Life in America: Autobiography

By John Shafeei

I lived in America since 1978 during these events: Americans living in Iran, Americans becoming a hostage in Iran, the Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, life and marriage, computer industries in the 1980s, a job at IBM, moving to Maryland, trips to Iran from the U.S., moving to North Carolina, a job at SAS Institute, Y2K, September 11, 2001 events, travel back to Iran with my wife, trips to Europe, family events, President Trump, COVID-19, Black Lifes Matter issue, President Biden, etc. This is my story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9781329479548

Book preview

Chapter 1

Coming to America – March 28, 1978

It was March 28, 1978. The Pan American airline, aka PAN AM, pilot's voice came out of the intercom, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to America! We are landing at JFK airport in a few minutes.

I opened my eyes. Our plane was flying over New York City. Empire State Building was in clear view. The city looked beautiful. The bridges and the roads seemed in harmony, as if someone had used a ruler and drawn them on paper. The Statue of Liberty holding her big torch was surreal. I used to see it in the movies, but now, I can see the real thing! It all seemed like a dream. One day in Iran, and 24 hours later, I was in America! How could that be?!

The plane landed at JFK airport. My friend Reza and I were the last ones who got off the plane. We followed other passengers in the hallway, then we saw the sign for the Baggage Claims and followed that sign downstairs. The carousel started to move, and the luggage kept coming out. After a few minutes, we saw our luggage coming out. We picked them up and walked toward the Airport Customs sign, which led us to a big hallway. We saw people lined up in front of more than eight kiosks. There were two signs. One for American Citizens and one for the others, including visitors, green card holders, and international students to which we belonged. We lined up on that line and waited to be called by the officer. We felt anxious as we did not know what was going to happen! Do we have all the required documents?, What is the Immigration officer going to ask us?, What if we can't understand his English, and he misunderstands us and sends us back?, What if he finds a problem with our student visa, I-20?, What if the company that provided the document for us was a fraud?

When it was our turn, the officer called us to the Kiosk. He looked at our documents, checked our passports, took a close look at us, and asked, Why are you coming to America? We both anxiously answered, To Study! He looked at our documents, turned pages of our passports, and then picked up the stamp and hit it on the pages, and said, Welcome to America. Good luck with your study.

What a relief that was! We are now in America!

We walked into the airport hallway. We did not know where to go. I saw the information desk, but no one was there. I stopped a passenger, showed him our tickets, and asked for help. He looked at our tickets, showed me the airport exit, and said, You need to take the airport shuttle to Newark Airport to catch your next flight. We did what he said and waited outside for the airport shuttle to go to our next flight. After over an hour, the shuttle finally arrived. We got in. It took us to Newark airport. When we got there and found our gate, the ticket agent told us that our plane had already taken off and we had to wait for the next flight! He booked us on the next flight to Fort Lauderdale.

After flying for 10 hours, waiting inside the airport was a drag. We both laid down on the chairs to rest and then fell asleep. We woke up with the voice of the boarding agent, Wake up, guys. We are boarding! We got up quickly, ran to the gate, and boarded a small plane heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

After a few hours, we could see lights on the ground from the sky. The plane started to descend and finally landed in a small airport. We could see the sign Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale Airport.

We got off the plane and looked around for people from school to greet us. Surprisingly, nobody was at the airport from our school. We were shocked! We expected the school to send a student to the airport to greet us and give us some directions. The airport was in a small building with some shops that were closed. It was after 2:00 AM.

Hollywood Airport was a small two-story building. The airport parking lot was outside, attached to the main building.

We walked out of the airport building and saw a bunch of taxis. I showed the university address to a security guard standing outside the building. He called one of the taxi drivers who came toward us and asked me where we were going. I showed him the address of Nova University. He said, Oh, I know where it is! He loaded our luggage in the taxi's trunk and asked us to get in. We jumped in the back seat, and he started the engine and headed to our destination.

Americans in Iran

During the '70s, many Americans traveled to Iran to work or came as tourists. Iranian and American businesses worked together to transform Iran into a great industrial country in the Middle East. The American computer industry helped the government, banks, and private companies gather and analyze data and modernize themselves. In the city of Tehran, the capital, computer companies such as IBM, Univac, and Hewlett-Packard had subsidiaries. I took computer courses at my college at Tehran University. We punched our inputs on the cards and fed them through the card readers. Many 5-star restaurants had English names such as Chattanooga and Moby Dick. Movie theaters were named Cinema Crystal, Rex, Royal, and Atlantic. Streets and Boulevards in Tehran were named Boulevard Elizabeth, Kennedy, Eisenhower, and Churchill. Most Iranian banks were working with American banks. You could exchange currencies such as dollars with tomans (The Iranian currency) in most banks.

We used to see Americans on the street of Tehran at restaurants and shopping centers. They were fun, intelligent, and friendly people. Every young Iranian would dream of coming and studying in America! Everyone liked Americans and wanted to be their friends.

I was in America in an American taxi at 3:00 AM on March 28, 1978. It was very dark outside. The roads were empty and narrow. It seemed as though we were traveling on the outskirts of Tehran until I saw the sign for interstate 95 and road 84. The taxi turned to road 84. I looked outside from the window to see the sky. It was cloudy and dark. The clouds were so close to the earth that I thought I could touch them if I jumped. I have never seen it like that before.

The Taxi driver asked us a few questions, but we did not understand what he was asking and just nodded our heads. He turned into a 2-lane road, Davie Road, and drove into a small side road after a mile. I saw the sign on the brick wall, "Nova University''.

The driver asked where we wanted to get off. I said, Administration building. He drove us to a small building, stopped, and said, Here you are! The Nova University Administration building.

We got out of the taxi. The driver dropped off our luggage and walked to me to ask for the fare, but I did not know how much it was. I took a bunch of bills out of my pocket and offered them to him. He picked out a few and said, Thank you, then drove away.

Nova University, Davie Florida

In front of Nova University at 4:00 A.M, here we were, and no one was there to greet us! We thought there would be at least someone waiting to take us to the student housing! No! We did not see anyone!

We sat on top of our luggage and waited and waited. After a while, I walked to the entrance of the building. I read Open at 8:00 AM. Oh! It was going to be a long night!

Our first dinner in America

It was about 4:30 A.M. A university policeman drove by. He stopped and asked, what are we doing there at this time of night? We said we had just arrived from Iran and waited for the administration building to open. He said: They do not open until 8:00 AM. Would you like to go to a restaurant and wait instead of standing here? We said, Yes. He asked us to get in his patrol car to go to the IHOP restaurant on Davie Road.

We walked into the restaurant, and he chose a table. The place was empty. No one was there in that early morning. We sat down, and after a few minutes, a waitress showed up with a pitcher of warm coffee. She asked if we wanted a cup. We all turned our heads to say, Yes! She poured a cup for each one and gave each of us a menu. Reza and I did not know how to read the menu! The officer smiled and asked, What do you guys want to eat? We looked confused! He asked, Do you like chicken? We said, Yes!. The waitress came back to take our orders. The officer ordered for us. He was amiable and tried to communicate with us. I had a pocket Farsi-English dictionary and responded with a few words. The waitress came back with a big tray and lots of plates later. It was chicken with mashed potatoes. She put them on the table, and we started to eat. It was delicious! We were hungry, ate all on the plate, and drank lots of coffee to keep us awake! After an hour, the waitress brought the bill, and the officer asked us to pay. We had no idea how much to pay. I took a bunch of bills from my pocket and handed them to the waitress. She took some and said, Thank you." We left the restaurant. The officer drove us back to the university and left. It was about 6:00 AM.

We sat on our luggage in front of the building until 8:00 AM. The sky was getting lighter. We felt the cool morning breeze coming from the ocean, shaking the palm trees near us. We could smell the Gulf Stream, humid but pleasant.

We saw a lady park her car near the building and walk toward it. She then took a key from her purse, unlocked the front door, and went inside. We followed her and walked inside. She went toward a desk inside the corridor. We walked to her. The sign on her desk said, Reception. I said, Hello. She turned and saw us and asked, What are you guys doing so early in the morning? I said, We are new students who just arrived. We are looking for the Nova University ESL office. She told us we needed to go to another building, not that complex. The ESL was a different organization under the Nova University dealing with new foreign students. We asked if they could send someone to come and pick us up. She picked up the phone and called someone. An hour later, an Iranian student drove in front of the building. He came out of his white car and introduced himself, I am Majid, the student assistant. Welcome to Nova. He took our luggage and drove about a mile to another building on Davie Road. It was a two-story white concrete building. We got out of the car and went inside the registration office.

A lady at the desk welcomed us and asked us to fill out some forms. She showed us the map of the student residential building nearby where most students lived. She also told us that we needed to register for the ESL classes before starting our university program. She said, The monthly expense for the ESL class is $1000. It takes six months before the student graduates and becomes accepted to the university program. So, my friend Reza and I paid $1000 each and registered for the ESL program.

Abbas Rahmaifar

We left the office, and as we were standing and talking outside of the office, we noticed a guy coming toward us. He was carrying luggage behind him. He said Hi and asked if we were Iranian. We said: Yes, we are! His face opened up with excitement and release as he saw a member of his family! He said: I am also Iranian. My name is Abbas Rahmanifar, I just arrived from Iran. I also need a place to stay. We talked to him for a while and decided to rent an apartment for the three of us. We went inside the office and asked the student assistant to take us to the student's apartments. He drove us to a building complex nearby. We went to the rental office and asked for a three-bedroom apartment. The agent looked at her folder and said, "We only have a two-bedroom available for $550 a month on the second floor facing the parking lot. Well, we had no choice. We agreed to rent a two-bedroom until the three bedrooms became available.

Speak English

We moved our luggage to the apartment and walked to the nearby shopping stores on Davie Road to look for beds and other things. We bought what we could find and moved them to the apartment.

The next day at 8:00 AM, we walked to our classroom, which was only half a mile from our apartment. A few days went by. Reza and Abbas liked to speak Farsi together all the time. I encouraged them to force themselves to speak English and practice what we learned from our ESL classes, but they refused. I told them I might have to stay with them for a while until I find a room to rent in an American home. I could force myself to speak English and learn about American culture. I also wanted to finish my ESL program and go to University as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they took that as an insult and started ignoring me and not talking to me for a few days.

My Classmates

The ESL class was Basic English, and I was bored in the classroom. I asked the administrators if I could move to an advanced level. They said everyone needs to pass all the classes to complete the program.

In our class, we had students from all around the world. They were from Canada, Germany, Columbia, Spain, and other places. I made friends with Canadian, German, Columbian, and Spanish students. The Canadian was a blond, beautiful, and kind girl. The German girl was smart with short blond hair. The Columbian guy was married. He invited me to his condo, and I met his wife. I had dinner at their home. The Spanish student was from Barcelona, Spain, from a prominent family. He was living in Fort Lauderdale Beach, near the ocean. His girlfriend was also in our class.

One weekend the Spanish student invited us to his party at the beach. I did not have a car, so the Canadian girl picked me up. It was lots of fun. We drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and danced to 70's music. In those days, almost everyone smoked cigarettes.

Moving with Mike

A few weeks later, I spoke to our student adviser in the office. I told her I would like to move out of my Iranian friend's apartment and live with an American family. She said she would look for it. A few days later, she told me she had found a room. It was in Fort Lauderdale, and the landlord was a single American guy. She asked if I would like to go and look at it. I said, Sure. The next day, after school, she picked me up, and we drove to the intersection of Sterling Road and 441 in Fort Lauderdale. It was a one-story flat on a quad-attached apartment with a big yard full of orange trees. It was a building complex with more than ten rows of similar apartments. Our apartment was in the first