By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Sara Khaled and Dina Khaled from Egypt
Photos = Sara Khaled And Dina Khaled

On Oct. 16 in celebration of the World Food Day, the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Egypt arranged a celebration event and invited some students from a school in Egypt called the Creative International School. The students were welcomed by the staff members there, and they did a lot of activities that day.

The students listened to a presentation about how and why the center was established in Egypt and about the different events that take place there. The KCC was first established on October 2014 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Egypt. The KCC is the first of its kind in Africa and the Middle East, so it gave people who loved Korean culture the chance to try a lot of Korean cultural events, such as trying traditional Korean games, clothes, food and watching Korean dramas and movies.

The center conducts a lot of different events in the hope that Egyptians will learn more about Korean culture and traditions and about Korea in general. It provides Korean language classes and supports speech competitions, as well, hoping that Egyptians would further understand the nuances of Korean speech and communicative forms. Those who win the first prize will have a chance to visit Korea for free.

And like language, food is also a major part of what the KCC promotes. It arranges events to introduce Korean food to Egyptians through presentations and through events allowing them to try different popular Korean foods and also provides cooking classes for those who are interested in cooking Korean food. Moreover, in response to the growing popularity of K-pop in Egypt, the KCC organizes a K-pop academy with a variety of professional teachers who come from Korea specifically to teach students different dance choreographies and how to sing different Korean songs. Concerts and other entertainment-related events are also held at the center.



The presentation also included one of the most popular symbols of Korea, Hanbok. Hanbok is the traditional Korean clothes people wore in the past and which are still worn these days on special occasions and celebrations. Hanbok had different patterns and colors according to the people’s class. For example, upper class people wore a variety of colors and only the royal family could wear clothing with geumbak-printed patterns (gold leaf).

Then the students were introduced to kimchi, a traditional side dish made from vegetables, most commonly kimchi cabbage and radishes that are salted and mixed with a variety of seasonings and then fermented. The students were amazed by the story of how Korean mothers in the past used to gather and make kimchi together in winter, then store it underground in jars to keep it cool during warm months, during which time it was a vital source of vegetables. So Korean mothers became close to their neighbors while making kimchi.

After the presentation, students did a quiz and those who gave the right answer were given unique gifts. The students found the presentation very informative and were so excited to try on Hanbok and to see the sarangbang, a room located in a traditional Korean Hanok house which served as the man's room. It was used specially by the father of a family. The father used this room for meeting visitors who come to the house and it was used for studying, writing poetry, and leisure activities as well.

Then the students learned how to do paper folding art, jongi jeobgi, and they made a bokjumeoni lucky bag. In the past, females used a lucky bag to put small things that they want to carry with them as the chima skirt of a Hanbok had no pockets in them, but these days a lucky bag is used by adults to give small children money on special occasions like the Seollal (Lunar New Year).

And lastly, students had the opportunity to try various Korean food like bulgogi marinated beef, fried chicken, kimchi, and pajeon savory pancakes.



wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.