Did anyone have penfriends via the IYS (International Youth Service??) company based in Finland? I had lots in the 70s and wrote regularly to about 5 of them. You paid a one off fee and they sent you a name and address by cross-referencing your age, interests and lanaguages. You could earn free extra penpals by getting friends to sign up. In addition your name and address would be sent to other members worldwide which meant that out of the blue you'd receive letters and could decide whether or not to reply. My French penpal Pascale came to visit when I was 14 and I went the following year and stayed with them over Christmas near the Pyrenees, went sking for the first time and I'm convinced it's the reason I got an A for my French O level. We lost touch gradually. I had a Swedish boy write to me called Hans who insisted in calling me Tude in his letters I think because I crossed my J and maybe they don't in Sweden, we wrote for about 18 months and even though his English was almost perfect I could never get across that my name didn't start with a T.
Jude xx