Alaa El Sayed & Soumaya Zahran in Nanjing, China

“People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.”

We will start with the end. YES we've been to China, and hell yeah … CHINA IS MAGNIFICENT!!

I’m Alaa El Sayed, Senior year in Computer Science in The British University & I'm Soumaya  Zahran in Business Information System Helwan University. 

We actually call it “China Chapter”.  It was a life time experience, we've been through a lot, good & bad times, no words will be ever enough to describe or talk about such a great experience, it's a life changing one. No matter how long we write or speak about it, we will never be able to express our feelings regarding this internship, one just has to LIVE IT !

Our project was about culture, we had to represent Egypt in every 

possible way, through costumes, flyers, brochures, music, even language :D. 

Despite the 

difficulty to communicate with Chinese people, we managed to do it, even by pointing or signing or even dancing :D. They learned a lot about our traditions and culture, and we did as well. Not only Chinese culture, we've learned a lot about different cultures like Russian, German, Canadian, American, Brazilian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Finish, Italian, Indonesian as we lived and work with people from all of these countries. It's a very good thing to have a friend in each of those countries. We learned that we, youth all around the world, want the same things eventually, just in different packages. Having different beliefs and values and sticking to them, doesn't mean you can't enjoy what you are doing and this is living the 

culture DIVERSITY ! 

Then the adventure moved to another phase… The Kinder Garden!!                                                                        

What was good about this internship is that we experienced working in more than one field, we started with the cultural project in the "Chinese Amusement Park" . We got to work in a Kinder garden where we dealt with very cute Chinese children who surprised us with knowing some basic English ! :D

We were so lucky that we had the chance to work as a CEED with AIESEC-NJU, where we had a great experience. We got to help with interviewing new AIESEC members, and we took part in more than one conference in different cities like Shanghai as facilitators and as delegates in Nanjing conference.

  

Let’s just don’t mention the food as it was a sensitive issue.

We didn’t really suffer that much, we managed to overcome this problem    apparently since we are still alive *Yeay*. Seriously no worries.. you will survive, we are just joking haha.

Our project was in Nanjing city but who would go to China without visiting Beijing the capital city and Shanghai? Here are some of our great  memories, best unforgettable moments and good friends.

China was a life changing experience and going through it with a friend together was one hell of an adventure with its ups and downs, good and bad times, meeting new people, depending completely on ourselves, following our dreams, learning new stuff in the other side of the world and living DIVERSITY.

This was actually our best summer and the fact that we now have a home in each country gives us an indescribable feeling <3. We will never ever forget such an amazing experience and we already miss everything there, people and the places.

Big & huge thanks to AIESEC CU ! :* 

 The End of the Chapter…

Maged Moustafa in Ahmedabad, India

 

 

Maged Moustafa is my name, 24 years old, and a future chemical engineer. My favorite nickname now is the "Indian looking Egyptian".

15/7/2012 was the initiation of my life time experience, when I had my first cultural funny shock.

 

 

To someone interested in European culture, India was my last choice, but after going there, it's now my first choice for a cultural exchange and cultural experience.

Working with NGOs was my work there besides working on a global village in PDPU (Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University) Ahmedabad.

 

 

 

 

For me at the beginning, cultural exchange is to know alot about the country and the culture you are present at, but after sometime I knew its within the people. You can never know about all of the Indian culture in just 5 weeks. It needs a life time, but after going there for 5 weeks, you will definitely know that you will go back again to MAGNIFICENT INDIA.

 

 

 

Lots of brothers and sisters from all over the world, lots of experience, lots of fun, and a huge learning process that will affect your personality.

 

My stay was in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I've travelled also to Udaipur and wished to travel more, but I decided to go back again and travel all over India.

 

Thank you AIESEC for giving me the chance to be a better person, thank you AIESECers (in Egypt & in India) you all have the same vision and mission, you work for the same purpose, thank you for not letting down our TRUST.

 

Elamir Esmail in Chandigarh, India

I am Elamir Esmail from Egypt ,21 years old, and I study 

pharmacy at the German University in Cairo. 

When I firstly arrived on the grounds of India, I had the 

cultural shock but it soon faded away when I began to interact with the interns. Besides, the AIESECers were very nice and helped me to adapt to the Indian Lifestyle

My internship was in Chandigarh; literally means the city 

.beautiful

My work was teaching kids English and Mathematics. The Communication was difficult at first, as they cannot speak any English, however, 2 classes it became much easier and I really enjoyed being with them

I taught them things like fruits,vegetables and colors, weekdays and summation.

My cultural exchange experience was just great and it was

 such an amazing feeling to live this cultural diversity

I travelled to a lot of places in India such as Shimla,Dharamshala, Jaipur,Udaipur and Manali

I met a  lot of people whom I consider as 2nd family

What I have learned from this experience is adapting myself

 to any situation and appreciating every little thing in my life, such as my family, my bed, my food,  and my friends 

I would like to thank AIESEC Cairo University and AIESEC 

Chandigarh for giving me this great opportunity.

I’m definitely going to miss every thing and everyone in India : My intern-house mates , AIESECER’s , Swastik vihar , TukTuk drivers , Altius , the Indian food and especially "AROMA"- Our late night escape for food

 

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Mohamed Zaki in Chandigarh, India

My name is Mohamed Zaki from Egypt, I am in my last year in faculty of commerce Cairo University. All my life, I was dreaming about traveling and working abroad and I have finally done this through AIESEC.

I am really happy that I had the chance to travel and work in India. Usually, when it comes to India I always get speechless because I don't think the incredible beauty of India can be described in words. India is so different. Actually,the food, the culture, and most important the people . Indian people are really special and what I really appreciate the most is their cooperative spirit and the warmth and generosity while interacting with them.

"India is like a pretty woman and once you know her, you can't stop thinking about her and I think I will never ever forget India"

(Dramshala,north india)

One of the most interesting and amazing things is travelling and working side by side with the interns that you live with and seeing yourself changing to another person and watching them become your family. 

(Governmental Secondary Senior School, Chandigarh)

My internship was in Chandigarh and my work was teaching kids English and Maths in a Governmental School. It was difficult  to communicate with them  at first, however, I really I loved them, and things got easier in the end.

The amazing part of my cultural exchange experience was the fact of meeting different people from different cultures and it was such an amazing feeling to live this cultural diversity, and to adapt to the Indian life style. I have learned lot from this experience and especially from the interaction with lots of nationalities such as Russian, Ukrainian, Japanese, Colombian, Brazilian, German, Austrian, Moroccan, Tunisian, Polish Interns and many more including lots of lovely Egyptians.

I discovered that you can reach happiness just by getting to know people and I can say that I am a totally different person now because of this experience.

One of the best places I visited was the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which is made of real Gold.

For adventure lovers, Manali (North India) is the place for you. You can do lots of activities such as paragliding.

I spent my last ten days in Goa. 

Goa is heaven and I really enjoyed my time there; The sun,  the ocean, riding a motorcycle, etc.

I can never forget riding Elephants in Jaipur.

Finally, I would like thank AIESEC Cairo University, which had a huge impact on changing my personality , my culture and giving me the opportunity to visit incredible India .

!!Bye Bye Incredible India 

Rania Sleem in Chandigarh, India

 

My name is Rania Sleem from Egypt. I'm a fresh graduate of the faculty of pharmacy. One of my biggest dreams was to join a student exchange program and I have finally made it happen through AIESEC.

I am really happy that I had the opportunity to have this internship here in india.

Dealing with new people is very interesting and you get to benefit a lot from exchanging different ideas and thoughts and experiencing cultural diversity.

The interns were friendly and helpful, we were like family.

At first, I was very afraid, because this was my first time to travel on my own without my family but now I can say that I am very happy that I did this.

I became more stronger, capable of facing problems by myself, capable of dealing with different people and I became more independent.

I became a new person.

I will miss all of the interns :( 

India is a very diverse country, you can find every thing there. You can find: Snow, beaches, mountains, rivers, temples, mosques, villages, wild life, civilized areas, etc.

India is the country of bollywood movies.

  

I had the opportunity to taste the indian food, which was made of the amazing spices :)

Indian people are friendly and are always happy, they make you feel comfortable, I always had the feeling that I was in my own country, not thousands of miles away.

I worked in a school called Governmental Secondary Senior School. This school is in Chandigarh, which is a beautiful city, very similar to the area of Maadi in Egypt. I really enjoyed working there.

I was giving English Classes to Children, which was really interesting.

In the beginning, it was difficult to deal with the children, as they did not understand any English, but after a while I really enjoyed teaching the kids and playing with them.

This made me learn how to deal with people even, if they don't understand me .

The staff was very friendly, I liked them so much and they were like my family.

I loved kids in this school <3

Travelling was one of the important parts of my experience in India.

I visited many many places and cities.

One of the best places I visited was the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

It's made out of real gold, which is fascinating.

Another beautiful place was Manali.

Manali is of great significance to Indian culture and heritage

I also visited Goa, which was amazing. It's like heaven on earth.

My last day in India was one of my best days . I spent this day with an indian family. They cooked me typical Indian food which was very delicious and the family was very friendly and lovely.

Finally, I would like thank AIESEC Cairo University, which had a huge impact on changing my personality and the way I think.

BYE BYE INDIA :)