Friendship italki style I write this in response to Alexandra and Olga's comments this morning on their sadness at the apathy and meanness and ingratitude on this site. I have been verbally attacked and ignored too, and I even spent over an hour answering someone's difficult problem and didn't get a word of thanks. But I'm going to tell you about the other side - what I have got out of it. And I will name names :) Firstly Sasha and Olya (to use short forms!): I came here looking for language partners in three languages which may be useful if I succeed in my ambition to work in south-east Asia, but Olga I re-ignited my passion for Russia and Русский язык, and Alexandra reminded me of the warmth and friendliness of the Russian people. It is the new friends I have found on here that make me love this site, despite all its faults. Some chat on here; of these Arwa has impressed me most with her beautifully-written and moving stories of Gaza; others I have met on here but chat on Skype or Facebook. Three women from Kazakhstan (Molya, Maral and Elmira) chat to me in a mixture of Russian and English and I even dare to speak in a little Russian to them. Sri from Indonesia often chats to me on Facebook and I am able to help her with her studies. I have made friends from countries I never thought I would, such as Marie from South Korea, Tatsiana from Belarus and Aruhi from Saudi Arabia. Marie was kind enough to send me a card and little подарки for Christmas. Then there are people like Seda, Joa and Afsane who are always a pleasure to read and to talk to. And two Vietnamese pharmacy students, Quinni and Bluesky, that I often talk to on Skype and even sang to at 2 am one morning. I will also add Jeff, Yuri, Yoga and Aria while knowing there are many I have not mentioned. Thank you all. A site like this can only be successful if it gets beyond the formal and the abusers are ignored; and if it uses languages to build friendships and mutual understanding and respect. Those are the things give people incentive to learn.