What is a Pen Pal?

It has been a long time since I was in elementary school (talk about stating the obvious) but I still lovingly remember my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Fisher. Mrs. Fisher always knew what to say to make me feel good. But what really stands out about her as a teacher is she did things differently than the other teachers. Our class was studying g the same curriculum as other classes but it was presented in a creative way. I still remember for geography class she assigned us each a pen pal. Many of you may be wondering pen pal…what is a pen pal? In fact, with technology so advanced you may be wondering what is a pen. A pen pal is someone, usually from another country, who writes to you (thus the pen) and becomes your pal. You can write about your day, your life, your country, it doesn’t even matter, the fun of having a pen pal, at least as a kid, is in the idea itself. I remember the anticipation of waiting for the mail carrier to come and anxiously checking to see if I had a letter from Mical! Mical was from Israel and my age. We both wrote to each other in English. Now that I think about it, that is pretty impressive that she knew a second language so well when she was only eleven. Sometimes the letter would only be a few sentences but it didn’t matter. I had a “pal” from halfway across the world! I think the point of the assignment was to learn about other countries. Sadly, that didn’t happen through corresponding with Mical. But it did teach me at a relatively early age that there is a whole world out there beyond the one that I knew. Having a pen pal was my first introduction to the exciting world of travel, even though I didn’t leave home. Through the advancement of technology consider VideoGlobetrotter your modern day pen pal. You can connect with people all over the world, share stories and stay in touch…and we saved you all that postage.

  1. Great story Jill! I definitely think that penpals can be unique experiences for children as you allude to in your post. My favorite part is when you realize that there is more in the world, which is what I think is so intriguing about connecting with people from around the world. You realize how different your life could be. Thanks for sharing, glad to connect. Love your site by the way!

  2. I had a teacher like that too. Mr. Rutenburg! I even had a pen pal. She lived in Puerto Rico. We wrote each other once a week and when I was in High School my family took a vacation and I finally got to meet Josephina. We lost touch with one another. She got married at an early age and think moved to Spain. Josephina, if you are out there its me…Stacy..send me your contact information!

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