Adem’s World of Wonders

Somewhere below the clouds, there is an island called the Happy Kingdom. In the south of this island, there is a city called Joyland. In the south of this city, there is a small village. And in this village, there lives an eleven-year-old kid called Adem.

No, no. His name is not Adam. It is ‘Adem’. That’s right, there is an ‘e’ instead of an ‘a’ just before the last letter ‘m’. Adem is a Turkish name. Both Adam and Adem mean ‘the first person in the world.’

Adem is a curious kid who loves reading. He reads all kinds of storybooks. He also reads The Best Book of World Records. This is his favorite.

The young kid loves to talk about the things he reads in the record book.

If Adem were here now, he would already be talking about Sultan Kosen of Turkey who is eight feet and one inch tall.

Sultan Kosen is the tallest living person in the World Book of Records!

Hey, look! Here is Adem coming out from school with his two best friends, Ben and Jonathan. Adem is the one with dark hair, olive skin, and beautiful blue eyes.

You cannot miss him because Ben and Jonathan are both fair-haired boys with light skin.

Adem’s father is Turkish and his mother is English. He got his looks from his father, but his eyes are the same color as his mother’s.

Adem hears someone say ‘Hello’. He turns around and waves at his Turkish friend, Metin. Then Adem replies by saying,

‘Hello!’ This word means hi in Turkish. The first Turkish word Adem ever learned to say was ‘Dad’. It means Dad.

One day, when Adem was a little kid, he asked his Dad, ‘Am I English or Turkish, or am I half of each?’

His Dad thought about this question for a moment, then answered, ‘You are not half of anything, my kid. You are both full Turkish and full English.’

Adem liked this answer very much.

Sometime later, Adem got his face painted with an English flag while he was at the carnival.

When his Dad saw Adem’s face he was really quite shocked, but Adem said, ‘It is OK, Dad. Don’t you remember, I am full English as well as full Turkish?’

Adem gives a high-five to Ben and Jonathan and then approaches us and walks beside us along the pavement. He smiles up at us.

‘Did you know that in June 2003 a Turkish man called Muhammed Rashid entered the Best Book of World Records with his mustache that was over five feet long!

That is a very long mustache,’ says Adem, his smile becoming even bigger. ‘My Dad has a big mustache too, and bushy eyebrows. But his mustache is not as big as five feet, thank goodness!’

Adem says ‘Thank goodness’ instead of Thank God because Adem is a Muslim kid.

Adem notices a man walking in the street with a dark blue velvet Kippah. ‘A Kippah is a Jewish hat,’ says Adem, so that we know.

Then the young kid notices a Sikh man wearing a traditional Turban. Adem loves this variety of different cultures walking along the same street.

‘My Dad owns a restaurant,’ Adem tells us. He looks at us directly with his serious eyes, as if he is teaching us something very important.

‘It is not a kebab restaurant. In my Dad’s restaurant, they make vegetarian stew and serve it with special bread called Pide bread. It is delicious.’

Adem’s Dad has a favorite food. It is called Okra. Okra is a vegetable that tastes a bit like a pickle. Adem’s Dad puts lemon on the Okra because he says it makes the vegetable taste extra special!

‘I really like kebab,’ Adem tells us. ‘I know it is not very healthy, but it tastes really good.’

Suddenly, the young kid looks a little uncomfortable, as if there is something he wants to tell us. He seems to concentrate, formulating the words inside his head.

‘Every Thursday,’ he says after a moment’s silence, ‘my Dad comes and picks me up. I don’t like Thursdays anymore. There is something about my Dad that embarrasses me.

I want to talk to him about it, but I love him and don’t want to hurt his feelings. It’s not always easy to talk to parents, you know.

For example, last Saturday after we had been swimming, I bought a really nice chocolate cake and my friend Ben and my Dad were with me in a café.

I was eating my cake when my Dad whispered in my ear that I had to give some of my cake to my friend Ben. Dad said that this is a custom in Turkish culture.

It took me ages to whisper back and explain to my Dad that in English culture it is rude to offer my friend half-eaten cake as I know he has some money in his pocket, and if he wanted to have some cake he would buy some for himself.’

Adem explains to us that his Dad has lived in England for a very long time, but he still does not have many English friends.

The young kid says it is as if his father still lives as he used to live in Turkey. ‘That is okay,’ Adem tells us, ‘but it is sometimes difficult for me to understand some of the Turkish traditions, and there are so many of them to remember.’

Adem has almost arrived at the meeting point where his Dad has told him to wait to be picked up after school.

Today is a Thursday.

He looks a little bit nervous as he scans the street. ‘I have tried to do something about this embarrassment,’ he informs us earnestly, ‘but it has not worked yet.

I do not know how to talk to my Dad about how he acts when we are with my friends.’

Adem stops on the corner. He still looks a bit nervous. ‘This is where my Dad picks me up,’ he says.

There are lots of kids from Adem’s school standing about on the corner: some waiting to be picked up by their parents, some heading for the bus or walking home in pairs.

Adem pretends to be reading his book. He doesn’t want any of his friends to be near him when his Dad picks him up.

This is when Adem notices Emily. Emily is beautiful. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and Adem has fancied her ever since they were both in year five.

One day, Adem’s history teacher placed all of the kids in pairs for a school project. Adem was placed with Emily. The kids had to make a Motte and Bailey castle. The best castle would win a prize.

So Adem and Emily spent a lot of time together and worked really hard on their castle. Then, when the judging day came, THEY WON!

And that’s when the fancying began because Emily hugged Adem. From that moment to this, whenever Adem sees Emily, he feels a warm feeling inside.

Emily is approaching the corner where Adem is waiting for Dad to come pick him up. Adem looks very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

‘Oh no! Here is my Dad’s jeep coming around the corner. Dad is coming! Emily is coming! Dad is coming! Emily is coming!’

Adem quickly sits on the floor and pretends to tie his shoelaces while attempting to hide from his Dad and from Emily. But it is no use; the young kid can tell that his Dad has spotted him.

The jeep pulls up to the curb and Adem’s Dad steps out. Meanwhile, Emily is getting closer and closer, and now she can see Adem and his Dad together next to the jeep.

Adem’s Dad throws a smile. ‘Are you OK, my big boy?’

Adem stands up now and his Dad grabs a hold of him and gives him a big cuddle and a kiss.

‘Come on Adem,’ says his Dad in a cheerful voice, ‘won’t you give me a kiss!’

Adem looks around, then quickly kisses his father on the cheek and jumps inside the jeep before Emily gets any closer and laughs at him for kissing and hugging his father when Adem is a big kid now and should be more grown-up.

Father and son do not talk to each other for a couple of minutes as they drive through the busy streets heading for home.

Dad looks at Adem and asks again, ‘Are you OK, my son?’

‘Yes,’ says Adem, but his voice is not very convincing.

Adem’s Dad knows that his son is not happy because he knows him very well and they are very close. ‘Come on,’ he says, ‘why don’t you tell me what is wrong?’

Adem thinks for a little while. He knows what to say, but he does not want to hurt his Dad’s feelings. Eventually, the young kid summons up the courage to speak his mind.

‘Dad, there is something I need to tell you, something that upsets me. There is a person who upsets me. That person is …’ Adem pauses for a moment, unsure how to continue.

‘Someone has upset you! Tell me who it is.’ Dad says to his son.

‘Well, it is …’

‘Yes … Come on!’

‘Well …’

‘Is it someone at school, a teacher, a friend, a bully?’ asks Dad, clearly concerned for his son.

‘No, Dad.’

‘Who then?’

There is another long silence as Dad steers the jeep through the village towards home.

Adem takes a deep breath, then says, ‘It is you, Dad. You upset me.’

‘Me?’ asks his Dad. ‘What have I done, my son?’

Adem does not say anything, so Dad pulls the jeep into the curb and switches off the engine so that he can talk properly to his son. ‘Tell me what did I do, Adem?’

Adem looks at his Dad, at his big bushy eyebrows and the lines that crease his forehead and make him look like he is angry.

Adem knows that his father is not angry but upset. He feels bad that he has made his Dad sad, but he plucks up all of his courage and tries to explain himself.

‘You know that I am eleven now,’ he tells his Dad, ‘and that I am very grown-up.’

‘Yes, definitely,’ says his Dad with a touch of pride in his voice.

‘You know it was OK to cuddle me and kiss me in front of my friends when I was at primary school, but I do not want you to do that in front of my friends anymore.’

‘So … you do not want me to kiss and cuddle you anymore, is that it?’

‘No, no, Dad. I like it when you cuddle me, but I don’t want you to kiss and cuddle me in front of my friends because I am too old for that now and they will laugh at me.’

‘It is a very Turkish thing to do, I suppose,’ admits Dad as he starts up the jeep and steers through the evening traffic. He looks a little sad and Adem wants to cheer him up.

‘Dad?’

‘Yes, my son?’

‘Shall I make a cup of tea for you and mummy when we get home?’

Dad smiles at his precious son. ‘That would be lovely, Adem. But please do not put any milk in my tea. You know I like it black. This is the Turkish way to have tea and the Turkish way is best for me.’ His Dad winks at Adem as he says these words.

Adem smiles because he knows that his Dad understands why he is embarrassed, and he also knows that his Dad loves him very much.

‘Can we play a game tonight?’ asks Adem as the jeep rounds the final bend towards home.

Dad does not look upset anymore and reaches over and ruffles Adem’s hair and waves a finger at his son. ‘We can play a game tonight as long as you don’t cheat like you did last night.’

‘I didn’t cheat,’ Adem laughs. ‘You cheated.’

Dad and Adem both laugh at this and continue talking about Adem’s day at school all of the things he did and all the facts he has memorized from his Best Book of World Records.

And that was the last time that Dad embarrassed Adem in front of his friends.

But whenever they are playing together at home, Dad will often grab his son and wrap his big arms around him and tease him that he is never too big for a cuddle.

Questions for the children

1. Do you have a favorite tradition or food from your family’s culture?
2. Have you ever felt embarrassed by something your parents did, and how did you handle it?