‘The friends we
make abroad become
like family & true
friendships know
no borders.’
Written by Ruth Puttfarken &
Morag Macdonald Simpson
WE
met in Scotland, in July
1963, as part of a school exchange trip:
pupils from Osterode am Harz in Northern
Germany came to Glasgow for two weeks,
and then pupils from Glasgow went to
Osterode. Everyone was paired randomly
with a pupil from the other country. In
one of life’s happiest accidents, we were
paired together.
The next year, Morag returned to Germany on another school trip and stayed with
Ruth’s family again. In December 1965,
Ruth went to Scotland and stayed with
Morag’s family. In the mid-1960’s, these
journeys took a long time and a great deal
of organisation. Ruth’s trip from Osterode
to Glasgow took 24 hours, in freezing cold
conditions and Morag’s bus journey from
Glasgow to Osterode took just as long.
In the years after 1965, life changed quite
a lot for us. Morag was at university and
moved to London afterwards, and Ruth
was an au pair in America. We kept in
2014
Start an
international
friendship that
will last a lifetime!