My Journey To The New World

I had been waiting for this moment for a whole year. It took me that much time to do my paperwork. God knows how many nights I couldn't sleep from being worried over the matter. Especially on the day before my interview with the American Embassy officer, I hardly ate or drank anything and could not sleep at all. Once I was inside of the embassy building, all I could do was to pray. Seeing other people turned away with their passports in their hands freightened me immensely. Finally, they announced my name, and I walked to the narrow path to the check-in booth. It reminded me so much of the movie "Dead Man Walking" when the prisoner walked that long hall leading to his death. Ironically, my malk wasn't to a death penalty, but rather to obtain my "ticket to heaven." After questioning my background, the officer inquired about the purpose of my visit to America.

"Education," I answered.

"Can't you get your education in here?" he questioned.

"I can, but I am majoring in International Relation, so I would like to learn English in an English- -speaking country," I replied.

"Then why don't you go to England?" he retorted.

"I've heard that Americans are friendlier and more tolerable to visitors than Englishmen," I nervously replied.

He smerked at me and kept my passport. Did this mean that I had passed the iterrogatio? yes! I felt as if I was the happiest and luckiest person on Earth. I was going to get to see The New World.

One week later, I recieved my passport, complete with an American visa, which looked like a dollar. I bought my plane ticket for a flight from Istanbul with connections to Amsterdam and then on to Atlanta, Georgia. When the time came for me to leave, I packed my suitcase and took a taxi to the airport. I was so excited about my new journey. I felt as light as a feather! I was walking on air! I packed everything I owned. Unfortunately, because of the weight limit, I had to leave the majority of my belongings with my roommates. On the way to the airport, I was already dreaming of my new life on another continent.

Everything went smoothly at Istanbul International Airport, but on arrival to Amsterdam, things drastically changed. The Amsterdam airport was smaller and stricter than the Istanbul airport. Impatiently, I stood in line in the third checkpoint lane. When my turn finally came, I handed my passport and flight ticket to the officer. He observed my documents very carefully and examined my passport over and over again. Finally he said, "Your pasport doesn't have an expiration date. Every passport should have an expiration date, no exceptions!" Slam! I was in shock.

"I have been in different countries and never had any problem."

"We can not allow you to cross the Holland," he told me in a harsh tone and then directed me to a waiting area on the left.

This wasn't happening to me! How could i have come so far with so far yet to go?

Several minutes later, two officers took me into a little room that reminded of iterrogation room for war crime "prisoners"; iron tables, iron chairs and no windows. While they carefully scrutinized my documents, I went to my "inner world" and was talking to myself.

"I wish if I had chosen Air France instead of Northwest Airlines."

"But it was much more expensive, David," I replied to myself.

"It is going to be OK no matter what," I tried to convince myself.

Suddenly a voice interrupted my "conversation."

"You are going back where you came from or you can contact your embassy - those are your only two choices," he charged.

I was so disappointed that I started crying out to God for help and guidance. For the next five or ten minutes, I contemplated a possible solution. Then from out of nowhere, a gentleman approached me. He was a middle-aged man, dressed in civilian clothing, and was wearing an ID badge. Eventhough he didn't look like an officer, I knew he worked for the Amsterdam Airport.

"Problema?" he asked me in a universal language.

"Problema," I answered.

I immediately recognized a Russian accent Could it be that this officer was also a fellow countryman? I soon found out that he was a Russian with Holland citizenship. He took me to his manager and explained the entire situation. Thanks to this friendly officer, they stopped the plane that was about to take off. Many apologies followed our conversation with the other immigration officers. I was so thankful that everything was okey again. My dream, it seemed, was to finally become a reality. I was coming to America!

Written on 10/07/2006

Post-Modern Slavery

The feudal regime, which dpended on a land and semi-free slavory system, collapsed and changed into another regime: Capitalism. Capital was more based on capital and mobile human resources. In feudalism land belongs to the Church or the King, whereas in capitalism it belongs to an individual owner. Nothing is static, everything is mobile and in progress; workers, machines, tools and knowledge. Industrialization, first modern cities and importance of time appear in that period. They, who have a capital, which was brought from oversees through colonization and exploitaton, are going to build industries. Imagine thousands of manufacturing plants with giant pips through which continuously comes a mass of black smoke. Inside of this plants thousands of people are working days and nights including children and the elderly. in addition, more people are waiting outside for work. If one of workers dies inside, someone from the outside has the right to work. Perhaps those outside are praying for the death of those inside. Most of those workers don't have any accomodations and their health conditions aren't good enough to work. As soon as they get their farthing from the "new owner" they go to market, where prices rise everyday, to buy a piece of bread to be able to work tomorrow. All of these happened near half a century ago.

21st century. Thousands of Giant Mergers and Monopolies are rising from the horizone with ......... speed. They don't have anymore huge plants with big pipes and thousands of struggling employees. They are more intelligent and powerful. In fact they don't have to be busy with unemployment outside because Government is going to deal with it. Mr. Monster-Capitalist has a clean, modern, and vary comfortable office where he can count his money, that smells of the blood of victim-employees, who lost their jobs, accidentally died or quit their jobs for any circumstances. Moreover, they hire people with high quality. And there are some "standards" they require: flexibility, teamwork and speed. You have to be like them, you have to breath like them, eat, sleep and of course think like them. What happened to people who stayed outside and asked for work 400 years ago? Unfortunately they are still outside, but now they are their graet-grand children. Before they were unemployed because of overpopulation, but now they don't have an appropriate skills. How can they have "the appropriate skill" when there is no equal opportunity in education, medication and nutrition.

My Father

Like most fathers my father cares about his family a lot. I can't remember him going anywhere by himself, except to work. He always was taking one of my brothers or me with him. Even if he was working weekends he would take me to work. He had a huge office and I could play however I wish. Indeed in every moment of my life I can remember my father. I thought that world spans around my father. When I was in kindergarten my father would pick me up everyday.

Now my father is 65 years old. He is retiered five years ago. He is tall and broadshouldered, has light brown skin color, short balck and white hair, wide face, wide lips and big eyebrows. When he is walking he has a very big pace. So my mother sometimes calls him "ostrich' or "camel".

Hard Times

Year 1991. It was like a big thunderstorm was laid on our motherland USSR. People didn't know wat was going on. Everybody was in panic; TV wasn't enertaining anymore, streets were empty; no people, no dogs and cats on, like everything was asleep. First of all, our home, like the whole country turned into a cemetery. In front of TV people were witnessing their own end, as a murederer witnessing his own death penalty. On TV the General Secretary of the Central Committy of the Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev, was the first who excluded his own membership from the Party. Everyone was dissappointed of that event. Meanwhile, the eceonomy went down, inflation was at a high level. For the first time in my lifetime i saw an American dollar. Before it was forbidden for us. At the same time markets and shops were empty. There was nothing to buy and eat. We were lucky to have our own land and livestock; cows, sheep and chicken. We were planting tomatoes, potatoes and other kind of vegetables. We really didn't need to go shopping, but for those who were living in city it was difficult. They were coming to my neighbors to buy eggs, milk vegetables. We didn't sell, but if we had moor my father was giving it to them for free. On the other hand, in political aspects all 15 republics annaunced their independence. Furthermore, these "independent" countries immidiately started building relationships with the Western capitalist world. Everything was privatizing; shops, manufactures, cinema, theatres, even buses and taxis.

Year 1993. Now my father found God and was very happy, so was I. For the first time in my life I saw an advertisement. It was big poster of Coca-Cola. I could hear the sound of steps of Capitalism. I should've known it. Moreover I was interrupted in high school and was sent to the eastern wing of the western world, Turkey, to "wash" my communist brain. My dear teacher Galina Ivanovna told me that I have to become contemporary and modern. I was confused because as I knew the Soviet people were the most modern, intelligent and contemporary people in the whole world. Probably I was wrong. My family and I wanted our previous life back. But everything was changing so fast that everyday we were farther and farther from the hope. During those hard times I learned how to survive and live by myself. I was becoming more realistic and didn't expect anything from anybody, except myself.

Year 1996. By the time I graduated from the high school in the capital city of Turkey, I learned that the Soviet Union was utopia and I was in a dream. The words in my mind like "proletariat", working calss, Marxism, Socialism, Leninism were changed by words like democracy, human rights, political parties and elections.

Thus I have had variation time in my life. I was always feeling like an orphan who didn't know where to go and what to believe. But know I am very happy that all happened. Otherwise I would be like a chick that couldn't break the shell. So I am not really looking back to my past, because it is like dreaming and never waking up.

Written on 11/17/2003