Meeting your penpal or chat buddy?
Apr 23rd, 2003, 05:22 AM
#23
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I didn't meet my pen pal on internet. We have been writing (old way!) since we were 12 years old (we're both 30 now). She has visited me once and I have been over to visit her twice (last visit 2 years ago). We both live in different countries..
Apr 23rd, 2003, 01:05 PM
#24
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My sister just got back from Switzerland where she met her pen pal of many years from Germany. She never expected to meet him, but got a chance to go on a business trip with her husband. We all thought she was crazy, but she had a great time and went and stayed with him and his family in Germany. My brother-in-law did get a copy of his passport and a picture of him and his car. Also, they had a code worked out...scary to me, but all went well. The penpal hopes to travel to the US to visit in the near future.
Apr 25th, 2003, 08:56 PM
#27
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Still have to add that we see eachother every two months or in Belgium or in Poland. She made it clear from the beginning she did not intend to move to Belgium at all - and because we met on such a newsgroup, similar fascinations guaranteed !
Apr 27th, 2003, 04:13 PM
#28
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So will you be moving to Poland after you marry? Or will you be commutting from Belgium? BTW... being Polish myself I know you be very happy with your Polish wife. Wszystkiego najlepszego na nowej drodze!
Apr 28th, 2003, 01:32 PM
#29
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Bardzo szcesliwy jestem ! No, I am planning to move to Poland after I have obtained my residence permit, a "meldunek" I have already obtained &
just am looking for a job in Warsaw now...
just am looking for a job in Warsaw now...
Apr 28th, 2003, 03:12 PM
#30
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In the winter of 2000, I was planning a Spring 2001 trip and posted a question on Fodors concerning the Toro, an Amsterdam hotel. A brillant, amusing, and well traveled Japanese woman responded.
We are now in our third year of e-mailing one another several times a week. We've exchanged gifts on many occasions. Thanks to her generous heart, my home and office are adorned with uniquely Japanese items and I've tasted quite a few previously unknown foods, as well as some outstanding Japanese pastries and chocolate. Her mother even sent me an exquisitely complex handbag, handmade by a very accomplished aunt!
In April of 2002, we arranged to meet in Paris. She and her husband traveled there, a wide detour on their way to a longer stay in Tuscany, just so that we could finally meet in person. It was the experience of a lifetime!
You see, shortly after I had returned from Paris in 2001, my daughter unexpectedly died. Without the compassionate support of my Japanese friend in our midnight exchanges (different time zones), my nights would have been even darker than I care to imagine.
She would surely be embarrassed to discover herself praised in a public forum, so I won't reveal her name, but she is the best that Fodors, and the world, has to offer. This one's for you, my wonderful, funny friend!
We are now in our third year of e-mailing one another several times a week. We've exchanged gifts on many occasions. Thanks to her generous heart, my home and office are adorned with uniquely Japanese items and I've tasted quite a few previously unknown foods, as well as some outstanding Japanese pastries and chocolate. Her mother even sent me an exquisitely complex handbag, handmade by a very accomplished aunt!
In April of 2002, we arranged to meet in Paris. She and her husband traveled there, a wide detour on their way to a longer stay in Tuscany, just so that we could finally meet in person. It was the experience of a lifetime!
You see, shortly after I had returned from Paris in 2001, my daughter unexpectedly died. Without the compassionate support of my Japanese friend in our midnight exchanges (different time zones), my nights would have been even darker than I care to imagine.
She would surely be embarrassed to discover herself praised in a public forum, so I won't reveal her name, but she is the best that Fodors, and the world, has to offer. This one's for you, my wonderful, funny friend!
May 10th, 2003, 09:44 AM
#31
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I met(and still meeting) some wonderful people on a travel group where the members are exceptionally welcoming & helpful & we all share a passion which is travel.(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldtravelexp) I will in fact be meeting some of them so these things really work;I have also only good things to say about the ones on Fodors-they are wonderful & helpful.
Hello Jose from beautiful Barcelona-what a marvellous city-I was there last spring.
Hello Jose from beautiful Barcelona-what a marvellous city-I was there last spring.
May 11th, 2003, 06:14 PM
#33
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Well, I met StCirq about 3 weeks ago while in Paris. We've e-mailed back & forth for a little over a year now & I found her personally to be every bit as intelligent, charming, funny, gracious & entertaining as I thought she'd be. Absolutely no pretensions!! So that was my good experience. : )
May 11th, 2003, 07:07 PM
#34
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I have had two pen pals dig me up through use of the internet. The story about my Romanian pen pal is posted on another site:
http://folksonline.com/folks/famtree/2001/penpals.htm
Within the last year my Canadian pen pal dug me up using the internet. She did a websearch for my name and came up with a quote that I had used on AOL for a long time ("Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lie down. And, never miss a chance to go to the toilet."
that appeared on the site anamericaninparis.com. She wrote to Fred Melnick who is the americaninparis and he forwarded the email to me asking if I was the person my pen pal was looking for. I was and we have been madly emailing ever since trying to catch up on the last 30+ years.
I have met some of the people I have encountered online and my experience is a mixed bag. Some of them are very nice and some are very different than they appear online, but, then, I don't like all the people I meet in real life either.
http://folksonline.com/folks/famtree/2001/penpals.htm
Within the last year my Canadian pen pal dug me up using the internet. She did a websearch for my name and came up with a quote that I had used on AOL for a long time ("Never stand when you can sit. Never sit when you can lie down. And, never miss a chance to go to the toilet."
that appeared on the site anamericaninparis.com. She wrote to Fred Melnick who is the americaninparis and he forwarded the email to me asking if I was the person my pen pal was looking for. I was and we have been madly emailing ever since trying to catch up on the last 30+ years.I have met some of the people I have encountered online and my experience is a mixed bag. Some of them are very nice and some are very different than they appear online, but, then, I don't like all the people I meet in real life either.
Aug 16th, 2003, 11:56 AM
#36
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I haven't met any Fodorites in RL, but I have met several of the regular posters on another travel bulletin board I visit - all Canadians and Americans,so far, but one of our OZ shifters is planning to travel up here next year. I just hosted 2 of my internet buddies at my place over the August long weekend - we had a great time!
My boyfriend knows I meet with these folks, but he isn't aware I have had them staying with me - he is of the opinion that anyone met via the internet is an axe murderer. That's become a joke among us on the bulletin board.
My boyfriend knows I meet with these folks, but he isn't aware I have had them staying with me - he is of the opinion that anyone met via the internet is an axe murderer. That's become a joke among us on the bulletin board.
Aug 20th, 2006, 03:28 AM
#37
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I met my husband four years ago on an onlne Christian website for singles. We've been happily married for four years now.
I lived in Massachusetts at the time and he in southern Arizona so there was over 3,000 miles between us. I think those who say "there's no way" I'd take a chance meeting someone that I have chatted with or met online are people who are extremely closed off to new experiences in life and like routine. I know...I'll probably get a slathering of responses but my thought process is...if you are careful, you meet in a public place you will be safe.
I think meeting people online if a wonderful way to get to know someone, I especially like it in meeting my husband because it gave us both the opportunity to get to know each other through emails. You can learn a lot about someone by how they write and express themselve through "pen and paper" so to speak...except this is through computer. I got to know more about my husband through this method than I probably would have if we met in the physical realm right upfront. We met in Chicago our first meeting at the airport...LOL...so that if we really didn't like each other once we met we could hop back on our planes and head back home..>LOL! Seriously though...we had a wonderful weekend and then met again two weeks later in Minneapolis and then two later in New Hampshire and we were married a month later.
We met in March and married in July...wow...eh? So, I guess it all depends on your view of life and experiencing new adventures...I'm always up to meeting new people especially from different cultures so I would defintiely meet my online penpals...and know that I can trust what my heart is telling me about them.
Graceful
I lived in Massachusetts at the time and he in southern Arizona so there was over 3,000 miles between us. I think those who say "there's no way" I'd take a chance meeting someone that I have chatted with or met online are people who are extremely closed off to new experiences in life and like routine. I know...I'll probably get a slathering of responses but my thought process is...if you are careful, you meet in a public place you will be safe.
I think meeting people online if a wonderful way to get to know someone, I especially like it in meeting my husband because it gave us both the opportunity to get to know each other through emails. You can learn a lot about someone by how they write and express themselve through "pen and paper" so to speak...except this is through computer. I got to know more about my husband through this method than I probably would have if we met in the physical realm right upfront. We met in Chicago our first meeting at the airport...LOL...so that if we really didn't like each other once we met we could hop back on our planes and head back home..>LOL! Seriously though...we had a wonderful weekend and then met again two weeks later in Minneapolis and then two later in New Hampshire and we were married a month later.
We met in March and married in July...wow...eh? So, I guess it all depends on your view of life and experiencing new adventures...I'm always up to meeting new people especially from different cultures so I would defintiely meet my online penpals...and know that I can trust what my heart is telling me about them.
Graceful
Aug 24th, 2006, 07:15 AM
#38
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I haven't met a penpal on the internet, but around 1968 or 69...way before the internet,back when I was a freshman in HS, my German teacher matched us up with penpals. I wanted one from Germany as to practice my German, but she could only find me one from Belgium. But, I took him and we wrote regularly and we are still good friends. The first time I went to Belgium was in the late 70s in which I met his parents and stayed at their house which was a great experience. He was still living at home then. His parents, siblings, girlfriend, and I really hit it off well. His then girlfriend became his wife. They have two sons and we have all gotten along very well whenever I've been to visit them. We're still in touch to this day...although not as much...just due to the busyness of life. I'm SO glad I got him as a penpal. It has been intersting to watch how life has changed for both his family and mine over all these decades of us knowing each other. Happy Travels!
Aug 24th, 2006, 12:10 PM
#39
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I've met quite a few of my internet friends, mostly Americans. Some of them have come all the way to Belgium to see me but I've also traveled to London for a big meeting. In November I will travel to Paris to meet a dear internet friend.
