✧･ﾟ: *✧ The Subject of Penpals ✧･ﾟ: *✧ : The Where, Why, and How?

Hello dear friends! I'm back so soon! This is very surprising indeed.

I'm going to be using Detective Pikachu gifs because
I liked the movie and he is just TOO adorable, alright?

Anyway, this post will be on the subject of...

 ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ℙ𝔼ℕℙ𝔸𝕃𝕊 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I learned how to do this fancy stuff! Like it?

Alright! Onto the post!!!

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First off, the W H E R E ??

I mentioned to my mom that I had been interested in having an international penpal for a super long time and we researched penpal sites that day. The one we chose is called Global Penfriends. (Oh yeah, this post is not sponsored in any way by these sites. I just really wanted to share them with you.) 

So, you make your profile and then it takes about a day for them to approve it. You put a picture (if you want), write your bio, something about your country, and who you would like to contact with the most. You would choose a gender and an age group for the last part. And when they approve, you can start sending smiles to people! 

I recommend doing an advanced search before sending smiles to just anyone. You can choose the country, the age limit, the gender, and even the religion. Then once you put the criteria you want to search for, hopefully some profiles show up! Sometimes there won't be anything and you just have to try different criteria. 

Sending smiles is free and you can send as many as you like. You also get 1 free contact credit every 12 hours after you use it. The contact credits don't build up. You have to use 1 in order to get another. Anyway, sometimes you get replies and sometimes you don't. Usually if I receive (or think about giving) a smile, I check the profile and see what we have in common. If I have a lot in common, then I might message them and say hi and ask questions about something in their bio. 

I already have three penpals! One is from the Czech Republic. Another is from Finland. And the last one is from Switzerland! I've already received a letter from the Czech Republic!!!

SO HAPPY AHHHH

We didn't send our addresses right away of course. We talked and got to know each other for a little while and then I asked if they would like to write letters. What is super cool about this website is that you can select what you would like to do. For example, some of the people on this site don't want to write letters but they would love to send postcards or do a "candy swap". I haven't done one yet but basically you send candy from your country to your "penpal" and you get to enjoy sweets from their country! It also gives you an idea of who you want to contact. 

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Second, the W H Y ??

So why would you want to have a penpal in a different country anyway? 

Well, you might want to travel to that country someday and would like to have a friend there to show you around. You might want to have a penpal because you would like to write letters to someone who will write back. You might want to have a penpal because it's AWESOME?!

This is my super-happy-and-pumped-up dance

Basically, it's a cool experience! You get to learn about other cultures and what life is like for people in other countries. And you get to make friends who actually know you by just writing letters or sending postcards.

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Third, the H O W ??

So, you want to write letters to someone? But HOW do you write to someone who doesn't speak much English?! 

Well this might seem like a problem but it really isn't. People in other countries really want to practice their English so they will write to you in English! I've only had a few times where their English isn't understandable. But it's very minor things. 

But maybe you've never written a letter before! Or you have but not to someone internationally? What do you write about? What do you send? Should you send things to them?!

I'll help you through this!

So what you want to do is just introduce yourself if you haven't already. Maybe mention a few things about yourself that you haven't said yet. Also include some questions you would like them to answer in their letter! My penpal from the Czech Republic wrote my letter and put her questions for me on a separate small piece of paper. So I will include my answers and questions for her on different papers and then my letter. There are no rules for what to send or what you need to talk about. Obviously you have something in common with this person so you can talk about that. It's just another person so there isn't anything to be worried about. 

I like to use special paper or draw something on my letters and envelopes to decorate them but it's not necessary. I sent printed photos of things about where I live so they can see for themselves and have the pictures with them. On the back of the photos, I wrote what it was and why I sent it to them! But it's perfectly fine to just send a letter and nothing else.

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So that's all I have for you guys! If I get more penpals, I'll be sure to let you guys know! Maybe someday I'll have a penpal in every country! That's kind of a lot... but who knows?

If you want me to post about what supplies I use or how I decorate my letters, let me know in the comments and I'll whip something up for you guys. Maybe I'll do a stationary haul and make a video out of it :D Hopefully this inspired you guys or gave you a new hobby to try.

Have a great day, friends!