If your tutor says bitcoins are from "thin air" ask him how dollars or any other fiat currency is created.
It takes time, energy and money to produce bitcoins and since the protocol has a limit on the total number produced, it is actually DEflationary when used as a currency.
As for stories, the Bitcoin world is full of them. Some funny, some tragic, some heartwarming and of course some involving criminal activities.
(a quick google search should reveal most of them)
But just to start you off, have you heard the one about the pizza that cost 10,000 Bitcoin?