HOLIDAY ASSIGNMENT 2011

‘HOW I MET MYSELF’

BY DAVID A. HILL

NAME ; MUHAMMAD AJWAD BIN HASHIM

FORM ; 2 (2011), 3 (2012)

DATE OF SUBMISSION ; 10th

of JANUARY 2012

PARENT’S SIGNATURE ;

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Content

No Topic Page

1 Title 1

2 Author 2

3 Setting 3

4 Themes 4

5 Characters 5

6 Synopsis of each chapter 6-12

7 Moral Values 13

8 Did you enjoy the story? 14

Title

HOW I

MET

MYSELF BY DAVID A. HILL

Author

David A. Hill is a freelance author of educational materials, teacher

trainer and lecturer on English language and literature working out of

Budapest, Hungary. He worked for the British Council for 18 years and has

had long associations with Pilgrim School of English in Canterbury, United

Kingdom. He typically works in about 12 countries around the world each

year, and also gives poetry readings and musical (blues/folk)

performance. He is currently with Norwich Institute for Language

Education (NILE), Norwich, as a summer school teacher trainer.

Setting

Time

Present day

Place

The story was set in Budapest in Hungary. The main character, John Taylor and

his wife, Andrea, lived in a flat in the Hollan utca. His office was located at Vaci

utca. The incident of him stumbling upon his doppelgänger happened in front of

number 7 Felka utca. After the incident, he used to spent time at a bar located at

Gergely utca owned by Zsolt. John with his wife and daughter spent their

Christmas holiday with his family in a village near Swindon in England. The

family often visited the island park in the middle of the River Danube, to get some

fresh air and to relax. John went to the Budapest City Library to read up on every

incident that happened in Budapest’s Thirteenth District every 18 January.

Themes

Determination in solving problems

John was determined to solve his problem of meeting with his doppelgänger

especially to know the message he was bringing to him. As the saying goes, it is

better to light the candle than cry in the darkness.

Family support and love

Andrea showed her love and support for John and in his quest to find the truth as

much as she could. She felt that John should be reasonable and support her and

look after the family.

Positive approach to problems

John and Andrea were positive in their approach to their problems. John did not

allow his unusual situation to spoil the family holiday and allow it to become a

family crisis. Andrea was helped as much as she could. When she lost an important

teaching job, she was willing to work at Zsolt’s bar.

Characters

Main Characters

An English computer programmer

34 years old, nearly two metres tall

Light brown hair with a moustache

Working in a multinational company in Bristol

Sent by company to head a young Hungarian team at Budapest office, Hungary

Met Andrea, a pretty teacher and married with her 18 months later.

Met his doppelgänger - initially had difficulty understanding the phenomenon

Feared for wife and daughter but finally relieved they were safe.

John’s wife and a teacher of Hungarian

Pretty with dark brown hair, blue eyes and a beautiful smile.

Taught John and fell in love before getting married 18 months later.

Did not understand John’s problem – feels John too obsessed with the phenomenon - eventually understand message of doppelgänger – grateful

Minor Character

John and Andrea’s cute baby daughter, born on 16th

September

Saw John’s doppelgänger at Zsolt’s bar

Recognised and told Andrea it was not John who was blocking their way to the

cellar bar.

John Taylor

Andrea Taylor

Kati Taylor

Synopsis of each chapter

Chapter 1; A STRANGE MEETING

In the Thirteenth District in Budapest, a strange thing happened to John on

Monday evening in January. John was walking home from office and was deep in

thought about an office problem. From building came sounds of a door shutting

and someone run out and straight into John. The man apologized and John saw the

man had his face. It was a strange and fearful meeting.

Chapter 2; GETTING TO KNOW ME

John introduced himself. He worked as a computer programmer and worked in a

multinational company in Bristol. He was offered to lead a young Hungarian team.

He had attended one-to-one Hungarian language lessons with a pretty teacher

named Andrea. Finally, they fell in love and got married 18 months later. They

lived in the Hollan utca and Thirteenth District on the Pest side of the city. John

met himself in one of the streets there.

Chapter 3; A SEARCH

John took some rest before following the man that had face like him and reached

the entrance to a bar cellar. He then realised that only his footprints seen while that

man’s footprints did not. He entered the café and asked the café owner about the

man but he did not saw him. John stayed for an hour and had a few drinks. He had

to lie to Andrea the reason he came back late. He flashed back to the incident of

meeting a man like him. He cannot sleep as he could forget the image of the man.

Chapter 4; 7 FELKA UTCA

The following day, Tuesday, John was distracted at work. He thought out carefully

the time he should be outside the building where he had met the man yesterday.

The man had come out from flat 7 Felka utca. John waited the opposite to number

7 Felka utca but it was a useless wait. Then, John went to the cellar bar at Gergely

utca. The barman asked whether John had found his friend. That night, John

dreamt of himself running out of the buliding and into someone who fell down. He

saw that it was himself lying on the ground. That dream made him awake.

Chapter 5; I TELL ANDREA

Starting that day, John would wait outside 7 Felka utca, go to the bar and then went

home after work. Every night he had the same nightmare and woke up feeling

fearful. He became grumpy and impatient even with Andrea due to tiredness and

lack of sleep. He began to lose focus especially at work. One evening, Andrea

questioned him with tearful eyes and he had to tell the truth. She laughed with

relief that John was not having an affair. She suggested that they did investigation.

Chapter 6; TALKING TO THE HOUSEKEEPERS

On Saturday morning, John and Andrea walked to Felka utca. John felt happy and

relaxed because not having the nightmare last night. They questioned the

housekeeper, a lady who had there for 21 years. She cannot help them very much.

John was disturbed by the fact the man had left no footprints. Then, they asked the

housekeeper at Gergely utca but got the same answer. They went into the cellar bar

and had drink. Andrea cannot believe that the man could be the spirit of a dead

person such as being told by John.

Chapter 7; DOPPELGANGER

John’s life had returned to normal. He was not having the dream and visited the

café again. He got baby news as Andrea was pregnant that time. However, Andrea

had lost her biggest job, fifteen hours a week at an international bank. Zsolt offered

to take in Andrea as a helper in the cellar bar. She agreed and managed to make

changes. This attracted more customers. John found that what happened to him

was called doppelgänger. However, he did not know the reason why it appeared.

Chapter 8; A HOLIDAY

John and Andrea had a baby girl on 16th

September and they named her Kati. They

went to England for the Christmas holiday. John and Andrea went into Swindon

town to do some Christmas shopping. The following day, John went to the village

pub hoping to meet some old friends. He met Paul, one of his closest friends at

school. After exchanged news, John told him about the doppelgänger. Paul said

that phenomenon did exist and warned that they also were the messenger of bad

news. His family returned to Hungary and spent New Year with Andrea’s family.

Andrea wanted John to be more focused on the family but he was distracted.

Chapter 9; THE DATE GETS CLOSER AGAIN

On 11th

January night, John suddenly had the fearful dreams again. He read his

diary and realised that he met with the strange man on 18th

January of last year. He

had to find out what happened at Felka utca and Gergely utca on 18th

January in

the past. He persuaded Andrea to follow him to Felka utca on 18th

January. She

agreed but that that was her last involvement. This time he dreamed of hearing a

loud noise in the street just before the man came out of the door.

Chapter 10; 18 JANUARY

On Sunday, John and Andrea prepared for their trip to Felka utca with uncertain

feelings. They left home at 3.00 p.m. as they were supposed to attend a tea party.

They spent time a Margaret Island but not in a happy mood. By 6.30 p.m., they

were standing opposite number 7 Felka utca. Andrea stayed there while John stood

outside the door of Felka utca. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. A man ran out

into John causing John to fall. He ran off and saw he had John’s face. John ran

after the man until Zsolt’s bar which was closed. Andrea said that she did not see

anyone other than John. John had the dream again that night.

Chapter 11; A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

John asked for some time off work as he must take care of Kati. He was given

afternoons off for a week or two. John secreted his arrangement from Andrea. For

the next few afternoons, John went to the Budapest City Library. He read news

about Budapest starting from ten years before then. On Saturday, he attracted to a

headline, ‘YOUNG MOTHER AND CHILD KILLED AS FIGHTING ENDS IN

PEST’. The story was of a Mrs. Szabo and her daughter who were killed in a cellar

in a Gergely utca building that was destroyed by a bomb on 18th

January. When

John got home, Andrea knew that he was lying and wanted to know the truth. He

explained it and seeks for her help. However, Andrea refused to help him anymore.

Chapter 12; LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH

John knew that Andrea had the right to be upset but he needed to solve his

problem. John met the housekeeper at Gergely utca and asked about Szabo family

but got useless answer. He later went to Gergely utca and asked the housekeeper

the same answer. He was told that a Szabo family was at the third floor. That

person was unfriendly and not the one that John looking for. John talked Mrs.

Fischer and got the information needed. He lost his wife and daughter in the

incident of the Russian bomb that destroyed the cellar in a Gergely utca building.

Janos himself died in the street fighting in 1956. John was happy because knew the

truth.

Chapter 13; PROBLEMS AT HOME

John was both interested and worried by Mrs Fischer’s story about Janos Szabo.

Although he knew that Andrea was not interested, John took the risk and told her

about Janos. Andrea thought that John was ill. John was disappointed with

Andrea’s attitude. Their relationship was not as close as before. John memorised

back the fact that he got.

Chapter 14; ANOTHER YEARS GOES BY

John and Andrea were not close anymore. However their relationship started

getting better as they took Kati to England for the second time in August. This

made him forget about meeting himself. The rest of the year was good as Andrea

and John spent time on their work and Kati. They spent a quite Christmas at home

and New Year with Andrea’s family. John had his dream again as 18th

January was

around the corner. He felt that his doppelgänger was linked to Andrea.

Chapter 15; I DISCOVER SOME MORE FACTS

As John walked home from work, je wondered if he should go to Felka utca on 18th

January. From a sign in a tailor’s shop, he made the connection between his name

and the doppelgänger. Feeling uncomfortable, he had a drink at Zsolt’s bar. Then,

he went to see Mrs Fischer in Felka utca. She told him straight off that he looked

like Janos. She went on and told that John’s wife was called Andrea and his

daughter named Kati. John felt sick after hearing that. The final frightening fact

was that he and Janos had the same birthday which is on 23 October. John believed

his doppelgänger was trying to tell something and hoped he could meet again on

18th

January.

Chapter 16; IT ALL HAPPENS AGAIN

John had the dream every night with all different aspects in different degrees. The

same was the sound of a man’s voice shouting for help and calling out Andrea and

Kati’s names. John woke up feeling afraid. On Saturday, 18th

January, John

reached home at half past six but Andrea and Kati was not at home. A note from

Andrea mentioned that they were in Zsolt’s bar. John panicked when he saw the

note and immediately ran out into the street to get to the bar but turned into 7 Felka

utca. Just then, there was a loud explosion in Gergely utca and followed by shout

for help. John ran out and into his doppelgänger with worrying about what would

he found in Gergely utca.

Chapter 17; WE MUST GET THEM OUT!

The street at Gergely utca was full of smoke. Car alarms were ringing and broken

glass were scattered. Zsolt’s bar looked completely destroyed and a terrible

thought struck John. He shouted that his wife and daughter were in the bar and

needed to be rescued. The people managed to cooperate and formed a team to get

rid of wood and stone. Soon, rescue fire, police and ambulance team arrived and

persuaded him to leave. However, he insisted that his wife and daughter needed

help. He was helped to the ambulance and had rest. He slept for a few minutes and

woke up. The police told him that they did not get any news yet. John has to

answer before being asked to go home and wait. John realized that nobody can

survive with the explosion. He regretted not having a deep thought about what the

reason of his doppelganger to appear. He also regretted not telling Andrea about

his dream and the information he got from Mrs Fischer.

Chapter 18; UNEXPECTED HELP

John walked alone along Gergely utca, feeling hopeless. He walked into somebody

and looked up saw his doppelgänger. The doppelgänger pointed at something. He

saw Andrea and Kati. They held each other and Andrea told that they were saved

by John’s friend, his doppelgänger. Actually, when Andrea and Kati wanted to get

into the bar, they were stopped by John’s doppelgänger stood in front of the door

and refused to move aside. Kati cried that the person was not John. Andrea

remembered that the book had said about being seen by someone else if it had an

important message. She understood that the man wanted her to leave and so she

went home. From the flat, she heard the explosion and quickly went to check it out.

She was afraid John might be in the bar. Andrea and John concluded it was a

strange story.

Moral Values

Thinking positive about problems

We must be positive and not afraid to face our problems, Like John, when we have

problems of whatever nature, we should be positive and face up to them.

Honesty

We must be honest with our family members about ourselves and our action.

Although John had a white lie with Andrea about coming home late, it still not

wise. If he told the truth earlier, he would not suffer that problem alone.

Believing ourselves

We must believe in ourselves and what we see with our own eyes. We may have

witnessed something unusual and people will say that we are mistaken. But, we

know what we have seen and so we should stay strong and have faith in ourselves.

Did you enjoy the story?

Andrea should believe John, her husband about his dream and his

incident meeting a person looks like himself! She let John suffered it

alone. It was lucky for her and the baby, Kati was saved from an

explosion by John’s doppelgänger. However, that does not mean that I

hate the story. I love it, a lot. Through this story, I gain many moral

values to be adapted in our real life such as believing and taking care of

each other. In directly, it gives us information about the existence of

doppelgänger which I never heard before. Sometimes, we have to look the

past for being a better person in the future.