[Press]Emirates Today 16 September 2011

Here’s the first article that DREAMPANORAMA is introduced in Arabic – over 2.5 pages of Emirates Today (Emarat Alyoum) on 16 September 2011.

Original link: http://www.emaratalyoum.com/life/four-sides/2011-09-16-1.422992

English translation with a few corrections:

A Korean director believes that everyone keeps his dream to live with it

Kim films people’s dreams and she promised to check them after 10 years

Ola El Sheikh – Abu Dhabi

“Nothing surprise in life like a dream”. It is written, one day, by a Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. If we revisit the achievements of civilization and humanity, we find it the result of dreams before being a result of a science or an idea, if there were no dreams no one would have had the courage to fly. Without the dreams, people would not have dared make the revolution.

“Today, in the era of technology we are now officials more than ever before of our dreams”, that’s how the director Korean Suyoung Kim thinks, who is currently working on documenting the dreams of more than 300 people from around the world, to return to them after a decade from now and ask if the dream had been achieved and she records it with sound and pictures. Saying in an interview for “Emirates Today” that this film, titled “DREAM PANORAMA”, which will release the first part of it in May next year, Suyoung Kim, who has more than 70 dreams, explained her visit  in the UAE “because UAE sumerizes the world by embracing 200 nationalities on its territory “. So far she did interviews with 100 people in London, Turkey, Armenia and many other countries in the world then Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The beginning

After an unbalanced life because of the poverty that was experienced with her family, kim decided to become a journalist and the reason behind it “ I was just 15 years old, and I was watching the news on TV, by accident I saw war between Israel and Palestine, and did not leave my imagination the image of man weeping for her children who the Israeli bullets did not have mercy for these innocents”, saying “ the time I knew that life deserves to be an active actor “.

Noting that, it was almost lost in the poverty and escape from the school and many things to the extent of drug, but the war that I’ve seen on TV “raised myself and gave me a push forward to love life for justice”.

She adds  “I challenged the difficulties and I said to myself  if I can raise from this darkness that surrounds me and realize my dream to enter university and study media, the I’ll help a lot of people. This is what happened to me and I decided to go around the world to observe people’s dreams”.  Kim said that among her 83 dreams 39 dreams still has been fulfilled or in  progress.

Kim has work in journalism and makes reportages for other newspapers because she’s good in translation, she told about her film project it’s” summarized in the questioning peoples about their dreams through photography and giving them a paper written in their native language to write the dream in bold and then return them after 10 years of time to meet them again, and ask them if they have achieved their dreams or not”.

She also noted that “it is an adventure through a journey that I started in June this year and I will finish the first part in May of next year”. She added “from London to Seoul to Turkey, Armenia, Oman and finally in the UAE, many dreamers just want a chance that is different between people to another by the country and the cultures and needs”.

Random categories

Kim who received a master’s degree from the University of London after his entourage mocked it because she’s unable to challenge, she said about the nature of the people who have chosen “the choice was often random and ages ranged mostly between 10 and 40 years ago”.

She said “but through my website I receive each day people’s dreams and I also keep them, because I’m producing a book that has the same idea like the film”. About the difference between people’s dreams, she said “I have not found people with similar dreams, but the majority were talking about the desire to achieve their own businesses through establish their own business”. She affirms “the categories that I interviewed are different also in their social positions, there are those who live in poverty and there are those who live in palaces, and everyone has a dream”.

Accompanied by a team of photographers and filmmakers, Kim said “there are simple dreams like the dream of becoming a singer by a 40-year old ma, and there are painful dreams of a woman who wishes to see her daughter, and people who dream of a return to their home territory, like many of the Armenians and the Palestinians”.

The reason behind the choice of a 10 year period between revealing the dream and achieved Kim said “I discovered that there is a cancer cell to grow in my body, I realized that life is short, and we have to accelerate the achievement of our dreams, 10 years is long enough and adequate for everyone who told me his dream and it’s a long enough to give him the opportunity to be accomplishing, and sufficient to change the world for the better, as is currently done in several Arab countries, such as what happened in Egypt and Tunisia”.

She said “When I finish my conversation with the person of his dream, and I tell him I’ll come after 10 years to see him, I put him practically in front a hope that push him to life”.

The youngest journalist in Korea

Fascinated by the world of journalism, Kim worked as the youngest in the newspaper Donga which is one of the great Korean newspapers, one of her articles won in 2000 the title of the best article in the competition of a local journalist while she was still in a school, but the written reports have not achieved what she dreamed of a transfer of the truth votes and a picture. She moved to the world of photography and directing to create stories that must be known to the world, after the discovery of cancer in her body Kim decided to write her dreams she must do before she died and they reached 73 dreams. Her first dream was to explore over the next 25 years, Kim has made 36 dreams to now such as to have a career abroad, and learn music, and climb mountains and travel to other parts of the world, and still seek to achieve the rest of the dreams started.

[dreamINTERVIEW#47-49] Dreams on the road

A week after in Istanbul, I decided to see more of the country. So I jumped on a bus to Cappadocia and spent 3 days in Goreme to see all the natural wonders of the place. Then I boarded the night bus to Efesus and stayed overnight at the vibrant Kusadasi and Canakkale to see the glorious Troy. On the road, I met many other travelers who kept me company most of the time and I didn’t make me feel alone.

“My dream is to find true love”

Dreamer: Maria, 27, Columbian, civil servant

Date: 18 July 2011

Location: Cappadocia, Turkey

Maria came to Ankara for 2nd-round negotiations regarding the Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and Columbia. After her mission was completed, she decided to take some time to see Turkey. We first met each other in Cappadocia and then we met again in Istanbul for the second time and shared a hotel room and enjoyed the nightlife together. Aside from being very passionate about international trade, I realized that she was a great dancer like just like everybody from Columbia.

She wants to find true love – whether from a man or from her own family. When I asked her if she has already felt true love in her life, she said she already realized she has felt it from her family. I hope she’d finally be happily in love with the right man soon…

“My dream is to live in anicca (impermanence)”

Dreamer: Anay, 28, American, MBA student @ Stanford

Date: 19 July 2011

Location:  Kusadasi, Turkey\

Anay is an Indian American. He was born and bred in the USA. But in spite of that, his Indian blood still dominates his character in terms of culture, values, and religion. After college, he spent 2 years in New Delhi working on solar energy. After the mission was completed, he traveled to Fiji, Nepal, and the Maldives and attended his sister’s wedding in Bangladesh. After that, he joined his father in Turkey. We met at an Ephesus tour. It was way too hot during that time to enjoy the ancient Greek city that we were more interested in finding ways to shade ourselves from the heat. Later in the evening when we decided to hit the town of Kusadasi, two beautiful Turkish ladies mistakenly joined us. After 1 week of our Turkey tour with his father, he seemed to be the happiest man to be surrounded by 3 beautiful ladies (if you count me too!). When I asked him about his dream, it was rather spiritual… to live in ‘anicca’.

‘Anicca’ means impermanence, the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux. It also literally means ‘inconstant’ in Pali, the absence of permanence and continuity.
He is now starting his MBA at Stanford this coming fall. Imagine an MBA educated banker/consultant in meditation! 🙂

“All my dreams came true”

Dreamer: Mustafa, 63, Turkish, professional tour guide/writer

Date: 20 July 2011

Location: Troy, Turkey

Perhaps, almost everybody has heard about the Trojan War in Iliad, a Greek mythology written by Homer. Have you ever seen the film, Troy?

The film’s beautiful setting and its tragic story stole my heart.

I am telling you this because I recently met Musfata, a tour guide, who gave me more inspiration than Brad Pitt that morning. He has been working as a tour guide for the last 40 years. He has published a book about Troy and Galipoli.

“My dream? I always wanted to learn English. Luckily, I learned it in London. When I became a guide, my dream was to write a book. I wrote two books – one on Troy and the other on Galipoli. I wanted to see a book with my name so much that I published at my own cost at that time. Also in college, I thought to myself, ‘if I have a house, nice wife, and a car, I’d be really happy. Now I have more than a house, wife, daughters and grandchildren so all my dreams came true!”

I have never met someone whose dreams all came true. His story really made me realize what makes people happy.

Appreciation, appreciation, appreciation!

[dreamINTERVIEW#45-46] Dreams from the sky!

“My dream is clean world.”

Dreamer: Sofia, 8 Mexican, primary school student

Date: 16 July 2011

Location: Cappadocia, Turkey

It was 4:30  in the morning. Our eyes were still half open and everyone was yawning.

I was sleepy but excited at the same time because we were flying over the sky on a hot air balloon!

In my semi-conscious state, I unintentionally hear people speaking in Spanish behind me in the bus.

I can’t help but interfere their conversation because I LOVE Mexico and the Mexican people!  ” Hola! Son de Mexico??”

I learned that it was Sofia’s family who stayed in the same hotel as mine because they were also going for a ride on the hot air balloon.

Her father, Luis is a professor in a university in Mexico. He had a conference in Istanbul and he extended his trip to travel around Turkey with his family.

And you know what? It was Sofia’s 8th birthday. Feliz Cumpleanos!

I stayed on the same balloon with Sofia. While we were airborne and everyone was carried away and busy taking photos, I asked about Sofia’s dream.

“My dream is clean world.” she wrote. Why?

“So that we can have more oxygen.” [so that we can fly more too.. :-)]

Awwwwwwwwww, so cute!!!!!

After that, I requested everyone on the hot air balloon with us to sing “Happy Birthday” to Sofia.

(They were strangers so it required a bit of courage.)

Later in the evening I also asked our #45 dreamer, Oguz and his son at the hotel and they brought birthday cake and everyone in the restaurant sang the song for her again!

She looked shy but I knew she was happy. The air was full of celebration – it was a celebration for life, for the world, and for the sky.

“My dream is to travel, eat nice food and sleep!”

Dreamer: Fatih, 35, Turkish, hot  air balloon pilot

Date: 16 July 2011

Location: Cappadocia, Turkey

“Do you know what my dream is?”

Fatih, the pilot, shouted at me after our flight. He has seen me interview Sofia.

“My dream is to sleep!” he smiled.

He has flown a thousand times in the last 4 years. He wakes up at 3AM almost everyday. After the flight, his day isn’t over yet. He still has to maintain and look after the balloon. Indeed, one man’s once-in-a-lifetime experience is another man’s daily job. Flying over the sky, champagne breakfast after the flight – he’s done it a million times.  At the end of the day, we all have dreams of our own.

“Seriously, is that really your dream?”

“Hmm…Well, I want to sleep and eat but I also want to travel the world.”

Why not? He can fly over the world with his balloon. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

One of my dreams is to travel around the world in a hot air balloon.. now I found my crew!!!

Although he dreams of sleeping in, have a look at the photos from sky and you judge!

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[dreamINTERVIEW#44] Ogus, 61, Cappadocia “I dream of world without wars”

“My dream is a world without wars – a world where everybody lives peace without segregating according to people’s religion, language and race.”

Dreamer: Oguz, 61, Turkish, Owner of Caravanserai hotel

Date: 15 July 2011

Location, Goreme, Cappadocia, Turkey

Caravanserai is but a normal name in Turkey. There are restaurants and inns given that name. But here in Cappadocia, there is a hotel known as Caravanserai, which is owned by a father and son tandem, Oguz and Serder.

Oguz is originally from Cappadocia. He was a son of a farmer. At 17, Oguz got married and started a brand new life in Germany. He worked there as a fireman for 7 years. He never felt quite at home there so he came decided to come back to Turkey. He then worked there as an officer for 4 years but he eventually quit because of a conservative boss who forced him to pray. Then he became a tour guide for 11 years. As he got older, he dreamed of having his own hotel. The dream was realized with the help of his son by converting an old house into a cave hotel. They called the place Caravanserai which meant ‘caravan palace’.

Next week is his daughter’s wedding so he is quite excited. But he has to work even harder because he said, “[The wedding] it costs lots of money.” They pick up customers from the bus station in the morning, run tours the whole day and have BBQs in the evening.

His dream is world peace – a world in peace regardless of language, religion and race. He has seen many people die senselessly and that included some members of his family who lost their lives during the World War. There was even an uncle of his who died in a Korean War. This was the reason why he knows the importance of peace and life so much.

Hundreds of years ago, it was still different. People coming from different places travelled across silk roads peacefully. You rest, trade your goods, exchange cultures, and share stories over food and drinks all in peace at caravanserais.

Nevertheless, he still believes that it will if more and more of us will continue to hope take action, his dream will come true. .

[dreamINTERVIEW#43] Wisdoms from a carpet salesman of Istanbul

“I want to be rich.”

Dreamer: Ibrahim, 27, Turkish, Carpet Salesman

Date: 13 July 2011

Location: Arasta Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey

I was lost in Sultan Ahmet, the historic area of Istanbul. Near the Blue Mosque, I discovered Arasta Bazaar where all the souvenir shops were under what used to be camel stables. While strolling there, Ibrahim asked me to come inside his shop.  Usual shopkeeper, I thought and then exclaimed,

“I’m not gonna buy any carpet.”

“No, I’m not trying to sell you any carpet, just come inside and have a cup of tea.” The typical salestalk, I still thought.

“I definitely won’t buy any carpet.”

“I’m here all day and bored. Why don’t you be my tea company?”

My legs were so tired so I decided to take advantage of his offer with some hesitations though. However, my curiosity arose… what was his dream?

“I want to be rich, that’s biggest dream in my life.”

Very honest, I thought. 🙂 It was not because he wanted to buy a big house or a nice car. He wanted to be rich to help other people.

“I’m good at my job and I’m happy with my life. When I become rich, I’ll establish schools in [the] most depressed areas.”

Talking about his career, I learned that he has been in the job for 10 years. How many carpets does he need to sell?

“No, it doesn’t matter how many I sell. I do my best to give the good information [about the product] and its price to my customers so that they know what they are buying then look after them even after the sale is completed. For me, being humble and honest is most important. My life goal is to help people and give something back to the world because when you die, you should leave something. Leaving your name is the best. ”

A son of a Kurdish family with 10 children (but lost 1 from an Istanbul earthquake and another from illness), he quit school at the age of 17 and has learned the English language from his uncle and from the customers he meets everyday. He recently bought a house after 10 years of hard work and he’s proud of it!

“Money is not everything but happiness is.”

“If I come and see you again in 10 years, what will you be doing?”

“Inshalla, the time will show. But at the moment I try to live today as if you gonna die tomorrow.”

Wow, my doubt turned into inspiration in only a few minutes and the conversation continued over many cups of Turkish tea and Whirling Devirish shows in the bazaar.

[dreamINTERVIEW#42] Damla, 26, Istanbul “I want to be a successful and happily married woman :)”

“I want to be a successful and happily married woman”

Dreamer: Damla, 26, Turkish, Import/Export 

Date: 11 July 2011

Location: Istanbul, Turkey

It was my housewarming party a few years ago in London and my friend, Jeremy who worked as an English teacher at that time brought a few Turkish students from his class. Damla was one of them and I was struck by how much she looks like Sung Yu-ri, a Korean celebrity.

(seriously, don’t they look alike?)

After years of just looking at her photos on Facebook, here we were walking arm in arm in busy Istiklal Avenue surrounded by thousands of shops, bars and restaurants on the avenue and side streets.

“I used to go out here everyday. So imagine how shocked I was when I arrived in England.”

The party girl went to England for an O’Pair programme in a quiet suburban village outside London.

Surprisingly she loved children very much and enjoyed her time. She also took some courses to improve on her English.

Now back in Istanbul, she works for her brother’s company specializing in import/export and enjoys her job.

Now she doesn’t go out as much as she used to but instead devotes much of her time on improving her salsa in a dance school in Istklal Avenue.”

Her dream is simple – to be a successful and happily married woman!

As a career woman, she likes her current job and plans to grow, learn, and progress with the company.

Talking about marriage – gentlemen, pay attention here. She is single. Asked if she were to describe Mr. Perfect, what would he be like? She said he should be handsome, successful, reliable. 🙂

Asking the ultimate question, what would she be 10 years from now? She frowned and said, “I’ll be upset to see myself (on video) 10 years younger. Having wrinkles I might need Botox!”

Well, in case you have achieved your dream 10 years from now, I don’t think fine lines could never wrinkle your happiness. I’m sure you’ll be a happy and successful woman soon, darling!

[dreamINTERVIEW#41] Enes, 26, Istanbul “I want to be the best”

“I want to be the best”

Dreamer: Enes, 26, Turkish, Director 

Date: 10 July 2011

Location: Istanbul, Turkey 

I am here in Taksim Square, one of the busiest places in Istanbul, Turkey. I am waiting for Enes. I met him last year in Maranello, Italy for a corporate event with Ferrari. I was the host for the UK guests while Enes was one of clients from Turkey.  It was a 4-day fantasy – wining and dining at an exclusive venue in Galleria Ferrari, eating at restaurants patroned by Ferrari F1 drivers, visiting the Ferrari factory, and the most exciting one, driving the 458 Italia on the Fiorano track.

(Unfortunately, I could only sit at the passenger seat because I only have an automatic driving license! LOL!)

In the event, I met people from all over the world – UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan, India, China, and Brazil. Some of us kept in touch on Facebook including Enes.

Enes rode on a brand new white Kia Sportage, one of the cars he was selling in his dealer shop aside from Ssangyong and Skoda. We crossed the Bosphoros bridge. It is the bridge that connected Europe and Asia. The “Welcome to Asia” sign was there in the middle. You can see people fishing on the bridge. We arrived at the Asian side and had Kofte for dinner while overlooking the Sea of Marmaris.

Enes is only 26 years old but he was already a director of the company that offers car dealership, servicing, insurance brokers and car part trading. In fact, he became a director at the age of 20 while having 60 people working for him. During the last 6 years, he put up his own business and studied at the same time.

But don’t assume that he’s a rich kid who’s inherited everything… Yes, it was his father who started the business but Enes has continued the hardwork of his father by giving so much of his time and works 14 hours a day even on weekends. Some people ask him why he works so hard. But he’s addicted to the sense of achievement and success he feels after knowing that all his hard work had paid off.

Although he loves cars and works in an automobile business, he could not hide his passion for design. He studied design and made an animated short film at the age of 14. This is the reason why he wrote “designer” as his job on the dream board.

His dream is to be the BEST in everything. Whatever it is, he’s got to win.

So what about his future? “In 10 years time, I’ll be running a design center.”

So… watch out and expect it to be the BEST design center in the world!

[dreamINTERVIEW#40] Giorgio, 27, Thessaloniki “DREAM FOREVER!”

“My dream is to make people happy and informed” (He wrote “Dream forever!” in dreamboard)

Dreamer: Giorgio, 27, Greek, Journalism Student  

Date: 9 July 2011

Location: Thessaloniki, Greece

It was twilight. At a restaurant by the sea, we sat in a table lit by candles. There, I had dinner with gorgeous Giorgio. I wish it was a date but unfortunately, it was just an interview 😦 errrrrrgggggg…

I met Giorgio at a party in London half a year ago during his visit to the country. He is originally from Thessaloniki. He studies journalism in Athens so I was quite lucky to meet him while he was visiting his family back home. He was a true dreamer. He had endless dreams for his own future and for his motherland, Greece.

 

Unlike many other camera-shy interviewees I met, he immediately checked how he looked on camera.

“I love camera. I’d like to combine information and entertainment as a TV presenter.”

Fantastic, he’s got the right quality for his dream job!

He has had many different jobs in his life – from being a card salesman to being a flight attendant at Olympic Airways. But he hopes that being a  journalist becomes his last job. He is studying journalism to be closer to his dream.

“It’s strange time to be a dreamer and at the same time to dream to be a journalist. People are very skeptical about the future and they hate journalists because of the current situation. Especially in this time, Greeks need to be dreamers, we need to dream in order to improve the situation. We’ll show the power of the Greeks to the world soon.” he confidently said. Because of this, I asked him about what he thinks he will be doing in 10 years time.

“I’ll host the best TV show in Greece.”

Then I asked, “Can you invite me as a guest in your talk show?”

Without any hesitation, he answered, “Of course, you should be my first guest. I’d like to interview people who have interesting shows.”

(Haha! I was even more flattered.)

“There’s a lot of competition in the job but I’ll make it because I love it and I’m good at it. I hope to be a dreamer forever even when I’m really old.”

We LOVE dreamers with so much passion and strong belief, don’t we?

So people in Greece, don’t forget his face because you’ll soon be seeing him on your TV screens!

[Press] Yerevan.ru “A girl who knows everything about other people’s dreams”

DREAMPANORAMA was featured on Yerevan.ru, the online newspaper of Armenia in Russian

http://yerevan.ru/2011/08/23/mechty-sbyvayutsya-ty-tolko-zapishi/

Here’s English translation (with a few corrections)

A girl who knows everything about other people’s dreams

Chasing worldly goods in a daily hustle and chores we often forget about our own desires and dreams, partly incarnating them only during the summer vacations. I am sure everyone for once thought about, figuratively, pulling the tight tie off and leaving the boardroom, making at least a small step towards the incarnation of some crazy dream.

To sort your cherished wishes out, it is necessary to create your own “dream-list”, advises Suyoung Kim, an expert on dreams. Suyoung is the founder of Dream Panorama project. It is a road trip adventure which aim is to find out what people are dreaming of and what they are doing to make their dreams come true. Together with the world-famous brand “Johnnie Walker” Suyoung Kim walks confidently in different cities of the world, collecting “statistics” about the cherished dreams of people who belong to different nationalities and faiths.

Suyoung approached in a resolute step to Swan Lake, where we had an appointment. She did not feel confused in a foreign country, the young Korean woman liked Armenia. She got here by accident. Due to the unstable political situation in Syria, which Suyoung had intended to visit on her way from Turkey, young Korean woman changed her plans and decided to experience at first hand the hospitality of Armenians and Georgians.

In a few days of her stay in the South Caucasus, Suyoung, who grew up in a Korean provincial village, noticed the similarity of the plight of the peasants of Korea and the Transcaucasian countries. “I had to walk for a couple of hours to get to the school,” she admitted, “Here and in neighboring Georgia, the conditions are almost the same.” It is the desire to escape from the poverty that surrounded her has made ​​her just the way she is, a self-confident, independent, cheerful and very positive “dreamer.”

She began to dream at the moment when an old issue of the local newspaper fell into her hands. Carried away by the news, trouble-maker Suyoung, who had a lot of bad habits and nasty stories in the past, decided to become a journalist. The mockery of friends and distrust of parents did not prevent Suyoung from entering the most prestigious Korean university. The problem of paying for the education was solved as if by magic; after a television show in which she won a tidy sum of money, Suyoung has become a Korean slumdog millionaire.

Then everything went as in a fairytale… work in the most famous Korean newspaper, the prize for the best article, continuing education in the UK, working in well-known company Goldman Sachs. “Dreams do come true if you record them. Spoken desire leads to nowhere “, the author of the Korean bestseller “Write your dreams, write your future” believes.

This book was sold 150,000 copies. We can’t reveal the secrets of the “American Dream” by Korean student so far, the book has not been translated into English and Russian yet. “But don’t give up,” says Suyoung, “Just write down your dream.” She often adds new dreams to her own list. Today her list numbers 83 dreams, Suyoung has been traveling for a long time and has already been to 50 countries.

However, within the Dream Panorama project she visited only 10 countries so far. “Meeting local residents helps to create a general impression of what I’ve seen,” says Suyoung, “In Europe, people often want something for themselves, for example, a 43-year-old Italian, whose cherished wish was wife twice younger than him. But in Eastern countries, people are more interested in peace on earth and clean air in the sky.” An 83-year-old grandfather Kolya from Byurakan wants “peace around the world”. Suyoung was very impressed by the desire of a 78-year-old grandmother from Noraduz that really wanted all of her children finally visit her, so she wouldn’t have to die with anguish in her heart.

(Above) 78-year-old grandmother from Noraduz wants to see all of her children

(Below) Grandfather Kolya dreams of the world peace

Suyoung realizes her own dreams with enviable constancy; she has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, participated in a belly dancing show, even starred in Burmese film. The biggest dream achieved was a house for parents, which Suyoung embodied, although it wasn’t easy.

“Lack of money and lack of talent isn’t an obstacle on the path to realization of your dream”, Suyoung persuades, “People are more likely to suffer from the fact that they do not know what they want.” Suyoung always knows her plans and desires in advance. Dream Panorama project is scheduled for completion by May 2012. The hard work of sorting the collected material, the photo selection and editing will be done after. The results of the annual trip will be presented in the Korean TV documentary, photo exhibit and book.

However, Suyoung is not going to forget about her project even after. Ten years from now she plans to visit the places she has been to and see whether the dreams of the respondents came true and how it affected their lives.

Let’s hope that the dreams of all those thousands of people, whom Suyoung has met, will be fulfilled. And grandmother’s relatives will visit their hometown of Yerevan to celebrate her birthday.

[dreamINTERVIEW#39] Digenis, 21, Thessaloniki “My dream is to meet new people”

“My dream is to meet new people, to make an animation movie and to live in a place where I feel like home.”

Dreamer: Digenis, 21, Greek, Unemployed 

Date: 9 July 2011

Location: Thessaloniki, Greece

Has anyone heard of the word “Hikikomori“? In Japan, some youth spend their time all day home playing video games and refusing to go out to socialize or to get a job. Since this is so prevalent in Japan, the ministry of health, labour and welfare created a word for it – and this is “hikikomori”. They are people who isolate themselves from society by not going out of their homes for a period exceeding six months.

Digenis is a self-confessed semi- hikikomori (although he didn’t use the expression, it was my impression) who was trying to change himself. It was him who suggested to meet for an interview. He took a 2-hour bus ride from his hometown, Edessa to Thessaloniki just for it. So you know how much he tries.

When I asked him what he does, he unfolded how he struggled in University of Athens despite entering the school with top marks. After he left school, he surprisingly discovered that he had a talent in dancing. He became too passionate about it that he even had a disagreement with his teacher about his style. He left both schools and now contemplates on what to do.

Having read thousands of books and having created a short animation, he can be seen as very bright and talented. Whilst hearing his life stories, I could feel the anger he felt toward his teachers but he knows that it was him who needed to change. So he now makes an effort to meet new people and to improve his social skills.

He was very honest to admit that he was an introvert and prefers to spend time alone. Since he was little, he didn’t go out a lot and his parents didn’t push him to go out. When he started to get older, he realized that there are so many things that he didn’t get to experience enough. He even became more scared to try or talk about them. Being alone became like a habit. “I never developed social skills and it’s still difficult for me.”, Digenis claims.

When I asked about his dream, his eye focus became much more stable and his talking got much clearer with smile in his face. Quite straightforwardly, he answered that his dream is to meet new people and make an animation movie. Talking of his future in 10 years time, his smile got even bigger, “I’ll be a social person with lots of friends then.”

There was a time that I confined myself too and became anti-social – once when I was bullied in primary school and second, during the 6 months that I spent all my life writing my first book. I know how difficult it is to break out of the shell and meet people after spending quite a time alone. Nevertheless, I still believe he’ll make it with his courage and strong will. I’m sure I’ll meet him in 10 years time so popular with people that I might have to queue to meet him!