Wow!

I just received my first cultural exchange package from Julie from Ohio, and I am VERY impressed! Thanks, Julie! You did a great job, and your package is much better than the ones I'm planning! I'm going to have to work a little harder :)

One More Group!...It's Full! Thank You!

The last group is full. I'm still waiting on mailing addresses from Greece and the UK, and I'll be sending the email to the group members after that. Thanks, everyone!

I'm creating one last group for someone that requested 12 and only got put with 6. I have 5 slots open, please email me at chasingcheerios@gmail.com if you would like to be in this group! Thanks!

Cultural Exchange Deadline- Last Week of September

A friend (who has organized swaps in the past) has given me the good advice of setting a deadline for everyone to send out the cultural exchange packages. Please send out your packages by the last week in September. Some of you are traveling and won't be able to do this, but just email your exchange partners and let them know. Please email your group members when you mail the packages, so they will be expecting them. Also, it would be great if you communicate with your group members via email before you send the packages. A lot of you are already doing that, and I'm loving reading the emails...so much excitement! :)

Another Cultural Exchange Post

I've had several people email me who requested groups of 12, and only received an email for a group of 6. If you requested a group of 12, and did not get that, please let me know ASAP. I'm creating one last group...Group 29!

I'm amazed by how this exchange has grown from me hoping to find 12 people to exchange packages with me into having 28 groups of people exchanging packages around the world! Very cool!

Thanks for all of the excitement! It was a little time consuming to sort and divide the groups, and I definitely made some mistakes, but I really enjoyed setting this up. I've learned a few things, and I think it will be easier next time! Yes, there will be a next time (several of you have asked).

I'd love to do a "Christmas Around the World" exchange and have our kids send & receive Christmas cards from around the world...maybe in groups of about 15. I also think an international postcard exchange would be fun as well as a 50 States postcard exchange. So many ideas, so little time :)

Done!

I've finally finished emailing all of the cultural exchange group members with your group members names and addresses! I am sure that I have overlooked some emails, so if you sent me name and address and did not get an email from me, please let me know. I have space for 4 more people in a group. Also, if you requested a group of 12 and only received 1 email with a group of 6, please let me know. THANK YOU! I've loved seeing the emails back and forth between the group members. It looks like everyone is very excited about this, and I am, too!!!

Still Working On It...

I took yesterday off from working on the cultural exchange, but I'm working again tonight. I need 1 more person (who is not from the US or Canada) to exchange in a group sending/receiving 6 packages. I'm double checking the groups for diversity and will hopefully start sending emails to group members tonight or tomorrow night. So far, I think I have been able to include everyone who has emailed me. However, the last few people who have requested groups of 12 will be in groups of 6...sorry about that. So, if you've emailed me your information, look for an email from me within the next few days. I'll post on here once I have everything sent out. Thanks!

Clarification on the Cultural Exchange

There seems to be a fair amount of confusion about how this exchange will work, so I want to clarify...

If you choose to be in a group of 6, you will send out 6 packages to 6 different children in 6 different countries. You will (hopefully) receive 6 different packages from 6 children in 6 different countries.

Each package should contain a letter from your child to the recipient's child. The recipient's name should be included in the letter. I will type our letter on the computer, and change the name for each child. I will not write an original letter for each package as that would make it much too complicated and time-consuming.

Every package should contain at least 1 picture of the child who is sending the package. Each package should also contain several cultural items, such as coins, stamps, a small flag, stickers, postcards, trinkets, toys, candy, games, etc. For example, I may include several small toys that my children love...encapsulated foam animals that you put in water and they emerge from the capsule (I'm not sure what they are called), growing animals, silly bands, American Girl stickers, etc. I'm hoping to find things that are original to the US, but also fun and entertaining.

If you have any questions, PLEASE post them in the comments section of this post, so that everyone who is participating can read them. THANK YOU!!!

Another Cultural Exchange Update

I started working on dividing the groups last night and realized that it was futile since I was still waiting on information from some people. So, I'll divide the groups tonight. If you haven't emailed me with your preferred group number, please do so immediately. I think I'll be able to include everyone who sent me their information. Although, some of the groups may have more than 1 US and Canadian participants. I hope that's not a problem. The other problem I'm having is that I want to exchange with everyone! I just wish shipping wasn't so expensive!

It's Not Too Late...

Several people have emailed me asking if it is too late to join the cultural exchange...it's not too late unless you are an American :) I may end up having room for a couple of more Americans, but right now it looks like I have enough. I also probably have enough Canadians and Australians. I'm going to start sorting through everything tonight and putting people in groups. If you've emailed me about participating, but have not let me know if you want to do an exchange with 1, 6, or 12 people, please let me know that information ASAP. I may have to switch the numbers around a little...it just depends on how the groups end up. Thanks!

Attention...Cultural Package Exchange Participants PLEASE Read!

I've realized that instead of emailing each of you individually, it will be MUCH more time efficient for me to just put any instructions/directions on the blog. At the last count, almost 70 people have emailed me wanting to participate in this exchange. Since I have a hard time telling people no, I am going to divide the exchange into several groups.

I need each participant to email me with the following information:

1) Do you want to exchange with 1 person, 6 people, or a group of 12?

Please keep in mind that shipping may get expensive, and once you commit to being a part of a group, you MUST follow through with it.

2) Your child/children's names and ages

3) The country that you will be representing (several people who live in the US will be representing their home countries).

4) Your full name and mailing address

5) Please put "Cultural Exchange" in the subject line of your email

Please keep in mind that you must email me with this information to be a part of this exchange. I need this information as soon as possible in order to set up groups.

Here is what I expect from each participant...PLEASE read and be sure that you will be able to comply with the instructions before committing to be a part of this exchange.

1) If you sign up for a group of 12, you MUST send a package to each of your 12 group members! I do not want anyone to send out more packages than they get in return.

2) Each package should include a letter to the child/children of the participant you are sending it to...for example, the letters to me should be sent to O and E.

3) The letters should be written as if from a child. Although, parents may write the letters with input from their children if the children are unable to write letters. The letters should include relevant cultural information...holidays, traditions, your child's favorite foods and pasttimes. Basically, I want my children to be able to vividly imagine what it would be like to live in your country. I want them to have enough information that we can pretend to travel to your country and be children in your country. Be as descriptive and provide as much information as possible. Remember that you are reaching children around the world...what do you want them to know about your country???

4) You must include at least 1 picture of your child. I plan to put a huge map on our our wall, and we will attach the picture of the child to his/her home country. This will make our cultural/geography study more relevant and exciting!

5) You must include at least include at least 3 items in addition to the letter and pictures. These items could be coins, bills, stamps, artwork by your children, a small handmade toy, a recipe card with your favorite child friendly recipe, a small flag from your country, candy, small souvenir or trinket, postcards, examples of your language, stickers, small musical instrument, etc. Everything will need to be small and lightweight in order to minimize shipping cost.

6) All packages need to be sent out at roughly the same time...don't send one this month, the next 6 months from now, etc. I will not be sending my packages until the end of August or beginning of September. I want to be able to gather souvenirs while we are on vacation, and I want to have plenty of time plan our letter. Others of you have indicated that it may be several months before you can send your packages...ALL packages need to be sent by October (unless you contact me ahead of time and let me know...I need to know this information before I set up the groups).


If I think of anything else that I need, I will post it here. I will only send your names and addresses to the people who are in your group. I will never post personal information online. However, I will post info about the packages we receive along with links to your blog if you would like for me to.

Thanks for reading and participating in this (hopefully!) fun, educational, fantastic, wonderful, and phenomenal exchange!!!

More on the Cultural Package Exchange

Due to the tremendous response (in less than 24 hours!), I think I may have to divide this into groups. Also, I've had several people from the USA express an interest, so I'll open it up to you as well (I'd love to have participants from Alaska & Hawaii). (However, the South is covered, and I only need a few more from the US, so let me know quickly if you want in on this).

I'm going to wait a couple more days (maybe Friday). Then I will count the countries and participants from each and divide it into groups. I'll email everyone to see if you want to be a part of a large group, small group, or if you just want to send/receive a package to my girls.

I'd like for you to send all of the packages at one time rather than one a month since it will be really easy to get sidetracked and forget to send it (I know that I don't want to have to think about and try to remember this every month for the next year!). I don't want anyone to send out 12 packages and only get 7 or 8 back! So, if you want to do this, make sure you'll REALLY do it :)

There are a few specific things that I want included in each package...the key component is that it is a letter from your child to another child. Many children are too young to write letters (mine are), so I'll have O help me, but I will actually write the letter (although, I will write it as if I am O). The fun part about this for the kids is to actually get letters from other kids. Also, I would like for you to include at least one pic of your child. Other ideas include coins, stamps, postcards, candy or snack, small toy or trinket, etc. In order to keep the cost of shipping down, everything will need to be small and lightweight. I'm planning to send out large envelopes, not boxes, so all of our items will be small.

Since we have several vacations coming up and I want to gather souvenirs and postcards while on vacation, I won't be compiling and sending my packages until late August. I'm going to start working on my letter with O, but will not actually send the packages until I gather everything that I need to include in them. I think we may go on a few extra road trips just to have more stuff to include! So, the timeline is kind of loose...just within the next 3 months or so.

So, I still need people from Africa, Russia, the Middle East, India, etc. I know you are out there because I checked the map in my sidebar (and was amazed!) :)

Make sure to email me at chasingcheerios@gmail.com if you are interested!

Wow! What a Response!

Thank you ALL so much for the wonderful responses to the cultural exchange!!! Here are the countries that are covered so far:

Japan
UK
Scotland
Italy
Spain
New Zealand
Australia
Canada
Israel
Turkey
Switzerland
Denmark
Trinidad
Poland
France
Germany
Singapore
Italy
Ireland
So, here is my plan...I'll wait a few more days for responses. Then I will email everyone to find out if you would like to participate in the group exchange or just exchange with me. Since I have had responses from more than one person from several countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, etc), I will include the first responder from each country in the group swap (if you choose the group swap). However, I will be happy to send & receive packages from everyone (as long as I don't get a hundred responses!).

Thank you again SO much! I'll be getting in touch with everyone via email, and please email me if you'd like to participate at chasingcheerios@gmail.com.

International Readers...I Need Your Help!

So, I have an idea that's been brewing for a while, and I'm going to need some help to make it happen...are you in???

I read about Little Passports a few months ago (it's a monthly subscription to a package from a different country), and I thought about subscribing for my girls. Then (of course) I thought "I could just make that." I thought about it for a while...buying country specific items from Fair Trade websites and World Market, writing letters as if I were in another country, etc. I realized it would end up being VERY expensive and maybe not so great. Then my current idea emerged...

Wouldn't it be cool (and fun, educational, exciting, interesting, phenomenal, etc) for my kids (and yours!) to receive a package each month from a REAL child from another country???

Here is my proposal...

I (with O's help) will write a letter to your child. In the letter, we will talk about our country specific holidays (July 4th, Thanksgiving, etc) and traditions. We will discuss the things we do for fun, the food we eat, the places we travel, etc. I will include postcards, pics of the kids doing fun things in scenic places (water skiing, walking under waterfalls, hiking in the mnts, running on the beach, visiting a lighthouse, visiting Disneyworld, etc.), coins, a dollar bill, a recipe, and other small, lightweight, and fun souvenirs. If you will agree to send a similar package to me, I will send one to you! Also, if many people are interested in sending out several packages, then I'll coordinate addresses and get you the info, so that you can receive packages from other people as well as myself.

Ideally, I would like to receive at least 12 packages from 12 different countries. My plan is to give the girls a smartglobe for Christmas along with a "subscription" to a country package from a REAL family that they will get each month. Since the packages will probably all come in at about the same time, I will save them and then put one in the mailbox at the beginning of each month.

So, are you in? Doesn't this sound like SO much fun? I know that my girls will LOVE it...if it works. And another perk is that O can take her packages to her Montessori school when they are studying the different countries! If you are interested in participating, please email me ASAP at chasingcheerios@gmail.com. THANK YOU!!!

Edit to add: The emails are rolling in, so if you are interested in participating let me know ASAP. So far, I have particpants from Trinidad, Brazil, New Zealand, British Columbia (Canada), and Quebec (Canada). I am SO excited! Thank you ALL so much!