Look for the Stranger

Ken Jackson, UK

Ken Jackson has worked for most of his life as a teacher and headteacher in Primary education. He has worked in UK, U.S.A., Japan and in the U.A.E. He is now employed as an Educational Consultant in Dubai. His job consists of bringing speakers to the Magrudy Teachers' Centre to conduct seminars for teachers on various aspects of education. E-mail: ken.jackson@magrudy.com

Part 1

Several years ago I met an Italian monk in Cambridge where I live. He was always saying, “Look for the stranger’. It amused me when he often said it until an Italian lady told me that there is the legend in Italian and Greek folk lore that says: ‘ Look for the stranger for he/she maybe an angel in disguise’
One day I had a phone call from a friend in Japan, Father Tsuchida. He said that the grand daughter of one of his parishioners was coming to study English at the local centre for languages in my village just south of Cambridge and would I check that she was all right. When she arrived at the school I walked along to the school to see her. I asked her if everything was all right and she said she was very homesick. Tears well up in her eyes. I told her where my house was and said she was always welcome to come anytime she wished. I went to the school the next day and she was smiling. As I left the students’ common room I saw a man sitting all alone in the corner of the room. I remembered the saying of Father Anselmo ‘Look for the stranger’. I approached him and I asked why he was sitting all alone when there were so many students around. He said he had only arrived yesterday and knew no one yet. I asked him where he was from and he replied that he was from Turkey. I told him that there were many Turkish students in the school. He said he was the director of a bank and his bank was paying for him to study in this school for five months. He then added, ‘Thank you for your suggestion about meeting the Turkish students but I do not want to speak Turkish’ I asked him if he liked his home-stay house and he said that they were not very kind. I told him to come any evening to my house and he would have the opportunity to speak English to many English people. From that time on he came every night.
After two months he mentioned that he had found a new home-stay house and that he was moving there. He said that unfortunately the people there could only accommodate him for a month as after that a Taiwanese student was coming. He was much happier in the second house. At the end of that month he was told by the school that he had to move to a new house just for two months. He visited the house and he said that he knew he would not like it there. I said as it was only for two months he should try to endure. I said I would pick him up on the Sunday morning and take him and his luggage to the new house. As we passed my house he asked if we could have a cup of tea in my house. So we drank tea and then he said,’ I am not going to that house”. I enquired ‘What will you do then?’ He replied that he would go home the next day. I said that he should not do that as he had two more months leave and that he could stay with me for the two months. I told him that he did not need to pay. He said that his bank paid and I had to receive the money. I told him that that would be 85 pounds a week. He said that it was not 85 pounds it was 130 pounds a week. I said that I knew people who had students from that school and I knew is was only 85 pounds. He replied that he was executive class and that it was 130 pounds for executives. I asked him what that meant to be an executive with regards to the payment. He said that executives have their own bathroom. I reminded him that I had only had one bathroom. He said, ‘I have told the school that you have two.’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part 2

This was the advice given to me by a Roman Catholic monk. He told me that in Greek and Italian folklore a stranger could be an angel in disguise.
One day I received a phone call from a Japanese Catholic priest who told me that his friend’s grand-daughter was coming to study English in the language school in my village and would I make sure she settled in well with her home-stay family. I went to meet her at the lunch hour on her first day at the school and she was crying as she said she was home-sick. I went on the second day and she was still upset. On the third day she was laughing with friends so I told her that she could come to my house whenever she wanted. This she frequently did.
As I was leaving the lounge I saw a man, a stranger, sitting all alone. I approached him and asked him why he did not join the others. He said that he had just arrived and that he knew no one. I asked him where he came from and he said he was Istanbul and that he was a bank director whose bank had sent him to study English for 5 months. I told him that there were many Turkish students in the school so he did not have to sit alone. He answered that he did not want to talk to Turkish students as he wished to learn English and that he was a serious student. I asked him to join the Japanese group as no one there could speak Turkish. He laughed.
I asked about his home stay family and he said they were not so friendly. After the supper the previous night he was following them through to the television room but he was stopped and told that there was a television in his room. I told him he could visit me whenever he wanted and he came nearly every night.
After two months he told me happily that he was moving to a new home stay house and the people were friendly. Unfortunately he could only stay one month as his host family were having a Taiwanese student.
After the month was over he told me that he had been sent by the school to see the next home-stay family. He told me that he did not want to go there as they said he could not have a shower after 8pm and that he must be home by 11pm. I said that it was only for two months . I said I would pick him up on the Sunday and take him to this house. As we passed by my house he asked if we could have a cup of tea in my house. Of course I agreed.
As he was drinking the tea he said that he was not going to the next house. I asked him what he would do and he replied that he would go home the next day. I said that he could stay with me for the last two months and he had no need to pay as he was a friend. He told me that his bank paid so I had to receive the money. I told him that we would go to expensive restaurants with this money as my cooking was terrible. I said it was eighty five pounds a week. I knew this because several of my neighbours also had students. He said that was not right and that it was one hundred and thirty pounds a week as he was executive class. I asked him the meaning of that. He said executive students had their own bath room. I said that he knew I only had one bathroom. He humorously replied that he told the school that I had two. So he stayed with me for two happy, happy months. But that was not the end of the story.

Part 3

After my Turkish friend left for home the director of the language school came to see me. He said that Hayrettin had been very happy to stay with me and, as another Turkish man had come to the school, would it be possible for him to stay with me. He would want to stay for 7 weeks. I was told that this man was 59 years old and that he was quite an important man in Turkey.
I agreed that he could come . He was a very presentable man and I came to the opinion that he was quite rich. He would buy very expensive wine in which I was also invited to enjoy.
I often talked about my first Turkish friend (I shall refer to him as H) and sometimes H would phone me and I let the two of them speak together.
After the seven weeks Yasar returned to Turkey and, unbeknown to me, the two men consulted each other and I received an invitation to go to Turkey. When I arrived at the airport I saw my two friends but the second man was surrounded by many people. I asked H why so many people were around Yasar and was told that Yasar was a Minister of State in Turkey and all the surrounding people were there to welcome HIM.
The next day we went down the Bosphorus on a private yacht. We ate and drank champagne and caviar, we had private viewings of museums. I thought I must have done something right in my first life!!!!!!!!!!!
H show me around Istanbul and I immediately fell in love with this fascinating and beautiful city which straddles the continents.
Three days later we travelled by Mercedes to Ankara. A body guard with a gun sat in the front. I saw the head lines in my local paper ‘Local citizen dies in an assassination attempt in Turkey’ Famous for 15 minutes.
We visited, privately, all the museums and famous places. We ate in beautiful mountain top restaurants. Wow, I could not believe this was happening to me.
Two days later I was whisked off by private jet to an airport in Cappadocia. We saw the underground city, carved out of the rock to a depth of 8 storeys. This was the hiding places of the persecuted Christians. We went to the stone churches set in the rock faces..
Two days later we flew to Izmir, by private jet of course, and were taken to Ephesus to see one of the wonders of the World, the library. On we went by car now to Antalya, Aspendos and Side to see the Roman amphitheatre and the ruined cities. We stayed for three more days before being flown back to Istanbul to catch our return flight. My head was spinning with this fantastic experience
Look for the stranger, you never know where it will lead .