Penpal As A Way of Cultural Exchange
Years ago when I was a kid, my mother gave me a magazine named “Bobo, Majalah Anak-Anak” (translated: Bobo, Kids’ Magazine). Bobo introduced me to a penpal activity. There was a page named “Sahabat Pena” (=penpals) where you can find penpal with their address, hobbies, and age. Kids could choose someone there to be their penpals.
I made this postcard from Indonesia traditional fabrics to be delivered to my son's penpal
Me too, mostly, I chose penpals from outside Java, I chose from Sumatera, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Timor. I remember, I was so happy when received letters from my penpals. I opened the mail, read it, wrote to her, and sent my mail at the post office.
Penpals are more than sending letters. When I read a letter, I learned about the way my penpal lives, her family, her house, her cultures. I know that there is a place named “Tual” at Kepulauan Aru (Indonesia) from my penpal who live there! Amazing! I learned geography from penpals activity.
I also like the letter itself, the paper is so fragrance, and sometimes my penpal send me a souvenir! A small souvenir such as pencil eraser. I also like to collect the stamps that I got from the mail. Although it takes weeks to receive a letter, penpals become my happy childhood memory.
Today, when the internet becomes the main human needs, people send mail digitally. No need stamps, envelope, and stationery. And after you click the “Send” button, your friend will instantly read your letter and reply, and in minutes you can read her writing and see her photos. Technology helps us closer to our penpals.
But, I think we still need to enhance our penpals relationship. My son has a penpal from overseas, I suggest him to send a cultural souvenir that easy to send and doesn’t need much shipping cost. I have an idea about some pieces of Indonesian traditional fabric cut 10 x 10 cm. I have a lot of fabric scrap from my sewing projects, so my son will have enough fabric pieces to give to his penpal. I believe his penpal will love the pieces of Indonesian traditional fabric. You can see the picture of the postcard with Indonesian traditional fabrics on top of this post. By this way, penpal activity can be a cultural exchange activity.
The Postcard