Have A Coke (1966)

for what takes so long have some coffee oh thank you thank you what country are you all from ethopia Ethiopia Ethiopia oh how wonderful so glad you could come thank you thank you as I [Music] say to begin with my arrival Giza K scholarship student in economics at University of California was anything but propitious Mr G Mr K G please come to the information counter on arriving I found that all my baggage had been accidentally rooted to some place called Watsonville Mr kaisel gowa Mr kaisel gowa please come to the information counter I somehow missed the representative the university had arranged to meet me and having spent in New York most of the money I had changed I found that the draft on the bank of Ethiopia was useless at night the first person I met was a policeman who arrested me at once my command of the language Departed and I was unable to speak in my own behalf or understand my [Music] offense I cannot describe to you my feeling as I finally entered the city of Los Angeles as a criminal I had no idea where the police were taking me it was however not to prison I had apparently arrived somewhat irregularly at University of California at Los Angeles on this huge campus my scholarship which seemed so Bountiful and honor from the government proved something less than adequate to save money I entered the Cooperative student dormitory [Music] breakfast is served early and is very unusual [Music] my roommate is an American from Arizona studying civil engineering he is failing calculus and is very uncommunicative and he probably finds me the same way for 5 months now I I have had time for little besides study worry about money and wonder why I ever came here we're going to have an examination the English examination I passed in a disa with such fluency is simply not the same language spoken here the constant series of quizzes I find irritating most transparently designed to inform the professor whether you've read his assignment of course I haven't read his assignment there is no time to read the assignments aside from the library my class buildings and the dormitory I know little of the campus and less of the city I feel like The Village Idiot treated with polite Difference by my colleagues it is maddening occasional walks in the evening with advice and friendship from my own people were genuinely pleasurable [Music] moments but when the year examinations were finished I felt it pointless to continue here in frustration loneliness and poverty [Music] I was about to wire for passage home when I received notification that my grades were very high and had been accepted by my department as teacher assistant fantastic I shall stay another year but uh if there anything like the last one I am leaving take a reservation you mean it gets uh worse old customs and strange rights are practiced by the natives well welcome to the Student Union what's your name Haas oh you speak English very well thank you [Music] Giza you will see that when you get out of that dmetry my second year began with a teaching assistant salary too if you share you can afford an apartment but they're difficult to find [Applause] work [Music] [Applause] of course there are no servants in this country so they men often cook for themselves we attempted this with some success [Music] [Music] I just made some soup uh some very good chicken soup and I thought you and Mr H please come in we were helped some out by our land lady who turned out to be a kindly Soul at heart who developed a motherly interest in our welfare yes please thank you yes thank you I see you've moved in yes s [Music] came in were you taking language excuse me my oh hi how are you it's if we were drinking wine here today how would you say wine Wayne Wayne Wayne Wayne it's almost sounds like English doesn't it yeah it sure does and what kind of wine do you actually drink uh is there some special type in Ethiopia yeah there is one special type we call sis and what's it made it's made of grapes name of your country I'm always mispronouncing Ethiopia e Ethiopia Ethiopia p no p p Ethiopia ethopia but for all the casual and relaxed socializing the second year brings a difficult decision my specialized research is complete should I go home now or what seems increasingly possible like my American colleagues stay on and work toward the highest degree offered in my field but it's taken you 5 years tamro and you've not finished yet as a matter of fact my dear H my government has just inquired tamro are you still a student or a refugee what take so long have some coffee oh thank you thank you what country are you all from Ethiopia Ethiopia Ethiopia oh how wonderful so glad you could come thank you thank you as I was saying why does it take 5 years to finish this sort of thing for one and then I have to spend a lot of time giving you all advice however I'm beginning to feel more pressing obligations along that line got hurry up honey you're late okay so on there is less time than ever not counting my two jobs but with all the demands I'm still satisfied in no other system could I enroll first for a limited study continue on becoming a member of the staff complete a program for a doctorate and still support a family this whole university is filled with married students somehow working raising families and studying at the same time now this life cannot be described as conducive to Serene contemplation yet somewhere during the Press of one's [Music] job professional studies the inevitable destructions of a material [Music] Society hi Honey hi what took you so long well my car broke and the more pleasurable demands of marriage you find a few moments to reflect on the point of all these car well I don't know as usual she wouldn't start again she [Applause] one day in the middle of a class I give for the peace call I really felt for the first time the irony that I an Ethiopian was giving instruction to Americans who were going to my country to assist Ethiopians I knew it was time for me to return for whatever contribution I am capable of making to my own land and culture it seems that I have confirmed a position in Adis Ababa I shall return on acceptance of my thesis here probably next month congratulations excellent thank you thank you gentlemen so you all will have to find yourselves another guide in this exotic part of the world and there I would say is someone who is in need of much guidance and counseling welcome to the Student Center thank you what is your name d well Desta that's interesting how long have you been in America 2 hours oh I have a Coke [Applause] thank you you're welcome [Music] nice [Music] foree spech speech [Music]