Tuesday 23 October 2012

Snail mail week: Lovely letters, longtime friendships

Ever since I was a teenager I always had many penpals. I loved writing about my life and loved even more to read about other people and cultures. Some of these penpals are still very good friends of mine, and they don't even live close to me. I had the privilige of meeting some of them over the years, which I will tell more about through these pictures.
This letter is from a dear friend from the UK, Katie. We have been writing for year and years. Last year I visited her in Bristol, England and had an amazing time! She showed me around her town and I got to meet her lovely boyfriend, who took lots of pictures for us. Katie also visited Holland and stayed at my home for a week! At the time we baked lembas bread (we both love Lord of the Rings!), visited the beach, rode bikes and basically had a ton of fun. I am happy she is still in my life as a good friend. And isn't that postage stamp amazingly pretty?!
Katie and me in Bristol
These totally cute drawings are made by my friend from Russia; Zhenya. I always loved receiving letters from her. Although our contact now is mostly through internet, I still treasure her letters alot. It always took a while for our letters to arrive, as Russia is huge! And the mail is quite slow there, but letters did arrive mostly. In 2010, after a long penpalfriendship, I finally got to meet my Russian friend. She lives in Madrid, Spain now and that is where I met her. It was such a joy to meet her and give her a hug! Had a great week with her in the heat of Spain and saw many beautiful things in Madrid. Hopefully I can meet her again soon, maybe in Holland?!

Me and Zhenya in Madrid
One of the best thing that has happened this year; reconnecting with my penpal from the Phillipines, Katrina! On the picture you can see two letters, one from 2002 and one from this week. I was super thrilled to find Katrina again on FaceBook. After sending her a message, she replied so lovely and could not wait to start writing again. And so we picked it back up, as if we had never been apart. It was so cool to find a letter of hers in my mailbox again! Katrina is hoping to visit me in Holland soon, and I can't wait!
Do you have lots of penpals? And have you ever met them? I would love to hear your stories, my friends!

6 comments:

  1. I have one penpal. We started writing to each other after 30 days of lists where we both participated. We haven't officially met. But we both live in the USA Hopefully one day!

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  2. I used to have penpals as a teenager, too! Only 2, and now they are on my facebook. Of the 2, I have met one in her hometown in Germany, and we also met when we agreed to meet in Zurich :)
    These days, I hardly keep in touch with people anymore, sadly...

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  3. i used to have QUITE a few penpals back in the day! sadly, most of them i have lost touch with but i have kept in touch with a few! still haven't met anyone, though!

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  4. Its amazing how the internet have changed the use of letters and communications. I had a penpal when I was a teenager but lost track of her. To me this blogging is like have access to hundreds for pen pals :) You are very lucky to reconnect with your pen pal and even luckier to have met her.
    I am following you from the FB hop and would love for you to follow back.
    Jillian
    http://puzzlemecomplete.blogspot.com/2012/10/tidbits-of-halloween.html

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  5. Thank you all for you lovely stories. I always loved having penpals :)
    And welcome to all the new followers, so great to have you here!

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  6. I love these - so pretty! I save all sorts of drawings I get... even when they're just cute doodles by owners that come with etsy shop orders. =) Love seeing this little collection!

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