Let me just tell you, I love my penpals...
I've had penpals on and off since I was about 11 or 12, and I can't possibly tell you how enriching the experience has been... I've learned SO damned much about the world through penpals... There are things that social studies classes simply cannot teach a person. One cannot learn about foreign cultures from a textbook; there are so many small details that one can learn about others only through letters...
Like, that ALL Japanese people apparently have the same handwriting.
Like, that British people think you're a fucking moron if you call your refrigerator a refrigerator instead of a fridge.
Like, that non-Americans may consistently pick on Americans for being under-educated and generally ignorant, but that multitudes of people from other countries have NO idea that New York is a state, not just a city...
Like, that English is NOT the only language in the world, and, while it may not be the most beautiful when spoken, it IS undeniably one of the most complex, and therefore, one of the most expressive, if you know how to use it correctly.
Like, that family can be more important than anything else, which is something that Binghamton, NY, USA, has never implied to me.
Like, that American penpals tend to be REALLY superficial, and it's no freaking wonder nobody likes us.
I've got penpals all over the world now -- on six continents... From Russia, from Uganda, from England, France, Brazil, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany... And a few from the U.S., one or two of whom break all stupid-American stereotypes and have a thing or two to say... There's one guy from England -- a military brat, actually, whose lived in half a dozen different countries, and he's got the European method of dating his letters with the date before the month (ie, 24 April 2001), but American spelling habits... The Germans have problems distinguishing an "O" from a zero if the zeroes aren't crossed, and the Australians think you're a freak if you cross your zeroes and ask if you were raised by poms, which is either an Aussie term for wolves, or a desparaging word meaning British. The Asians all have this gentle way of assuring you of unconditional eternal friendship even in their first letters, and the Middle Easterners want to know everything about your family first and foremost. And Indians always seem to write on extremely thin paper that feels like cobwebs.
...And amazingly, everybody -- EVERYBODY! -- seems to like American music and movies. Everybody also seems to either know a fair bit of English or be quite ashamed that their English isn't all that great.
I received a marriage proposal this morning from my Ugandan penpal. He wants me to be the "mum" of his children. Strange. Very strange. Even stranger than the lovely Aussie girl who didn't know New York was a state but knew ALL about David Lynch. Perhaps Uganda is simply not a place where emphasis is placed on flirting.
Received a postcard in the mail a few days ago of Moscow: this glorious purplish city all aglow with streetlights and water and astounding architecture. On the back was written something to the effect of, "Not much to say about this postcard. Just Moscow." JUST Moscow? I wonder if Binghamton looks as fascinating to Russians as Moscow looks to me...
My South Korean penpal wrote his address in Korean characters, so I had to copy them, painstakingly, onto the envelope when I wrote him back. Took me longer to address the envelope than it did to write the letter, and I'm not sure it'll reach its destination, since my Korean lettering looked pretty pathetic.
Sometimes I feel so priveleged to live where I live, and to have experienced the things I have. To have been raised speaking the most frustrating language in the world. To understand individuality as I do. To have the RIGHTS I have. To have been born and raised on the corner of two rivers, to have experienced four seasons, to be an unidentifiable mixture of different ethnic backgrounds, to have inherited so many different talents from so many different cultures. To have Polish eyes and German temperament; Amish cooking skills and Danish buoyancy; to gesticulate as passionately as the Italians who surrounded me as I grew up; to still be in touch with the French romantic nature and the Sioux spiritual forces inside of me; to have acquired a certain dark serenity from my childhood Czech-American neighbors... I'm an American, and having penpals from all over the world makes me realize sometimes just how complex Americans really are, particularly Americans in ethnically-diverse areas like this one. I'm so fortunate to have so many influences acting on me... And for some reason, this whole penpal thing is absolutely addictive; there's this longing for new influences all the time: not just from different cultures, but from different individuals...
I'm a bit tired; I'm off to fall asleep in front of the tube...
~Helena*