A ramble on letter writing: IPF and couch surfing

As many of you know, I spent a good chunk of my summer time in the Russian Federation this summer (hence the aggressive "bargaining" for that nation in FATMUN!). What was especially great about that trip was that I did the whole thing relying on contacts I had made...wait for it...through penpals I started writing to in highschool! Yes, I had penpals. I still do- the snail mail kind where you have to wait 3 weeks for a letter. It's a bit like Christmas every 21 days.

Take a moment to set aside the "nerdiness" factor (and maybe stop laughing!) to consider this: writing to strangers in strange places has opened so many doors for me internationally, and not just in the way of free room and board. I've learned languages and been inspired to understand different ways of living and being. I've been able to share a little corner of my world with someone else, although I could swear I see dollar signs in the post lady's eyes every time I'm in the post office!

What I propose is this: why not introduce letter writing to our students in social studies? It could be the start of a class assignment(or not)- but wouldn't it be great to partner with another school or class somewhere crazy and encourage students to write to each other? Now maybe some kids are going to balk at waiting for three weeks to get a letter, and so email is the way to go. But I think there is something unique about waiting for letters and having a physical piece of a different place in your hands or sitting on your living room table. For some kids, an assignment to write letters will just be that- they'll write maybe one or two and then they'll be done with it. But for other kids, this writing will go on for 2, 5, 10 years, building international community and a sense of connectedness that we are sorely lacking. If we want to teach our students about being a member of a global society, shouldn't we introduce them to the other kids on the block?

With any luck, we could foster the development of real international citizens. Citizens who care about their neighbours overseas because they know them. And I'm willing to admit, the travel connections later on are a serious perk.

There is a great group called the IPF- or International PenFriends - that can help set up school writing as well as individual writing. They were the group that first got me connected (ten years ago!), so I can vouch for their reliability. You do have to pay for the service (of getting addresses and that kind of thing), but considering the dividends, it's totally worth it. You can check them out at http://www.ipf.net.au/