Oh my God just that phrase gives me chills. Yes i did a friend i met on vacation and never saw again. These kids today are spoiled with FaceBook!

Not to mention playing chess by mail. How many young people would have the patience for that?

Mine was a girl from South Korea when I was in the fourth grade. My interest only lasted about six months or so. She sent a few desperate letters and that was it. I felt bad later on about not writing back and I often wonder what's going on in her life.

Yeah sure, we were the pre-e-mail mail generation, writing to anyone and anything that could read and sometimes not. :laughing:

yes i had several, and we even visited one another (much later). it was cool! i don't think young people these days want to pick up a pen and write cursive.

I currently have a pen pal. The real kind; IOW, I write handwritten letters to her and vice-versa. She also lives about 5,000 miles away from here.

Did you use to have a penpal?
Yes. It helped me with foreign languages as I've exchanged letters in 5-6 languages. The penpals in the US wouldn't last long as I got tired of not getting response or getting letters such as:
Dear .....,
Today it is raining but yesterday the sun was shining. I love your long letters. Please write soon,
Love,
Elizabeth Plusket

Nowadays I mostly stick with INTJ forum and commenting on You Tube and before that on LonelyPlanet/Thorntree

"You know you're a Generation Y" when you read this title "PayPal" instead of "PenPal"
Ok, I can save my ass, I had a lot of penpals, mostly from my country but I've had a really bad experience with the people from Ghana. Everytime I replied, a different person replied back and they all wanted to merry me. But only good experiences with others, but it is true that I stopped mailing with every single one of them, I have them as FB friends but we never write to each other anymore. :/

Hell yeah, i had a few. I was lonely then and they became my imaginary friend when they didn't replied :tongue:

I had a penpal when I was young..there's nothing like the anticipation of going to the mailbox every day..

Never had a pen pal, but I did try to write to Casey Kasem on America's Top 40. Didn't ever get the dedication read on air though, that I am aware of.

i live in the uk and had a penpal called gretchen for several years who lived in seattle , i even went to visit her for 4 weeks when i was 19, and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life i always wanted her to come here, but very soon after i got back i got engaged, then married and we ended up losing touch
i found her on facebook the other day but didnt have the nerve to contact her again after 20odd years

Yes! I had a few when I was young, one named Miranda from Florida another named Carolina from Memphis. It was always so exciting going to the mailbox and wondering if today would be the day that I'd finally get a new letter or recieve a new picture. It's been years, but I'm pretty sure I still have a few of them somewhere. Makes me sad to think kids these days just wouldn't appreciate such an experiance... too many other options for social communication. Handwritten letters just aren't that special anymore I guess.

Oh. those good old times! I had a few. Nothing beats the excitement of having a penpal than just opening your email nowadays.

Amy from Cambridge, NY:

Feel free to PM me. You were funny and I loved your letters. I'm really sorry that I was too young and dumb to keep writing back.

Ahhh, that brings back childhood memories - had a penpal in Singapore and the Ukraine.

This forum classes me as Gen Y, but in my heart and soul I know I'm a Gen X.

Had a bunch of penpals growing up, some were friends who lived in the same city who I only got to see every couple of months so would make an effort to bring our friendship closer by inventing a secret code that meant only we could read our letters to each other, others lived in far-away lands and spoke strange languages and educated me on the fact that we may live in different places but we're all the same.

I love the instant nature of communication now days but I do miss the romantic anticipation you could get from hand written snail mail.

Yes I wrote to a girl for a few years,during primary school.We both lived in Australia in the same state I think,but different cities.I can't remember how we came in contact but it fizzled out.We never met but I wish we had stayed in touch.My cousin still corresponds with her pen pal who is American.It started out with them writing letters,now they correspond by email.And they have met when her friend visited Australia a few years ago.I am face book friends with my cousins pen pal now.

I wrote to my fathers aunt who lived in the UK.She came to Australia and I met her but I don't remember much about it.We corresponded until her death many years later.I had a chance to visit her but I was then and still am terrified of flying in an aeroplane.I do regret not seeing her and maybe catching up with other family members.

YES! I remember the advertisement to have a penpal during Saturday morning cartoons! I had one, but I couldn't tell you where she was from. Wisconsin maybe.