"One time as a child I pretended to be Italian because I was ashamed of being Iranian. In year 5, we were asked to give presentations about our cultural heritage. I didn’t want to speak about being Iranian. I was embarrassed.This puzzled me because wasn’t everyone from England? What was the point? I didn’t want to speak about being Iranian. I was embarrassed. I didn’t even like speaking Persian and I dreaded going to Persian school on Saturdays.

I found it weird that we celebrated the New Year in March.When my mum made kebabs for dinner, which became my lunch the next day, kids would say, “It looks like poo!” My dad would eat dates after every meal and again, at school, “They look like cockroaches!”

 

I’ve changed so much since that time that I simply don’t remember. But I feel it’s beside the point. That summer, I travelled to Iran with my dad. On this trip, I shared my feelings with an uncle who was a history teacher. One night he asked me about life in Australia and I said: “I find it difficult to tell people I’m Iranian.”

 

That trip I also found a book in my grandfather’s study on world history. In running away from my identity, I hadn’t learned that I came from a country that was home to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, dating back to the 4th millennium BC." -  Cyrus Bezyan