot a good one or we think of something to tell the other that isn’t ‘regular’ catching up – it’s a little thing that’s always fun to get, and makes a distance friendship a little more physical, if that makes sense. I also pop things through peoples postboxes sometimes, which saves on postage!
J’adore l’idée d’avoir des pen pals!
Ah oui c est super de recevoir une carte ou lettre, de déchirer le papier de l enveloppe , et de savoir que ce petit mot à été écrit avec beaucoup de délicatesse et d amour .
Oui, j ai une amie qui habite en Allemagne et qui préfère écrire sur papier que par mail, bien que depuis peu What s up est rentré dans sa vie avec l iphone !!
Je suis allée voir l expo du Douanier Rousseau et je lui a pris une jolie carte , l innocence archaïque. Pas encore écrite , mais très prochainement !
This is so cute, you have great friends! x
http://www.wonkylauren.com
Quand j’etais ado, j’ai joué le jeu du lancée de ballon avec une petite carte accrochée et mon adresse. Tout le monde le faisait et on savait qu’on allait jamais avoir de réponse.
Quelques semaines plus tard, une lettre avec une photo de Pologne. Un garçon de plus ou moins mon âge m’écrivait…en polonais. Heureusement, j’ai un ami qui a réussi à me traduire la lettre et on a correspondu comme ca plusieures fois. C’etait drôle, émouvant, original.
I’m always sending my friends postcards when I’m traveling! My best friend who lives in Norway and I are sending each others full-on letters occasionally, and it’s just lovely. I would also love to send myself postcards every day of the trip when I go to France for two weeks this summer – I think it’s such a cute idea and will make a perfect “travel book”.
http://www.appelezmoiana.com
Beautiful! My pen pal is my husband, we write letters everyday if any of us is on a work travel, as boyfriend and girlfriend we used to send e-malis or texts but this has become a soooooo romantic tradition, bring it to life again!!!!
bonjour Garance.Moi aussi depuis 20 ans ,je corresponds depuis la grece avec un ami belge et ces echanges sont jubilatoires.Il arrive des periodes parfois de 6 mois, sans qu’aucun de nous ne donne signe de vie et lorsqu’arrivent les courriers,ce sont de grands moments de bonheur et de partage qui m’enchantent.Dois je preciser que cette personne est tres tres chere a mon coeur et que mes pensees sont toujours tournees vers elle?
Les amis plus proches physiquement de moi et avec lesquelles je ne communique pratiquement plus que par mails ou msn me paraissent etrangement plus lointaines!Le plaisir que je prends a choisir le papier a lettres ,les enveloppes et les timbres n’est comparable a aucun autre…et biensur,cerise sur le gateau,toute cette correspondence n’est lue et destinee qu’a moi.Un plaisir egoiste!
merci pour vos mots et surtout,continuez.
This is very beautiful!! Never had a pen pal but might have now!
I started writing letters again when I moved to Japan. At first, I was only sending a Christmas card or two, but now I write to my friends regularly and receive mail regularly as well. With time and practice, the letters got longer and longer. We still communicate by messages and skype… but what we share in a letter is completely different.
When I was a child, my aunt used to live in Tahiti, and she sent me letters and postcards all the time.Because of that, I feel as if Tahiti were my childhood home. I am trying to do the same with my niece and I send postcards and news from Japan all the time. I hope one day she’ll love this country as much as I do :)