Meet “Esraa and Salwa” – The Famous Egyptians in Korea

I started Korea Diaries last year. At that time it was just a blog about my life in Korea. But over the year, it has grown bigger and I have started writing about different stuff. Recently I just started a new section on my blog about People (both foreigners and Koreans). The idea is simple, I was inspired by the “Humans of New York” (ofcourse you have heard of it). But I decided to go a little bit off-the-track. I wanted to write not just one Facebook post, but a blog post for the people who I met in my life during my stay in Korea and who have inspired me in one way or other. And my first ever post is about my friends, the famous Egyptians in Korea – who are currently living in Seoul and will be leaving for Egypt in a couple of days.

Esraa and Salwa – the famous Egyptians in Korea

Meet Esraa and Salwa – my twin habibi friends. (Actually, in the beginning, I always used to confuse their names and used to check their Kakao profiles to know which one is Esraa and which one is Salwa 😀 ) cuz but you look so similar! 😛

Who are the Egyptian Twins?

When I call them famous Egyptians in Korea, there are many reasons behind it. Esraa and Salwa are currently working as “Korea Honorary Reporters” – a program for enthusiastic and active foreigners from all over the world who love South Korea and have a passion to write about Korean culture, Korean food and Korean music. Its a community of around 150+ members but trust me, Esraa and Salwa are the most active reporters you will ever see.

They are so active that they helped a lot to promote Korean culture in Egypt and now we have the biggest number of reporters from Egypt. 🙂 They are also very active working with Korean Culture in Cairo, and you’ll often see their faces on the events organized by the embassy 🙂 Actually the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Egyptians in Korea are them 🙂

Wait, before talking further about them let me reveal something – both the Habibis are Twins 😀 or may be you have already noticed after seeing their picture.

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How they ended up coming to Korea?

Salwa actually came first time in 2015 after she won a contest from KBS World. Since her first trip, she fell in love with Korea and started calling it as her second homeland. Later on, both of the sisters started working as Korea Honorary Reporters from Egypt in 2016. But due to their amazing work, the KOCIS, invited them and a few other foreigners to Korea. It was in November 2017.

That was the first time I met Esraa and Salwa. I was so happy to have met both of them as they were super kind, friendly and all other adjectives you can think of.

During their first trip to Korea, we spent almost 10 days together and went to Seoul, Busan and Taejongdae together. Those were indeed unforgettable days.

 

Both of them not coming slow:

Both the sisters got another scholarship by Korean Embassy in Cairo for almost an year long scholarship to study skills related to web development and web designing in Korea. They came back in the start of 2018 and will be going back in December. During their second trip, they again could be seen in all the activities and winning lots of competitions. That shows how intelligent and active they are, and how much they love Korea.

 

Favorite Things About Korea

Being as Egyptians in Korea, and Muslims too, I thought they might have faced problem with food or culture, but I was glad they never faced any of such problem. I asked them about their favorite stuff, like food, music etc. Let’s see what they replied.

• Best Food

Esraa = Bibimbab
Salwa = Bulgogi

Check out some very weird Korean foods here:

• Best Movie

Esraa = Moments to Remember ( I haven’t watched this movie yet)
Salwa = Moments to Remember

– I asked them if they have seen Train to Busan but I was shocked they haven’t seen one of the most famous movies in Korean cinema 🙂

• Favorite Drama

Esraa = Winter Sonata
Salwa = Descendents of The Sun

• Favorite Actor

Esraa = Lee Min Ho
Salwa = Lee Min Ho

• Favorite Actresses

Esraa = Park Shin Hye
Salwa = Park Shin Hye

If you still don’t know what is K-Pop, check out a very handy guide on Kpop here:

• Favorite Place in Seoul

Esraa = Jihye’s Home 😀
Salwa = Jihye’s Home 😀
– Actually for all of us it is Jihye’s home. Jihye is one of the Korean people that are loved by everyone. One of the sweetest and most kind Korean you will ever meet. I will def write one article on her too in near future.

 

Overall Experience as one of the Egyptians in Korea

You know what, many people believe that Muslims experience racism in South Korea, but both of them told me that they have never felt any sort of racism in Korea. Rather they love Korean people a lot because of their kindness. Since both of them wear a scarf, everytime they go to restaurants, restaurant workers come to know that they are Muslims, so they themselves tell them if any food contains pork.

When I asked them what would be the thing they will miss a lot about Korea, they said: “Korean people and Korean food” – indeed, Korean people are the reasons to make Korea such a peaceful and welcoming country.

It really has been an honor for me to have met both these Habibis. I hope to always keep in touch with them and meet them again in Egypt or in Korea. It is also my dream to go to Egypt someday and see the beautiful country there.

Here is a short video that I made with them.

 

 

I wish them best of luck for their future endeavors. And may they be blessed with more happiness and successes in their life.