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Some of the Worst TAFL Schools Worldwide

Listed here are some of the worst language schools for Arabic language training worldwide, i.e. the TAFL centres to avoid (from better to worse):

– Alexandria Centre for Languages (ACL). Only come here within a group organised by your university. Even then, do not have high expectations and forget what you saw in the brochure (it’s outdated) or heard in the presentation.

– SOAS Language Centre (not to be confused with the SOAS degree/diploma programmes, which are very good – perhaps the best). Choose the language centre if you want to be continually reminded that nobody speaks modern standard Arabic or if you just want to learn random vocabulary and grammar. Taught by foreign masters/PHD students (or former students) of the university (who are primarily native Arabic speakers, not teachers). However, sometimes you get lucky. May help to run a background check on the teacher before enrolling.

– Arabica Institute (Ibn Jabal). Pay them lots of money to hear why they think School of Oriental & African Studies is bad, from a teacher who almost failed his SOAS Arabic degree; who lectures by reading from a script, i.e. the useful book you can download while you are student, but can never buy as a book.

– UJLC, Jordan university. You are better off working in Dubai and learning Arabic part-time. Permanent contract teachers only get jobs here if they have a connection. Consequently, they are too lazy to teach and waste your time with a language partner scheme. Also, they are proud to be retarded.

– TAFL Center, Alexandria university. If you do not mind a premature death, then this is the place for you. This place might work for you if they consider you Egyptian or if you are from the British embassy (then, while bowing down, they will probably forget to remind you that you destroyed their country and might even celebrate your monarch’s birthday). Almost forgot to mention the racism and discrimination. For more details, read on.

In 2014, I was a complete beginner to Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, yet the director (Dr Lana Habib) put me in a higher level, explaining that I was super smart.  As a consequence, I understood next to nothing during those classes and my reservations were ignored.  Later during the term, she obliged me to attend (just myself) a conference, in Colloquial Arabic, at the French Cultural Centre, claiming that I was the most suitable student. 

During the term, one of the colloquial teachers was suppose to give me extra tuition (in order to catch up with the others), but she was probably still hung up with me having eaten at a Syrian restaurant.

In 2016, Dr Lana Habib misinformed me about what programmes and levels were available at the TAFL Center. Consequently, I wasted time considering unsuitable programmes and courses, which she had encouraged me to join.

The director tried to confuse me about my level of Arabic. Eventually, I ended up enrolling in another centre at the wrong level and being cheated out of my money.

I was insulted by a teacher during a class in the TAFL Center. She questioned my British identity and laughed at my face. Then encouraged another student to laugh with her.

There appeared to be some degree of hostility towards me, perhaps because I ate in a Syrian restaurant (at the invitation of others) or that the teacher believed Britain was responsible for the destruction of Egypt.

All in all, my time was wasted in Alexandria. When I complained to the TAFL Center, instead of resolving the issue with the teacher, the director sought to hide suitable programmes and courses that I could benefit from and annoy me until I left the centre.

كيف ضیعت وقتي ببعض مراكز تعليم اللغة العربية للأجانب في مدينة الإسكندرية

سأَصِفُ خبرتي الجيدة و السيئة في مدينة الإسكندرية, مغامرتي تبدأ من كانون الثاني 2014 حتى آيار 2016.

في نهاية عام 2013 بَعْدَ أن أنهيتُ عقدي للعمل في مدينة لندن، كان لدي شهر قبل التسجيل في جامعة الاسكندرية, لذلك قررت أن أدرس ببضعة أسابيع في مركز عربي (أمام المتحف اليوناني الروماني).

ففي عام 2014 دَرَسْتُ العامية المصرية قليلاً (مدة أصبوع تقريباً)، ولكن المعلمة كانت تشعر بملل قليلًا (و أنا أيضاً), ربما ليس خطأها بسبب ما كان عندها تدريب، و تبْعاً الخطأ من المركز. أعتقد أنّ المديرة وجدتْها بين أصدقائها. أيضاً التركيز في هذا المركز كان العربية الحديثة والكلاسيكية.

على رغم من ذلك أكبر مشكلتي في هذا المركز هي أنهم فعلوا خطأ في تواريخ شهادتي، وعندما ذكرتُ ذلك بدأتْ الإدارة تجادل مع بعضها البعض، وفي نهاية كانوا مضايقين علي و رفضوا إجراء أي تغييرات لشهادتي.

كيف أرجع الى هذا مركز في المستقبل؟ و لهذا السبب بحثتُ عن مركز آخر.

قبل سفري الى مصر اتصلتُ بمركز تافل و قال لي سكرتير المركز أنّ رسوم الدراسة هي 1700$ فصلياً (الفصحى و العامية), فسافَرْتُ الى الاسكندرية و قابلتُ السكرتير و سجلتُ في المركز و دفعتُ الرسوم لدورتين (الفصحى و العامية).

وَجَدْتُ أنّ المعلمين مؤهلين و استفدتُ منهم في بداية الفصل ولكن في نهاية الفصل كانت توجد مشكلات كبيرة بالنسبة الى الدراسة و السكن, وبالاضافة الى ذلك مَرِضْتُ بسبب السكن و تَرَكْتُ الاسكندرية و ما رجعتُ اليها حتى قبل كانون الثاني 2016.

بالنسبة الى السكن كنتُ أسكن في فندق اسمه سي ستار (يعني نجم بحر) و لم يكن مريحاً جداً ولكن كانوا الموظفين لطفاء والمكان نظيف, قالت المديرة (الدكتورة لان حبيب) يمكنني أسكن في مدينة جامعية في سموحة ولكن لم أُردْ في ذلك الوقت (لحقاً وجدتُ أنّ هذا المكان ليس نظيفاً), أيضاً أحْبَرَتْني عن شقة في منطقة ابرهيمية, قالت لي أنّ هذه الشقة جميلة و رخيصة و في منطقة جيدة, ثمّ أعطتْني رقم هاتف الدكتورة نفين (زميلتها في قسم اللآثار كلية الآداب).

عندما اتصلتُ بها قالت نفين لي أنها صديقة الدكتورة لان حبيب و زميلة صاحب الشقة (و صديقة زوجته) و ستكون (الشقة) جاهزةً بعد أسبوعين, ولكن بعد أسبوعين زرتُ صاحب الشقة فيها (كانوا موجودين عماد خليل و زوجته غادة خليل كمال و وَلَدهُما و كانوا يعشين فيها) ولكن الشقة لم تكن جاهزةً, قالا يحتاجون الى أسبوع اضافي.

بعد أسبوع ذهبتُ اليهم و وجدتُ نفس القصة, قالت أسرة عماد خليل تحتاج الى أسبوعين اضافيين, طبعاً كنت مدهشاً بكلامهم و أيضاً التكييف لم يعملْ و أشياء أخرى لم تكن جاهزة, فأخْبَرْتُ بالدكتورة نفين و في النهاية قالتْ لي (تَكَلّمَتْ مع أسرة عماد خليل) أنّ الشقة و كل شيء فيها جاهزة بعد أسبوع اضافي.

بعد الأسبوع قالت الدكتورة نفين أنّ الشقة جاهزة حتى التكييف و يمكنني أنتقل الى الشقة, فذهبتُ الى الشقة بعد أسبوع و قالت أسرة عماد خليل أنّ الشقة نظيفة و مرتبة و كل شيء جاهز الا التكييف, فوقعتُ العقد و دفعتُ الفلوس.

بعد ثلاثة أيام وَجَدْتُ مشكلة كبيرة, أَخَدَتْ أسرة عماد خليل قططهم ولكن تَرَكَتْ براغيثها, كانت توجد مئات و كانت تشرب دمي!

Continue reading “كيف ضیعت وقتي ببعض مراكز تعليم اللغة العربية للأجانب في مدينة الإسكندرية”

Foreign Exchange

At the end of 2013, I planned to spend just a few months in the Middle East.  Somehow that eventually stretched to a couple of years.  Needless to say that I ran out of cash and had to withdraw from automated teller machines (ATM).

Here lies the problem.  Back in London I was told by HSBC that the charge is only for using an ATM of a different bank and that there was no charge for using the ATM of my own bank.  However, in reality, ATM transactions were costing me almost 30 pounds for every 300 pounds I withdrew.  How was this?

Firstly, HSBC changed its policy after I went abroad.  So it made no difference whether I used my own bank or an ATM of some other bank in Jordan.

As for Citibank, I was hoping to use one of their ATMs in Alexandria at no extra charge, but it closed its retail banking in Egypt.

Then there were other charges that they did not tell me about.  Here is the breakdown of the cost, which is available on most bank websites.  So the total cost is made up of the following fees: use of ATM, international transaction, exchange rate and for the actual conversion.

My only solution then was to open a local bank account and make a large single transfer.

The day I went out to make a final withdrawal, which was on the 2nd June 2016, my bank was closed for the Great Arab Revolt centennial.

Never mind.  Since it’s so much hassle to open a bank account, it’s probably better to leave one open for when I might return to Jordan.

To be honest, that might never happen.

Update:  Recently, I learned that if there is no activity on your bank account for more six months it can become ‘inactive’ and after a year it becomes ‘dormant’. Beyond that your account will not exist and you may lose the money.

Das Sprachzentrum

Ich war wirklich gelangweilt. Warum?  Sprachzentrum, Universität Jordan haben mich in die falsche Stufe gesteckt.

…so gelangweilt, das ich meinen chinesischen Freunden einen Gefallen getan habe und nicht mit ihren Freunden getroffen habe, um uns mit Englisch und Arabisch auszutauschen.

Letztendlich fand ich die Tandem-Treffen eine Zeitverschwendung. Sie wollten mir zeigen, wie man ein richtiger Muslim ist.

Ich hatte jedoch eine positivere Erfahrung mit den Tandem-Portnern meiner chinesischen Freunde.

Was hat sich das Sprachzentrum eigentlich gedacht?

Ich wollte unbedingt von Level fünf (5) auf sechs (6) wechseln. Das Testergebnis hat sogar gezeigt, dass ich für Level acht (8) geeignet bin.

Die Direkturin und ihre Kollegen ließen mich allerdings nicht. Auf der anderen Seite kannten anderen Sprachschüler in einen anderen Kurs wechseln. Sie behaupteten sogar, klasse die Grammatik in Level 5 und 6 dieselbe ist. Entweder ist das eine Luge, oder das ist das zurückgebliebene Zentrum, in dem ich jemals war.

Sie waren entweder zu faul, oder zu arrogant, um mich umzulaufen.

Nachdem meine Lehrer mit der Direktorin gesprochen haben, wurde sie nur noch arroganter.

Am nächsten Morgen war sie unverschämt zu mir und gab mir eine Aufgabe, die nicht einmal mit meinem Kurs zu tun hatte.

Genug ist genug! Endlich habe ich mich beim Präsidenten beschwert. Ich habe ihm meine Grammatik liste gezeigt, die ich bereits gelernt habe (ganze 90%).

Er hat zugehört, aber es hat sich immer noch nichts geändert.

Also war es nur noch ein Monat voller Langeweile, und dann Prüfungen, oder so dachte ich zumindest…

In der letzten Woche des Semesters habe ich herausgefunden, dass die Direktorin Gerüchte verbreitet hat, dass ich mich über meine Lehrerin beschwert habe. Ich habe dieser Lehrerin erklärt, was ich wirklich gesagt habe. Sie hat mir geglaubt und mir einen Kaffee ausgegeben.

Die Ungerechtigkeit und Spielchen der Direktorin als auch die Langeweile, der ich ausgesetzt war verursachten einen Persönlichkeitswandel und der Umgang mit meinen Kommilitonen und Lehrern hat sich verändert.

Ich konnte nicht glauben, das so ein simples Problem nicht gelöst werden kann. Was war deren Motivation? Ist Jordanien wirklich das Haschemitische Königreich der Langeweile?

Eine Sache, die die Universität richtig macht, ist Religiose Ethik, z. B. globalen Frieden und Toleranz zu lehren. Leider macht die Sprachschule keine Gebrauch davon.

Alles in Allem hat mich meine Erfahrung mit dem Gefühl hinterlassen, dass Jordanien eine Zeit- und Geldverschwendung ist.

Abgesehen von dem Bösen, das ich in Alexandria erlebt habe, wäre ich zufriedener gewesen als in Jordanien.

Auf der anderen Seite glaube ich, dass Jordanien Potenzial hat, aber die Korruption halt die hart – arbeitenden und talentierten Menschen zurück.

Jordanier haben mir auch gesagt, dass Mitglieder der oberen Klassen direkt General sein wollen, ohne davor Soldat gewesen zu sein.

Eigentlich war mein größtes Bedauern, dass ich nicht nach Ägypten zurückgegangen bin. Mit dem einzigen Sprachzentrum, das ich in Alexandria kannte, hatte ich allerdings schlimme Erfahrungen. Obwohl ich gehört habe, dass Kairo professionellere Sprachzentren hat, hat sich niemand dort-hin getraut wegen der politischen Tumulte.

Den winzig anderen Ort, den ich, zu dem Zeitpunkt noch kannte, war Tunesien, aber die Sicherheits-Situation dort sah noch schlimmer aus.

Harassment

The list of harassers is long and they often initially came across as though they want to be friends or teach me Arabic.

One Arab guy who worked in the reception in the Ali Baba library who always complained about his life in Jordan and believed that all foreigners were rich and had an easy life.

In the same library, a rich Syrian guy studying software engineering and political science.  When I did not give him enough attention, he started blanking me.

A Jordanian guy working in the local bakery who was friendly to begin with (sometimes offering me free food, which was going too far I thought) and then a little intrusive.  Later he asked if it was possible for him, a Jordanian, to marry a hypothetical British Indian girl???

A poor Syrian guy working in the same bakery who would not sell me the bread until I taught him a new word of English and always demanded to know why I would not move in with him.

A rich Syrian guy pretending not to be and use to be my neighbour.  He tried to persuade me that Jabal al-Nusra were the glorious people of Sunna.  I only briefly heard about them on Radio 4 before I left England.  I was unsure about the significance of this analysis.  Once upon a time, I heard the true believers when confronted by an enemy would be aided by the angels and assured victory – no matter what the odds.  He had no answer.  I later learned that while Jabal al-Nusra (Mountain of Victory) were softer on the home front than on the war front and were indeed fighting alongside the Free Syria Army, which included Sunni factions, against the Syrian government of al-Asad as well as Daesh (so-called Islamic state of Iraq and Syria).  However, ideologically they were actually similar to al-Qaeda.  Shouldn’t we be scared?

I wondered later, if he really believed that the Jabal al-Nusra were the truly pious all-star Sunni brigade, then perhaps he should join his fellow country-men as opposed to investing in his education.  Or would he rather die the death of a camel?

Also that Daesh was solely created (as a joint collaborative effort by America and Iran) as a conspiracy to destroy the people of Sunna.  This of course was too far-fetched for me.  We all knew that Iran and the USA were traditional enemies in the political arena.

Another time he told me, on the authority of his uncle who had been in the army, that when they were close to victory, Hafez al-Asad had given up the Golan Heights to Israel in exchange for money.  I suppose it could be true, but I didn’t buy it either.

He also tried to convince me that learning MSA before a colloquial was a better idea, but of course (as 99.9% of Arabs do) he learnt Arabic the other way round.  He also said that it was better that I could not understand what people around me were saying since the people talk rubbish anyway.  In reality, it was becoming like hell listening to him.  It took a while, but I finally became expert in avoiding him 99.9%.

Another Syrian guy already studying English at university I think.

Another Arab guy studying aeronautical engineering.

A Sudanese part-time Imam at the university mosque studying in the Faculty of Religion (who often criticized me for wanting to learn colloquial, but only spoke colloquial and only spoke English with me) and told me my Arabic sucks in front of people including at least one of his friends (while he was still in the mosque).

A girl who was studying Law and pretended to be a foreign Turk wanting to improve her Arabic speaking skills (it turned out that I could write better Arabic than her, which is shocking, but was not surprising after I realized she is really an Arab just wanting to learn English, make foreign friends and to get out of Jordan).

A real Turk…and then when I agreed to meet with him, he suddenly gave up learning English and no longer wanted to be friends.

Another neighbour who works at the airport and said he hates Arabic food.

A Chinese guy who was suppose to be studying Arabic.

The Narcissist

In Jordan I experienced a number of exploitative relationships.  With the case of a girl from China, I would often wonder ‘what the hell was I thinking’.

I first met this girl back in 2009 and was somewhat intrigued as she was a Turk from China, which seemed unusual.  She also seemed very quiet (which I now think is because she did not know any English).  There were hardly any Chinese in Amman at that time and so I said I’d teach her English if she taught me Chinese, but it never happened.

Over time I saw her bad character.  At the beginning I use to feel sorry for her as she talked a lot about how the Chinese government oppresses her people.  Regarding that, I remembered hearing something (back in London) on the news (CNN I think).  Apparently, they were not allowed to fast in the month of Ramadan!

After she had been very rude to me I saw no real friendship and started to realize about how she intended little in the way of improving the situation in China.  That she was well and truly oppressing herself with a form of nationalism.  China had become, by this time, the number two economy in the world.  Something to make the most of I thought.

In Egypt, the Uyghurs I met (as the Turks of China are known) were generally polite, well-mannered, worked hard and positive about life and other people, including Chinese people.  Sure, there were issues at the state level, but then the regular Chinese also criticized their government a little.

I met a lot of Chinese, but had no idea that some of them were Uyghur until one of them met me in the street one day and introduced herself properly (in almost perfect English).  Until then I could not tell the difference, although, by that time (2014), I had learned about them as part of a course on the history of China.  So in Egypt, over time, I really started to like the Uyghur.

As for the one in Jordan, what was her problem?

After I returned to England (2010), I did not talk to her much, but later she started to tell me about her problems (via Facebook) and I started to see some commonality between us.

A few years on, I found myself in Jordan again.  Due to medical treatment, I was stuck there and after a re-union with some former students of the language centre, I learned (from the Korean) that the Chinese Turk was still in Jordan and had stopped talking to her after the Korean had been unable to attend a meet-up.   Felt I’d better let her know that I am in Jordan, lest she also become angry with me too.

So I did let her know and she started to call me and as time went on the calls became longer and longer (and in English).  Being in the same city, but only communicating via the phone became tedious for me and I suggested that we meet.

We met not far from her Arab foster family and we ended up sitting there for a while (and talking in English of course).   At the end of it I felt quite guilty.  Here was a naive young lady who had suffered much stress and depression in the last few years.  Even I noticed the white hairs on her head and she was only twenty-five years of age.  Had I been selfish?  Was I only meeting her because I felt isolated in Jordan?

I wanted to help her and in the medium term even suggested I’d be her older brother if she wanted.  I had already re-acquainted her with our Korean friend (and former colleague) and that had made her glow a bit more 🙂  Thought I was doing something right for a change.  However, as soon as the anti-Chinese rhetoric started, I started to feel like I might have actually done something wrong.

From the way she talked, it started to look like she was suffering from severe depression, may be bipolar or something of the sort.  She even made statements such as having the wrong genes or the wrong family background or born with the wrong nationality, etc.

I started to wonder; to what extent was the people’s republic of China responsible for this girl’s extreme outlook on life?  Perhaps the Chinese government ought to revise its policy towards the Uyghur and other ethnic groups.  Their current policies were clearly not working and brewing something very unhealthy.  Or perhaps this individual was merely narcissistic?  I was never certain.

She was a little obsessed with looks (her own, her tribe and other people) and asked me at least once if she was beautiful.  Stranger than this, she would at times sound very religious and talk the talk.  Other times, she would sound very ungrateful and at least once she sounded blasphemous!  I tried to advise her, even about the racism, but it made no difference.

She was studying a degree in Arabic at WISE university and wanted to start looking for a job before she graduated.  So I helped her with her CV and setting up a profile on various job and career sites.  She wanted more, she wanted me to teach her IT in exchange for her teaching me Chinese.  However, I wanted to enroll on a calligraphy course, a Turkish language course and an Arabic colloquial course and did not have time to do more.  That did not go down too well with her…she even started making preparations.

Unfortunately, our friendship became a little abusive and immature.  She often asked what sort of woman I wanted to marry.  I answered X, Y and Z and she took that to mean herself.  I clarified that ideally I wanted to marry Chinese, which was true to some extent, but actually the race mattered not as much as the character, so any girl would do – even Korean or Arab.  She even asked if I wanted to marry her, but added that I was not her type.  I replied that I was not interested, but even if I was, I would not, since her hatred for Chinese was bad for business.

Six months later (after I had become tired of her racist tendencies and her negativity about Jordan and of Arab women) she called me and demanded that I speak to her in English when talking about personal stuff (which was always the topic of the day), otherwise she would hang up!

I’d been struggling with locals and foreigners trying to get me to teach them English for free.  As a defense, my mind was often, with limited grammar and vocabulary, in Arabic mode, which I could not always control and in the long run may have contributed to brain damage, (but that could of been more because of my bad experiences in the retarded language centres).

On average, I was harassed at least once a week and met a new harasser once a month.

For this reason, my mind was in Arabic mode when the Chinese-hating Turk telephoned me.  As a result, she really did hang up.  After that we had a bit of an unfriendly exchange (by SMS/TXT) and then the silence.   It was difficult at first (probably because I was far from home, family and (my real) friends), but then I felt relieved:   freedom from her corruption at last!

I could not believe that I had put up with her for so long, when I really owed her nothing.  Why on earth had I contacted her in the first place?

Later, the other reality also dawned on me.  How would our mutual fun-loving, chilled-out Korean friend react?  In the long term she stopped talking to me too and I felt sad at first.  Was that because she was the only friend I had in Jordan?

Later, I realized that they were almost as bad as each other, tired of the Arabic language and culture and simply wanting to learn English; migrate to the UK or the USA and in love with money.  This is what drew them to me.

Sometimes it feels like the noble act can also be foolish!

Equality

In the last class of the last week of term in the TAFL Center, a teacher, Fatema Shokr, for the Egyptian colloquial class opened a discussion about discrimination in the UK, and as an example mentioned equal opportunities monitoring.  She put forward the argument that this is actually discrimination.  I tried to explain that although it might not be a perfect system, the purpose of it is to work against discrimination.

At this point, the teacher (Fatema Shokre) asked the Koreans what their nationality is.  At that they replied Korean. She did the same with the Romanian woman, who replied Romanian.  When my turn came, I replied British and at this the teacher (Fatema Shoker) laughed and then looked at the Romanian and they both laughed at me.

I tried talking to the teacher after the class, but she was angry.

If the teacher had told me she was upset with me, I could of apologized.  I was not asking for anything except that I be taught the Arabic language and I certainly did not come to Egypt with the intention to upset a teacher.

Perhaps I had said something offensive, something I had heard from my language partner (a scheme that she and TAFL had encouraged/organised) or from other Egyptians, which would of been both unintentional and perhaps expected as I had not been sleeping well (due to accommodation issues that the teaching staff were also aware of).

During at least one of the classes she had mentioned that the British empire had destroyed Egypt and I never argued with that (since I was not versed in that part of history).  Could that have been the reason?

My ancestors were poor farmers in the British empire, how is it their fault?  Even if it was, how am I responsible?

I came from England to Egypt respecting Egyptians, keeping an open mind, and I started to like Alexandria. Whereas the Romanian student hated Egyptians and the Arabic language (she even wanted them to adopt Latin script as the Turks had done).  Why so much hostility towards me?

During one class the teacher asked what I had done over the weekend.  I replied that the Chinese students had invited me to a Syrian restaurant in Miami (an area in East Alexandria).  She did not look nor speak to me for the rest of the class.  The same thing happened when she asked me to advise the Korean students how to find work and I mentioned that I use to know a Korean student of Arabic in Jordan who later joined Samsung, based in Amman.  Were these events somehow connected to her actions in the last week of term?

On the weekend of that same week I had become very physically weak due to an illness (caused by insect bites in the apartment I had been staying in) that had started earlier in the week and my primary focus became how to get home, (which never happened due to undergoing minor surgery in Jordan).

Later I tried connecting on Skype with the address she had given me, but she would not accept.  So I gave up and over time I lost confidence in returning to Alexandria or it just seemed pointless enrolling at the TAFL Center again.

A centre where it is ‘acceptable‘ for a teacher to abuse a student (because she is angry), perhaps especially if he does not come through some large organization such as the British embassy (or consulate), which of course is an entity they respect immensely, (albeit outwardly at least).  They even started celebrating the Queen’s birthday.

The abusive teacher once told me that her faith is Islam and she had studied the religion.  I believed her at the time, but from her actions I am unsure now.  Perhaps she should study religion again, but some place with high standards, such as SOAS or Sorbonne or Berlin.

Then, may be, she would understand the following statement of her prophet:  “An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action.”

In fact, for a short while (thanks to this jaahel* so-called teacher), I gave up studying Arabic.

*ignorant, low-life, like an animal.

(Levels of racism map built with SimpleMaps.com using data from World Values Survey).

On a mission

My impression of Koreans was based on my limited experiences with them during previous visits to the Middle East.  A fun-loving bunch of people basically.  So I thought as such regarding the four Koreans in my colloquial class.

In the class, they appeared to like me.  However, outside of class it was a different matter.

Despite that, for some time, they had requested I teach them English.  To this I agreed as long as they also taught me Korean.

So it was in the last week of term (in the TAFL Center) that they took me to a cafe where, instead of having a language exchange, they preceded to preach to me.  They wanted me to convert, but I felt it would make little practical difference.  Most of their preaching was based around the prophets, which I was already supposed to believe in, and about sacrifice.

They also explained how at least one of them had a serious drinking problem and had it not been for their new faith they would not have been able to quit!  In order words, it was only through the help of God that such things could be accomplished.

However, apart from the father and son part of their creed, I saw little point in converting.  I was already aware that not all Christians believe that Jesus is the literal son of God and perhaps for that reason I did not see much difference between being Muslim or Christian.  After listening to them, the essentials of faith appeared to be same in both religions.

For now, I just wanted to be friends.

In the end, they convinced me to read the Bible, which I agreed to do when I returned to London.  I already had a copy on my shelf.

Some time later, my Korean friend in Amman explained to me that these Koreans (that I met in Alexandria) were probably Protestant and evangelical and that many of their kind had migrated to Jordan.  One of them had preached to her too.

Apparently, they had a low opinion of all (other than their own).  Back in Alexandria, one of them described Koreans (in general) as Christian ‘in name only’.

I thought we were friends 😭

Spring Festival

The spring festival or sham al-naseem is a popular celebration in Egypt and as such is taken seriously at the language centre in Alexandria.

I saw it as an opportunity to socialize with my new friends in the Chinese programme that I had first met during the Chinese New Year party (also hosted within the centre).  In addition, it was a chance to try out the very salty fish.

However, the woman from Romania was uninterested in going to (in her words) “a pagan festival” and reminded me that since I am a Muslim I should not be going either.

I then felt confused.  On one hand, I wanted to socialize with my new friends from the other classes whereas, on the other hand, I felt embarrassed by the thought of violating my religion.

I had been having doubts about my commitment to any formal organized religion, but a part of me was always afraid of going to hell and I did not want something as trivial as this party being the reason I end up in the burning fire.

So now I was confused!

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the director arrived and, after a brief exchange of words between her and the Romanian, I was asked if I would be attending.  At that point I felt embarrassed again (for a different reason) and felt obliged to attend, which I did (hoping that God would forgive me since all I wanted to do was socialize and had not even thought of doing my research as to the origins of this festival and its permissibility in terms of Islam and Christianity).

The fun did not last long as I was reminded by one of the teachers that we had a class with the Romanian.  However, things were not so bad since I did have ice cream and had priority in the queue.  Also, in the class, the teacher, as usual, made me laugh.

His classes were my favourite – always absorbing or simply entertaining.  Too bad he left Egypt before I returned.

Selfish

He was sitting outside my classroom waiting for me to finish.  The secretary had told him about me and he was very eager to meet me.

After hearing his story I felt sorry for him.  The Alexandria university halls of residence, which had been recommended to me by the Chinese and their Arab friends was apparently an expensive dump.  The main attraction for the Chinese was their discount, they were paying 1000 EGP a month, whereas the Arabs were paying only 500.

This poor Japanese guy was paying 300 USD per month (or more) for a place that he claimed was extremely dirty and small.  He had communicated with the TAFL Center via email (from Japan) and the TAFL secretary had quoted him the Chinese price and recommended the halls of residence to him.

This left me a little confused.  The director of the language centre (Lana Habib) had suggested I live there and said the price was only 1000 EGP.  Due to the Chinese, I was thinking of moving there from the hotel (where I had a big problem with mosquitoes).

In the end I helped arrange for this young man to stay in my hotel, which was certainly cleaner and cheaper.

What may have started off as a healthy friendship soon became very complicated. He was not attending every class and complained that the teacher would often use English.  He also told me that the teaching style was archaic and he felt it was his right that I should lunch and dinner with him every day in a restaurant.  I slowly found myself teaching him how to speak Arabic, which was not my job of-course.

He introduced me to his colleague from France, who also wanted to find an apartment.  I helped them find an apartment on the corniche, but there were only two rooms.  So I suggested that if she (the girl from France) was not interested I would take the room. However, he suggested I share a room with him, but I told him that was a bad idea.

Back in the centre, the girl from Denmark (his other colleague) agreed that it was bad idea, whereas the Koreans believed it to be a normal thing and mentioned that two of them use to share a bed.

Anyway, in the end, they (the French girl and the Japanese guy) said that they were interested, but they took forever to make a final decision and we spent the whole evening with the landlord listening to her story about how she was involved in some project to help students find accommodation in Egypt.

The next day, they were late for the appointment.  I was on time even though I was not required to be there.  By the time we arrived together in the apartment, the landlord had already reached an agreement with a group from Cairo and had taken the money from them.

So the search for an apartment for this student from Japan continued and continued and he moved in and out of the hotel.  Meanwhile, my assistance to him consumed a lot of study time.