Long letter pals ~ zoom in on your life ^.^

I absolutely ADORE long letters and I'm sure there are some people out there who feel the same way ^.^ For me, the main purpose of penpalling is to make a good friend to share everything with and a fat letter that tells about special moments and daily routine, dreams and hopes, culture and customs, ideas and philosophies absolutely makes my day. It's just fabulous to make a cup of tea and spend about an hour reading a letter in your favourite armchair ^.^ Of course, time and efforts are needed to establish such a connection, but this swap should give us a chance to find people we really click with as letter writers and to make a new friend ^.^

So, here are the rules:

--> you need to HANDWRITE an intro letter that should be at least EIGHT A5 pages (= 4 A5 sheets) or FOUR A4 pages (=2 A4 sheets)

--> fill your letter with details of your daily life! You take a train to work? Your cat just gave birth? You love tomatoes but hate eggplants? Boring, huh?? Nope, it could actually be pretty exciting for somebody who has never had a cat or eaten an eggplant ^.^

--> show something of your inner world... describe a dream you had, tell about a person you love, share a wish that has finally come true...

--> take a look at your partner's profile and show that you've read it... Ask some questions about his/her favourite crafts... Comment on his/her favourite music etc.

--> (this one is just a suggestion) your letter doesn't need to be a literary masterpiece, but it would be nice if it had some structure and a nice feeling about it... Maybe you can imagine chatting with a friend in a cozy café and recreate this atmosphere ^^

--> For some people it will be a piece of cake to talk about themselves and fill endless pages, but some might find those page requirements intimidating, so I will give some hints of what to write about...When you write your letter, please include at least THREE of the topics/questions below:

1. What do you see from your window while you're working?

2. Tell about the last song/movie/poem... that has touched a string in you.

3. Describe a moment when you felt truly happy about being alive.

4. Introduce your best friend.

5. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

6. Who was the last really weird person you've met?

Please rate 5 when you've got a handwritten letter that meets the length requirements. Everybody has his own definition of 'boring' and 'awesome', if you feel you don't click, it's not exactly your partner's fault.

You don't have to answer the letter you received, but I hope that you will want to ^^

If you don't enjoy reading and writing, please don't join this swap ^.^

I will allow unrated swappers, because it has been brought to my attention that a SB newbie is not necessarily a penpalling newbie, but BE SURE that I will read profiles carefully and won't tolerate flakers! I will watch your SB behaviour and will kick out anyone who joins this site & swaps out of boredom and never logs on again!

I probably can't write a monster letter to 10 people and I really hope there won't be any flakers, but if somebody gets flaked on, I will angel in some way, so that at least you will have something nice in your mailbox.

I also want to remind everyone to rate non-senders and late-senders accordingly! I'm not asking you to be mean, I'm just asking everyone to stick to the SB rules and to accept their outcome.

• If you don't receive anything and don't hear from your partner at all, please rate 1.
• If you receive a letter that was sent weeks later than the deadline without communication, rate 3.
• If you receive a letter that is less than EIGHT A5 pages (= 4 A5 sheets) or FOUR A4 pages (=2 A4 sheets) as stated above, rate 3.
• In all other cases, I believe your common sense will be a good guide ^.^