Back in the early 90s or really late 80s, a teacher in my high school asked if any student was interested in having a penpal. I did and the only one who lasted this long is my penpal from Jakarta, Indonesia.
We don’t write anymore but we do chat on IM when we see each other which is almost every night. Her her, she is just starting a work day. for me, I am going to bed. Last year, we decided to meet up in Paris.
And that happened last week.
Strangely, it didn’t hit me until a few minutes before we were to meet face to face. I guess I was so used to the distance that it didn’t seem real. Until we called each other to say that we were both in Paris and ready to meet up now.
As I closed the phone, I was marvelling at how surreal this was! Here comes a new chapter. She is in the same building. Not on a different continent. We are about to meet face to face, not via a webcam or cellphone.
I went down the stairs expecting to see her and her friend in the lobby but they weren’t there yet. No problem, I’ll just leave my hotel key with the concierge and– oh there she is, outside!
I admit, I did have some butterflies in my stomach but they did go away once we met.
How cool is it to meet up with a penpal (in this day and age– does anyone have penpals anymore?) in one of the greatest cities on the planet! Immediately, the 3 of us hit it off.
We chatted and got caught up at a nearby Japanese restaurant and I had some interesting salmon (that’s me, forever thinking about my protein intake!).
We were to spend the next 4 days together exploring and navigating Paris. First stop was finding out the hard way that yes, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays :)
[tags]Paris, penpals[/tags]