All I Want for Christmas is You

              December has been a slow month for blogging. It’s been both busy (4 new hours a week of teaching medical school professors) and a bit melancholy. For the first time in my 21 Christmases, I was quite happy that this one has passed. I spent a lot of December worrying about how it would be to not be with my family in a place that does not celebrate the holiday.* In the end, it was fine. Korey, Elizabeth, Emily and I had a nice little gift exchange at the ski lodge in the evening, I had many conversations with my co-workers all day about why I care about Christmas at all and taught a Christmas lesson to my students. I used vocabulary from Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” song. Afterwards, they had to write what they wanted for a hypothetical Christmas, write their sentence on an ornament-shaped piece of paper and tape it to the board in the shape of a Christmas tree. (Here is where I admit that some of the silly crafts I did as an RA have real life application.) Their answers were creative and enlightening, one of my favorite activities I’ve done this year. Here are some examples. 

I want for Christmas many things: car, money, everything.

All I want for Christmas is GRADUATION.

I want for Christmas: health, money and love. 

I ask people to be good at Christmas.

I would like a red car.

All I want for Christmas is to win the lottery.

Anything. I like myself.

All I want for Christmas is to see my family and success. 

All I want for Christmas is to go to the bar, listen to live music. No sleep.

I want calm and to be with my family.

Peace, success, health. 

No war! (with two fingers for peace drawing)

All I want for Christmas is happiness, new work, a lot of money, very good exam, hot weather!

I want a robot that does my complete business. (My favorite!)

All I want for Christmas is to become in love!

To be awesome!

Family, health, money, tranquility, happy, prosperity, affair, graduation. 

All I want for Christmas is “Accomplishment.”

I will go to mosque and I will make prayer to God for all of people. 

All I want for Christmas is “LUCKY”.

All I want for Christmas is to learn and speak English :).

Prestige!

I want to be with my Angelina Jolie.

All I want for Christmas is an old, sweet Volkswagon Beetle. 

                  I could go on and on. I hope you had a great Christmas. Iyi Yıller! Happy New Year! Three more weeks of teaching and then a five week break, hopefully another entry will come before then. 

Some of my favorites with their Christmas tree.  

Helin, Helen Marie, Hüriye and Gülşah.

A message written on the board by Caner during our break. He wrote the scores of the last two Pistons games and "Be happy Helen M.S.B."

My lovable Tourism students. 

*Side note: There is a strange misunderstanding in Turkey about Christmas and New Year’s. Because New Year’s is a state holiday here and the malls and certain shop displays have been infiltrated with Western Christmas symbols, many believe that the state holiday on January 1st is also Christmas in the West. I’ve give up trying to explain to my students that it’s actually December 25th because they have been hearing that it is a week later their entire lives. Instead, I just say, “In America, we celebrate Christmas on the 25th.” This mix-up lends to a lot of strange replies when I ask people how they celebrate New Year’s. “I don’t celebrate that holiday, I’m Muslim.” Oh man. 

Erzurum PR

One of my new, and rapidly very dear, friends here, Nermin, is in charge of American Corner at Atatürk Üniversitesi. To avoid the risk of insulting my employer, the State Dept, I will not go into too much detail about my feelings about the Corner. I’ll just say though that it is a room in our Foreign Language Department stocked with books about Broadway musicals and Barack Obama and DVDs narrated by Ken Burns. It’s where my weekly “English Music Club” takes place and as well as various speakers, and different events that either we or Embassy visitors host. Anyway, the greatest downside of the Corner in the eyes of those who operate on the daily are the reports that must be written to the Embassy about its activities (and really all activities involving Americans and Turks in Erzurum) on a frequent basis. Nermin has taken to outsourcing this task to me and I’ve been happy to oblige. Here are parts of our last two reports on Thanksgiving (which actually took place in  Elizabeth’s and Emily’s apartment, not the Corner) and our Halloween Party for our students. 

Thanksgiving in Erzurum

This Thanksgiving, the American ETAs living in Erzurum celebrated Turkey Day with turkey in Turkey. Although the turkey (affectionately named Hank Hindi) was certainly the centerpiece of the feast and the source of many jokes and shameless puns, the heart of the celebration was the people.  Nine American Fulbrighters from Eastern Turkey descended on Erzurum for Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate with the Erzurum ETAs and their new Turkish friends. On Saturday, a group of 25 gathered for a feast of mashed potatoes, stuffing, börek, corn, quince compote (cranberries could not be found), sauteed eggplant and of course, the turkey. Hank (thanks to the determination of Erzurum ETA, Elizabeth Dratz and the kindness and resourcefulness of a fellow English lecturer at Atatürk Üniversitesi, Alper) was alive only about 12 hours before he was eaten. Hank belonged to Alper’s friend who was willing to give him up to help the Americans in town celebrate their holiday. It was Elizabeth’s first time she cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving without her mother’s help and her first time she had seen one slaughtered. Before Hank was enjoyed, all the guests said what they were thankful for this year. Many of the Americans were thankful for the generosity that they had encountered in the short three months they had been in Turkey and for friendships they had begun to form. The Turkish guests were also grateful for their new American friends and for the opportunity to share in this celebration. The dessert selection was symbolic, revealing that this night was not about one culture passively displaying their tradition to the other but was an organic merging of two cultures celebrating together. Since the Thanksgiving Party fell close to Aşure Günü or the day to celebrate the landing of Noah’s Ark, aşure pudding, a delicious, sweet hodge podge of rice, dried fruits and nuts was prepared in abundance by one of the guests and enjoyed by all. Along with the aşure, the guests indulged in apple pie, baklava, pumpkin pie, Gumuşhane pestil and köme, and chocolate chip cookies. 

Halloween in Erzurum

On October 31st, about 35 students of Atatürk University attended the American Corner Halloween Party. The night was was filled with games led by English lecturers and Fulbright ETAs, dancing that spilled out into the hallways and of course, lots of Halloween candy. Students bobbed for apples with a competitive zeal that the ETAs noted far surpassed what they had seen at Halloween parties in the States. Some students opted to be blindfolded as they played pin the nose on the jack o’lantern while others wrapped their classmates in toilet paper to mimic mummies. As the sounds of “Thriller” and “The Monster Mash” drifted around the room, students laughed and poked fun at those that struggled to eat donuts off a string. Not many attendees donned costumes but there was a cheetah, a witch and even the late Bariş Manço in attendance. The climax of the night was certainly the dancing. Trading off between the hustle and other dances led by the Americans and traditional Turkish dances by the students, students participated in a spontaneous dance exchange. Needless to say, many are counting down the weeks until Thanksgiving and the next large American Corner event.

Salı Günü, Tuesday.

Hello family and friends! Tonight, I would like to tell you about my day in Erzurum. 

I woke up at 6:15. It sounds early but the sun had beat me. Turkey only has one time zone so cities in the East like ours enjoy very early sunrises and early sunsets. I’m grateful that I don’t teach afternoon classes because it is usually dark before 4. I’m looking forward to the winter solstice. I made some Nescafe. I’m in the market for a French press. 

As I waited in front of the fruit stand where Aysegul usually picks me up, the manavci (fruit seller) insisted that I wait inside his store because it was way too cold to wait outside. We have experienced our coldest temperatures this week--in the low 40s. He also told me that I would learn more Turkish inside than I would outside. He had clearly noticed my terrible accent in mornings past. I sat on the chair behind his register and ate a pastry for a few minutes as he bustled around stacking tomatoes and speaking to me in Turkish. Probably giving me advice about how to stay warm but who knows for sure.

I arrived at school ready to knock out my four hours of teaching. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I teach two hours of engineering students and two hours of tourism students. Although both fields require an English proficiency, engineering students must score much higher on the college entrance exams and the difference in my two classes’ speaking levels reflects that difference in scores. What the tourism students may not have in vocabulary and grammar, however, they certainly make up for in their enthusiasm and competitiveness.

In each class, I teach (or sometimes attempt to teach) my students how to speak about two topics. Today our topics were “Food Around the World” and “The Movies.” Highlights include: When I was explaining that enchiladas were bread rolled up and stuffed with meat and cheese, one boy chimed in: “Oh, like a cigarette.” Sure. When discussing pizza, I felt it suitable to explain the beauty of a Little Caesars’ “Hot and Ready”s--especially in a city like Erzurum where there is no such thing as fast food. I went on at length about how one could walk in and take a pizza and only be $5 poorer. One of my very serious students stood up in the back of the room, took a deep breath and said: “Teacher, this pizza--maşallah.” Maşallah is a phrase which roughly translates to “may God bless and keep.” It’s usually reserved for newborn babies. But apparently also appropriate for Pizza Pizza.

I joke that my mornings are filled with teaching and my afternoons are filled with drinking tea. This is actually the truth, not a joke. I drank my first glass (and they are served in glass cups here) with Elizabeth and Korey at the Medical School cafeteria with our menemen, a casserole-type dish of tomatoes and eggs. When I got back to school, Muzaffer Bey, the vice-director of the Foreign Language School invited me into his office for a glass. I think of Muzaffer Bey as the grandfather of Erzurum. He has bright white hair. He has taught English here for his entire life. Our boss, Mehmet Bey, had him as a teacher for his first year of high school. He always stares out the window as he speaks to me in his office. He has a look in his eyes like he is gazing at the mountains that surround Erzurum and thinking about all the people he has influenced here. This would be really cool if he actually had a view of the mountains but his office is on the first floor so he can only see cars in the parking lot.

I went upstairs and drank a glass with my office mate, Aysel, as I graded speaking presentation topics. When I went downstairs to print some grading sheets, I refused a glass with Zekir Bey the printer. I instantly regretted it. He is someone I should befriend but I had left my office door unlocked upstairs so I felt like I could not stay. I drank my fourth cup of the day with Zeynep, one of my partner teachers. She teaches my tourism students grammar and reading. She wanted to hear how they were progressing. I was happy to tell her that they are trying very hard and was also secretly pleased when she agreed that one of the best students is a girl named Helin. She’s pregnant and as I was leaving, she told me that the next time I stopped by, she’d love to discuss what it is like to give birth in the U.S. I’ll have to do some research on that one. 

After dinner with Emily and Korey, Emily and I embarked on what we knew would be an Erzurum adventure. As I mentioned, we had agreed to give English lesson to the family that owned Guzelyurt, Erzurum’s fanciest establishment, but still did not know many--or any--details about these lessons. We were told to arrive at Guzelyurt at 7 where Mervlat the waiter would meet us. Emily accurately described our experience with Mervlat as something out of an old movie. The bar is empty. Classical music is playing. A man wearing a suit beckons you urgently over to two empty bar stools. Tea is poured. A phone rings. Just as urgently, you are beckoned down some back stairs. You introduced to another man in a suit. You are told to sit  inthe back seat of a car. You have not idea what is going on since everyone is speaking a different language. You are suddenly zooming down the city streets. This is where my narrative breaks down. I really can’t imagine Cumhuriyet Street as one in Paris or Rome--but up to that point, we felt like film noire stars. The driver (who turned out to be the owner’s brother) drove us to Dadaşkent. The suburbs. Although it was dark, I could tell it was the nice part of town. At a first floor apartment, we were greeted by Sibel and Dilay. Dilay is 12 and she will be our pupil. From the mere hour and a half I spent in their house, I could tell that Sibel is the ultimate Turkish Tiger Mom. She is a doctor at a private practice in town. Her apartment was impeccably decorated. She made us tea with such haste, I did not know water could boil that quickly. She does not speak English so she immediately put Emily on the phone with her sister who does. I heard the conversation secondhand but apparently Sibel wanted to know about our qualifications for teaching her daughter. Emily told her that we were English teachers at Atatürk. “Wait, are you Fulbrights ETAs?” said Sibel’s sister, “I work for the Fulbright Comission in Ankara.” Yes, just to prove that the world is smaller than I already thought, we had met this women during our orientation in Ankara. She is the accountant for Fulbright’s programs in Turkey and knew details about us from our applications long before Sibel handed Emily the phone. 

Sibel wants Dilay to be accepted to Robert College (actually a high school) in Istanbul in three years. Robert College could probably be described as Turkey’s Exeter and English fluency is required. Dilay is well on her way. She can understand me better than the majority of my students and her accent is flawless. I’m looking forward to spending an hour with her each week and figuring out how to keep her attention. We might try to read Harry Potter, she told us she enjoys the movies. Sibel was lovely to us as well. Although I emphasized her intensity, she seemed very happy to meet us. When she drove us home, she told us about a Blues Festival--the first in Turkey--that was visiting Erzurum on Sunday. “Tickets are hard to get but my husband has some if you would like to come.” I think we may have accidentally fallen in with Erzurum high society.

For those of you that made it to the end of this account, it is now later than I would like to go to bed to be rested for my 8 a.m. class--and what will follow. Luckily, however, I have no doubt that my tomorrow will be charged with the caffeine from the glasses of tea. Inşallah.

Obama Hoş Geldin!

Ah, Erzurum in the fall is even more beautiful when its four American residents are assured that their leader will be leading for four more years. I did not realize how stressed out I was about the election until I had my state of cheerfulness this morning to compare it to. I had given half hearted attempts to give a lesson about the elections in my classes on Monday and Tuesday but was met with blank faces. I found it close to impossible to  explain the differences between the two candidates in a way that interested my students and used only their limited vocabulary. I kept finding myself repeating the statements like “But the race is very close. We do not know who will win.” Clearly, that was where my mind was. 

Today, I rolled into Derslik 1-7 with a huge grin on my face. I think my students sensed this change in my attitude because they (my “Muhammad” class, led by five lively boys all with the same name who insist on a constant din of Turkish whispering) listened so attentively, I barely recognized them. Korey and I had been up since 4 am watching the votes come in. I should have know it was a good omen when I woke up the exact minute MSNBC called Michigan. The first call to prayer of the day began when New Hampshire went blue. And when Ohio--and the race--was called for Obama, Korey and I were jumping around my apartment. Ayşegul, my coworker who drives me to work, said playfully as she picked me up, “I hope there are other things in this life that make you this happy, Helen Marie.” Definitely, Ayşegul. This is just one of them. 

My first hour of teaching consisted of fielding questions from a newly interested class--again, I think my enthusiasm was contagious. Teacher, how is Obama different than Romney? All I was able to get across clearly is that Obama is not from Bush’s party and Romney is, to which the class nodded enthusiastically. Teacher, why was Ohio important? I was so impressed with that one that I went into a rudimentary crash course on the electoral college and was furthermore impressed with how much they seemed to understand. I told them that they now knew more about the American voting system than some Americans their age. 

My favorite question though--one I have received many times since being in Turkey--is about Obama’s religion. Teacher, Obama is a Muslim? I explain that although his name is Arabic and his father was a Muslim, he was raised by his mother and is therefore Christian. Teacher, are you sure? Maybe he just says that to get the votes, my students tell me with a smile. Sure, I say, maybe.That America’s president could be Muslim is considered so positive, I certainly don’t see the sense of arguing. And if it contributes to Obama’s positive image in this country, why deny it? 

Obama’s win seems to have been taken positively by my co-workers as well. What they were most curious about, however, is why we were so happy that he won. Well, we voted for him, we said at lunch. Yes, we voted for the party of Prime Minister Erdoğan but we are not as happy or surprised when he won, they replied. Elizabeth went on to explain that there are certain policies of Obama’s like being able to covered under our parent’s health insurance and his support of programs like Fulbright that directly effect our lives. Our co-workers (all of whom are state employees) joked that that would be like voting for Erdoğan because he promised to raise their salaries. They way they spoke about it, it did not seem like there was much hope of that transpiring in the future.

Although the election has been occupying a significant part of my brain, everything else has been going quite well in Erzurum. The weather has held out, only about 45 F, apparently much warmer than usual. We continue have l“only in Eastern Turkey” adventures. Such as my secondhand cell phone giving out but the man I bought it from giving me a new, nicer one free of charge without a receipt or even a question. Or a waiter we had one night at “Guzelyurt” (one of the fanciest restaurants in town) finding me in my office at school one day (I did not recognize him and have no idea how he found me) and asking for private English lessons. Turns out his boss, the boss’ wife and their 12-year-old daughter would like lessons too. We agreed to tutor them each for an hour each week...in exchange for free meals at Guzelyurt. Sidenote: When I say fanciest place in town, I mean it. It’s been open for 80 years and the waiters take your coat and pull out your chair before you sit down. I think we got the better end of the bargain on that one. More details to come when it pans out. 

Speaking Turkish is still a daily struggle. I was able to open a bank account and deal the aforementioned cell phone issues on my own but can still barely follow the constant chatter of my co-workers at lunch. I did, however, understand this comment from Aysel to our waiter at the cafeteria when he asked if we wanted salad for the table: Yes, please. And could you bring two? We have foreigners here, try to impress them with your service. When I called her out on it, she laughed and apologized for “using” us. Hey, happy to oblige.

Iyi Bayramlar!

Just when students started coming to class consistently, Bayram occurred. Kurban Bayramı or the Feast of Sacrifice is the second largest on the Muslim calendar religious celebrations. It is called Eid al-Adha in Arabic-speaking countries and commemorates the almost-sacrifice of Isaac by his father, Abraham. It always begins on the tenth day of the last month of the lunar-based Muslim calendar. This year, it began on October 25th and since the celebration lasts four days, it butted up to Cumhuriyet Bayramı or Republican Day, the anniversary of Atatürk’s declaration of Turkey’s Republic-hood. So Turks this year enjoyed 5 days off work instead of the regular 4 or as the message next to the smiling face of Prime Minister Erdoğan read on posters around the city center, a Çifte Bayramlar or Twin Celebration. 

During my classes leading up to Bayram, I asked my students to tell me how their families celebrated. In Turkey, Bayram is celebrated with an actual sacrifice--usually a sheep but sometimes a cow or a goat that is traditionally killed by the oldest member of the family and then enjoyed during the four day feast. If a family cannot afford an animal, the richer members of the village share. My students learned the words “cut” and “neck” and “butcher” to describe this process to me--sometimes by using a disturbing series of hand-gestures; one student grabbed his classmate’s head, twisted it to the left and made a sawing motion with his hand. Some explained that their father or grandfather did the butchering in their gardens while others (the city dwellers) told me their father just goes to the butcher shop and buys a dead one. Walking around Erzurum a few days before Bayram began, I definitely noticed an increased sheep population. Either packed onto trucks screeching down the street or being pulled down the street by ropes tied around their neck, they all had fearful eyes. Or maybe that is just me creating drama since I knew their fate. 

Although the Sacrifice is the traditional centerpiece of Bayram, today the focal point is travel. Everyone goes home for Bayram. And not just to one’s hometown but usually to the village of one’s parents. As I learned over and over when talking to my students and co -workers, asking where they were going for Bayram if I already knew where they were from was a null question. Some of my students bused 20+ hours to Istanbul and cities on the west coast to be with their families. Only two of my co-workers who have families on the other side of the country chose to stay in Erzurum for the first time to avoid those buses and pre-Thanksgiving price levels plane tickets.

According to my students, after the journey home, the visiting begins. The younger members of the family visit the older and stay for a certain amount of time before visiting the next oldest family members. The younger family members kiss the older ones’ hands and receive candy in return. I did not get to witness these gatherings myself but I imagine there is a lot of sitting and talking. The verb “to sit” is also used to mean spending time with people and every Turkish living room I’ve entered has couches lining almost every wall. 

My Bayram was full of travel (I experienced the Bayram bus station crowds) but not too much sitting (except for on those buses). With six days off work, the Erzurum crew retreated to Georgia, our close but extremely different neighbor. I had a wonderful few days of lively, endless Georgian toasts, a crash course in Orthodox Christianity and Soviet occupation and beautiful views of fall colors in the mountains. I tumbled back over the border feeling like I knew a lot less about that part of the world than I thought I did just in time for the Cumhuriyet parade to begin. Soldiers and school children sang the national anthem under a gigantic poster of Atatürk’s face as we sat down in a tea house to have some much needed çay. In typical small town Turkish fashion, the owner refused to charge visitors who came into his teahouse on Republic Day. Ah, it felt good to be back in Turkey. More details about my venture into the best city in Europe (according to my boss, followed by Amsterdam and Brussels) to follow. For now, I’m off to class and to plan a Halloween Party for the American Corner tomorrow night. Luckily, all the Bayram candy is on clearance. 

Teaching and Dancing. Or Charades and Dancing.

I completed my first week of teaching. My students did eventually find their way to my classroom. And they are lovely people. Emily compared her feelings about the first week of teaching to how she feels about working out. Nervous before starting but completely satisfied afterward. That’s more or less how I’ve felt about teaching this week too.

The rumors were true that my students know hardly any English.  But that does not diminish how hard they try and how eager they are to understand. I do a lot of charades, a lot of exaggerated emotions, and a lot of writing on the board while speaking. If I can cut some of those things out by the end of the year and just speak to them, I will be pleased. 

It’s interesting experiment. Put someone who has been told not to speak Turkish (and basically can’t) in front of a group of students and try to get them to do workbook pages and play scattergories. Right now, it seems like a system that may work. Although many of them have been studying English in high school and before, I am, for many of them, their first contact with a native speaker. Think back to how much Spanish you knew after high school. And although I think they probably understand about 45% percent of what I say, some of them have already begun to imitate certain expression. I heard some “see you laters” when my students left class yesterday instead of “see you” which is a direct translation from the Turkish and what is often heard around Erzurum. I’ve been saying “good job!” at the end of nearly every sentence and yesterday one of my students said “Good job, teacher!” when I finally managed to pronounce his name correctly. 

Most of the English I’ve heard from them has been in incomplete sentences or sentences completed in Turkish. For example, “Teacher, at home book kaldim” for “I left my book at home.” That still got a “good job!” though, as did any attempt at communication has received this week. With these attempts, they are unintentionally helping me learn Turkish--and making me smile. All four of my classes are very sweet (with the possible exception of one that because of a few ringleaders, all coincidentally with the same name, Muhammad. These Muhammads insist on maintaining a soft roar of Turkish whispering throughout the entire class; I’m sure I’ll learn to like them eventually) and I’m excited to get to know them this year. My former RA life has taught me that memorizing names is of preeminent importance to get a group to take you seriously. And although I’ve done pretty well with the memorizing so far, my pronunciation is pretty awful. Luckily, my students think it’s hilarious.  I think it’s a way for them to have some greater authority on a topic--and I’m happy to give them that chance. They literally crack up at my struggles with Ö’s and Ü’s. “No, teacher, oooooo, no oooooo.” The same number of o’s indicate my lack of understanding that there is a difference between the two. We struggled for about 10 minutes for me to understand why it was hilarious that I called Mahmet, Mamet. It turns out when you don’t emphasize the “ha” in the middle, you call someone a “wooly mammoth”. That took a lot a charades and references to the movie Ice Age to get that across. 

How writing that paragraph made me feel confirms to me how much I am going to enjoy spending 4 hours a week with each group this year. “Teacher, it is much distant!” said Özkan to me when I told him that I would see him again on Tuesday. Yes, I agree, Özkan! It has been one week, but I’ve been having visions of grandeur of a career in teaching. Maybe this is the reason I’m here, it’s what I’m supposed to do! Maybe. We will see how week 2 and week 3 and the rest of the year go. 

In other news, we made our first attempt at entertaining last night. A joint birthday party for Elizabeth and one of our fellow lecturers, Nermin. And Uncle Dan, I’d call it a success. We served tea, a store-bought ice cream cake and figs and apricots. We didn’t buy alcohol because we were pretty positive that none of our guests drink. The first thing Zuhal said we she walked in was, “You don’t have alcohol? What kind of Americans are you?” We found out she was completely joking though when we told her that we did have some bottle of wine in Korey’s room and could grab them if she wanted. We already discovered that you don’t need alcohol to have a good time in Erzurum but we found out last night that you also don’t need it to have a spontaneous dance party. Dance exchange, I should say. Zu taught us some belly dancing moves, Burcu taught us some gypsy dances that I can’t remember the name of them and several tradition Turkish wedding dances. And we showed them the Cupid shuffle and the Cat Daddy along with the Macarena and YMCA. Nermin loved the Cupid Shuffle so much that she texted me last night to tell me she was still dancing to it when she got home. I feel the same way about the dances they taught us. Although my abs hurt from the belly dancing, I want to keep practicing the Turkish wedding ones. They involve holding pinkies in a circle and running and kicking to the music. I’m looking forward to our next party/practice session. 

Overall, a very satisfying week; I barely remember my anxiety at the beginning. I’m grateful to be only teaching 16 hours a week. I think I will fill my free time eventually but right now it’s great to have ample of time to lesson plan and do things that take all day due to my lack of Turkish and understanding of how things operate here. Like printing the syllabi for my classes. 

First Day of Teaching without the Teaching

I write this entry from the front lines. My classroom. Derslik 1-7 in the Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu--School of Foreign Languages. It’s 10:06 a.m. I’ve been here since 8. I’m supposed to teach two two-hour long classes of “Speaking” for Engineering students. I arrived at 7:45 with a vague outline of introduction dialogues and name game activities. My colleagues warned me over and over that the students do not take the first week of classes seriously. They told me that no one would come. I thought they meant “no one” in the way I use “no one” to describe how many people go to football games at Catholic. Some people still go. And although I may have to stop writing at any moment, for my 10 to 12 class, it seems like they literally meant no one. I feel like an RA who planned a program at 9 pm on a Friday. 

Two boys did come to my 8 a.m. class. Enes and Bektaş. I should have guessed that something was fishy when they introduced themselves as medical students. I’m supposed to teach engineering and tourism students but I thought perhaps it was just a mix up in the schedule. We talked for about 40 minutes about our hometowns, families and  favorite food. After the 10 minute break, they informed me that they realized they were in the wrong class but since they were not sure where their correct class was, they wanted to stay and talk. I’ll take any students. And since I don’t have a roll sheet yet, maybe they mistaken and they are mine. We ended “class” (or maybe just hang out time) with playing word association. The first words that they associated with America were “military”, “strong” and “freedom.” Okay. Seems like I have a lot of work to do this year. Maybe that’s a reason I’m here? So that next year, they are able to associate other words with my country? 

It’s now 10:17. Enes and Bektaş are gone. Will anyone come to my 10 am class? Will they tomorrow? My colleagues also warned me that the level of the student’s will be very low. That’s pretty intimidating for a speaking teacher to be told that her students may not know how to speak at all. I was very impressed with how much English Enes and Bektaş knew and how well they understood me. They are students in the Medical Faculty though, the school that accepts only the students who score the highest on their entrance exams. 

10:22. Ibrahim, the man in the Yabancı Diller with all the keys, just popped his head in and asked if I did not have any students today. I answered, I don’t know. Which in retrospect was an incorrect thing to say. I should have just said no. Wait, I didn’t even say “I don’t know”, I said, “We don’t know.” Oh geez. Turkish. I’m so used to saying “we” since I’m often with another yabancı. 

I’m still not used to how well they treat us here. Could you imagine any University in the U.S. welcoming four new “lecturers” who are younger than everyone else and can barely speak your language? We went to a faculty meeting yesterday and the director often stopped to translate for us. A embassy official gave us a speech at orientation to pump us up about teaching. He told us that we were invaluable as native speakers at our Universities. He said that 50% of the Internet is written in English, our students will be expected to be proficient in a growing number of fields, etc. It seemed a little “rah-rah” State Department to me when he said it but the way they are treating us, it seems like they view us in that way again. 

10:55. Elizabeth popped in and we reminisced about our first few weeks of freshman year. Our conversation reminded me that our students are probably more nervous than we are. It is strange not to have a real first day. I have 62 more minutes. If no one shows up, I suppose I will be going to bed with a anticipation brewing in my stomach once again. Inşallah, I will not be the only one in this classroom tomorrow. 

11:07. Four girls came by and introduced themselves. But told me (in Turkish) that they were not coming today. I’m not sure why. They were carrying a lot of textbooks. Maybe today is just pick up your text book and leave day? I was given all the textbooks but since I don’t have a list, I did not want to give them out. The girls (I only only remember one of their names--Fatma) asked if I was Korey. What? How do they already know Korey? Korey teaches here in the afternoon so I thought maybe they were just checking out the room and would be back. No, apparently their speaking class is in the morning. But they told me that in Turkish, so I may be mistaken. 

11:14. I suppose I will write some emails. My low WIFI lifestyle has taught me that emails can be written at any time, they can be copied and pasted online much later. 

11:32. Three boys stopped by. One introduced himself right away in understandable English. He told me that he was a second year engineering student and he had Max (a former Fulbrighter) last year. He was showing his first year cousin and his friend around. First year cousin and friend looked terrified. And insisted that second year translate everything. Alas, they were not my students, they were scheduled for one of Korey’s classes this afternoon. Maybe everyone just overslept? 

16:59 Still sitting in the classroom, hoping someone will arrive. Just kidding. I left around  around noon. I’m back in my apartment. My afternoon was much more productive than the morning. I finally tried Erzurum’s famous cağ kebab--lamb meat on skewers served with lavash, yogurt, peppers and spicy salsa-type sauce. When you squint your eyes, it looks like Mexican food but the tastes are different. We went out to lunch with three of the directors of our school--including our boss, Mehmet Bey who I’ve mentioned before. Mehmet Bey likes to rank things. For example, cities: Erzurum, New York, Paris. Tblisi, Amsterdam, Brussels. And football teams: Trabzonspor, Barcelona, Manchester United. He also likes to drink something called “Şalgam” which translates to turnip. He let us try some at lunch. It must be akin to a gin and tonic of a non-alcohol drinking region. Because it burned my throat. I felt like I drinking salty vinegar. But I kind of liked it. 

I’m also one step closer to getting Wifi. The electrician came today. I also have roll sheets for my classes. So, tomorrow, if/when anyone comes, I will be ready! 

Monday evening...

I still not started teaching my English classes. Term officially started today though. The lines at the ATM machines where 10 people long all day and there were no tables at the outdoor cafeteria that my fellow English teachers and I prefer. But the new energy on campus from the students’ arrival certainly outweighed that inconvenience. I had gotten used to the relatively quiet atmosphere of tree-lined Atatürk’s campus, now I will get used to the bustle of sidewalks crowded with students (I’m so surprised how young some of them look!). Some of those students will have to deal with me from 8 a.m. to noon every Monday through Thursday. I was supposed to start teaching today but due to a delay in quantifying the results of the placement test, we will start Wednesday. I’m nervous. I’ll be paired up with another professor who will teach the grammar, reading and writing sections of an English course. I will teach the speaking and listening sections. I’m excited to start though too. If it goes well, maybe the most obvious and simple answer for why I came to Turkey will be revealed: to, well, teach English. 

But for at least one more day, I am still free to explore Erzurum, drink çay, and fill out paperwork. (By the way: I finally got my residency permit application in today. Two days before the 30-days-in-Turkey-without-applying-and-you-will-allegedly-be-deported deadline. Tax number attainment is next on the list!)

Yabanci, Yabanci

Week one in Erzurum comes quietly to an end. We do not start teaching until October 1st so we still have one more week to get settled and met other people in our department or faculty:the “Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu” or School of Foreign Languages. And after this week, I certainly feel more settled that I did we first arrived. We have Internet in two of our three apartments. My apartment is unfortunately the odd one out, I don’t have a phone jack so I need to learn more Turkish before I can ask for that. We have become familiar with the city’s grocery stores, everything that we need is within walking distance. I joined a gym with two of my Turkish colleagues on Wednesday. Women go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, men go on the opposite days. And we have sampled some of Erzurum’s finest cuisine (hence, the gym membership): ezogelin soup made of mint and lentils, kadayıf dolması or a baklava-type dessert made of shredded wheat and walnuts, ciğ kofte or seasoned cold meatballs wrapped in lettuce, and what I think is my favorite so far, mantı, a ravoili that is eaten with yogurt sauce. And of course, çay--the tea that is served with nearly every interaction with everyone from the laundromat man to the person at the apartment lease office. 

Mehmet Bey, our director, says that he wants us to be as comfortable as possible here since he thinks it is necessary for us to be good teachers. I think that is probably true and it is very kind of him to be constantly asking what else he can do to help us. It seems, however, like he got the entire city on board as well. One of my professors at Catholic, Zeyneb Hanım, often told me that people in Eastern Turkey are even warmer and more hospitable than people in the West. It has been a little surreal to see that hospitality in action. 

I will attempt to give a rundown of the week through examples how Erzurumis seem to bend over backwards to help us, the “yabancı” or foreigners in town. I know, however, that the list will be incomplete. On Sunday, we attempted to find the Target-esque Carrefour store to get some necessities for our apartments. We google mapped but the lack of street signs made it difficult to find. We were wandering around a neighborhood south of our campus for a while until we finally worked up the courage to ask a woman and her daughter for directions. Instead of telling us, she beckoned us onto a bus with her, insisted that we sit by her and then told us when to get off, right in front of the Carrefour. When we arrived at the mall where Carrefour can be found in the basement, we decided to check the authenticity of a rumor that all McDonalds have WIFI. We didn’t get a chance to check though because when we asked a McDonald’s employee if “WIFI var mı?”, he asked for our laptops and typed in his personal password so we could access the mall employee’s network. 

The following evening, we were wandering around Atatürk’s campus. We found a movie theater that seems to show second rate films and also noticed a sign advertising the viewing of the Trabzonspor football match on the second floor. We decided to peer in but had no plans to stay and watch the game that night. The security guy outside the building was determined to find us something else to do when he saw we did not want to see the game. He kept making suggestions in Turkish: There is a coffee shop around the corner. Do you need any food? We have a restaurant and grocery store. Did you see the movie theater? Oh, if I only I could tell him more clearly that we were just looking around and would be back! Speaking of accommodating security guards, we could not have completed our wireless installation process without the help of the computer center’s security man. The wireless king of Atatürk U determined that the problem with Emily and Elizabeth’s router was that he did not have the correct phone number to program. He told them to go back and call the operator from their apartment and find out their phone number. Of course, they do not have a landline. When he heard that, he told us to follow him. He marched us down to the entrance of the building, unplugged the security guy’s desk phone and handed it to us. The security asked no questions and just nodded and welcomed us to Turkey. Sidenote: They do not live that close to the computer center. That security guy could not receive any calls for about an hour. 

Our greatest, most entertaining, example of hospitality took place Wednesday night in a packed room of about 300 Turkish men and 20 women on the fourth floor of an apartment building in the city center. Istanbul’s Galatasaray v. Manchester United. First game of the Champion’s League for the season. It was an experience in itself to be in the midst of so much emotion in such a small place. There was such a crescendo of noises and cheers during the breakaways (and the instant replays of these breakaways) that I was  more entertained by my fellow spectators than the match itself. We would not have been in that room without the excessive help of some Erzurumis on the street below. We were (once again) wondering the city looking for a place to watch the game (Additional sidenote: I did not suddenly become a sports fan upon moving to Turkey: Korey loves soccer and was leading the way, I was happy to find out what locals do in the evenings) when an older man on his cell phone intuited that was what we looking for. He took it upon himself to get us there. This involved him shouting into a nearby teahouse for a young man to lead us the few blocks and four flights of stairs to the viewing party, which was held in what is usually a snow boarding school, by the way. The owner of the shop made an entire row of people move over so we could all sit together. At half time, we were asked by the children sitting behind us if we were Man U fans. Thankfully, we had learned the appropriate answer from one of our co workers the day before; “Hayır! CIM BOM BOM!” I still do not know what that means but it is what Galatasaray fans scream from the stands and satisfied the little kid. 

In a few hours, we are headed to Kars and Anı for the weekend. Kars is a city about three hours East of here. Apparently, there is not much to see there. But we all read and enjoyed Orhan Pamuk’s “Snow” which takes place in the city and it has the reputation of being the only place in Turkey that is colder than Erzurum so we thought now would be a good time to go. Anı is the former capital of Armenia that is now a ghost town. Also, any step I take east of Atatürk’s campus is “the furthest East I’ve ever been”, so that is pretty cool. Our Turkish colleagues seem surprised we are visiting either site. Of course, when we went to the bus station to buy tickets, we were immediately asked by a random traveler where we were headed and then led over to the appropriate ticker counter. We have no place to stay in Kars tonight but I’m not concerned at all that we will be homeless. 

So first conclusion about why I am here in Eastern Turkey? Maybe to teach me unconditional kindness and patience? Even and especially towards foreigners who can barely speak my language? 

More and better pictures to follow! But here are some shots of the campus. 

Erzurum Arrival!

We were told over and over at orientation that if we were unsatisfied with something in your new town, just voice your complaint and you will be taken care of. So far, that has proven to be our defining theme of our two days here in Erzurum. I will explain. But I should first say that I didn’t intend my first blog post about Erzurum to be solely about the logistical pitfalls of finding adequate accommodations, hunting for the “stuff” that the former Fulbrighters left us for our apartments, and starting the daunting paperwork process of applying for residency cards--but honestly, that’s all that is in my mind right now. I want to write about the landscape and the lovely three new friends who have taken us under their wings and the soup that I had for dinner. But I keep thinking about how I really need to scrub my new bathroom floor to get all the dirt out and how I am going to refrigerate my groceries once I buy them. 

It’s as if we are in survival mode right now. Figuring how to improve our shelter, find our next meal, and, as always, find internet, internet, internet. The hour or so we spent in an Internet Cafe this evening was not enough time to read about everything that is going on in the Middle East. I wish I knew enough Turkish to ask people how aware they were of the events or even read a newspaper article. It’s a strange thing to not have a clear enough idea of what’s going on in a region so close, when my parents and friends at home probably know much more. This lack of Internet should not last much longer. Getting a router and setting up wireless in my apartment is just one of the many logistical tasks that will get done in time. And so many things have been accomplished already! In Turkey, there is apparently a saying: “TTT:  things take time.” With this saying in mind, things seem to have be moving quite rapidly. When we arrived in our on campus apartment from the airport, Emily, Elizabeth and I were all placed together in a one bedroom. Our first hour in Erzurum was spent sitting on the three beds debating whether or not we should insist that we get another place. We finally agreed to follow the advice at orientation. We met Mehmet Bey, the head of the English Department, shortly after and he promised us that they would find another apartment. So now I am living in the original one and Emily and Elizabeth are a few buildings away in another apartment. Korey is one floor above me. 

My apartment is not nice. But it is not bad. And it has improved! When I told one of my co workers that both my shower and the lights in the living room did not work, there were six Turkish men in my apartment that afternoon fixing them. Now my shower and lights are fully operational and the handles of my window are new too (I didn’t even notice they were broken). I also now have a couch and a table and chairs. The two extra beds have been removed as well. If I understood more Turkish, I would know where exactly this furniture came from. I just know that one of the workers asked where my furniture was and when I told him I did not have any, he came  back with the couch and table. It still needs quite a bit of cleaning, Internet (!), and well, kitchen appliances...not sure where to begin there. But yavaş, yavaş, with time, these things will be worked out. Korey and I have a fridge, microwave and portable stove top to split between our two apartments (left by previous Fulbrighters, thank you!) so the situation is not in the least bit dire. And overall, I really like this place. It seems huge--probably because I thought it would have to house three people--and I’m confident that if I ever have a problem, there will be workers there in the afternoon to fix it.  Or at least that is my hope. For now, I will busy myself with cleaning and unpacking. 

These next two weeks before classes begin seem like they will be full of similar home improvements and other tasks. Today we started the residency permit process and purchased cell phones. I only have 6 numbers in my phone but it already feels wonderful to be connected somehow. I hate to admit it but I’m a prime example of the iPhone generation and it feels relaxing to have some continuity with my former ways. I would not have had a phone (or really been able to do anything today...) if it were not for the help of Nermin, Birgül, and Zoo. All three are lecturers in the English Faculty at Atatürk. Nermin is officially in charge of helping us but her friends Birgül and Zoo seem happy to tag along. They took us out to lunch at their favorite place called Beyti and even insisted on paying. They recommended that we ordered Beyti Kaşarlı. As Elizabeth describes, it looked like an enchilada dish. Ground meat wrapped in tortilla-like bread with melted cheese and tomatoes on top. The spices made it taste completely different though and it was topped with a huge dollap of yogurt instead of sour cream. They are dieting though so they only had a soup called ezogelin. We later tried it for dinner and although I can not recognize any of the tastes, it was delicious. 

After lunch, we went to buy cell phones. Our new friends led us to a small mall made up completely of cell phone stores. We would have never been able to find it on our own. Nor we would have been able to argue the salesperson down to 65 lira instead of 100. (Side note: We were initially told that that was the price for the women, Korey had to pay 70. He changed his mind in the end but I thought he was serious.) They also registered the phones in their name since they had the proper ID, at the suggestion of the store owner (what?). We just sat and tried to listen while another employee served us tea. Could you imagine any that of that happening at an AT & T store? No, seriously, think for a second about what you would say if someone offered you tea as they told you about different data plans. To add to the confusion, an employee (not one that had been helping us) handed Emily a novel in Turkish at the end and told her it was a gift for all of us. It was called “Aşk” or “Love” and was by an author that we had coincidentally been talking about at lunch. Someday I hope to have enough Turkish to read it . . . and find out why he gave it to us. 

Whew. Descriptions of the city and our surroundings are to come. Honestly, I’m holding off because I do not yet have the words. I can’t figure out any comparisons, which is my automatic default to get used to a new place. Korey says it reminds him of Turen, Italy; Elizabeth says it is vaguely like Colorado Springs. I am at a loss. We haven’t seen too much yet. Just the campus and the main street in town. And the surrounding mountains. Tomorrow is Saturday and since we won’t be able to get any logistic work done, we plan on exploring the city more fully. I have good feelings about it. We have walked to get everywhere and the streets are full of people (albeit mainly men) and the weather has been gorgeous. Sunny and cool and not humid at all. 

There is a strange accent here. We keep trying to recognize what makes it different from Ankara. We concluded that it may be a bit more breathy. Luckily we know barely enough Turkish that it does not matter. Nermin, Birgül, and Zoo say that we will be able to understand in three months and speaking by the end of the year. I really hope that’s true. And since most of people we’ve met speak to us in Turkish even if it’s clear we don’t understand, I am close to believing them. 

So, this is it! This is my Erzurum life now. And Korey, Emily and Elizabeth are my new little family. I certainly lucked out with them. As you can probably determine, I am very grateful to have two weeks before classes begin. I am far from the mind of English teaching. But I plan on being so very soon! I doubt future blog posts will be this lengthy--this is the production of no internet connection to bring me distractions.  We all jokingly asked each other this morning what we did before we went to bed without wireless or our cell phones. I read my locally published Erzurum guide book. 

So many expectations!

Merhabalar! I now know to make that greeting plural when speaking to more than one person (instead of the singular “Merhaba”). Although, now that I think about it, it may still be inappropriate since you are supposed to use it only when eye contact is made, never to an empty room, for example. Maybe I will have to alter it again before my entry. Anyway, proper greetings is just one of the many facts we have been inundated with since our 10 day orientation in Ankara began. 

I arrived her without any problems. I secretly enjoy airplane food and openly love the movies so I had very enjoyable ride. I met fellow Fulbrighters on each leg of journey so it was great to have some people to chat with during our layovers. 

About 12 hours after I left Detroit, I arrived at our hotel in Ankara. Since our daily orientation sessions in its basement, this hotel has become my first Turkish home. Our days have been full of lectures on topics ranging from modern Tukish political history to gender issues to Turkish language (essential) to various cultural tidbits like when and how to say hello. The rest of the orientation will include instruction how to actually teach English which I am very eager to receive!

I think the most valuable part (and I even hesitate there, so many parts have been valuable!) of orientation has been the opinions I’ve heard about where I’ll be spending the next 10 months: ERZURUM. Judging by the mix of reviews I’ve heard, I feel as if it could be called the “Detroit” of Turkey. Examples: “You are going to Erzurum? For 10 months? Why?” “You know it’s cold there, right?” “I hope you like winter sports.” “No one speaks English in the East.” “Last time I was in Erzurum, there were only two cars there.” [NOTE: that was in 1963.] “You know it’s cold there, right?” “They had the Youth Olympics there!” “You know it’s a lot more conservative than Ankara.” “Are there even bars in Erzurum?” “You know it’s cold there, right?” YES, I know it’s cold! I’m used stereotypes about places from people who may have no experience with the place. So I’m taking everything with a grain of salt. I’m only taking our University contact seriously. And he told us about Erzurum’s lit ski slopes that open at 5 pm and stay open until late in the night, about its treeless, inviting mountains, about its unique “cağ kebab” sandwich (the Coney Dog of Anatolia!), and streets of restaurants that were enclosed with roofs long ago to keep out the cold and snow. Needless to say, I am optimistic and excited. My three co-English Teaching Assistants are excited and proud as well to be the most eastern Fulbrighters in Turkey. East side! Only time will tell, but I have a great feeling about my city. I can’t wait to move there on Thursday.

To appease my number one reader (here’s your shout-out Libby Hagemeyer), I will talk about the food. However, I will not be able to do it justice. First of all, I’ve decided to make learning how to cook one of my goals this semester. Because, wow,Turkey has the most diverse, tasty food I’ve had since, well, the last time I was in Turkey...and I’ve eaten almost every meal in a hotel. Let’s see, for lunch today, I had lentil soup, rice, a beef and pepper stew-like dish to put over the rice, tomato and cucumber salad and a chunk of fresh feta cheese (it does not even taste like the feta we buy at Sam’s Club). Breakfast usually consists of more feta, bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives--but for lunch and dinner there has been a different spread each night. Like I said, I’m not to explain it fully. I will have to try again--but I am putting it in writing now that I am determined to learn to cook!

Week 1 comes to a close. My commutes to Georgetown have already proved to be worth it. I spent some time with some Turkish friends that I met last summer this evening and although my speaking skills are close to comical, they insisted that we speak in Turkish the entire time. You can imagine that our topics of conversation were limited but they were kind and yavaş, yavaş--slowly, slowly--I will get better...inşallah!

Here's a picture of our group in front of Anıtkabır, Atatürk (the founder of modern Turkey)'s mausoleum. 

And why?

            Merhaba arkadașlar! A few days from now I depart for Turkey. For nine months, I will be working as a Teaching Assistant at Ataturk University in Erzurum--a city in the northeast of the country. 

             I feel as if I’ve been repeating the above over and over since I found out that I was going to Turkey this May. Those are the facts and they are easy to recite. The next question is always harder. Why Turkey? I went there last summer and I loved it. That’s my simplified answer. And it’s true. I went there last summer for two weeks with a scholarship for a language program that I nabbed through a quite circuitous, nearly random, series of conversations and BAM in exactly five days I’m boarding a plane to Ankara and then to Erzurum to stay for nine months. 

              My goal with this blog is to answer the “why?” question in greater detail. For everyone who has asked me that question in the past few weeks, but also for myself. I hope that more reasons for why I am in Turkey are revealed to me over time in Erzurum and I plan to document those discoveries here. 

So! Let’s get started. Here’s what I can say to answer to the question so far. When I went to Turkey last summer, I made friends. I was one of only two Americans on the trip  and the people I met there were people that I would never have met in the United States. Those I still keep in touch with today are from Syria, Poland, Finland and Iran. They were students like me but were not ones who would have ever traveled to the U.S. I was privileged, therefore, to hear perspectives that I had not heard from the foreign students on my college campus or other foreigners my age in the U.S. In a short two weeks, we shared many conversations about topics great and small, ones that we continue today. Our friendship has given me such an invaluable insight into their worlds--their faces are what immediately comes to my mind when I think of my two weeks in Turkey. 

             Still not a reason to go back. The friends I mentioned aren’t even Turkish. 

             I’m a steadfast believer in the power of place. There was something about the dramatically diverse and cross cultural setting of Turkey that made the friendships I described flourish. The direct questions we asked each other about faith, about politics, about family seemed natural in a place where cultures have clashed (figuratively and not) for centuries. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more motivated to learn than when I was in Turkey. There were so many stories to be told around me--it could be seen in the diversity of architecture, clothing, even the faces of the people on the street. I asked way more than my normal amount of questions, I never before so badly wanted to read simultaneously The Economist and National Geographic, and never stop reading them. And with all the questions building in my head, the conversations I had with my fellow Turkish Summer School-ers followed, as did our friendships.

             Days after I arrived back in DC from Turkey last summer, I saw a poster in a church basement that read: “World peace begins with the relationship between two people.” Having just sent my Facebook friend requests through cyberspace across the globe, that quote, of course, made me feel overly sentimental. Why would I not want to return to a place that cultivated the friendships that may someday be responsible for world peace??

              A few weeks later, a benevolent professor encouraged me to channel my enthusiasm and emotion about Turkey into a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship  application.  Many months later, I found out I was selected. And now I’m off to Erzurum. That concludes Chapter 1 of “Why I am going to Turkey”. As I said above, I hope that more reasons are revealed to me in time.

I’ll end with some practical information. I leave on Sunday, September 2nd at 7:15 Detroit time. I’ll arrive in Ankara for 10 day orientation. I’m not sure what the orientation will be like, and, honestly, I’m not sure what my entire job and life will be like. But I’m ready to be baptized by fire. And although I’m trying to ignore it, I’m terribly nervous as well. But I won’t dwell on that. Instead, I’m going to do a little more packing, a little more room cleaning, a little more Cub soccer game viewing, and then I will see you in Ankara.