Welcome to Nazufi Enterprise - here, we teach English, sell various handmade goods, & are looking into organic foods and beverages to deliver deliciousness right to your doorstep!
The theme for todays blog post is simple. An introduction of how Nazufi Enterprise came to be- so I hope you enjoy!
What is Nazufi Enterprise?
Honestly, it's a rather long story. But I'll keep it short and sweet for the most part, if you'd like to read more, just keep scrolling!
Nazufi Enterprise is a small company that was started up by Kizuki and myself (Afnan). It began as a place where I had the opportunity to teach English online. It started off with one student but slowly, word of mouth got around and I'm happy to say that we're becoming more successful than we could've anticipated. This is how we originally started Nazufi, through what we call today: Nazufi English.
Through our success, Kizuki wanted to do something more for the company, as he is mostly our admin staff and does all the Japanese parts - as I cannot speak nor write Japanese (yet!). He decided that he was interested in selling goods, specifically handmade goods. He pondered for a while, did some research and then finally decided that it was a good idea to go down the pottery road. I agreed, of course. I love pottery and was happy to see we could share an interest and make a business model out of it. This is currently underway, and we're slowly learning how difficult to it is to start up a business like this one. We called this branch of Nazufi, Nazufi Vintage. In this day and age, handmade goods are hard to come by, and we want to bring them back to society.
We are currently working hard to develop these two sections of the company, and we look forward to a future where we can make our dreams of opening up a farm come true. I really enjoy gardening and botany, and I've always wanted to learn more about agriculture and the traditional ways of farming. Through this, we are hoping to establish a branch of fresh produce, vegetables and fruits as well as preservatives like pickles, jams and the like! This venture we so creatively called Nazufi Organic, because if you haven't guessed already, everything's gotta start with a bit of Nazufi love!
Who is Nazufi Enterprise?
Nazufi Enterprise is currently just us. By us, I mean Kizuki Watanabe, and Afnan Ezzeldin. We are a young married couple that currently live in Japan- but we have plans for a more adventurous future! We hope you can join us for the ride.
How did Nazufi Enterprise come to be?
Whether you're asking yourself this question or not -and I'm almost certain it's the latter- I'd really like to share with you our story. So, buckle up and grab a cup of tea, because it's a pretty long story!
Let's go!
STORY TIME
One night, way past bedtime, Kizuki and Afnan had stayed up thinking about the best way to spend time together.
*REWIND*
Kizuki worked as a realtor, selling the idea of a beautiful home in the total suburbs of Japan. It was a new town, a beautiful town, small, and very clean. It was called Tsukuba. His work was going well. He had good colleagues, a nice car to enjoy on his days off and a series of immaculately custom made tailored suits that fit him perfectly. He had a great salary and an honest bonus twice a year - as most Japanese companies provide. He was living the dream life. Kizuki was a young bachelor and his common trips to Tokyos hub of Roppongi saw that to be true. Living such a lifestyle was great. What's not to love about being in your early 20s and earning more than you can spend? Absolutely nothing.
He would often spend his days off going out with friends, reading his favourite books and studying English at his local English school. There wasn't really much for Tsukuba to offer- the city was a work in progress. He wasn't especially gifted at English at first, but he tried his best and studied hard. Kizuki liked to travel, so learning such a universal language like English would certainly benefit his future- or so he thought. In a way, it changed his future for good.
Afnan had just graduated with her MA from university having studied Archaeology. She loved her subject and the life she had created for herself. The past few years of university were eye opening to say the least. She would spend her days with friends, eating out and more often than not, you could find her at either of her workplaces: the museum, or the waffle shop that was more popular than anyone expected it to be.
After graduation, she had to leave her fruitful, busy life behind. While she was happy to be reunited with her family, she knew she would miss her friends and the freedom of the university lifestyle. Regardless, she returned home eager to start the next chapter in her life. She wasn't certain of much, but she knew that she didn't want to stay in the UK and so she began her search for working abroad and happened to stumble across a company that her seniors at university worked for. Without a second thought, she applied. Being successful through her interview stages, she flew half way across the world to meet what some people would call luck, and others would consider fate.
"Okay Afnan, today is your first private lesson! Good luck." her colleagues told her, ushering her into the classroom. Of course she was nervous, not that it mattered. Her student had already found a seat and was silently reading a book, waiting for class to begin.
What do I say? Afnan thought to herself. Maybe I should just start a conversation to break the awkward silence. The awkwardness was only felt by her, caused simply by the anxiety of having no confidence in what she was about to do.
"Oh, Paolo Coelho..." She finally spoke in a small voice. Lifting his head, wearing a No.21 black snapback, and a blue No.21 t-shirt, he closed the book, making sure the keep his finger on the page as to not lose his place.
"Uh... yes. Do you know him?" The student spoke with a slight accent, slowly pausing to think in-between words as if afraid to make a grammatical mistake. He made none.
"No, no. I've heard his name though. What's the book called?" Afnan asked, slowing her pace slightly to ensure he could catch each word. The student paused.
"Called?" He looked confused.
"Oh.. erm..." flustered, she quickly thought of a way to rephrase. "What is the name of the book?"
"Ah." He eyes lit up, happy to have understood. "The Alchemist."
"Oh cool! Do you recommend it?" Afnan asked, wondering if she had chosen her words correctly. She hadn't.
They bell rang to signify the beginning of class, saving them both from an unwanted awkward conversation. The class went smoothly and they both seemed to have fun expressing their thoughts and ideas together using the grammar set for the lesson. They laughed together and made comments about each others likes and dislikes. Soon, the fun came to an end and they said goodbye. Before exiting the classroom, the student handed Afnan a small paper to confirm his attendance for that day.
"Watanabe Kizuki." Afnan read aloud. "Kizuki." she repeated, looking up as if to ask for approval of her poor pronunciation.
"はい, Kizuki です. It's not common." Kizuki replied. Afnan nodded in agreeance. Walking him out of the classroom she thought of how pleasant it was speaking with him and how she looked forward to seeing him again.
As Kizuki walked out of the school, he turned back to check if Afnan was still there. She wasn't. He smiled to himself and thought she was kind and unlike the teachers he had before. He looked forward to seeing her again.
time passed, they saw each other weekly but never had class together again - a one time special. They would greet each other in the hall and would occasionally share eye contact and a smile on his way out of the building. It wasn't anything particularly special, but they each admired the other and thought fondly about their choice of style for that day.
Eventually, Afnan's curiosity escaped her and she plucked up the courage to ask Kizuki for his personal details. They went out a few times and it blossomed into an inseparable friendship and turned into something that neither of them thought they were even looking for.
*FAST FORWARD*
Since they both worked very different jobs, they never shared the same weekend. It was difficult to spend longer than one hour together before the other had to go to work. They decided that this wasn't good enough, and so they concluded to change their jobs and start a business together.
Changing their jobs was the hardest part. For Kizuki, it was a tough decision to make. In Japan, quitting a job from a prestigious company after 5 years of loyal work can lead to negative connotations about work ethic- but Kizuki being Kizuki, he mustered up the courage to take that step, and managed to find a good job in a different prefecture. Afnan being an English Teacher knew that finding work wouldn't be too difficult as they are often in demand, especially during this time. With all this in mind, they lay side by side staring at nothing.
"What's the name going to be?" Afnan asked, as if that was the most important part of starting a business. They joked and spitballed for about an hour until they decided on Nazufi Enterprise.
NA deriving from Afnan.
ZU deriving from Kizuki.
& FI deriving from either the combination of Afnan's f and Kizuki's I or the fact that Afnan's nickname was Afi. That part was never really cleared up.
And so, that bring us the end of our story of how Nazufi came into creation. Through wanting to lead a happy life. The road to a happy life, indeed.
Join us on our journey!
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