Did you ever have a foreign penpal?

[HelmutFrontbut]

When I was 15 I had an Italian penpal; he was from Sicily and his name was Massimo. We used to write letters (his in English, mine in Italian) and swap photos, he was sooo gorgeous 😍 He invited me over but my parents forbade it, citing the mafia as a reason Never forgave them for getting in the way of love's young dream cockblocking me

I had a French pen pal called Fanny that I met in hospital when I got appendicitis on the last day of a French exchange. For some bizarre reason that I still cannot fathom to this day, ALL of the staff sailed home on the return trip and I was left in France, having an op, ALONE. Between sorting money, work and transportation it took my parents 3 days to get to me too. Ended up sharing a room with Fanny briefly, before she was moved to another room. She gave me loads of French magazines and sweets and would come shuffling in a few times a day with her drip and her hospital gown flapping open around her bare bum She brought all her family and friends who were visiting to see me. She was so lovely to me. We kept in touch for ages. I found a photo of her the other day as it happens!

Not sure what happened with the emojis there?!

I'm still in touch with my penfriend in Singapore from 40 years ago, although these days we use Facebook rather than letters. We've never met but one day it might finally happen. I should have made an effort to meet her when I've visited Singapore previously.....next time I will!

I was penfriends with a French guy called Remi when I was 17 and he was 19. He came to stay with my family and he and I did a weekend roadtrip to Scotland (staying at the cottage of a family friend). Then we drove back together to his parents' house outside Paris and I stayed with them for a week followed by going camping with him and his family in the Dordogne for two weeks. We had a great time. He wanted to be a pilot for Air France (he was working for them already) and he took me flying in a small Cessna over the Dordogne. Amazing! We also nearly drowned swimming across a river there. And he gave me my first ever driving lesson (reversing on a pier in Scotland...slightly high risk lol). When I look back, I can't believe my parents allowed it as they were super-strict usually. If they hadn't liked him when he stayed with us, I wouldn't have been allowed to go back to France with him. He was bonkers (in that brilliant classically French way). We stayed in touch for a few years and I saw him a few times when I lived in Paris as a student but then we lost touch. I wrote to his parents' address a few times but never heard back so not sure if they moved or if he just was busy with his life. Happy memories though. Just writing this is reminding me of being in a very dodgy nightclub with him in France. Ah the French fondness for dancing in front of a mirror looking at yourself. And the creepy guys. Those were the days.

I got an American penpal in 1978 through a teen magazine called Fab 208. We are still in touch 40 years later. We've gone through everything together over the years but haven't met yet - hopefully one day.

My DM is still in touch with her German penpal from the 50s & they've met as few times, they are both in their 80s now.

Fanny sounded great! We all need more Fannies in our life

Ps I know a Fanny but it's spelt Fani and pronounced Fa -NEE

I had loads over a number of years. A boy from Poland who I met in person one time but he sadly passed away a few years later. A girl from Australia who I’m still in touch with but through Facebook now.

I’m not in touch with any of the rest now but there were a couple of girls from the USA, a couple of girls in The Netherlands, a girl in Sweden,a girl in Germany, a girl in tasmania and another in Australia. A mixture of boys and girls from Belgium and France, a girl in Italy, a girl in Russia and another in Singapore.

I got some from International Penpals. You filled in a form, circled countries you’d like a pen pal from, paid a fee and they sent you a list of (I want to say 30 but I might be wrong) names and addresses plus they sent your name out to other people on their lists. I don’t think that company exists anymore, it probably wouldn’t be allowed now anyway.

I had an English pen pal from Grimsby. We were in touch for about ten years but eventually stopped. TBH I think I wrote to her when I moved to the UK but never heard back?

I tried to find her a few years back but no luck.

I had lots. A German girl M who I wrote to between the ages of 12 and 21. A Japanese girl, a Danish girl and a girl in America. I don't know why M and I stopped writing. I would like to get in touch again and see what she's doing over 20 years (eek!) later.

I was pen pals with a girl called Alison from Malta. We only wrote to each other a few times but I loved getting her letters. We were on holiday in Malta last year and I was strangely delighted to pass through the town where she was from even though we lost touch years ago!

Oh, and I used to write to a Norwegian girl too, my auntie's friend was a teacher there so she put us in touch.

I'd quite like a penpal now actually!

Yes, I had an ethnic Chinese penpal from Manila, the Philippines back in the 1990s. A few years ago I had the impulse to try to find her on Facebook and was successful, so now we're back in touch. Hoping I'll be able to go and visit her some day.

@Helmet

She wasn't Amish but Lancaster Pennsylvania is known for their big Amish population so she wrote about them to me and enclosed said postcard.

Yes, met on holiday in Australia, nearly 30 years ago now 😮😊 and kept in touch.

We still write but it’s email these days. Oddly we write less than we used to when we had to post airmail letters!

I had various penpals from Finland and Sweden (not sure how, think from a magazine?!), and a girl from Liverpool who I wrote to for years then lost touch when I went to university. She was a huge Prince fan, and I think that's how we were "matched". Loved having penpaks...used to spend hours writing about utter nonsense most of the time!

A girl from Nicaragua.

Yes I had a pen pal in NZ called Sasha, I can't remember how I obtained her but we wrote to each other up until I was about 20

I also had a pen pal in Wolverhampton which is not quite so exotic 😂

When I was about 12/13. A girl from Sidney called Diane. I can still remember her exact address some fifty years later. I GoogleEarthed it and it’s now a vet surgery.

Bloody autocorrect. Sydney.

Oh memories! There used to be an international pen friend organisation linking you up. And a first class stamp would get you anywhere in Europe.

I had years of correspondence with a German girl, and a few exchanges with someone in Malaysia.

My mum has been writing to her Swedish pen friend for over fifty years now.

Yes, two through school.
A gorgeous French boy called Yann. He was blond and beautiful with shoulder length hair. Most of his letters contained many black and white photos if his luxuriant locks. He was about 16 and I was 13 so his interest in having a pen pal soonest waned.

The second one is more hazy as my parents didn't like the tone of her letters and discouraged the contact. I think she was from Indianapolis and was in a distinctly deeply religious group. Her letters reflected this, in fact all they contained were references to her (and potentially) my life with God. What I do remember most was her Christmas card to us was in the form of a family photo - you know like the Royals do. As this was a time here (early 70s) when our cards were snow scenes full of glitter it was something of a wow moment.

Just thinking, what a shame it is that our young people do not have the anticipation and pleasure of seeing a blue airmail letter addressed to them, pushed through the letter box.

38 years ago when I was 13 I had an Italian penpal. We wrote for a few years in English and then lost touch. I had kept her address in an old photo album.

In 2009 I looked up her address on Google maps and her surname came up. I then went onto Facebook and found her. Luckily Italian women keep their maiden name when they marry.

We are now back in touch via Facebook and Whatsapp. She was the first person I told I was going to be an Auntie because my sister and I have lots of friends in common and she didn't want to announce it too early but I was allowed to tell her.

She is now an Italian/English translator but we have yet to meet.

I absolutely loved having penpals. I think it linked in with my desire to find out about new countries and languages. Anyone else who loved watching Wish You Were Here? I think i must have signed up to the international penpal club as i dont remember it being royal mail. I would often stand in the garden waiting to see if the postman had anything for me and i was a regular at the post office spending what little money i could lay my hands on, on stamps.
I had penpals from lots of countries but many only lasted a couple of letter exchanges. The main ones were Melanie Berteau from France who i wrote to for a few years and a girl called Francesca from Italy who I actually met. Im not quite sure why we all stopped writing. I think it was me rather than them. I did get a penpal from thailand and we sent each other a pen tin. The one i was sent was very slim and nothing like the ones we all had at school so i loved it. I also wrote a couple if times to a girl im Haiti and her little brother would draw me pictures. I thought Haiti was possibly the most fascinating country ever and was disappointed when i didnt hear back after some time. Always wanted an American penpal but somehow never got one. I think my interest in penpals ended when I was about 15.

I got an Italian online 'penpal' through eTandem about 7 years ago. We Skyped weekly for years, though not so much the last year as our lives have changed, but we are still in touch. Have met her 3 times in Rome, and hopefully she,ll come over here one day.

I'm still in touch with my French exchange. Happy memories of time spent in the Loire Valley. My eldest is named after one of her friends.