A 20^th century elementary school project could help us share harness racing internationally.

by Trey Nosrac

DEAR KIM SU,

I AM IN THE THIRD GRADE. MY TEACHER IS MRS BUTLER. I TOLD HER I DO NOT WANT TO WRITE A LETTER TO A KID I DO NOT KNOW. SHE SAID SHE DID NOT WANT TO SMACK ME UPSIDE MY HEAD, BUT SHE WILL IF I DO NOT WRITE.

ARE YOU A BOY OR GIRL? IS IT COLD OR HOT IN KOREA? MRS BUTLER JUST GAVE ME THE STINKEYE AND TOLD ME TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT ME.

LAST FRIDAY AT RECESS, LESTER DARED ME TO HANG ON THE MONKEY BARS WITH MY HANDS FOR 5 MINUTES. RICKY TIMED ME ON HIS TIMEX WATCH. SATURDAY MORNING, IT FELT LIKE SOMEBODY PUNCHED ME REALLY HARD IN MY ARMPITS, AND I WALKED LIKE A PENGUIN. DO YOU HAVE PENGUINS IN KOREA?

BEST WISHES,

TREY IN THE USA

That letter, written using a fat yellow pencil on mottled brownish paper with red lines, went out several decades ago. Unfortunately, Kim Su did not reply. However, of the many stupid things I did and did not do in my public education, the pen pal project is one of the few that sticks in my mind.

I remember Mrs. Butler showing slides of Korea, then pulling down a big map and pointing to the USA and Asia. I remember her saying the students we were writing to did not know how to read or write English, and someone would have to read our letters, and that if we got a letter back, it might not be in English. The pen pal caper was chill.

Many things have changed over the years: cursive writing, postal rates, email, the Internet, Monkey Bars, classroom discipline, and much more. I doubt if schools still have pen pals. Still, a curiosity about other people in other lands and how they spend their precious hours remains. The desire to make a friend around the corner or in the far corners of the world is inside us all.

But who and how?

To my surprise, a little research revealed that having a pen pal remains a hobby/pastime for a tiny sliver of people. Plenty of us enjoy non-essential hobbies/pastimes for multiple unknown reasons, and harness racing fits in this category. We are all fortunate to have found something unique to fill our days. A hobby is beneficial, especially in this century, where life seems to speed up by the hour.

Although watching my 2-year-old trotter in a race for money is stressful, 99.9 per cent of our hobby/sport is a stress reducer. Harness racing can mentally and physically take us away from real-life pressures. Harness racing is an endless challenge, and challenges are good medicine. Reaching a goal is rewarding. Our sport is humbling and teaches lessons along the way.

For those who are socially awkward, a hobby or a sport like ours is a great way to meet people. You can meet people who enjoy racing or introduce new friends to our sport. In any hobby, the more you learn, the more you improve, and the more success you have in a hobby, the more your self-confidence will grow. The desire to share your hobbies with others is natural.

Why do we limit sharing our hobby with the people we know and by geography? Twenty years ago, striking up a correspondence with someone from Kabul, Kyoto, or Katmandu was very difficult. Today, corresponding is ridiculously simple.

For example, just for fun, I translated this column into Korean. The translation took two seconds and did not cost a penny. All I need is an address on the other end, and I can email it anywhere in another two seconds. I can add videos and links with minimal effort. We can Facetime. We live in a big world with plenty of rich, curious, and friendly people. If, for some unknown reason, someone from Brazil reads this column and responds, that would be interesting.

The train runs both ways. If a person with a hobby I had never heard of happened to send me a story, a column, or an email introducing themselves, there is a chance I would respond, and we would strike up a friendship. Of course, we must be vigilant to scams and BS, but when you know the correspondent is legit, many of us are willing to learn something new. Topics or hobbies presented properly are windows. Today, the presenter does not need to live nearby or speak our language.

The idea of finding a person from an exotic location and walking them through a year in our sport has always intrigued me. I’m going to work on this little project. Maybe I’ll see if Mrs. Butler is still around and ask if she still has Kim Su’s address.