Back in high school, my whole class got into the International Youth Service pen friends program. It enables kids (10-20 years of age) all over the world to communicate through writing. Writing, as in, ink, paper, envelop, stationeries….

I went to the IYS site (It’s in Finland) and was really amazed that it’s still going, after 54 years. Even with the internet around. Their matching system is great, too. You’d put in “books” as your interest and for sure they will find you another kid who loves books.

With the advent of the email, It saddens me how younger generations have all but totally ignored this mode of making friends. I discovered that the fee was the same more than a decade ago, that’s 1 dollar per adress. If we apply as a group (10 students), we get 10 addresses from countries of our choice PLUS one extra. That’s a lot of savings, particularly for high school students. We were thrilled!

I recount some stories from my former all-girl high school, and the friends we met through IYS. See, when a letter arrives, all of us would gather and read each of our pen friends’ writings. Our breaks usually included running to the bookstore to grab some scented stationeries to send to our friends abroad.

1.One high school classmate discovered that the Filipino shortcut for “which” (w/c) was virtually non-existent in other cultures. Her pen friend kept asking what she means with the w/c that she always includes in her sentences.

2.Most of our pen friends from abroad and our classmates got their “eyeball” when the 1995 Papal visit came to Manila. My classmates (I was unable to attend) instructed their pen friends to go to the statue of the National Hero in Rizal Park through writing a month or so before the World Youth Day (no cellular phones were available to kids at that time), and they had a blast there, at the site of the statue itself. They got hushed several times by the guards surrounding Rizal’s statue, but they didn’t care.

3. One of my classmates was very lucky to get a Korean pen friend who speaks very good english. Much much better than all our other pen friends combined. The Korean kid was so sweet also, sending different artifacts to share his culture: bracelets, dolls and other Korean cultural mementos. One day my classmate came to school crying, saying that she will never write to that sweet Korean kid again. it turns out, she finally sent the guy a picture of herself (after months of not giving a picture) and the next mail she received from her pen friend was a big box full of candies and chocolates. After she didn’t reply to his gift box, the guy wrote another letter saying “my dear friend, I can see from your photo that you love to eat, that’s why I sent you all the good food I can find in Korea. So you can also sample my comfort food”. We all thought he was so thoughtful. The girl was touched and finally said thank you.

4. My own pen friends included Sommer from the USA, Dong Hoon Lee from Korea and Elizabeth Frunkrantz from Austria. I remember writing to liz and telling her that I’m under 5 feet tall, she replied really quick and told me that she never imagined a 16 year old girl to be so small. I remember reading between the lines and saying “she might be thinking I have a birth defect!”. LOL. She’s my age then and she told me she stands 5 feet and 8 inches. Lee (my Korean pen friend) told me in his last letter that he plans to climb the peak of the highest mountain in North Korea if ever the military restrictions let up and the North Korean Government lets South Korean tourists in their country. Sommer never wrote back after she mentioned that they might be moving to a new house.

I really miss them, my pen friends, and a part of my time on the internet is spent looking for them in Friendster and Myspace, with no luck. It’s much more personal to write on paper than to write using a keyboard. I am grateful that I had this experience when I was younger.

This is one of my most cherished childhood memories. It helped me learn about accepting other people from other races, and embracing their cultures. It made me aware of my limitations in the English language and encouraged me to learn new foreign languages.

*wipes a tear*

Afterthought: 20 questions to get to know someone? Particularly a penpal who will get all the time in the world to answer your questions via snail mail?

Rate this: 3.2 (1 person)

The video link is in this page

By now you all probably know the story of one Willie Revillame, host of ABS-CBN’s noontime bet, Wowowee. Viewing the videos, I am willing to give Wowowee the benefit of the doubt that it was an “honest mistake”.

Productions go awry, and live shows are the most risky to put out. The “scandal” that people are talking about, in my eyes, is just the crew failing in one aspect of the show to result in the flawless execution of the game. Nonetheless, I have no doubt that someone will be sacked, or at least memo-ed. But not Willie. Or could it be?

Willie Revillame’s rattled reaction to Joey de Leon’s comments made matters worse, in my eyes. People will talk, regardless. And as expected, the most needling comments will come from their rival, Eat Bulaga. The key to the handling of the issue lies in how well Willie will handle the criticisms. He failed to handle them smoothly, showing the same panicked reactions to the criticisms following Wowowee Ultra incident.

Joey’s monologue in Eat Bulaga in response to Willie’s comments, sent people reeling and presented the class that can be expected from someone who has seen a lot in show business. Willie should have focused on apologizing, not reacting to Joey’s comments. Like the old Filipino adage tells us, pikon talo (whiners are losers).

It was a production failure, not cheating. People go there to gamble. As always, for a gamble to work, you must be lucky enough to get the proper “timing”. Every once in a while, the show will release the 2 million win, it’s just a matter of being there when they do.

See, game shows ARE rigged, and if people think otherwise, they are delusional. However, try explaining that to masses, thousands if not millions of Filipinos, who watch the show. (lol, this includes my grandmom)

ABS-CBN spends so much on a host who cannot handle a controversy well, why not spend a little more on getting an excellent production crew? Willie’s “damage control” absolutely stinks.

.

Rate this: 2.9

From Wiki:

Rachel is the capital city of Arunafeltz. The name is a pun on Israel in real life. It is surrounded by the desert-like Rachel Field. Located near Rachel is the elusive Ice Dungeon, with monsters that fit the environment. Rachel is home to two dungeons. Outside of town is an MVP boss resembling a wolf known as Atros. Rachel Sanctuary is also known as “Freya’s Sacred Precinct.” The monster types change from Demihuman, to Demon, to Formless, as you ascend into the temple. At the highest, last level, in what is perhaps the most impressive room in the dungeon, is the most powerful Ghost-type MVP ever spawned, known as “Gloom Under Night.” Ice Dungeon is home to many creatures including the fearsome Ice Titan. The MVP boss of this dungeon is the Ice Salamander Ktullanux.

Prediction 1: The price of unslotted versions of the following will increase 10-fold as Rachel comes.

Rate this: 2.9

This will probably be my last post re: this issue (unless something comes up again)

I posted this issue in the proBaldur forum and one comment struck me.

by fallen lothario:

It’s just one person’s opinion. i also have a sister studying and soon to be working overseas. Her [Malu's] statements can be annoying, but it doesn’t affect me at all. this has sort of become a national issue.. The fuss regarding this article is outrageously overblown..

That comment made me think. I actually felt the same way when I heard about it from Anitokid in person, but that time, I hadn’t read the article yet.

Rate this: 2.9

She resigned from the newspapers she worked for. She made an apology letter in geopages. She is now jobless and famous (infamous) in the Philippines and abroad.

Here’s the link to her apology at Tinig.com

I repost:

August 24, 2007 update: Base sa mga balita sa Internet, lumalabas na galing nga kay Malu Fernandez ang pahayag na naka-post sa ibaba. Iniulat na rin ng GMANews.tv at abs-cbnNEWS.com? at kanina, ng TV Patrol World?ang pagbibitiw at paghingi ng sorry ni Ms Fernandez.

Statement from Malu Fernandez on the OFW Controversy

I am humbled by the vehement and heated response provoked by my article entitled ?From Boracay to Greece!? which came out in the June 2007 issue of People Asia.

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Rate this: 2.9