/"Personal question maybe, but do you follow Ramadan and such? I don't take you for a very firm believer," I asked Ahmet, looking him in the eyes. I really like his eyes.
"Nah, I am not really a die hard believer. I follow some part of the Ramadan. Like, I eat the minimum of food during the day, but here there isn't any special treatment, if you are Muslim or not. Back in my home town almost everything closed down. No one could work. No one had any energy to work. A lot of people prayed and slept during the day," Ahmet answered, taking a bit of his ice cream. "Why? Ramadan is long time away."
I shrugged. "I am bored. I want to know more."
"And you spend the day on the beach wondering about that?"
I grinned. "Yeah. Well, no, but then I saw you eat ice cream and came to think about it."
Ahmet shook his head. "You have way to much brain in there, girl."
"Girl? Why do you keep calling me girl?"
"I am rubbish at names," he replied, sending me a small smile.
"O-phe-li-a," I said slowly, dragging out my name. "Ophelia."/
"Ophelia Williams? Who is Ophelia?"
I am ripped away from the memory, by the sound of my name. I blink back tears.
"Me." I raise my hand.
"Oh! So far away from everyone else. Please, get closer, so I can see and hear you!"
I take a deep breath. I try to hold in my tears. I fear my voice will give anything away, if I try to speak. I just shake my head in response.
"Logan White?"
"Here."
I gulp.
The boy from the pub is in the lecture. I groan silently.
"Perfect! I think it was everyone!" the professor declares. "Now, I got a few questions for you and I want each of you to write down your answer on your paper. The questions are on the board. It is just small questions about what you think we will go through this semester and what your expectations are. You have ten minutes. Begin!"
I look up at the board.
'What do you think we will go though this semester?
Do you have any certain expectations to this semester?
How openminded do you think you are for other cultures and communities?
Have you ever seen or lived in a community with a lot of cultural differences?
Will you ever try to live in a community with a lot of cultural differences?'
I huff. Easy.
'What do you think we will go though this semester?
- I think and hope we will go through a broad area of other cultures, both in Europe, but also out in the world.
- I think we will cover a lot of history and how these cultures became to what they are today.
I look at my answer. I nod slowly for myself, before I begin to answer the next one.
Do you have any certain expectations to this semester?
- I expect everyone to be open minded, listen to each other, learn from each other, as each an all of us are grown and brought up differently, making us having another mindset from one another, even though we are from the same country, with basically the same values overall
I continue.
How openminded do you think you are for other cultures and communities?
- I am very openminded. I love learning about new cultures communities, often seeking answers from the people living in another culture than myself.
I take a deep breath. I feel tears form in the corner of my eyes. I take a few more deep breath.
Have you ever seen or lived in a community with a lot of cultural differences?
- Yes, I did when I lived and worked abroad on Cyprus. While it's culture look a lot like ours it isn't and there were living many people from a lot of different places there. I got to know a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds and stories.
- I have also shortly been living in Turkey for almost three months and there was a bigger difference from Turkey to England, than from England to Cyprus.
I let out a shaky breath. I fold my fingers inwards, my nails digging down in my palm. It hurts.
Will you ever try to live in a community with a lot of cultural differences?
- Yes'
I look up. Only a few minutes left before we need to be done. A lot of the other students are still writing.
I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. I cross my fingers no one sees me.
"Times up!" the professor calls. "Logan, how openminded are you for other cultures and communities?"
Logan looks up, a question clear on his face. "Professor, I didn't-"
"I know, that's why you need to answer. Then write down afterwards."
I smirk smugly.
"Well, I will put myself in the middle. I have no problem with people overall, but for some people from certain areas I have a hard time understanding them," Logan answers.
I glare at him.
"Which areas are you talking about?"
"The Middle East..." he trails off, quickly sending me a glare. "I feel that people from mostly Middle East countries are here in the land to get money from our system, refusing to work and refusing to accommodate themselves to our culture. And seeing on the statics a lot of the crime here in Britain is of people with another background than British," Logan finish off.
I raise my hand.
"Yes Ophelia?" the professor ask.
"I would say Logan is wrong.
"Why?" the professor asks. "You can't lie about the statics."
"While I get some of it where Logan comes from, we also need to see it form their perspective. Most of them have fled from a country with war. Yes, most of those who fled have the money for doing so, but they use a lot of their money to get away. They often get to a new country after a long and hard journey, have to settle down where they know no one and most of them doesn't speak proper English. Then, yes, of course they meet up with those from the same background as them and speak with them. Some of them had very good careers down in their home country and some didn't. But how can they get a job, if they can't speak the language? Then they feel looked down on from the British and the more they are criticised in the media, the more they close in on themselves." I pauses and take a breath. "The more they close in on themselves the worse it gets. And I am mot saying what Logan says is wrong, but we need to see it from their perspective too. I don't think they should live of our system, but sometimes they got no other choice. And sometimes they do it because they can. It isn't good, but we need to be able to look at the reason and thereby help them, instead of jumping to conclusions." I finish of my rant and heaves another deep breath.
I feel Logan stare holes in my side. I ignore him. I look at the professor.
"Wauw... Uhm, wauw. Really. You sounded passionate about it. What for?" the professor asks me.
"I have been living close to some of those who fled from a country in war. I know them and have been speaking with them. Not here, but in another country and I think I can do them a bit of justice of saying this," I answer truthfully, shrugging slightly. My voice is low.
"But maybe people just tell you that, so you feel sorry for them," I hear Logan's voice.
I turn around to face him. "Really? You think so? Well, some of those I met, was studying to become a ma-," I break myself of, swallowing the lump in my throat. I blink tears out of my eyes. "Some of them have very good educations or was on the road to a good education, but they fled because of war and now have to work low income jobs, just so they can say they do something for the society, only to be looked down anyway, because what they do isn't good enough." I stand and look at the professor. "Excuse me."
I hurry out. Tears are burning behind my eyelids. Sobs are raging through my body. I fight to keep myself together until I leave the class.
I reach the door. I rip it open. I get out. I close it behind me.
I break down.