Saturday, September 24, 2011

Waiting on Our Classes to Come

Everyone keeps telling us that Trabzon has weather like London: it's cloudy, cold, and damp for a good part of the year. And every day that it's blue skies, no clouds, bright sunshine (which has been most of the week, with the exception of a couple cloudy pockets and one major thunderstorm), they tell us that we shouldn't get used to it...the bad weather's a-comin'. Well, that may be so, but it's been one beautiful week here.



John, Ali, and I are still not exactly sure what classes we'll be teaching, but it's pretty much determined that some of those classes will be in speaking. We've been told that many students here have probably never met a native speaker of English, and even our colleagues--who really speak English quite well--are eager to ask us about idioms and turns of phrase. For example, while driving with Ali Şükrü Bey, our university contact, on our way to get tax numbers, we all somehow got on the subject of the phrase "he/she wears the pants" when it comes to relationships. (The result was an absolutely hilarious conversation.) KTÜ has had native English speakers as instructors before, but Trabzon itself doesn't get a lot of English traffic, being more off of the typical Turkey tourist path and most popular with vacationers from Russia and Georgia. So each of us ETAs will be teaching speaking (because we're automatically good at that!), and then any additional assignments are up in the air. I've heard that I might be teaching some kind of literature or culture course, but nothing's set in stone and I'm just excited to get started. Most of our other Fulbright colleagues are up and teaching, but we don't start classes at KTÜ until week after next. But then things get real, and it's going to be intense! We're...like a pot of water being brought to a slow boil.

I just want to say that Ali Şükrü Bey (I don't remember if I've discussed "Bey," but it essentially means "Mr." and gets added after someone's first or first and middle names, as here.) is absolutely awesome. John, Ali, and I have discussed on numerous occasions how fortunate we know we are to have Ali Şükrü Bey as our university contact; he's considerate, nice, funny, and incredibly hospitable. He really cares about helping us get settled in and making sure we all have a great, productive year. We couldn't ask for a more attentive or effective contact. Here's to you, sir!

So, onto the major events of the week, interspersed with lovely receptions from our new colleagues in the Foreign Languages and English Literature faculties (and lots and lots of tea!)...

Aya Sofya
You might be familiar with the incredibly famous Hagia Sofia (or, in Turkish, Aya Sofya) in Istanbul...well, this is not that Aya Sofya. It is, however, one of Trabzon's most famous landmarks. It's a former Chalcedonian (Greek Orthodox) church, built in the 13th century (back when Trabzon was the capital of the Empire of Trebizond), and one of the last Byzantine sites in the area. In 1461 Mehmed II conquered the city and the church was converted into a mosque, with all of its frescoes covered in whitewash. During World War I, the Russians used the building as a hospital, and then it went back to use as a mosque until its conversion into a museum in 1964.

Well, about those frescoes....they're absolutely beautiful. My photos won't do them justice (flash photography's a no-no), but I hope you can at least get the general idea.





Well, our colleague Elif took us to Aya Sofya on Wednesday. First, we sat in the tea garden right next door and had some kuymak, a local dish of melted butter, cheese, and flour that's a lot like really thick fondue. You eat it with bread and it's hot and delicious....mmm...really want some right now...it must be lunchtime.... But anyway, we had our kuymak with--you guessed it--tea. Apparently you're supposed to drink hot beverages with hot foods. That sounds a little counter-intuitive to me (I'm a big fan of hot dish, cold milk), but at least I like tea!
So, post-tea garden we headed into Aya Sofya itself. As you can see, we weren't the only tourists hanging around. There were at least two large groups of British folk and one of Germans (all stopping off from a cruise; a number of cruise ships do come through Trabzon).
Aya Sofya is also a popular destination for wedding photos, and since September's not quite over, the Turkish wedding season continues. I snapped a quick picture of the ring-bearer (how cute is he?!), and a few of the party itself. How sweet!


And, after a breathtaking look at the church...



...came the turtle.
I like to name things, and I named this guy George. He basically trudged along the perimeter of the wall surrounding Aya Sofya's courtyard, just doing his thing. I immediately loved him, and thus...

After thoroughly annoying George (and, to his chagrin, I'm sure, attracting others to pose for their pictures with the Aya Sofya turtle...sort of like Mickey Mouse at Disney World), we got a few more pictures of us in front of the church, and then we were off. Thanks, Elif! It was a great day.

Residence Permit
If you're a foreigner working in Turkey, you need to obtain a residence permit within one month of arriving in the country. So we scrounged together every possible document we could need and headed down on Thursday to the police station in the City Centre. Before going into the building, we stopped off at a small photography studio, though, because we'd been told we'd need five copies of passport-sized photos and I needed a few extras and John just needed some, period. Well, actually, originally (back in Ankara) we were told we'd need only four photos, but we were just rolling with it. Then we get into the office and they inform us that they need six photos. Good thing we sprang for spares!

But, other than that, the entire process was relatively painless and quick. They even brought us...TEA! The policeman helping us used to be a student of Ali Şükrü Bey, and he engaged me in some English conversation so that he practice. Ali Şükrü Bey joked that he must have liked me, since he was only talking to me, so now there's a running joke in the group that this policeman and I must have some kind of thing going. Haha, well, but of course!

On Friday we returned to a building right near the police station: the tax office. There, we did a lot of sitting and waiting (and drinking tea--no, this is not an exaggeration!) while Ali Şükrü Bey fearlessly got things done on our behalf. Then we signed our names on some paperwork and received cards with what I believe are our tax numbers, which we need to get our secondary ID numbers, which we'll need to get bank accounts and real ID numbers come January 1st. Residing legally in Turkey is like an epic quest...first you need to collect these things, then you go to do these things...then you mix them all together and summon the dragon so that you can fight him to the death. Oh, and then you get your salary from the university.

The Park!
On our way back to campus from the police station (and the tax office), Ali Şükrü Bey showed us an incredible park space tucked into this little valley in the city. Well, Friday morning, after procuring a phone for John and finishing the process to register Ali's foreign phone (if you don't buy a phone in Turkey, you have to register it with the government), we set off west toward where we knew this park must be located. Sure enough, we reached it after a fifteen minute walk or so...and was it worth it!

We sat around in one of the gazebos, just looking at my Turkish phrasebook and hanging out. We think we'll be frequent visitors.

So, last bit of news. Some of you know already that I submitted a paper proposal to the International Studies Association's Annual Conference in San Diego next year. Academics (I want to be one--currently working on my graduate school applications so I can go get my PhD in Political Science) present papers at conferences to get feedback from colleagues and to generally be a part of the general discourse on a certain topic. The ISA is not strictly for political scientists, but a number of poli sci people are members and do present. (The biggest name in strictly Political Science is the American Political Science Association.) There are regional conferences during the year, but the annual national conference (to which I submitted) is the big one. My paper proposed was my undergraduate honors thesis, "Context Matters: Re-conceptualizing Definitions of Democracy." If you're really interested in the abstract and don't already know what the paper's about, let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Anyway, the point is that my paper was accepted. My assigned panel is called "Man, State, and Human Rights" and everyone on it with me is at least a PhD candidate. Intimidating, yes, but also exciting! Here's what they said in the email:
We had to turn down a large number of proposals this year due to space constraints. Your proposal’s acceptance in the program is testimony of its very high quality and worthy contribution to our program. 

Soooo all of my nerdy dreams have come true. Of course, I most likely won't be able to attend the conference (April 1-4) because I'll still be in Turkey, but I'm looking into my options.


Overall, great week. I'm enjoying being here, even if I do miss barbeque every once in a while. And THAT, ladies and gentleman, is a wrap for now.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Welcome to Trabzon!

Today is our third day in the lovely port city of Trabzon, Turkey, the place that will be my home for the next nine months. When I travel, this is the dot on the map to which I will return. When I root for a football club (that's soccer, people), I will loudly proclaim the superiority of Trabzonspor over the big teams from Istanbul...and even over bigger European clubs. Like Inter Milan.

Perhaps that is a good place to begin when describing Trabzon--with Trabzonspor. On the night before we flew out of Ankara (with excess baggage costing 85 TL...since you're only allowed 15kg free on flights with Turkish Airlines' regional carrier, AnadoluJet), Trabzonspor took on Inter Milan in its first ever UEFA Champions League game--the beginning of the group stage--and went home victorious. A sweet far post, side netting goal in the second half stunned the Italian club, and all over Turkey fans went nuts. So when we arrived in Trabzon every street corner had someone wearing a Trabzonspor jersey, and you can basically bring the team up to anyone and get an emphatic nod. Of the Turkish football clubs, three of the four most competitive are out of Istanbul. The other? You guessed it.
Turns out that there's also a women's Trabzonspor team, but women's football in Turkey is not very popular and not terribly well-developed, though they do have a league. I am all up on this; my hours of internet research have yielded little as to the location of the stadium where they play, but I'm going to ask around and I want to go support them. In my wildest dreams, maybe I could even play some pickup. Apparently, most of the players are students or have other day jobs, so they train in the evenings. The question now is where.

Anyhow, onto other matters. How about...a little on Karadeniz Teknik Universitesi, the university where I will be teaching this year. Still don't know what classes I'll be teaching (it's all still getting worked out), but I do know that Fulbright ETAs to Turkey are not actually English Teaching Assistants. We're straight up instructors. I will be teaching university classes by myself. If that doesn't help qualify me for graduate school, I don't know what will. Amiright?

So Karadeniz Teknik Universitesi (KTU, or, as it is referred to colloquially, Katu) was established in 1955, and is one among the top universities in Turkey. Check out the sweet logo:
I still have no idea what the logo actually symbolizes, but I keep meaning to ask someone. I'll get on that...

So Katu's campus is right on the coast, though also right next to the airport (lots of takeoff and landing noise). It's a nice campus (not Sweet Briar mind-blowingly beautiful, but then again it's a big ole university founded in the 50s, so for that I think it gets props) with a lot of greenery. There's also this intense row of ATMs, one from basically every bank in Turkey. One of the instructors who showed us around pointed out the one that we'll most likely be using, though I've forgotten its name for the moment.

For more of your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures I took the other day when we had our first campus tour:
 Walking down toward the Foreign Languages and English Literature faculties (departments). From left to right are Ali, John (the other ETAs), and our lecturer friend who was showing us around.
 A view of the sea (and the highway). We're still on campus.
Hanging out and talking about the school. This is very typical of the campus's beauty. :)

As I said, Ali, John, and I still don't know what English-related things we'll be teaching yet, but we met a number of faculty out of both the Foreign Languages and English Literature faculties, and felt extremely welcomed. I drank five cups of tea and one cup of Turkish coffee yesterday. That's how hospitable people are. Ali and I were also escorted by two more faculty members yesterday (in the midst of introductions galore) to Forum, the regional shopping center, which is HUGE and super nice. It also has a Popeye's, Arby's, McDonald's, Burger King, and Sbarro, in addition to other chain fast food. Not even Asheville has a Popeye's. Just sayin'. Anyway, Forum is apparently the place to go to get...well, everything...so some trips back to pick up some homegoods and perhaps some serviceable black flats and/or a cell phone are most likely in order this beautiful Saturday. Oh, also gonna need an umbrella...it rains here a lot. And yet it hasn't rained yet since we arrived. Perhaps we brought sunshine with us from Ankara.

Well, that's all for now. Gonna go check out the city centre (and hopefully see the Trabzonspor stadium!) with even more of our future colleagues and/or friends of our wonderful university contact, Ali Bey. (Bey basically means "Mr." but comes after first names.) More to come soon!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Week in Review: Ankara

Hello, friends!

Well, as of today, a week has passed since I first began my journey into the unknown, and it's been quite a week! My colleagues from the Washington Semester Program would find that orientation feels a lot like the time we spent abroad together in Cyprus, Athens, and Istanbul; as a group, the sixty of us ETAs do a lot of sitting in the hotel ballroom, listening to lectures and asking questions on everything from Turkey's Agenda in Foreign Policy to  the Dos and Don'ts of Turkish Culture. We've had a number of presentations on our host country's history and politics, probably 15-20 hours of Turkish language instruction, visits from US Embassy officials to lend us wisdom on security and health and so on, and met our university representatives. (More on that soon, just not right now.)

Some of you might know (or have rather, perhaps, inferred) that I am not, in daily life, a huge picture taker. Perhaps this is because I know that I will always find something else to do rather than load pictures onto my computer, so it's all a big hassle. Or I can't ever find the camera when I need it. Or maybe I don't make the same memory connections with photographs as a lot of other people. Whatever the reason, I have made a commitment--most uncharacteristically, but I expect I will do a lot of uncharacteristic things as I personally grow--to actually document this experience not only in terms of the things I find beautiful and memorable, but also in terms of the things that are mundane or unsettling--things that you guys might find necessary to be able to picture where I am and what I'm doing. So in the spirit of the mundane, I give you the following orientation photos. This is where I've spent most of the past week:

 These are to give you an idea of the ballroom where all of our sessions have taken place. Tables are spread around the room, and, as you can see in the second photo, there's a small lobby outside through those doors. All of this is on the -1st floor, below ground. The Niza Park Otel, where all of this is happening, is a very nice, four star place located in Cankaya (put a tail on the C, because it makes a "ch" sound), a relatively nice part of Ankara.
 Here's me, laughing at something. One of my fellow ETAs so generously documented me in this space. That's what orientation looks like: lots of notes, never-ending water bottles, and looooots of tea/sometimes coffee.
 Speaking of notes, here's an example of some. I've filled up most of my pages like this (you all know how thorough I like to be), but this particular page is dear to me because the lecture was given by a female professor from a local university...all about how Turkish domestic politics influence its foreign policy. That's kind of EXACTLY what I want to go to grad school to study, so I thanked her profusely and generally got really excited. These notes are gold.
Ah, yes, and speaking of tea, some of you might believe that Turkish Coffee is the national beverage of Turkey. Nope. It's tea. And it's delicious tea, by the way. We've been given very generous tea/coffee breaks, and there are always little treats for us to snack on, too! Seriously, even though our days have been packed, the Turkish Fulbright Commission has taken such good care of us. We get three square meals a day in the hotel buffet, coffee/tea breaks, nice rooms, magical water bottles that almost seem to replace themselves, great information that really eases my mind... Definitely have to make a concerted effort to not get too used to all of this, though, because things are guaranteed to change a great deal once we disperse to our host cities. Oh, by the way, this is actually not a traditional Turkish teacup, but they gave us these for coffee and for tea. This is a traditional cup, in which they will serve you cay--the Turkish word for tea, also with a tail on the C for a "ch" sound--almost wherever you order it:
So, anyway, moving on. Orientation is intense but incredibly useful and nice. Next week (as in, beginning tomorrow) we're going to receive some serious Teaching English as a Second Language training, and then on Thursday the 15th, we all shuffle into the great big deck of playing cards that is Turkey.

While we've been here, we've also been treated to a couple of outings. We first visited Anitkabir (no dot on that first I), the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of the Turkish nation. Without speaking to a Turkish person, it's difficult to comprehend the level of devotion and adoration that Ataturk continues to receive, even after his death in 1938. Please take this as my homework for you: look up Ataturk, and learn about his accomplishments. Understanding Turkey without understanding the magnitude of the person of Ataturk is truly impossible, and he was quite a guy. Here's even the link to Wikipedia to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Kemal_Atat%C3%BCrk .

The mausoleum itself is also quite striking and impressive. In addition to the actual chamber where Ataturk rests, there's a sizable museum dedicated to him and his accomplishments as both a military and political leader. I naturally forgot my camera when we visited, but fortunately many people have been to Anikabir before me...
Our other major outing was to the old city in Ankara (Eskisehir, tail on the S for "sh"), where we went to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum (very interesting stuff! Anatolia--basically the area of modern Turkey--has always been a crossroads, and lots of civilizations have been through, leaving goodies along the way.) and generally toodled around, going to Ankara Citadel (laid by the Galatians, completed by the Romans, and added onto/restored by the Byzantines and Seljuqs) before catching a cab back to the hotel. There are many pictures of this outing because I made a concerted effort to remember my camera, but this is the one you can't find anywhere else on the internet:
Yeah, that's a dog up there. Made me miss Luca the wonder dog, who sometimes likes to get up on Aunt Anne and Uncle Chris's roof.

And that's really the story up to yesterday. More to come soon, but today's our free day and it's time to figure out what that's going to mean! Cheers for now!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

My Bulgarian Friend and other Tales from the Flight Over

Not in Kansas anymore!

While I had every intention of offering up a (riveting, I'm sure...) blow-by-blow account of my airline adventures to get to Ankara, I never had a layover during which I could actually sit down and post anything. So here's the hindsight, Reader's Digest version, and some more info about what's going down here in orientation land.

Some of you may know that my itinerary underwent a huge change when my connection flight from Asheville to Detroit was delayed by imminent weather issues. So I missed my Amsterdam flight by about half an hour. My ticket was changed, then, to route me through Paris via Air France. This excited me because je parle francais, but Charles De Gaulle (Paris airport) is actually really not France's finest offering, but more on that in a moment. Because I had this great highlight of my Detroit-->Paris flight that made everything worth it: Robert.

Robert is a Bulgarian from the Czech Republic who just began living in Detroit. (Yes, that is complicated. I like to refer to him as "my Bulgarian friend, Robert" as if Robert is his epithet. It works for him.) He's an electrical engineer who is very good at his job--I could tell, but I also made him admit it, eventually...he was modest, too. He's involved in producing electrical stuff for cars, and they're apparently working on technology that would provide a more efficient replacement for spark plugs...very interesting stuff. Anyway, Robert was sitting beside me (I was on the aisle of a middle section with four people) and he was asleep when the French flight attendant tossed the Air France headphones into his lap. So when he woke up, I tentatively handed them to him so he would know they were there, and somehow we began a conversation, and we basically interacted for the rest of the six-hour flight. We even watched Fast Five (I know, I would) at the same time! He ordered me wine and a cognac, told me about the HUGE BMW that he just bought for his wife (Robert is late thirtiesish and his wife is Czech and they have a two year-old who sounds adorable) and its (MANY) features, explained lots of things about trains (including Mag Lev trains, which use magnetic force and can go SUPER fast but also take a ton of energy and are very expensive...yes, I learned things, like a true Liberal Arts kid...), asked me lots of questions and answered lots of mine, and was generally just super nice. We sadly parted ways once we got to fair Paris, but his memory lives on in my heart. He convinced me that I must go to Prague, and that I must learn to ski. You got it, my Bulgarian friend.

Next leg of the journey: Charles De Gaulle.

First of all, the terminals are not connected. You take a bus EVERYWHERE...I took one to get off my plane, to change terminals, to get to my next plane...nuts. My Bulgarian friend, Robert, had warned me of this downside of Paris's major airport, lamenting that I had not had the opportunity to enjoy the simplicity and cleanliness of Amsterdam's. Well, once I got to the right terminal, I saw a line to my right, which was for "transfer" passengers. That sounded like me, and they hadn't printed a Paris boarding pass for me in Detroit, so I assumed that I belonged in this line. When my name appeared on a screen asking me to contact customer service, I was certain that this line was for me...as I saw no instructions for contacting this phantom "customer service" anywhere. Some lady helped me while I was still in line, said that I could get out of the line (twenty minutes wasted) because that wasn't my issue, and then I got in a long security line. Some group of thirteen year-old boys behind me kept invading my personal space and trying to cut me, so I put on my most Parisien face and purposefully plugged on. Used a little French (score) and eventually got through, then ran up to my gate...which was boarding. At this point I called my mom from the Mobal phone we got me before I left the States (pay-out-the-nose expensive per minute, but it works anywhere in the world and was absolutely worth its weight in gold to me yesterday), was informed that my Istanbul-->Ankara flight had been changed because I would miss my initial one (THANK YOU, MOM), and then I walked onto the plane. Sat beside an American guy married to a French woman who had never been to Turkey and on his other side was a Turkish girl who asked me why I would choose Trabzon over Istanbul. The guy asked her if Trabzon was a small town (people, it's not that small), and she said, yes, and that, if you liked that kind of thing (which she obviously did not), it was good for experiencing nature. Well, she might not have been pumped about that, but I sure am! Anyway, time stood still on that flight...barely any leg room, was boxed in by two people and I really had to pee, and the food was bizarre (according to my companions, neither French nor Turkish...unsure what it was!). No Bulgarian friends, but the American/French guy and the Turkish girl did make relatively good small talk. Overall, not my best airplane experience (we also had to wait on a plane from Cuba and took off 45 minutes late), but the Big Guy still worked things out. I did, eventually, get to pee. Thank goodness.

In Istanbul I had to claim my bags and book it to the domestic terminal.
At this point I was VERY tired and VERY sick of flying. I checked my bags; got a ticket to pay for my excess baggage; waited in the wrong line; took a number to wait in the right line; heard the last call for my flight; ran back to the counter for help; had my number ticket torn up dramatically; was escorted to the travel agent window by a Turkish Airlines employee all up in front of the line; met another ETA who was just trying to get on a flight to Ankara, period, since he'd been on the ill-fated Paris plane, as well; finally paid for my baggage; booked it behind the sprinting employee to the gate and presented my boarding pass; and finally boarded. Phew! Then, much to my delight, I was seated in the FIRST ROW bulkhead, with no one in the seat beside me (just cup holders!), and then served dinner on real china with real silverware with water in a real glass. I think I was seated in First Class on this smallish plane...DUDE! Also, fun fact: Wayne Rooney and other Man U players "helped" in the safety procedures video.

Overall, quite an enjoyable experience, as if to balance out the Paris stuff. Yay Turkish Airlines!

In Ankara I followed the wrong crowd to the international terminal and thought my bags had been lost...turns out they were waiting for me in the domestic terminal. Obviously I did not understand the instructions given in Turkish. By the end of this year, hopefully that will not be the case! It was late at night when I got in, so I got a cab by myself and paid a much more reasonable fare than I was anticipating, considering how far away the hotel was. Finally checked in (only poor Daniel, the other ETA from the Istanbul airport, arrived later than me), I met my roommate and fellow Trabzon grantee, Ali, who rocks, and then took a much-needed shower.

Yes, that was the Reader's Digest version. Perhaps I will save orientation details for tomorrow...yes, that sounds like a plan. It is dinner time over here, and yemek istiyorum ("I want to eat"). Until next time!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

On the Launchpad

Folks, here's part two...of many. (See? I'm already doing a better job than half the bloggers out there who never get past the first entry!)

I'm sitting in the Asheville Regional Airport. Mom and Dad just dropped me off, and, after many tears and a last-minute iPod retrieval mission, we are clear for takeoff, people.

Those goodbyes were so hard...those of you who have been apart from your loved ones for long periods of time know what I'm talking about. I mean, I went off to college, but I could get in O'Reilly (that's the name of my Rav4, for those of you who don't know) and drive into my parents' loving arms at any time, just 5 hours on the road separating us. Well, not this time. This time I'm going to see nothing of Asheville or Marshall or Baxter or Bailey or Luca or Nate (aka Mr. Tinkles).

Okay, we're boarding...I gotta go. I realize that was a crazy short entry and all that. I'll try to post an update (and complete my thoughts) when I get to my next connection: DETROIT!