Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

Everyone likes meeting new people and making friends. There may be innumerable friends in your school, tuition classes and playground with whom you meet almost every day. Aren’t there any other ways through which we can make friends? Does it not excite us when we think about some unseen friends staying far from us? Friendship through pen and paper is one of the ways of making new friends at distant places. Writing in itself is a good habit and it will be more exciting if you make friends through letters from or outside the country. It is a good hobby as well and those letters that you receive from your friends become an exciting memorabilia for lifetime.

How to start

If you are the kind of person who loves to make new friends then you can start straight away. Flip over children magazines to see if you can find your choice of friends. See if the other person is of the same age and shares similar interests. If you can find one who has interests like yours, jot down the name and address and start writing. Start telling about youself and ask details from him/ her. Since you are writing for the first time, spell the name of your pen friend correctly. This impresses the other person who will like you instantly.

What to write

Writing and receiving from pen pals is not only a good pastime but also an opportunity to learn. Introduce yourself so that your pen friend is not surprised by the anonymity of the letter. Write about your country, school, hobbies, interests and your friends. Though details about a person is not always necessary to make friends but if you want to know more about the person then ask details about your pen friend.

Show your creativity

Writing on a white sheet of paper may be boring for you as well as your friend reading the letter. You can always try to make it colourful by drawing pictures or sticking bright stickers on the letter. Make you letter as interesting and readable as possible. This also encourages your pen pal to keep these letters intact.

What benefits do you get Though one might wonder that, in today’s world when Internet and e-mails facilitate your hobbies, the idea of writing in and waiting to receive is foolishness. But delve in deep and you will find something new.

Making chat friends is not bad but what more can you say or express in the few hours that you get to surf the Net.

You have time aplenty to think and write and your creativity gets boosted. You try to make your letters as much as beautiful which helps your inhibited art come forwards.

You can always improve your handwriting. You come to know several things via friends in different countries and societies. Last but not the least, friends for once are forever and those who have good friends in the world are the happiest of all.

Find your friends at

• www.pen-pals.net

• www.ppwn.cjb.net

• www.geocities.com

• Everest Pen Friend, GPO Box 8026, Kathmandu, Nepal