How I Started My Penpaling & Postcrossing Journey

In 2020, after my SSC exam, I started to learn colloquial French in an online course. In that course, our teacher was Madame Aude Bié from France, and there were 15 students from 9 countries including me. So, I got an opportunity to meet peers from different countries and soon we became good online friends.

One day, our teacher suggested us to send letters or postcards to each other to practice French language and learn more about different countries, cultures & traditions.

Some of my friends were already familiar with the hobby Penpaling (writing letters to penfriends) and Postcrossing (sending postcards around the world). Because, in Europe and America, it is still a common practice to send postcards or letters to family members or friends.

I liked my teacher's idea but I didn't have a clue where to start from. I was also thinking that my letters and postcards will take ages to be delivered to my friends.

I'm so lucky that my parents have inspired and supported me in this hobby from the very beginning. They were used to write letters to their relatives before the Internet era. So they already knew the process and helped me to find the other required informations from the local post office.

One of my father's coursemates in BMA collects postcards and he helped me to find the shops where I can buy postcards and stamps. I bought so many beautiful Bangladeshi stamps from the General Post Office (GPO) and a bunch of postcards from Aarong and Azad Products.

I shared my address to one of my Italian friends Paola on October 3rd 2020, and on November 20th, I received my first international mail, two postcards from Italy. I was over the moon that day! I can't describe my happiness at that moment. I've been waiting for her postcards eagerly and the waiting was worth it! There's a well-known saying that,

"Deltiologists travel the world through postcards"

So did I! I sent her back some postcards which I bought from Aarong.

I wrote my first penpal letter to my friend Isabelle from Georgia, USA on January 13th, 2021. I received her reply on April 6th. It seemed amazing to me that I'm sharing my thoughts through letters to someone from a far away country.

Since then, I've continued to send postcards & letters to my friends. Though I had to stop for some months in mid 2021 when all the international flights from Bangladesh were cancelled for the pandemic COVID-19.

Later I got introduced with more people from all over the world who also enjoy penpaling and postcrossing as their hobby. It's an amazing community, I must say!

This hobby has boosted my confidence in interacting with people and enhanced my English and French language skills.

Through Postcrossing and penpaling, I've learned about geography, different cultures, customs, traditions, and lifestyles of people around the world.

Most importantly, the love and respect I received from my friends whom I never even met in person, are priceless. I remember, before my HSC exam, when I told my friends that I'm feeling down, most of them sent me cheer-up and good-luck-in-exam postcards. Their messages inspired me a lot at that time.

In addition to writing letters and collecting postcards, I started collecting coins, banknotes, and teabags from 2021. My penfriends often include these items with their letters in the envelope.

So far, I have more than 600 postcards from 130 countries, about 1200 stamps from 103 countries, and, coins and banknotes from 33 countries. I've also enjoyed 136 different flavoured tea blends from 67 countries. The numbers are increasing rapidly every month.

That's how I became part of a colourful world of happy mails which is filled with joy, positivity & happiness.

I always inspire others to start this beautiful hobby, as in Bangladesh, only a few people collect postcards, stamps, or write letters. I wish our postal service would inspire people just like in Western countries.

Since I love journaling, I decided to keep an online journal for my incoming and outgoing mails. If you're interested in seeing my happy mails, have a look here: penpal_zahra

Some of my incoming & outgoing mails: