티스토리 뷰
한국어를 사용하지 않는 친구들에게 보내는 편지로, 지난 편지[2011/03/30 - [길위의시간/이집트통신] - First letter from Egypt] 이후 3개월 동안의 소식을 담고 있습니다. 내용은 한국어로 쓴 글의 종합에 가까우니까 굳이 읽지 않으셔도 될 거예요 :)
Dear my friends,
I've been so well in Luxor, Egypt, although the weather is quite hot. I intended to write a letter regularly, like once a month, but as usual, time goes fast and it's been already about three months since I wrote the last letter. Time flies, really. I left Korea for the first time on 27th of December, 2010 so this means that I've done my voluntary work for six months. However, as I spent nearly two months in Korea because of the Egyptian revolution, I haven't done a lot of things yet.
Voluntary work in Luxor
On 18th of April, I came to Luxor finally after finishing my training in Cairo. My assignment is to teach Korean language to the students in a tourism institute named 'Egoth'. Students of this school want to be a guide or work in tourism industry anyway in the future and they choose a second language among French, Spanish, Japanese and so on and learn it for 4 years. My students are kind and friendly but unfortunately they don't study hard, so their Korean is not so good. Even 4th grade students pronounce simple Korean in a wrong way, which makes me frustrated. However, there are some students who take their study serious as well and I believe their Korean will improve a lot once they make their own effort.
My office and students
In fact, the most difficult thing in my work is not teaching itself but dealing with people in the school. For one thing, I asked the dean of the school to install an air conditioner in the classroom because it is impossible to give lectures in hot summer without air conditioning. He said "No problem." and assured me that it will be done in a month, but it wasn't. I kept asking him once a week, or sometimes twice a week and after a long fight, I think I'll get one in my classroom. I don't like this kind of attitude, just saying anything to get away with the situation and not keeping their own words afterwards. I believe that Egyptian people should keep their promises better if they want to accomplish the real revolution. However, I think Korea had similar kind of problem in the past, maybe still we have, and it is not too serious to make me dislike this country.
Life in Luxor
So far, so good. I am very satisfied with being here, not in Cairo. There are several reasons. The area where I live is calm and peaceful, the distance from my place to work is not so far (about 5 minutes by mini bus), I've got enough time to prepare my lesson and the most important thing - there are some good people around me.
Some photos at famous tour sites in Luxor
I've made a local friend as well and started learning Egyptian Arabic once a week, which is not only helpful but also very interesting. Sometimes I make Korean food and share it in the class and my Arabic teacher, Sam, give many chances to taste local dishes which are suitable for vegetarians. Actually, there are some periods in a year when Coptic people (kind of traditional Egyptian christians) do fasting and while they fast their food is vegan, so it is not so difficult to find some food that I want in a restaurant or a supermarket. Also, since I like so much cooking and baking, I usually make my meal and bread on my own, which makes my life here a lot more abundant.
Spending good time with friends
The bread that I baked on my own
As Luxor is a small city and there are not many restaurants or cafes to go to, I prefer to have people in my place, sharing good food and talking about life. Here, life is quite different from that in Korea, where we don't have enough time to be with our family and friends because we should do so many things in a short time and in the same time. I can focus more on the relationship between people and the things what I like, so sometimes I feel like I became a different person.
My place, quiet and comfortable
Luxor is a good place for my faith, too, because I have a meeting for bible study once a week and I attend mass every Sunday. Here, I am not as busy as I used to be in Seoul so I just don't have any excuse to skip.
People in Luxor
There are a lot of foreign tourists all year around here, so local people usually consider me as a tourist and try to rip me off, which is very annoying sometimes. So when I buy even a small thing, I keep being suspicious of the price. However, last week I experienced an event that made me embarrassed. I went to a restaurant to buy a small container of dip and asked the guy to give me Arabic menu as I thought he could deceive me. I verified the price. But when the dip was ready, he gave it to me for free, smiling. Coming back home, I thought of what I did. I came here as a volunteer but I am so narrow-minded and doubtful about people around me all the time. It is true that there are some not-so-nice people here but there are good Egyptians as well, and if I don't have trust on them, what can I do for their future? So from now on, I'd like to be still careful and prudent but not to be suspicious like that way.
The lady who makes traditional bread at a hotel, was very kind
Future plan
As I adjusted to living here, at the moment I am looking for something I can do concerning Egyptian education. I'd like to know more about it and see how the educational system functions in order to help people find out and solve the problem. I know I won't be able to do it in a short time, as I need to make a good relationship and establish confidence first. Anyway, I believe education is far and away the most important thing in making a life better, for both individual and community, so I'll be happy if I can participate in any ways. I hope to be able to talk more things about this next time.
So I think this is almost everything I can talk to you now. As I said, I like my work and life in Luxor very much, but sometimes I just feel like I am not a real volunteer because the standard of my life is much higher than that of local people. If you have any words to me about this matter, don't hesitate. I'd like to know how is your life going, too.
Sincerely,
Eunpah
