Sonoma kids connect with Chinese pen pals
Pets, siblings, favorite foods, school… it turns out that fourth graders have a lot in common, even when they’re halfway around the world from one another. That’s what many Sonoma students are learning through a “pen pal” program between Sonoma and it’s Sister City in China, Penglai.
Lead by Sonoma’s Lynne Joiner, the project was awarded the 2015 Youth and Education Award from Sister Cities International, an organization spanning 145 countries. “I don’t know how innovative writing letters seems in the 21st century,” Joiner said, “but our students and our Penglai pen pals cherish their old-fashioned letters — they have created a real connection across the vast Pacific Ocean.”
More than 200 elementary students took part in the Sonoma Penglai pen pal program this past school year. This fall, the project has moved to Prestwood and Woodland Star elementary schools, and Joiner plans to add more students in Penglai eager to make American friends.
In December 2013, Joiner, a journalist and author once based in China, was invited there to lecture about US-China relations during WW II, and used the occasion to travel to Penglai. She carried with her the first pen pal letters from Sonoma to Yisan Experimental Elementary School, “where we were warmly received.”
“Materials I carried included maps of California, Sonoma Valley of the Moon, photos and souvenirs of Sonoma, books and DVR movies,” Joiner recalled. “In exchange, I was given amazing gifts to bring back to El Verano students, including five framed brush paintings done by the Yisan students. I don’t know how I was able to talk the airlines into letting me bring the paintings in a large package onboard as carry-on luggage, but I did.”
Earlier that year, Joiner had met the mayor of Penglai when his delegation visited Sonoma and the Sonoma-Penglai Sister City Committee discussed possible exchange projects. After the formality of the day, Joiner hosted a BBQ in her backyard, complete with ping-pong. “The Chinese officials took off their jackets, rolled up their sleeves and we began to play, and had lots of fun.”
The informal, if unexpected, bit of diplomacy put everybody in a good mood.
“I suggested to Mayor Sun that we start a pen pal program,” Joiner said. “He liked the idea, and told me he hoped to greet me in Penglai.”
