How to Make Friends Around the World
With today's technology and social networking sites, it is easy to find international friends and to cultivate these relationships even if you have never met in person. Travel opportunities for fun, work and missions are another way to meet friends from other countries. You can also sign up on a pen pal website to be connected with an international pen pal and develop a friendship through letters.
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Instructions
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Social Networking
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Sign up for a free Twitter account. On your profile page, write in your biography that you are looking for international friends and also a couple other interesting facts about yourself that show your interests. Start tweeting and follow people in other countries who have the same interests as you. You can find other people on Twitter at Twellow, a Twitter directory. Reply to tweets and develop international relationships through Twitter.
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Create a MySpace page or Facebook profile, and look for people who live in other countries. You can send messages to people you find or leave comments if they have a public MySpace page or Facebook profile. You can let the person know that you are interested in connecting with people in other countries to develop friendships.
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Find an online community where members are interested in the same topics or hobbies as you. For example, children's writers have an online community through the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) website. This website connects members from around the world. Each member can have their own page on the site, and people can friend each other just like on Facebook. If you are in a community such as SCBWI, you can look for international friends.
Traveling
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Find a travel agent in your area and ask if there are any international tours you can go on. Many tours where groups of people travel together for 10 days to 2 weeks create lifelong friendships. People on these tours visit tourist spots together, eat meals together and stay at the same hotel. This is a great way to meet a variety of people from your own country and abroad who enjoy traveling!
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Go on a mission trip with an organization such as Habitat for Humanity. They have trips to build houses around the world, and you will spend time with new people from different countries while helping people. You will meet people with common interests and who are willing to give their time to others.
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Take advantage of travel opportunities through your place of business. This may not be an option for everyone, but it is for people who are involved in international business. If your job sends you to the same country often, you have a chance to connect with co-workers in that country and cultivate friendships.
Pen Pals
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Join an online pen pal site such as Penpal.net (see References). It is free to join and takes a few minutes and an email address to get an account.
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Verify your email address and start filling out your profile. Be very specific about what you are looking for through a pen pal. If you are looking to make friends around the world, then you will want to state that you want pen pals from countries other than your own.
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Find a pen pal on the site and start writing. Follow the directions on the site to connect with your pen pal. Most of today's pen pal exchanges are conducted through email instead of snail mail.
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Tips & Warnings
Whenever you are exchanging information online and getting to know someone, you should not give out personal information such as your address or home phone number until you know and trust the person. Always use your email address, a P.O. Box and/or a cell phone number when corresponding with people you don't know well yet.
