The covid-19 pandemic has been an issue for everyone to live their lives including me. Some may lose their jobs, some may need to find more money, and some may feel more depressed and lonely from lack of communication with people in society. Especially those who are introverted people who live in a square and small room sitting in front of a laptop all day (Obviously, that’s me!).

I have been thinking about what can be a solution for them (including me lol) if they want to talk or make new friends in this situation? Suddenly, an idea from the past came up in my mind.

To find a solution, I’m thinking about the time when I was a young teenager, who wanted to find new friends and practice my English language skills. At that time, I googled and found 2 interesting websites which are InterPals and Postcrossing. These platforms are mainly about writing to meet new people.

For InterPals, it’s a kind of language exchange where you can filter to talk with native speakers in languages that you are interested in.

For Postcrossing, it’s about writing a postcard and sending it to random people over the world.

So, I did it again nowadays. I recognized them immediately and tried to log in with my old email which for InterPals, it works, unfortunately, Postcrossing doesn’t.

I registered the two websites again and checked them out. So far they are the same to me. They brought back my memories with these online pals whom I have never met in real life before, and not so sure will be. The websites are nice and easy to use to make new friends, get to learn and know different kinds of people, cultures, and languages from around the world!

Here below is my opinion of these two websites for your information, and for everyone who is interested 🙂

♦ InterPals

The first thing that touches my eyes when clicking on the website is the nice tone color of the homepage. It looks trendy which makes the website more attractive for me. I can’t wait to try registering!

Another point is it has an option to log in whether with Facebook or Email. My account used Facebook before so I can log in to my existing profile which I can’t believe has been 8 years now. Time flies!

The 3rd point is I can see on everyone’s profile how long they have joined this site and when was the last time they uploaded their latest pictures. For me, I think it’s, at least, a basic way to screen scammers.

The 4th point, which is cool, is “I speak…” and “I am learning…” options. It shows the same pattern as Ling where you can set your native language and languages that you are learning or want to learn on your profile. Such a nice option for language exchange and language learning.

Lastly, what I like the most is the privacy setting where you can filter who you will allow or not allow to send private messages to you. These are examples of information you can filter, such as sex and age limitation, country and continent setting, and etc.

After checking this site for a while, I would suggest don’t forget to state clearly on your profile what is your purpose for using it whether looking for friends, pen-pals only, or flirting and romance included. And if you feel unsafe or insecure, do remember that you can blog them right away as well. It all depends on you 🙂

♦ Postcrossing

This website makes me feel like I’m being in a warm welcome hug with its red, blue, and white colors. Especially with the popular postcard pattern on the edge. It also feels festive with the snow wallpaper during this Christmas season.

Furthermore, It’s totally easy to register and use. Since I forgot my own account, I registered for the new one. After I finished, I can start to send the postcard to people around the world with just one click!

Here is how to

• You will be given a Postcard ID that you must write on the postcard – the recipient will need it to register your postcard on this website
• A copy of the address you should mail the postcard to will be sent to your email account
• You should read the Community Guidelines before exchanging any postcards
• After this, find your postcard and send it out!

It’s just simple like this, isn’t it? I still remember that once, with my old account, I sent a postcard of a clock tower of my hometown, Lampang, to the Czech. I was so excited that my handwriting and the clock tower had flown to another part of the world. A few months later, I also received a postcard from Belarus, it made me feel delightful and I still keep it until now.

These are the reasons why somehow I do love this kind of serendipity. I like something unexpected where I can enjoy meeting new people, learning languages, and exploring the world through the window screen at the same time.

Who knows, you may get something more than you expected from these websites? However, do remember that every coin has two sides, and you can always make your own decision in the end.