Dear Friends,

When my esteem friend Serdar Dinler, like most of us, asked me to write one of my memories during my masters degree unintentionally he took me to a long journey in my memories.

I got my MSc. Degree in International Banking and Finance at Heriott-Watt University Edinburgh. I had very good memories and established still continuing friendships during my one stay in Edinburgh. I had various good memories with my friends and with locals. This can be a start of a series. I think Serdar has another mission while he asked me to write one of my memories, which was to excavate my hidden journalist talent.

WATER CUT, THE PLUMBER AND THE POLICE: IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN BEINGS

My course was one full year and four terms. We got lessons in the first three terms and wrote our dissertation during the last term. In the first three terms I stayed in the campus. I decided this before arriving Edinburgh. And it was a good decision for an international student who had an open and easygoing personality like mine.  Besides my classmates I had very good friends from different departments, ages and locations. During the last term because the undergraduates left the campus and it is becoming a very silent area I decided to move to a flat in Edinburgh. I was sharing the flat with a Turkish PHd student, whom is a very good friend of mine.

Our apartment was a typical, 4-floor block, neighbourhood area at the centre of the town near to the football stadium of the Mid-Lothian Hearts. There was one flat in every floor. We were at the third floor. On the fourth floor there was a retired couple and on the second floor there was a young couple with a baby boy. Our neighbours were all decent people and very kind to us.

One day the young couple came to us and said that there were going for a vacation if we could not see them there is no need to worry. This was a shock for me. This is a typical Turkish behaviour among the good neighbours or relatives. The events started after this. Two days after the departure of our young couple for vacation we faced water cut in our flat. First we checked our bills. They were all paid. We checked all main valves they were open. We phoned the landlord. He sent us his plumber. The plumber checked every where including the main valve on the street but still no water. Our neighbours started to intervene. We started to carry water from their houses for our emergency needs. Again like in Turkey.

We spent three days without water. The landlord sent his plumber second times. But still no water. But the plumber mentioned that there might be a closed valve in the second floor, which might prevent flow of the water to us. We started to become nervous. We are going to the campus for bath, but for other needs it started become a problem. We have to wait ten more days for second floor to come from the vacation.

At this point my friend phoned the health service at the Municipality. Suddenly our worsening destiny changed. A plumber, a policeman (the call constable in UK) and an official from the Municipality came to our flat. They were very serious. The problem was how we can stay 3 days without running water. The constable complaint us that why we did not asked the help of the local Police Station. After consultation with the plumber with the heavy support of the constable they decide to break the door and enter the second floor to open the valve. They prepared all the required documentation and break the door. At the end of the day we received the water. Every one was happy. But the constable Albert was the happiest (I forgot his last name). After this event he became a friend of us. Once we invited his after duty for a "thank you" coffee. And Constable Albert told us the "memory" part of this experience which was "having running water is essential for human beings to live in an healthy environment, main job of the Municipal and Official workers in UK is to maintain the standards of such living.

I forgot to give the dates of my stay in Edinburgh, which was between October 1991 and October 1992. Almost 12 years ago. I do not want to compare this with neither the 2003`s Turkey and Istanbul nor with the reason why we are still not a member of the EU.

I will never forget Edinburgh and my friends. They all will take an important part in my memory.

With best regards,

Mehmet Tevfik Nane