Kovarik recalls visit with pen pal

—Has been corresponding with friend for over 45 years
CRESCO - Twenty years ago, Diane Kovarik of Cresco embarked on a life-changing adventure when she flew halfway across the world to New Zealand to visit her longtime pen pal, Sue Evans Chard, with whom she had corresponded since October 1973.
The 17-hour trip marked her first lengthy excursion out of the state of Iowa and her first time on an airplane. 
Sue and her husband Alan had previously visited Kovarik on a trip to the United States in 1988.
By 1999, through a stroke of luck, Kovarik found an opportunity to visit the couple and their children at their home in Palmerston, North, New Zealand.
Kovarik said, “Dave Brace was the postmaster here in Cresco. His wife, Judy, is originally from Palmerston North, New Zealand. When Sue and Alan were here, I introduced them to each other. After that, I would send packages to Sue, and Dave would say, ‘It would be cheaper to take them there yourself.’ 
“In June 1998, I went to mail something, and Dave said, ‘Judy and I are planning a trip to New Zealand. Would you like to book a ticket?’”
At the Brace’s invitation, Kovarik arranged to  catch the same flights. She felt this trip was a chance of a lifetime.
“I thought this was an opportune time; I had barely left Howard County and would have travel companions to New Zealand,” Kovarik said.
As excited as she was at her travel plans, Kovarik was concerned about her elderly parents’ reaction.
“I didn’t let my parents know about this trip until about 10 days before I took off but I had a support system in place for them here,” she said.
Kovarik remembers traveling to Rochester and then Minneapolis, Minn., before arriving in Los Angeles, Calif., and enduring an eight-to-10-hour layover. The flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand was a non-stop, 12-hour trip.
Once Kovarik and the Braces arrived in New Zealand, they discovered another instance of synchronicity:
“We got to Auckland and were getting ready to board the plane from Auckland to go to Palmerston North and I mentioned that we had better exchange addresses and phone numbers so we could touch base when it was time to leave. Judy asked me why I had her nephew’s old address. It turns out that Alan and Sue had purchased the house from Judy’s brother.”
For all of the uncanny connections Kovarik had made between Cresco, Iowa and North Palmerston, New Zealand, she remembers moments where the culture differences became apparent in amusing ways.
“When Alan met me at the airport, he told me I was getting in on the wrong side of the car,” she said.
On the way to the Chards’ home, Kovarik recalls Alan mentioning that he hoped he and Sue’s children would not awaken her when they arrived home from school. They had also been invited to a party that evening and extended an invitation to Kovarik to attend if she felt up to it.
Kovarik remembers, “I had jet lag so badly I slept for 18 hours.”
When she awoke the next morning, Kovarik finally got to see her longtime pen pal in person once again.
“I remember that Sue said, ‘I cannot believe it; I never thought you would do something like this.’ I said, ‘It’s a chance of a lifetime.’”
Kovarik enjoyed sight-seeing in New Zealand throughout her visit, which lasted about 26 days in total. Along the way, she accumulated many souvenirs. 
“I went to Rotorua which was awesome. I think they call their hotels hostels and they were very cheap; they had guided tours so I got to go to different activities. We went to a dinner theatre. Everybody treated me like royalty. I did some day trips in New Zealand while Alan and Sue continued with their jobs. I saw two cathedrals and bought a beautiful rosary.”
Kovarik remembers that it was summer in New Zealand when she visited.
“The weather was wonderful and they didn’t have screens on their doors or windows;  there were no insects.”
Howard County residents are likely aware that Kovarik is a talented cook; she has frequently contributed to the Mighty Howard County Fair cooking contests over the years. Not surprisingly, she and Sue enjoyed cooking together and Kovarik also noticed cultural differences in the food in New Zealand compared to that of the United States.
“Sue and I made Pavlova bake meringue with kiwi on top. I got introduced to a lot of different foods and drank lots of tea. Whenever I went to anyone’s house, they offered me wine or champagne. When they had spaghetti, they would put toast on the bottom and spaghetti on top of that.”
Once it was time to leave and return home, Kovarik remembers the Chards’ children asking her if she would remember them.
“I said, ‘Of course I will remember you,’ Kovarik said. “They were just seven and nine years old at the time. They had written me letters thanking for visiting them and hoped to save their pennies so they could come to the United States someday. They were so precious, and it was so hard to leave.”
Once she returned home, Kovarik, an avid scrapbooker, began documenting her trip to New Zealand, an intensive two-week project.
“When I look through (my memorabilia) the trip feels like it just happened yesterday,” Kovarik said.
Kovarik credits her sixth grade teacher in Cresco for helping facilitate her friendship match with a pen pal across the world.
“I have to give Evelyn Adamec credit for planting the seed in me, because as part of our sixth grade writing class, she wanted everyone to write to pen pals. The first attempt didn’t materialize, and I was determined to get a pen pal. I remember that in either Women’s Circle or Women’s Day magazine, there was a section where people were seeking pen pals. I wrote to this one particular lady, but she was overwhelmed with the responses. Sue’s older sister started being my pen pal. A few letters later, she said that her sister Sue wanted a pen pal, and asked me if I had a friend. I said, ‘I’ll take Sue on, too.’ Deb and I ended up falling by the wayside, but Sue and I  continued to correspond and in 1988, they took a vacation and spent six months in the United States, three weeks of that staying with us.”
“When we met, she said, ‘I was worried: What if we don’t like each other?’ It was a match. 
Kovarik said she and Sue continue to correspond, although the popularity of social media sites like Facebook replaces letter writing.
“We still keep in touch. I try to call on holidays and birthdays. We are now friends on Facebook. If I say, ‘Pen pal’ or ‘pen friend’, some people don’t have a clue as to what that means anymore. We have shifted from letter writing to primarily phone calls or Facebook.”
Kovarik hopes that in the future, her friend of over 40 years might visit her in the United States once again.
“Sue has a milestone birthday coming up, so I said, ‘It’s your turn to visit now.’ If we see each other again, she can meet my special friend Roger (Craft) and my service dog Reecee. It’s a forever friendship, and when we do correspond, we just pick up right where we left off.”
 

Cresco Times

Phone: 563-547-3601
Fax: 563-547-4602

Address:
Cresco TPD
214 N. Elm Street
Cresco, IA 52136

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