nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
A chance to tell a story about what happened today
My Mum was listening to R2 about 35 years ago and there was an appeal from the Foreign Office for potential pen pals for Chinese people. My Mum likes writing letters so she applied and was "given" a pen pal.
They corresponded for several years, normal mundane stuff. Then the pen pal asked if my Mum could send him a radio, he would pay for it. My Mum was a bit perplexed so she ignored the request. A bit later, the pen pal asked for details of Lancaster University, close to where my Mum lives. Again she was a bit perplexed so she actually contacted the Foreign Office and told them. The FO bod told her that the pen pal would just sell the radio and that there was no way he could afford to study in UK. They suggested to break off the correspondence. My Mum, being the simple soul she is, did as the FO suggested.
Letters still came from China and, for a few years, Christmas cards. My Mum never replied and finally they stopped coming.
Fast forward to 2017. My Mum's on the phone. She's had a letter from the Chinese guy. More than 30 years since the last one. He says he's long since retired and he's coming to UK on an organised tour with his wife and a group of tourists. He gives the itinerary and says he would really like to meet up after all these years. He's still kept my Mum's address despite her stopping replying.
My Mum's a bit confused. What's his agenda? What's his motivation? Should she meet him?
I've explained that he's just an old guy, with his wife, taking a holiday in UK. Remarkably after all these years he's not forgotten his pen pal. So I will go with Mum to meet him (she doesn't want to go on her own) in a few weeks. Drink some tea, have a chat, then go home. Almost certainly never meet again
A rather sweet story I think
Any pen pal stories?
My Mum was listening to R2 about 35 years ago and there was an appeal from the Foreign Office for potential pen pals for Chinese people. My Mum likes writing letters so she applied and was "given" a pen pal.
They corresponded for several years, normal mundane stuff. Then the pen pal asked if my Mum could send him a radio, he would pay for it. My Mum was a bit perplexed so she ignored the request. A bit later, the pen pal asked for details of Lancaster University, close to where my Mum lives. Again she was a bit perplexed so she actually contacted the Foreign Office and told them. The FO bod told her that the pen pal would just sell the radio and that there was no way he could afford to study in UK. They suggested to break off the correspondence. My Mum, being the simple soul she is, did as the FO suggested.
Letters still came from China and, for a few years, Christmas cards. My Mum never replied and finally they stopped coming.
Fast forward to 2017. My Mum's on the phone. She's had a letter from the Chinese guy. More than 30 years since the last one. He says he's long since retired and he's coming to UK on an organised tour with his wife and a group of tourists. He gives the itinerary and says he would really like to meet up after all these years. He's still kept my Mum's address despite her stopping replying.
My Mum's a bit confused. What's his agenda? What's his motivation? Should she meet him?
I've explained that he's just an old guy, with his wife, taking a holiday in UK. Remarkably after all these years he's not forgotten his pen pal. So I will go with Mum to meet him (she doesn't want to go on her own) in a few weeks. Drink some tea, have a chat, then go home. Almost certainly never meet again
A rather sweet story I think
Any pen pal stories?
I suggested i walk but didn't know what way i was going ( ive also been lost and on the lash in Italy and Germany but they are other stories 
) 
