Experience of Floris

My name is Floris, from the Netherlands. I am currently studying at Kyoto University, in Japan. My major is international relations and politics. At my university, we are free to choose courses every semester, so last semester I studied about post-colonialism, orientalism and Islam. These courses all made me interested in the Middle-East and especially in the situation here in Palestine.
Firstly I would like to thank the Excellence Center for the wonderful experience I had here in Palestine. I participated for three and a half weeks in the Volunteer & Arabic Program, which means that I both taught English and learned Arabic at the centre.
Teaching English here was very interesting and motivating. I have participated in other programs in other countries, but I found my experience at the Center more diverse than at the other places. I taught young children, high school students, PhD students and even officials of the Hebron municipality. As the students and their level of English were very different, teaching was very challenging. The English level in Palestine is generally very high, so through my English classes I learned a lot about the situation, from the viewpoint young and older people.
I also learned Arabic at the Center. I had one or more hours of Arabic almost every weekday. Because I already had studied some ‘Fusha’ (Modern Standard Arabic) by myself in Japan, I decided to study the ‘Amiya’ (dialect) of the Levantine region, focusing on the Palestinian dialect. The tempo of the classes was very high, but this helped me to learn a lot of new grammar and words every class. After every class I would review what I did and do my homework for the next day. I really think my Arabic improved. Now, after three weeks, I can communicate with my host family almost without using any English. Before coming to Palestine, I had only learned Arabic seriously for around two months, so I think this is a very big improvement.
Besides of teaching and studying, I also travelled to a lot of places with my colleagues and teachers of the Center. I went to the old city centre of Hebron, where Palestinian students explained about the situation there. I also visited Susya, a small Bedouin village which is famous for its conflict with the Israeli government. I also went to the Dead Sea with my friends of the Center.
Before I came to Palestine, I had applied for a host family, and the Center found one for me. It was a fantastic experience to live with a Palestinian family. Now I have my own home here in Palestine to which I can return to any time I want. The parents took me to Ramallah one weekend, and the brother, who has around the same age as me, took me to Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine. I will miss them a lot when I go back to Japan.
Safety is an important issue for all people thinking of visiting Palestine. Palestine felt much safer than I had expected. The people are super (!!!) friendly, and want to help you and even invite you to their house, a cafe or a party any time. By just walking through Hebron, you will have someone greeting you every few minutes.
Of course, there were some places that did not feel so safe. Especially the presence of the Israeli army in the old city of Hebron made me feel uncomfortable. Also, when I travelled to Bethlehem to see the famous wall-paintings there, I was screamed at with bad words by Israeli soldiers from one of the watchtowers. I want to stress that every time I felt scared or unsafe, this was not because of the Palestinian people. They were always very friendly and welcoming.
I hope to come back to the Excellence Center very soon again, and I recommend anyone who is open minded, to come and visit Palestine. I am sure it will be a fantastic experience for you too.