Thread: Culture Clash (DaddyIsHere and TerraFirma)

terrafirma said Seems like you miss my parents' restaurant already, I responded with an easy smile. Click to expand... MAX With that sentence, my heart skipped a couple of beats. She knew me! I know that sounds sort of stupid, but the fact she recognized me meant that she had at least noticed me. Oh, wow... you know me, I stammered. She assured me that she did and she was very... gracious I suppose. I don't know how to say this without sounding stereotypical, but American girls aren't always the most gracious. They can be abrupt. If I'd said something similar to a white girl from Spokane, she might have just said 'yeah' and shrugged it off, turning away. Instead, Ambreen looked at me with those huge brown eyes that I've always felt like are just going to swallow me. Then she flashed me her killer smile and we started talking. I learned about her upbringing in Islamabad and how out-of-place and awkward she had felt in Spokane. I always thought you were just amazingly cool, I said to her. Cool, god no, she laughed. I was a nerd. We agreed to disagree on that point and then we got to talking about other things. Our majors. I was going for an English degree against my parents wishes and she was going for a more practical major going with her parents wishes. Eventually, we drifted back the dorms. Sheila, her English roommate invited me and Neil, another guy back to their room. We sat on the beds and the big chair and just talked. Pretty soon, Sheila was inching closer to Neil, then they were holding hands, then even closer. And then Neil makes an excuse to show Sheila something in his room and they were gone. All of a sudden, it was just the two of us in her room, alone. I could tell that Ambreen felt it, and so did I. So, I said, What kind of music do you like? She kind of giggled at my clumsy attempt to break up the awkward silence. Well, I like American songs, she said. I live here after all, and it's not like we don't hear them in Pakistan, American pop music is everywhere. I like a lot of film music from India and Pakistan, too. Cool, play them for me, I said. She plugged her iPod in and started playing me the songs. They were really cool, but different. There was this strong, unusual drum beat underneath all of them. The drums were musical in their own way. More like a pawoom as opposed to a 'boom', mixed with staccato drums that were sort of like snare drums, but different. The wild thing was every once in a while I would hear words that I thought I recognized. Yeah, yeah, she said. There are English words mixed in. We listened for a while and then she fired up her laptop to show me some of the videos of the songs. Some were hilarious, some were romantic, others were just plain fun. She explained to me how there were common dance moves that everyone knew and the choreographers worked from, and that there were playback singers, and so on. It was sort of a crash course in Bollywood films and music. Because we were watching on her laptop, we didn't have any choice but to be close together. Eventually, our arms were touching... and I think we both knew it. I sure did. Ambreen was translating for me. They're not too sophisticated, sometimes, she explained. My heart is yours. I dream of you, not that different from a lot of pop songs. The women are all so beautiful though, I said. You think so? Ambreen said. Our faces were right next to each other. I turned and looked into her amazing eyes. Oh yeah, I whispered. There was a moment. I am positive there was a moment. It felt like we were frozen there for about a year, looking into each others' eyes. Then, she looked away. Well, she said. I have class in the morning, so... Yeah, yeah, I said. Early class. Umm, thanks for showing me your music. I'd love to watch a whole movie sometime. She walked me to the door and we sort of stood there, awkwardly. I was hoping for a kiss. God was I hoping for a kiss, maybe one on the cheek, or even a hug, or something. Well, goodnight Ambreen. I said.