Writing has been a part of my life. Reading more so. I owe this a lot to the educational system in the Philippines, where since Grade I we had subjects such as Language, Writing (for penmanship), Reading and Composition. These are for the English language. Then there were also subjects in my native language for Grammar and Composition. Then in high school and on to university, I had been writing nearly everyday.
In addition I got interested in having pen pals, so it was another way to practice writing. I had penpals from other cities within the Philippines, and also from other countries, such as Malaysia, Mauritius, U.K. (Scotland) and U.S.A. I got to meet two of them who are in the Philippines, as one was just nearby my place (MJ), and the other (EB) went to the same university but a year later than I did. I have a bit of communication with MJ through email still. However for EB I only met her once at the university. Somehow the friendship did not extend when we met face to face.
As for the foreign pen pals, I never got to contact them after we finished school. We just lost touch after university. How I wished I have kept in touch as I have been to Malaysia and the UK many times, and I could have met them already. I tried to google them but I did not get any positive results.
Another writing activity I used to do was to write home when I was at university in Manila. My province is in another region and letters and telegrams were the only means of communication for a student. There was no phone system yet in our province during that time. For emergency we could use the phone at RCPI stations but it was not convenient. So I would write nearly every week. My Dad and Mom were very diligent in writing and it is something that I miss during this information age when texting and calling are so easy to do.
There's still lots about me and you'll get to know more as you read my blogs. Hope you will enjoy your visits here.
3 comments:
Hi I’m Earvs! I’m currently doing my MA Thesis at UP Open University. My thesis will focus on OFW blogging. I would like to invite you to be one of my respondents. Should you be available and interested in this benchmark research, please email me at ecabalquinto@gmail.com. Thank you very much.
Dear Arlene,
I hope you still keep letters from your Mom and Dad. I have some old letters from Papa. It give me solace when I read them again in my old age!
Keep on writing, even just for recreation. Share your thoughts because it is the best way for people to know you better.
Take care and love from ...
Tita Lidna
Hi Tita,
Yup I still have some of their letters. Indeed it is a comfort to be reading old letters and cards. When Dad passed away it gave me comfort to read his text messages and also to see his handwriting! Thanks for the encouragement! Take care.
Arlene
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