The Real Staircase!

At seven in the morning, I left the hotel and headed towards the school, following the same route I had studied the day before.

The shops had not yet opened; their owners were washing the ground outside their windows. Coney Street, which I had seen crowded the previous day, was now almost empty. I remembered the words of God Almighty: “By the morning as it breathes,” and I felt that morning was breathing within me.

Only a few days earlier, I had been in Riyadh; now I was beginning a new life in York. I did not know what awaited me, but I placed my trust in Almighty God.

I reached the school. I opened its door and entered a long, narrow passage that ended at another door. Beyond it was a steep staircase. I felt as though I were walking through strange corridors, one door leading to another, as if I were in a scene from Harry Potter.

I climbed the stairs. The first thing that greeted me was a large poster of the Beatles on one of the walls, followed by a woman with a radiant smile.

She said:

— I’m Teresa! Are you a new student?

— Yes.

— Welcome!

I handed her my acceptance papers and important documents. She said:

— “Abdul”, first we will help you obtain a student card, open a bank account and choose somewhere to live so that you can settle in. Then we will test your level and begin. Agreed?

— Agreed.

Over the next two days, members of the school’s staff accompanied me to complete everything Teresa had promised. Then came the placement test. The result placed me at the Intermediate level.

I was not surprised; English was not unfamiliar to me. It had accompanied me since childhood at the Capital Model Institute, and at home through my father, films, magazines and comic books. I had then studied in English at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh. It was not the result that made me pause, but what Teresa said afterwards.

She said:

— You need a full year of intensive study before you can enter university and study there without difficulty. You must also achieve a score of 5 in the IELTS examination to be admitted to a bachelor’s degree programme.

I was full of enthusiasm and energy: an impatient young man who wanted to reach university by the shortest possible route. A full year seemed like a long time in my calculations. I sat thinking and counting the years: a full year for English, then the foundation year, followed by the years of the bachelor’s degree.

That was when I said to myself: I had not even set foot on the staircase yet!