Who am I?

Hey friends, let me introduce myself here first. I’m Christine, an ordinary girl working day and night in crazy advertising like many other Hong Kong people do. To me, Hong Kong is a great city and I love it as my hometown, but it’s full of pressure and fast pace that make me feel suffocated all the time. Everyone tells me it’s very best to get a stable job with good salary, find a nice guy to get married and have a family, buy a flat, etc. From time to time, I always question myself: is this the life I want?

How did I know about this camp?

With 1-year exchange experience in the States, I always have the thought of exploring in other places of the World to know more about other people, cultures and lifestyles. However I never had time to do this during my 3-year crazy work life in agency. Last year, I quitted this field and happened to meet a new friend, Bird, through my university friend. He told me how inspiring and wonderful the volunteer camp he just had joined a few months ago, which totally changed the way he thought about life. So I browsed the volunteer camp websites and found a lot of information of various camps in interesting places all over the World. As I’ve always been in love with art since I was young, the art camp in Turkey became my first choice!

Before departure – full of anxiety

Even though I’ve been to a lot of traveling before, I never went to Fethiye, Turkey all along by myself (so many people warned me it’s very dangerous and remote that I wouldn’t be able to stand it. They kept urging me not to go. I dared not to tell my family the truth.), I had no idea about Turkey. There was limited information about the art camp and it was not easy to keep online connection with the camp organizer. Everything made me worried. But I told myself, I had to overcome this challenge and every good or bad happening would be a great experience to me. So here I came, Turkey!

An experience that changes my life

My friend (also from Hong Kong) and I met six other campers in organizer’s office in Istanbul for a brief introduction. Then we took the overnight bus to Fethiye, which is a small town in the south of Turkey. We met our camp manager, Mutlu – a handsome, wild-looking Turkish, who took us to the camp site in Kayacoy, a very small village uphill.

Since it was the first time the camp was open in winter (usually pepole come in summer for the beautiful scenery and outdoor activities), the number of campers (only 8 of us) was much less than the regular ones (around 40 people). This made our camp a very unique one!

Great People – no racial & cultural boundary

As we only had 8 campers, we got to know each other very quickly in just one or two days. The camp manager and organizers recognized everyone of our small group too. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner around a big table like a happy family every day. We talked, laughed and shouted all the time! We had totally different backgrounds (Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, France, the States, Germany, Spain, England, etc.), ages, and languages, yet we could understand each other without any difficulties. It was like the magic to me! Under the hassle-free environment, everyone of us left all work pressure and life troubles aside and enjoy every single moment of freedom. I felt like we were primary classmates and did stupid acts all the time. It’s been more than 10 years the last time I had such feeling. At the same time, we had a lot of serious conversations about dreams, life, love & relationships, politics, etc. It made me realize that people should not be stereotyped by race and place where they live. We are all global citizens whom should help making this World better together.

Great Art Workshops – things that I’ve never tried before

The camp manager organized 4 art workshops for us, namely woodcarving, metal enameling, leather masking and Turkish drumming. We had classes almost every early morning starting at 9pm, or at night after dinner. These workshops broadened my art horizon that the scope of art is much bigger than I could ever imagine. It’s more than the traditionally perceived kinds of art like painting, sculpture, drama, etc. All teachers were very talented and patient and everyone of us enjoyed the classes a lot. Every morning, I finished my breakfast quickly so that I could buy more time to work on my art creation. It sounded so crazy but I couldn’t help my enthusiasm.

Great lifestyle – balance of fun and soul

Apart from art workshops, we went hiking to beaches, historic sites of ancient Greeks, and shopping in Fethiye in the afternoon. At night, we had movie nights or dance and drink all night long at the camp bar. Such kind of happy ‘life routine’ greatly restored my physical and emotional balance that had been destroyed badly in Hong Kong. What’s more, everyday meals were served with fresh, organic food cooked by the local old ladies (we called them “mama” since they were so nice and caring). I always couldn’t stop eating even my stomach was full.

Change I need, Change I can make

Under the relaxing and happy environment within these two weeks, a voice kept whispering in my heart, “I genuinely love art, and I feel so peaceful in touch with it”. At that time, I knew, my love of life has always been art but in the past I couldn’t break through the social perception in Hong Kong that I should do something other than art for money even I was not happy and satisfied with my work. This camp has made me determined to pursue my dream! Of course it would be a very long way to make it happen, but I will hold it tight! When I feel frustrated, I would see my camp photos and retrieve the happy memories and more importantly, remind myself that I can choose what kind of life I want.

Kayacoy Art Camp has not only given me the best travel experience, but also stimulated my reflections on my current life and dream. It will always be the ‘milestone’ of my whole life, I believe. Of course, it is just the first one. I will join other volunteer camps in the future to help others, and help myself!