Lately there’s been several articles and such regarding Harumi Lloyd from Japan and tape palling. She has been looking with only minimal success for a few more pals. So I was thinking that if I shared my experiences and address some of the questions posed about the process, maybe a few more people would be interested and perhaps give it a shot, not just with Harumi but with other tape pallers.

One of the first things people ask is the cost of tape palling. When I received Harumi’s introduction tape and listened to it, I was so excited that I just had to reply and be pals with her. I went to Circuit City which is nearby, and purchased a standard tape recorder for $25. If you don’t have Circuit City available, you can get them at Kmart, Target and even office supply stores like Office Max or Staples. Cassette tapes are available individually or in packs of 3 which are more economical at around $10.00, and since you reuse the tapes back and forth for a while, you get your money’s worth. They are available in 60 and 90 minute tapes; I keep both on hand and use them depending on if I’m in an especially chatty mood.

Sending the tapes is relatively easy. Harumi used great reusable vinyl and Velcro mailers, on the outside we have an address label which is pre-printed with both of our addresses, one on each side, so we can just flip it over to use. I put a raised sticker on the side with my address on it so Harumi would know it was mine, she liked that idea. I also put our names and addresses on the case for the tape, in the event it comes out of the mailer. Here’s the best part, mailing tapes to Harumi from the United States is free! I’m not sure about Canada and overseas at this time. Yup, as long as the mailer is clearly marked “Articles for the Blind”, they go free. All you do is hand them to the clerk at the post office and off it goes. I know when Harumi sends me a tape she tells me the date, and her tapes take no more than a week to get from Japan to Pennsylvania, not bad huh? As long as you only send one tape there’s no customs forms to fill out.

The second question I get is “How do you answer her tape if you’re using it to listen to her tape, or vice versa?” What I do is listen to the tape when I first receive it, then I listen to it again and take notes in a little book that I’ve kept since we’ve started palling. That way I can listen to her, pause the tape, write down what I need to remember so I can reply, and then I can continue. That way I can listen at my own pace, plus I have a written record of things from her tapes that I can look back on. I can’t believe we’ve been corresponding for almost a year already! I believe what Harumi does is listens to it once then switches back and forth when she’s replying to me, but she always responds to any question or inquiry.

Next is a common comment, “I feel weird talking ‘to myself’.” Yea, it’s a bit awkward at first, but once you get into the rhythm of it it’s fun. I generally wait until no one is home or evening, that way everyone’s settled in their rooms and I’m not disturbed by kids, cats, husband, or phones. What’s great about it is you can stop the tape and start over if you don’t feel comfortable with what you’ve taped. I’ve done a half a tape before and started over because I didn’t care for the way it was going, ha. There’s no rush, you can do it a little at a time, it’s ok. Then you can just pop it into the case, into the mailer then off to the post office.

I must admit it was odd at first, but now it’s something I look forward to every month or whenever Harumi replies. We’ve had some good laughs; she’s got a great sense of humor and a quick wit. She loves listening to tapes of American radio stations that I’ve made for her, she even loves the commercials! I’m learning many things about Japan and it’s customs, things you’d never know about otherwise. We’ve also found out that she and I have many things in common, surprising things that you’d also never expect someone across the world to have in common with you.

I encourage you to try it, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Wendy, I’m sure between the two of us we can answer your questions.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Enjoy!