One of my fondest memories as a middle schooler was receiving letters from my pen pal So-Young. I religiously checked the mail, hoping to see a light-weight envelope trimmed in red and blue bear witness to its being transported via airmail. I pored over her letters, delighting in her penmanship, little faces (pre-emoticons, I think!), and thoughtful enclosures. I wrote drafts of nearly all my early letters back to her and read many aloud to my mom as she cooked dinner to make sure my letters back to South Korea were as perfect as I could make them.
The impending school year and the known unreliability of the Guatemalan delivery system is shifting our pen pal exchange to an electronic version, but I am excited about it nonetheless. My sixth, seventh and eighth graders have written letters to my former Guatemalan students, who are now in sixth grade. We are all anxiously awaiting their answers. I hope this can be an eye-opening experience for both sides, this communication between these Guatemalan, Korean, British, Australian, American, and New Zealander students.
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