Happy life of Cyprus teacher | 塞浦路斯外教的幸福生活

　　There are "Plum blossoms in winter, and pomegranate flowers in summer." These are lyrics from a Wuhan dialect song, Hanyangmen Garden, that praise the seasonal beauty of the city. These lyrics also describe the garden of Ozan Basaran, a teacher from Cyprus, who lives in the Changxin Community of Zongguan Sub-district. He has enjoyed a happy life in Wuhan and has in turn become a registered volunteer in the community in order to return the kindness that he has received from Wuhan people. Let's get to know more about him.

　　“冬天腊梅花，夏天石榴花。”《汉阳门花园》这首武汉方言歌曲中描绘了武汉的景致。居住在宗关街道常鑫社区的塞浦路斯外教居也有一个歌词中的花园。他在武汉享受着自己的幸福小生活。他也以小区在册志愿者的方式回报武汉人对他的关怀。本期一起走近他背后的事。

　　Basaran and his daughter

　　'The next generation must welcome a brighter future'

　　“下一代人一定拥有更光明的未来”

　　Basaran left his position as a teacher at Moscow University in 2008 and came to Wuhan to become an English language teacher at the Yucai No. 2 Boarding Primary School.

　　2008年，曾在莫斯科大学任教的欧赞动了心思来到武汉，成为育才第二寄宿小学的外教。

　　Prior to this, Basaran had gotten to know a Wuhan girl on the Internet. After arriving in Wuhan, he met with the girl and as luck would have it they fell in love with each other at first sight. Eventually, they got married and had a lovely daughter together.

　　来武汉前欧赞曾在网络上结识了一位武汉姑娘，来武汉后便顺理成章地和这位姑娘约见面，俩人一见如故, 后来自然走到一起组建家庭，也有了可爱的女儿。

　　Over the past 14 years, Basaran has witnessed how the school has gradually grown, improved and become increasingly advanced in terms of computerization. More and more of his students have gone abroad to participate in various international educational exchange activities and projects. His 8-year-old daughter speaks both Chinese and English at home, but when it comes to nationality, she will say resolutely, "I am Chinese."

　　转眼已是欧赞在武汉的第十四个年头。欧赞说，亲眼目睹任教的学校如何一步步扩建、翻新，在硬件条件上变得越来越硬核。欧赞也有越来越多的学生走出国门，参加各种国际教育交流活动和项目。他八岁的女儿在家既说中文也说英文，但一旦涉及到国籍，女儿毫不含糊：”我是中国人。”

　　"I see and feel huge changes that have happened over the years, and everyone's life is getting better and better. The next generations will embrace a brighter future."

　　“我能看到、感受到这些年的变化，大家的生活越来越好。下一代人一定拥有更光明的未来。”

　　Basaran (right in the front) and his students in 2008

　　A garden brimming with flowers

　　花园的花朵真鲜艳

　　"I have a gorgeous garden," said Basaran who enjoys showing his home to visitors. Located on the first floor on the side of the building, Basaran's apartment has a yard inside the fence. He has turned it into a vegetable garden where he grows Chinese eggplant, peppers, loofah, and sautéed Chinese kale as well as Dutch mint, parsley, and Greek oregano.

　　“我有一座很美的花园。”欧赞喜欢这样骄傲地向别人介绍自己的家。欧赞的家在一楼边户，花园的院内被改造为菜圃。中国的茄子、辣椒、丝瓜、菜苔，欧洲那边吃的荷兰薄荷、欧芹、希腊牛至......

　　Basaran has developed a flower garden in a 100-square meter lot that is outside the fence. He waters the flowers and his wife runes and fertilizes them. The flourishing garden has become wellknown in the community and has attracted the attention of neighbors who come and discuss horticulture with the couple. Together, the couple is beautifying their neighborhood.

　　花园的院外部分有百平方米面积，全部被欧赞种上了各种花，欧赞负责浇水，妻子负责剪枝施肥。姹紫嫣红的花也引来了邻居的注意，成为社区的“网红打卡地”，也带动了周围邻居一起学习种花、美化环境的氛围。

　　"My neighbors would share with us new flower species. They often drop by to chat and exchange gardening tips in both English and Chinese," said Basaran.

　　“我们邻居如果有新的花种，会送给我们种。他们会来我们家花园串门，一起聊天，用中英文交流园艺心得。”欧赞说。

　　Foreign volunteer in community

　　小区里的“洋”志愿者

　　Basaran has one more role — he is a volunteer in the community. His work includes cleaning up the environment and arranging shared bicycles.

　　欧赞还有另一重身份——志愿者。打扫卫生，整理共享单车， 都是欧赞的志愿工作内容。

　　Basaran enjoys getting involved in community life and lending a hand. He recalled that his official community volunteering started in early 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. "Scared and anxious, I had no idea about the outside world, as I was quarantined at home at that time." With his wife's encouragement, Basaran joined a community volunteer team to distribute supplies to residents each day, and later volunteered to take on cleaning duties. In addition to dispelling fear, these activities enabled him to personally experience the well-organized arrangement of epidemic prevention and control in Wuhan.

　　欧赞很喜欢融入社区生活、帮助别人。他回忆，第一次正式社区志愿活动是在2020年初武汉新冠疫情爆发时。“当时我被隔离在家，外界到底是什么样的我完全不知道，很害怕也焦虑。”在妻子鼓励下，欧赞加入志愿队，每天为社区居民们分发物资。后来又主动担起清洁任务。在活动中，他消除了内心不安，也亲身感受到了武汉疫情防控的井然有序。

　　The community has recently set up a foreign volunteer workshop for Basaran. He said he loves programming so he plans to create software tools to help students and community members learn English more easily. "A great number of foreigners want to learn Chinese. Therefore, I will also develop a Chinese learning software based on my own experience to help them. I've already finished the first part and now I'm considering a specific teaching plan.”

　　最近，社区为他欧赞专门成立了涉外志愿者工作室。欧赞说，他喜欢编程，未来他想要制作出一些工具帮助学生以及社区居民更轻松地学习英语。“很多外国人也想学中文。我觉得我可以借助自己的经验开发一个公益的中文学习软件，我已经写好了第一部分，现在正在考虑具体的教学计划。”

　　(Edited by Ye Shiyu)