Pen Pals: Fondly Remembering My IYS Days
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!
In retrospect, some of us might have found our Soul Mates through this Service.
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 and that they are definitely soulmates. 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?
13 Responses to “Pen Pals: Fondly Remembering My IYS Days”
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Yes, pen pals are a great way to learn about different Countries and Cultures!
It is a pity but finallt IYS youth service closed its door in 30th june of this year 2008…it is a pity cause with this firm i found my best friend, we have been friends for 11 years…it is an interesting method of meeting new people but the internet has “killed” this speciall company.
@Ana
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Omg. I just had a gut wrenching heartbreak. I am so sorry that they closed down.
hello! i came upon your blog when i was searching info about IYS. i found their website. they have a memo pasted there. i am shocked to know that they have closed down. i wanted to write them a simple thank you for taking part in my most wonderful friendship ever.
i have found my best friend through IYS. her name is mariella from italy. i first wrote her in 1994. to make long story short. for some reason (lost letters, delays, etc.) we stopped writing each other 13years ago. by some fluke of fate, i joined facebook.com january2009 thats where mariella found me. apparently she had been thinking about me too all those years.
its sad that the internet technology has ruined the personal touch of letter writing. well, thats the price we have to pay for change.
thank you IYS!!!! you have build bridges in our hearts.
@alanna
Thank you for sharing your story.
I really feel sorry that kids (inclding my own son) can’t enjoy IYS anymore. So sad….
After 29 years I’m still looking for my Pen Pal Barbel on Facebook and other Internet sites. Hope you are living a great life.
Barbel Konieczny
Kettelerstr. 9
4717 Nordkirchen 2
Germany
Hi,
I had some penpals, asking always for girls, because I was too shy to write to a boy tthose times… That was in the 80’s!!! The first one’s name was Sharon – from Canada and, althoug I shold have realized, I was in doubt about her sex… after all, “her” face liked as “his” face, but i never asked…
Another one was Carol, from Corse/France.
But my dearest friend was an italian girl named Mirella, from Italy. We lost contact and it hurt so much! We never happened to meet each other – it’s a pitty – She told me, on the lasts letter thar I still keep, that she´s got married and have a baby ( may be very grownup!)
Please, Mirella Citron, read this!!! I miss you too much!!!
Iam mohammad from egypt , i once had a penpal from germany , that was about
12 years ago , i lost contact with her after 2 years to continuos communication
even when she travelled to brasil i kept on sending her , so when she got a letter
from her sister in germany enclosing a letter from me , she said that was a fantastic surprise .
we lost comunication a few monthes after that , maybe i still like her till now
…. she was really a very dear friend that losing her ’s a great loss in deed !!
if any one knows meike wassmuth , dortmund , germany
that was my penpal
hi i had a few penpals through iys! one was from west germany his name was olaf hass and one was from france remi..i for get the last name! i lived in new glasgow then! janine.macgillivray…..
I have just had a penfriend from Turkey find me on facebook after 15 years of no contact. I was so happy to hear from him. I must have had about 20 penfriends from IYS. I treasured each and every one of them and I used to get a letter every day. Some I had more contact with than others but it was wonderful to see the world through different eyes. I learn’t so much about other cultures and way’s of life. I was lucky enough to meet 2 of my friends who travelled to Australia. This year I saw my German penfriend in Berlin after many years. I am sadend by the news IYS is no longer. I was hoping my children could have the same experience meeting others through the mail. I would like to thank IYS for bringing the world into my heart. It was wonderful to have friends all over the world. I have lost contact with just about everyone which is also sad. But if you are one of my old pen friends please find me on facebook. Mexico, Cyrpress, Egypt, Reunion Island, USA, Kenya, Austria and more.
I also made a lot of friends through IYS. I was searching their site hoping to find pen friends for my son and niece. It’s so sad to know they’ve closed shop! Waaah!
i made a really good friend through IYS. I am from Germany and she is from Michigan, US. We´ve been writing letters for 12 years now and next year Ill be working in the US and we will finally meet
Its so sad the children today only know the internet, it was so much fun to get a letter every second week or even more often.
Thanks IYS.