~Seeking for pen pals~"Why not form a pen pal community?"

[-Yuri-X-]

Hey I know most people is used to chat trough e-mails or messages, but now I am seeking for pen pals here. Well cause I do not have enough time to check the forum now and then, I am fond of writing instead. Simple messages can't provide possibility of further discussion, I think, personally. I do like to make more friends through "snail mails". And the most important point is, as I am a speaker of English for second language, I do want get a chance to improve, in some ways.

Well I've considered whether it is a good idea to set up a pan pal conmmunity - or there do exist on?

I have a wide interset in ACG, and all kinds of ACG girls equally. (Well, if it is worthwhile, especially lolis...lol...)

My address: I can only say that I am now in PRC. If anyone wants further information to exchange with me, or have some other ideas, just let me know through message.

Be free to send me something, but not junk mails.

[-Yuri-X-]

Well, I gonna check this within few days.

[Kudryavka]

I dunno, continuous PMing is close enough, no? I haven't had a letter and envelope pen pal in years, and I'm so used to the internet now.

[Tsuyoshi]

I've never had a pen pal to begin with Email is a lot more convenient imo, and it's much cheaper. Only thing against it is that it's very impersonal. There's much more feeling to a hand-written letter, but I'd only do it with someone I really know well and trust, not just anyone random.

[RadiantBeam]

I had a pen pal back when I was in third grade. Only wrote one letter to her, and we never contacted each other again. Really, these days I mainly stay in contact with my long distance friends through AIM and e-mail, and using my cell phone for calls or texting.

[Vexx]

I'm kind of getting the feeling that "open air" Internet conversations make him nervous (ref: PRC). Old fashioned pen/paper may sidestep that a bit?

[Wrath88]

Note that most of us are already used to the internet. Going back to pen&paper might take time away from anime&manga.

As for the pen&paper feel, I guess you get a sense of connection when you see the other person's handwriting, etc. Not to mention the act of receiving a letter compared to an email is much more impactful.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

I had a pen pal back when I was in third grade. Only wrote one letter to her, and we never contacted each other again.

Same for me, traded letters once and never got in touch with her again.

I am pretty sure I still got the letter somewhere.

As for the pen&paper feel, I guess you get a sense of connection when you see the other person's handwriting, etc. Not to mention the act of receiving a letter compared to an email is much more impactful.

This!

The letter I received was written in a super cute type of paper (flowers and everything) and you could even smell a bit of perfume all over it.

[Liddo-kun]

Oh, someone still wants to have a pen pal these days?

This sure brings back memories, I had 2 pen pals in high school.
Eventhough we only talked about a few anime (Cardcaptor Sakura, Gundam Wing), it was still fun.

[whitepearl]

Originally Posted by Wrath88

As for the pen&paper feel, I guess you get a sense of connection when you see the other person's handwriting, etc. Not to mention the act of receiving a letter compared to an email is much more impactful.

I totally agree. Seeing plain text just makes words all look the same; you cannot tell something humorous apart from something sad, hence why emoticons were likely developed.

You really get a sense of authenticity through writing—you know someone took the time out of his or her life to write something addressed specifically to you. Something typed might very well have been copied and pasted from elsewhere or been sent to a number of other people.

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

The letter I received was written in a super cute type of paper (flowers and everything) and you could even smell a bit of perfume all over it.

Hah! This reminds me of a time several years ago when a girl and I used to exchange letters. Her letters always seemed to have a hint of perfume in them too, prompting me to ask her if she really sprayed it on the paper LOL

[Gin]

Somebody be pen pals with me.

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I'm kind of getting the feeling that "open air" Internet conversations make him nervous (ref: PRC). Old fashioned pen/paper may sidestep that a bit?

Shouldn't it be okay as long as "no politics" are involved?

[Vexx]

The State Department tells me that "Lonely Planet Guidebooks" with maps of China will be confiscated, that people there for research internships should expect to be kept under surveillance and that none of their communications should be considered "private". Anecdotes of innocuous comments leading to little interrogations and admonishments, etc., etc.

I think there's a lot of swirling currents between hardliners and reformists within the PRC government and that any citizen who communicates with "the outside" without an official "reason" probably should be wary.

[Doraneko]

Originally Posted by Vexx

The State Department tells me that "Lonely Planet Guidebooks" with maps of China will be confiscated, that people there for research internships should expect to be kept under surveillance and that none of their communications should be considered "private". Anecdotes of innocuous comments leading to little interrogations and admonishments, etc., etc.

I think there's a lot of swirling currents between hardliners and reformists within the PRC government and that any citizen who communicates with "the outside" without an official "reason" probably should be wary.

I have a childhood friend living in PRC who pulled me into the anime fandom. We had been communicating by snail mails until around 5 years ago we switched to email for convenience.

I think the most important thing is to know all the politically sensitive keywords as well as the commonly agreed acronyms for them. State Department or whatever authority wouldn't bother with the personal hobbies of 1.3 billion people or how they interact with the outside world as long as the content is not sensitive. Or else there wouldn't be so many Chinese anime forums around, where free discussion among members from PRC, Taiwan, HK and Chinese from other places is possible.

Even if you accidentally touched the "keywords," at most you only would have your email blocked by the GFW. They would have already put half of the population into prisons if random utterance of the "keywords" can amount to criminal offences (read: NK).

I would say -Yuri-X- is probably just not too comfortable with online communications. Many people enjoy checking their mail box everyday and are happy to read and write real letters and postcards. Personally I also like the idea of a pen pal community on anime. Pen pals tend to stick around longer when compared to online friends.

[-Yuri-X-]

Sorry for late reply. Now I em finally at home to check this.

The State Department tells me that "Lonely Planet Guidebooks" with maps of China will be confiscated, that people there for research internships should expect to be kept under surveillance and that none of their communications should be considered "private". Anecdotes of innocuous comments leading to little interrogations and admonishments, etc., etc.

I think there's a lot of swirling currents between hardliners and reformists within the PRC government and that any citizen who communicates with "the outside" without an official "reason" probably should be wary.

I think the most important thing is to know all the politically sensitive keywords as well as the commonly agreed acronyms for them. State Department or whatever authority wouldn't bother with the personal hobbies of 1.3 billion people or how they interact with the outside world as long as the content is not sensitive. Or else there wouldn't be so many Chinese anime forums around, where free discussion among members from PRC, Taiwan, HK and Chinese from other places is possible.

Even if you accidentally touched the "keywords," at most you only would have your email blocked by the GFW. They would have already put half of the population into prisons if random utterance of the "keywords" can amount to criminal offences (read: NK).

That may be true, but the question itself is totally meaningless, I think. Who cares, as long as you don't put phrases like "Heaven destroy C*P" in your blog. I don't think those authorities will even give a look at your personal letters that are filled with words like "Moe" or "Lolis"......And I really have no interest in political topics.

In addition, I think the limit in our forums is much looser than other countries.

I would say -Yuri-X- is probably just not too comfortable with online communications. Many people enjoy checking their mail box everyday and are happy to read and write real letters and postcards. Personally I also like the idea of a pen pal community on anime. Pen pals tend to stick around longer when compared to online friends.

Well I do feel OK when chatting online. The only problems I have is that I have no time to check the internet everyday now. I do enjoy the sweet sense of waiting someone's response. And, I have longed for exchanging snail mails with someone else since I em just a child. I do enjoy the sweet sense of waiting someone's response. That's right, that letters can bring us much more, than those simple plain texts displayed on screen. (I do like perfume, but I never tried to spray them on the paper...never recived a girl's letter filled with perfume, either...lol...)

For those who ever wants to exchange letters with me just PM me. I shall give passionful reply.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by -Yuri-X-

That's right, that letters can bring us much more, than those simple plain texts displayed on screen.

Well, I think it depends. I personally get quite a lot of of the text I see on my screen when I'm talking to my friends, especially if it's a really close friend who I know and love. Plus, with AIM and Skype you can have video chats or call your friend, so it's not just text on the screen.

[Irenicus]

Not exactly Pen Pal, but I remember when a former female classmate sent me a postcard once rather randomly -- we weren't even that close -- and it really made my day.

I still have it somewhere. A rather precious relic if I'd say so myself.

[-Yuri-X-]

Not exactly Pen Pal, but I remember when a former female classmate sent me a postcard once rather randomly -- we weren't even that close -- and it really made my day.

I still have it somewhere. A rather precious relic if I'd say so myself.

That's fantastic~

[Ledgem]

Thinking back on it, I've been using the internet for communication for so long now - postal mail has only been used for things like forms and business. The idea of using the postal mail system for friendly correspondence certainly has a lot of appeal. I like this idea a lot. There are a number of people here with whom I'd really enjoy trading physical letters. But there's a lot going against this idea:

1) Security. Call me paranoid, but I'm not comfortable with handing out my name and address to the vast majority of users on this forum.

2) Cost. Sure, it won't break the bank to send letters, but international mail (and even regular mail, in high enough volume) can get expensive. It seems somewhat hard to justify it when we have multiple, instant methods of communication that are free (or at least, available through the internet service that we're already paying for).

3) Maintainability. It's nice to have a little conversation with each other through letters, but what would you talk about - especially if you're already in frequent communication online? Part of the joy of sending letters is the anticipation of waiting on a response, it's true - but the other part is that it's communication with another person. Discussion of life issues, life happenings, thoughts, etc. are seemingly standard fare for communication. But if you're already being updated practically in real-time by someone, is there a point to the letter? Will it still be interesting? Or even if you're taken offline, people are discussing these things fairly regularly - will they really want to repeat themselves again, especially when it takes more time and effort to hand write it all out than it does to type it?

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

1) Security. Call me paranoid, but I'm not comfortable with handing out my name and address to the vast majority of users on this forum.

At the time of the " anime pen-pal craze" in my high school days, none of us used our real names. We used names of anime characters instead. Though I'm not sure if that sort of thing would work for international mail.

Pen pal activity seems to be almost gone today, internet is a more convenient way to have a friendly communication. Still, there's a few enjoyable things that pen pal can provide, like the friendship booklets and the drawing I received so many years ago (passed the friendship booklets to other people, but the drawing is still safely kept in my room up to this day ).