Holiday Trees

We have been surprised to see so many decorated trees in the shops, malls and even at school.   Somewhere down through time having a tree to put the New Year’s presents under has become a tradition in Turkey.  Haven’t found anyone who can tell me exactly why or when it started.  The town is all decorated and if we didn’t know they don’t celebrate Christmas you would think it was for Christmas. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE

Nothing new to report from Turkey but we did want to send our wishes for everyone to have a happy holiday season and happy New Years.  New Years is big here.  People buy presents for family and friends.  We usually travel over the holidays; however, since we will be working that won’t happen this year.  The weather is actually not too bad.  It’s in the low 40’s during the day which makes it very nice to walk.  Enjoy your family and friends! Jerry and Carol

Winter has arrived

We’ve been talking about the approaching winter for awhile and we had a nice few weeks but it has arrived.  No snow but it’s in the forecast.  With the weather change comes a reduction in our blog postings due to a lack of new and interesting topics.  Those of you who check us regularly please keep checking in occasionally  but we probably will reduce (not stop) our postings until we experience some new and different cultural events that we think will entertain you.  Ibrahim is generous with his time and is still teaching us Turkish and we are spending more time on Netflix and Hulu where we watch current American TV shows.  We get to these sites through our VPN hook up.  A somewhat interesting tidbit is that sometimes the video streaming happens perfectly and it’s like watching a show on TV; however, at other times the streaming gets interrupted every few minutes.  There doesn’t seem to be any particular pattern to when it will work or when it doesn’t.  The fallback is our favorite DVD store where we can get almost any movie for 2.50 Turkish Lira which is about $1.75.  Please stay in touch with e-mail.   It’s always good to catch up on news from our friends. 

Turkish Lessons

The letters of Turkish alphabet and the sounds associated with these are in the following table...

Letter	Pronunciation
A, a	like the a in car
B, b	like the b in bet
C, c	like the g in gender
Ç, ç	like the ch in chance
D, d	like the d in debt
E, e	like the e in less
F, f	like the f in felony

We’ve been learning a few words of Turkish from our co-workers and friend Diane who is the other American we know in Turkey; however, our friend Ibrahim (he is fantastic just a sample of his work above) over Friday evening and gave us our first Turkish lesson.  He was very generous with his time and talents and put together some PowerPoint's with the Turkish sounds for the alphabet, words for greetings, and some words for restaurants.  He said on his Facebook page that we did well but I think we have a long way to go.   Jerry is going to use the PowerPoint with his classes to teach English.  Thanks very much Ibrahim. 

Another interesting discovery we have made is that Google has a translation service where it will take your language and change it into whatever language you want; however, it doesn’t work very well.  The translations are too literal and it ends up being really funny.  Jerry tried it with a letter to his students and they had a great laugh.  Then I got a report from one of my 6th graders about the Sahara Desert and she must have used the translation program because it made no sense.

Jerry did some substitute teaching today to help out Diane.  She had to make a trip back to the states to see her father who is ill.  He’ll be helping out next weekend as well.  She teaches at another private school in Eskisehir and then teaches on the weekends at the schools that just teach languages.  Too much for me, I love my weekends!

Weekend Update

Saturday night was the big teacher’s day dinner at a teacher’s hotel type facility.  I hope we will get some pictures from some of our teachers to send you because Jerry was dancing!!  What a concept.  He actually asked the headmaster to come to the dance floor and he did.  In Turkey everyone sort of dances together for the upbeat songs so you don’t really need a partner.  I danced also for the second time since we’ve been in Turkey.  I had a very nice compliment from one of the school administrators who said “ You danced like a Turkish woman”.   It was fun. 

Sunday was the parent teacher conferences from 12-5 at the school.  Of course, most of the parents who came had good kids and the parents of the problem kids didn’t show up.  I imagine that happens everywhere.  It was interesting because as I have said previously I have over 100 students.  I see my 38 6th graders 3 classes a week but everyone else is one 40 minute class a week and I still haven’t learned all the names.  Most of the parents had pictures on their phones so I was able to remember their children when I saw their faces.   Some easy names we have to learn are Toygen, Tuna, Caan, Efisu, Bengisu, Deniz , Alta, Dalara, Mert, Can (pronounced John) Soycan, Nil, Yunnis, Cem (pronounced Jim),Ennis,  Berkin, and the list goes on.  (Notice I said those were the easy ones)  I’ll write down some of the more difficult names one of these days and post them.  Except for the fact that their children talk Turkish a lot in the class the kids are all doing pretty well.  I was totally impressed with my second grade today.  We played “hangman” with their vocabulary words and they did great.  I had to really work to keep up with them.  I was shocked at how well they did with the alphabet.

The teachers had a meeting tonight after classes from 4:30-7:30 to discuss the parent teachers meeting.  Jerry and I weren’t included in the meeting because it was all in Turkish but because we had to wait on the service to get home we stayed until 7:30 as well.  Would you believe we decided on a quick dinner of a bean burger and fries at Burger King which is just a few steps from our door.  Hate to say this but it was pretty good.

Teacher’s Day

Schools in Turkey are big for celebrations and today was no exception.  This was a special day to honor all teachers.  Many students brought flowers or small gifts for their special teachers.  Jerry and I received a few flowers which was very rewarding.  The students and teachers put on a 90 minute program with dancing, music, and a slide show with baby pictures of some of the teachers which got the biggest applause.

I hope all our American friends have a great Thanksgiving.  We’ll be thinking of you eating your turkey and dressing.  Sounds good right now.   We’ll miss our annual trip to Casa Grande’s Cracker Barrel with Jerry’s brother and sister in law .  Don’t think we’ll find anything similar in Turkey.

Carol’s students

I’ll let Jerry blog about his students but wanted to give you a little more info about my “kids”.  My “orange” kindergarten class has three very good English speakers and one fairly good whose parents all speak English and lived in English countries, US, Canada, or England.  They all help with interpreting but the boys  are challenging to keep on task.  We have a student book for the class and we just finished body parts and are moving on to senses and feelings like sad, happy, etc.  The week before the holiday I did a class on eye color.  My “purple” class has no English speakers so everything is with hand motions.  The teachers are all helpful but limited English.  I’m impressed with how many words the kids  have learned.  Many of them didn’t know hello or good bye at the beginning of the year.

My one first grade class has a couple of girls who come up to me in the hall and the beginning of class and say “I love you”.  I started saying “I love you too” back to them and then they started with “I love you too”.  I’m not sure they have a clue what they are saying or where they learned it but it’s always a good feeling to get that special hug!  I have one little boy who speaks English and helps out with instructions but after two months most of the kids are starting to understand when I say “draw” of “color”.  It’s pretty basic instructions.  We’re now studying school objects with our Potato Pals books.  In my other first grade class I have a little girl who has become my teacher’s assistant.  She knocks on the board when people are noisy and tries to help me get them to sit down.  I’m going to give her a “Reinforcement Card” which recognizes someone for doing a great job or something special. Her English is very limited but better than most in the class.

I’ll jump to my 4th grade which only has 6 students.  I had 4 of them in my extra English lesson but 3 passed the recent English test so there is only one little girl left.  She has hardly said a word in English since I started.  At our lesson during the last class when it was just the two of us, I was able to get her to actually tell me to “stand up” sit down” “go to the board” and a few other instructions.  She loved telling me what to do and I was thrilled that she used some English.  I’m looking forward to our next class this week to see what else I can help her learn.

I’m still struggling with names.  Not only are they different but difficult to understand what the students are saying.

That’s my world these days.  I know all my previous co-workers at SAMHC are struggling with funding and too many clients and a lot more challenging situations than I have!!  I feel some guilt that I’m only worried about who is learning English but I am thinking  of all of you  and wishing you well.

The Rest of the Story

Just wanted to finish up our trip to Italy.  On Wed morning we went to the museum and saw the David statue by Michalangelo.  Needless to say it was amazing.  Lots of other impressive art work as well.  Then another  train to Bergamo which has it’s old city at the top of a hill.  You can walk up or take a bus but they they have a “funicular” which is a small bus on rails that climbs up and down the mountain every 10 minutes.  We found the best pizza in a little shop while we were walking around.   In Milano you couldn’t get a full dinner until 8:00, in Bergamo it was 7:00.  I knew people ate late but a lot of restaurants don’t even open until then.  What a lot of cafes do have is an appetizer bar which you can eat from if you order drinks.  We didn’t try any but the food looked pretty good through the windows and would probably be a more economical way to eat.  Did I mention Euro shock!! 

On Thursday we took, trains, taxies, and ferries to get a feel for the Italian hill country.  We were in Bellagio and Varenna which is across Lake Como from Bellagio.  This was unfortunately our second of only two rainy days so it wasn’t ideal walking weather but the towns were still beautiful.  The taxi driver who took us from Lecco where the train stopped said the one road to Bellagio is insane in summer. 

America could certainly learn something from the Turkish and European train system.  The trains were always on time and comfortable.  We arrived home at 3:00 this morning on the train from Istanbul.  Fortunately we had a good book tape so we were entertained.  Just in case we fell asleep we set the phone alarm for 15 minutes before the train stopped in Eskisehir.  I’m always a little anxious that we will miss our stop but so far that has never happened.  There were still people walking around town at that time of the morning.  (they were young people). 

Not sure where we will go next.  We have semester break the first two weeks in February so we have to get busy and make a plan.  Those that know me know I always have a “plan”.  Jerry will post pictures later.  He is still sleeping.

Italy

I thought of several titles for the blog, EURO shock, awesome cathedrals, shopper’s paradise, or if it’s Tuesday it must be Florence but I decided it should just be Italy.  We arrived Friday afternoon after taking the 2:15 AM train from Eskisehir to Istanbul, then a plane to Bergamo, not quite 3 hours and a bus, about an hour, to Milan.  It really wasn’t that bad.  We actually got some sleep on the train.  So far, this is Tuesday early evening we have seen Milan, Verona, Venice, and Florence.  The train system in Italy is truly remarkable, not cheap but for the convenience, worth the cost.  I couldn’t begin to blog about all we’ve seen.  Mostly we have walked and walked and eaten a lot of gelato.  An interesting note to our Turkish friends is that in every city we have been in there has been a Turkish café with doners ( a Turkish version of a burrito to you Tucson readers).  No, we didn’t eat in any of the cafes, when in Italy you eat Italian.  The pasta is awesome and they have these mini sweet waffles that are really really good.  That’s another reason why we have to walk.

Italians have been very nice and helpful but nothing compared to the friendliness and helpfulness of the people in Turkey.  I know we are in a unique spot in Turkey and I appreciate it more and more.

Neither of us are shoppers but for those of you who are, the shops are amazing.  I recently blogged about the women who dress well in Eskisehir but the women in Milan are into fashion in a big way.  It was like a fashion show on the street.  There are still women who wear furs, I saw a shop in Florence this afternoon who was making fur coats.

We have been very lucky with the weather.  Saturday in Milan was cold and some rain but we were on a bus most of the day.  Then when we went South we left the the rain behind and actually had some sunshine.  Didn’t even wear coats during our walk this afternoon in Florence.  Each city we’ve visited has had incredible duomos or churches.  Obviously we have barely scratched the surface of each city we’ve been in but this was meant as an exploratory visit so we’ve done what we planned.

 

We’re staying in Florence tonight and tomorrow go back to Bergamo and take in the small towns on Lake Como.  Then back to Eskisehir and return to school next Monday. 

Honoring Ataturk

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I have mentioned Ataturk several times.  Today was the anniversary of his death and so another ceremony (that may not be the correct word) honoring him for all he did for Turkey.  The Turkish teachers were busy for days preparing posters and other materials displayed around the lobby of the school.   There was a moment of silence at the minute of his death at 8:55 A.M.  It’s the quietest I’ve ever seen the students (really).  People talk about him with real reverence and him living on in their hearts.  There was a slide presentation and one picture of Bill Clinton showed up on the screen.  Fortunately I was standing next to a parent who spoke English.  She told me that Bill Clinton said that Ataturk should be one of the most respected leaders of the millennium.  Needless to say I wasn’t expecting to see a picture of Bill Clinton at a Turkish ceremony.

Today was English Club (every two weeks) and we had about 15 kids the last hour of the day for a special class on fun with English (that is the idea anyway).  The younger kids did a play dough project about animals while the older better English speakers did a story about A Bug’s Life.  We read a portion of the book in English and then the students wrote their version of the ending.  We didn’t get very far in 40 minutes but it was an entertaining meeting. 

Not sure how much blogging will happen on our trip.  Maybe a lot if the weather is really bad.  We’re leaving beautiful weather for rain and clouds.

Vegetarian Delight

Our newest friend in Eskisehir and on Facebook is Ibrahim Ersahin.  He has been very helpful to us around our apartment issues over the past couple of weeks.  Ibrahim speaks great English and is the son of our realtor.  He is always willing to be called or e-mailed to give us guidance.  He works for Turkish Railroad  as a mechanical engineer and helps out at his father’s office in the evenings and on weekends.  (He is currently doing a two week training for the railroad) Anyway, because of his love for English we found we had many things to talk about.    Ibrahim was kind to invite us to dinner last evening.  He has a lovely wife, (pictures coming) and a 20 month old son.  Unfortunately by the time we got the camera out his son was in bed but rest assured he is really really a handsome little boy.   I mentioned in an e-mail after the invitation that we were vegetarian and he said that is the preferred way of eating for his wife so Ipek cooked a terrific vegetarian dinner that could have come from a fancy restaurant.  It was delicious.   I don’t have a clue what the names of the dishes were but we had cay (tea) of course, then lentil soup, a wonderful pasta casserole, green beans in a delicious sauce, potatoes with fresh herbs, grape leaves stuffed with rice and dinner ended with a Turkish pumpkin dessert.  Needless to say we were stuffed.  Ipek doesn’t speak English so Ibrahim did the translating.   Their apartment is lovely and like most things in Eskisehir we were able to walk home within 10 minutes.  We’ll look forward to more evenings and interesting discussions together.

 

Kurban Bayrami (Festival of the Sacrifice)

This is the name for the holiday that is coming up next weekend.  The book I read said that this the most important religious and secular holiday of the year. It is as important to the Muslims as Christmas is to Christians.  The festival commemorates Ibrahim’s near sacrifice of his son on Mt Moriah.  It is a similar story to the biblical tale about Abraham and Isaac.  The story goes that when Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son he was stopped and told to slaughter an animal instead.  Every year about 4 million cows and sheep are sacrificed.  Apparently most of the sacrifices are done in the country not in the cities.   After the sacrifice the meat is given to organizations that help the poor so the meat goes to a  good cause.  The banks and government offices are closed and lots of people travel.

Our school is closed for an entire week as well which, of course, gives us a chance to travel.  This will be our first major trip since we arrived in Eskisehir.  We have train tickets that leave Eskisehir at 2:30 next Friday  morning!!  Then we get into Istanbul (the Asian side) early in the morning and go to the smaller airport in Istanbul where we catch the flight for Milan.  It will be interesting to see how well we handle getting up in the middle of the night to catch a train.  I’m sure it will be another adventure which is what this whole thing is about!

Just another day in paradise

We say that a lot in Tucson, especially in January and February. But is also true for us here in Eskisehir right now. It is 65 and sunny and has been for several days and is projected to be until we leave next Friday for Italy. Carol and I walked to see the other University. It turned out to be a great 7 mile round trip. Osmangazi Üniversitesi is newer than Anadulo University and the area is newer housing and roads all new and nice. The city is busy at all times with people out walking, but on a gorgeous day it lights up with people doing all kinds of things. Selling, buying and just out having a beautiful time. We looked at the weather forecast for Milan and it is cold, rainy and just plain scary, but also lots of old stuff to see inside.

As you can see Carol have become so famous here they have put her up in one of their newest statues. She is conversing with the blues brothers a brand new river side art work just across from our apartment. Then later we stopped to chat with these two ladies that never seem to run out of something important to talk about at the next bridge across from our place. I know you are all worried about us and our heating problem so just thought you would like to hear that it is just another beautiful day in paradise. Then it was time for “Cay” and Cake. Jerry

Routines

We are settling into a routine here in Eskisehir just like you do anyplace you live.   Work continues to challenge both of us, but especially Carol (me, the blogger).  Because I have 7 different grades that means I prepare 7 different lessons a week. Entertaining kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade kids even for 40 minutes takes a lot of energy!  I had my new 6th grade class write me a “postcard” about why I should come to Eskisehir as a class assignment.  They all read their postcards in class (minimum of 5 sentences which I got from 75% of them).  Many of them talked about the river that you have seen in our pictures and the friendly people that live in the city.  I’m enjoying having classes with kids that speak a little more English so I can have a conversation with them and the more English they speak the better.  I’m interested in ideas that I can use for topics they can speak on other than relatives, movies, sports, singers or vacations so any ideas you can send my way will be appreciated.  If you can’t get to the comment section on the blog send to my e-mail at clittle1946@gmail.com .

I don’t think that I mentioned I bought a whistle last weekend to use in class.  Saying "QUIET” was getting to my voice.   Needless to say they were a little shocked when I blew my whistle on the first day.

We’re experiencing a late summer weekend here.  The weather is beautiful.  

Day Light Savings Time

Guess what, Turkey is on daylights saving and it changed today.  Fortunately I had heard something about it or we would have been late for the school van tomorrow morning.  I guess the states don’t go on until next Sunday and of course all you Tucson folks never have to think about changing your clocks.  The weather has been great here this weekend.  Lots of walking. 

Republic Day Celebration

Just came in from dinner and watching some fireworks.  We actually saw most of the fireworks from our living room window.  There was a boat that went down the river and every quarter mile or so fired off some colorful fireworks.  It was pretty cool.  Right before dark was the dragon boat races.  There were two large kayak type boats with 8 or 10 paddlers who kept time with a drummer.  That was also right out our front window.  Unfortunately we got to the parade too late.  It started at 10:00 and we got there about 10:40 and it was over.  Oh well, maybe next year, who knows.    Today was mostly spent catching up on tv shows through our expat vpn system.  We saw a CSI episode and the new Hawaii 50.  We also regularly watch Jon Stewart and hope his big rally to restore sanity  on Saturday is a big hit! 

This and that again

I wanted to post a few more Turkish observations that I keep forgetting about when I  blog.  Jerry and I both have cell phones but there is no voice mail in Turkey.  Yes, people text but there is no way to set up a voice message.  Of course, I am technologically challenged but I need to learn to text. So far it hasn’t been necessary.  When you  miss a call the # is there so you can just redial.

The women in Turkey dress very nicely.  I always feel a little underdressed when I walk down the street in my jeans and tennis shoes. Of course, there are a lot of people who are dressed like me, but many of  women wear nice boots, pants or skirts and look like they are on the streets of a big city.   All our teachers dress up at school.  Seems like I haven’t seen the same outfit on some of them yet.  The parents are also dressed very fashionably when they come to school for special events.  There are a lot of “high end” shops here as well as very reasonable shops.  For a relatively small town it has it all!!

All the cafes, bars, and restaurants have outside areas that are open during the summer.  There is a no smoking in buildings or restaurants law that I have been told is enforced, but people can smoke on the patios. Now that it is winter all the patios are enclosed with heavy plastic and have heaters so  people can continue to enjoy their cay and cigarette. Playing games is also a big thing in the cafes.  Most of them have board and card games that people can sit and play for as long as they want and enjoy their smokes and cay.

More later on the celebration for their Republic Day.  Looks like the rain may hold off. 

Turkey’s 4th of July celebration

Tomorrow (Friday) is a celebration of when Turkey became a republic thanks to Ataturk and his Young Turks, a progressive group of military  men who wanted to build a successful nation after World War I. We only  had half a day of school today and the last hour was a program by the students and teachers to celebrate their independence from their old empire.  I still don’t know a lot of Turkish history but I do know how revered Ataturk and his principles still are.  Every Monday morning the students gather to sing the national song and show their  respect.  There is also a ceremony at the end of the school week as well. 

The students put on quite a performance today,  but unfortunately, Jerry and I couldn’t understand what they were saying and singing.  We did enjoy the show.  I think we should know more Turkish by now but it really is a hard language or at least we think it is. Gestures and pointing still work pretty well for us.

Good news!!  I think we have heat.  I’ll write more this weekend about their celebration if the weather cooperates.  It’s cloudy and rainy today so the heat came at a good time.

More Classes

I sort of knew that when the other English teacher disappeared back to England that Jerry and I would get her classes.  I had a new schedule today with 7 more hours all 6th grade.  6A and 6B with three hours each and then an extra class for the kids that need some extra help.  Needless to say I spent my evening preparing.  Jerry has 7 more 7th grade classes.  They are at different places in the curriculum which means I have to prepare for two separate groups.  Still no resolution on our heating.  The weather is suppose to turn cold and rainy by the end of the week so I’m still hopeful it will be resolved.  We do have the electric heaters so we won’t freeze. One 6th grade is studying fables and the other one is already on poems.  Not sure what I like more, Potato Pals or fables and poems! 

Great Friends and Great Food

We spent a beautiful sunny day taking pictures of our favorite restaurants and friends from each restaurant, there are several more but these are the very best and we eat at each one at least once a week.  The first one is Halil who manages the Traveler’s Irish Pub.  He speaks English and has been very kind to us.  He always gives us tastes of his special sauces or hot peppers which I (Carol) eat, Jerry does not.  Sometimes the peppers are hotter than the ones we get in Tucson.  The second picture is the owner of our favorite corba (soup) restaurant.  He also treats us to some of his special dishes.  The third is the waiter from our favorite pide (bread with cheese and for us mushrooms, others get meat) restaurant.  We gave our blog address to Halil today.  I’m curious to hear his comments.  From several other blog readers who are from Turkey or this area we have heard it is interesting to read about their culture through a visitors eyes. 

 

Party Down at the “UpnDown”

Yes, that’s correct Jerry and I were at a party at a bar called the UpnDown.  We were in the basement or Down section for a karaoke party.  One of our teachers Merve was invited and she told us she was going to sing.  Of course we couldn’t miss the opportunity to hear her sing so we showed up along with Evrim and Ayse and her husband Serhat.  What an evening!!  There were about 150 very young people and us!!  The kids really got into the singing (mostly Turkish songs but they had the lyrics for American songs as well) and were having a great time dancing.  Everyone just sort of dances to the music, doesn’t really matter if you have a partner or not.  Well, I haven’t danced that much in years.  Jerry was even thinking of going up on stage and having us do I’ve Got You Babe.  Couldn’t quite bring myself to do that. Maybe after another beer.  The girls were great dancers.  Unfortunately, Merve never was called to sing.  Not sure what happened to the list but we’ll probably “have” to go back some other night so we can hear her!!  Can’t begin to tell you again how much we enjoy our young teachers.

When we showed up at the bar last night we were surprised to find one of the guys who helped us with our internet when we first moved in is the manager of Down.  We didn’t realize it was the bar where he worked until we saw him.  He remembered us and gave us a warm Turkish greeting.  Then we remembered that the “bouncer” at the bar was from New York.  He is Turkish but lived in New York until he was 32 and decided to move back to Turkey.  He had had enough of New York. He’s been back 6 years and had to learn to speak Turkish but he is now married with a baby. 

We’re leaving in a few minutes to have tea with a relative of the neighbor of our apartment owner.  Can you believe she lives in Green Valley!! She is visiting back in Turkey and having dental work done.  The bottom line for all this is that it really is a small world!

We found out today that while we were partying last night the building owner was waiting for us so he could look at the heating.  We didn’t know he needed us at home so we missed him.   We have a new plan for Monday evening so we are hopeful of a resolution.  The weather is still great here for a few more days.

Jerry took pictures today on our walk so he’ll get them posted sometime this weekend.  This is Jerry, I just wanted to let everyone know that Carol decided to make up for all the years of dancing she missed because of me in just one night.  She was going with the best of them all night long.  Her version of the Turkish belly dance still needs a little work, but she is on a roll so to speak.  Rock and Roll that is. 

Technology and other “thoughts”

I mentioned technology in my last blog.  Wednesday I had a listening exercise and was told by the other teacher that the computer worked in the room so no problem with the CD; however, they didn’t tell me that the password had changed and I didn’t ask since it had been the same password since the beginning of school.  Anyway, I get to class, try to go on the computer and can’t get in.  I sent a student for a boombox from our teachers room but he came back with the broken one.  by that time most of the lesson was over so we  played “hangman” and a couple of other icebreakers which the kids enjoy.  Basically we are fortunate to have as many resources as we do so I can’t really complain, but it was a frustration. I’ll just have to be better prepared next time.

Another interesting piece of Turkish culture that I don’t think I’ve mentioned is the importance of Eczane’s or pharmacies.  You can’t buy aspirin, vitamins, or any other kind of pill in a grocery store or even the big box store that we visit occasionally.  Anything that is considered a medication is only sold at the Eczane.  They have one on just about every block so it’s not a problem.  So far we’ve only bought vitamins so fortunately haven’t needed any other kind of medication.

We may  have a heat resolution.  We sure hope so!!!!!

It’s not all a bed of roses!!

Just in case we gave the impression that everything is perfect I thought I should share our frustration over our apartment heat.  I think I mentioned that in Turkey they don’t typically turn the heat on until October 15th and it was pretty cold that week.  We bought a space heater and made the best of it and then it warmed up; however, the 15th has come and gone and still no heat.  Apparently the heating system in our building is broken.  Our emlak (realtor) has been working with us to solve the problem but so far no resolution.  The building owner did bring a big space heater over today so right now we are toasty.  Everyone here keeps telling us how cold it is going to get so we are anxious for a resolution.  We really don’t want to move from our location, it’s a great  part of town.

The other issue that could be interesting is that the other woman from England who was the third native speaker at school went back to England unexpectedly.  I doubt that she will be back so we don’t know what that means for us. ( Stay posted for the update.)  The other Turkish teachers were surprised and I think a little anxious about what that means for them as well.  somehow we’ll all have to cover the classes she had. 

Back to the good side of our adventure is how much fun it is to run into our students on the street.  We’ve also met several parents at school functions and they all want to know if their children speak English to us.  Sometimes it’s yes and sometimes we or at least I should speak for myself (Carol here), I’m surprised that the child speaks as much English as they do.  Some are shy and sometimes the class size doesn’t allow for much speaking time.  My class sizes go all the way from 6 in the 4th grade to 24 in one of my 1st grade classes. I do a lot of coloring exercises in my kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classes because the activity keeps the kids occupied while I go around the room asking questions about what they are coloring.  I love seeing their eyes light up when they say the correct English words and I say “great job” or do a “thumbs up”. 

The children get a lot of English classes during the week. I think it’s around 8 class sessions of 40 minutes each.  They get much more than the public schools according to the other teachers at our school. I would love to just have 6 in all my classes but that is never going to happen.

Our favorite pizza in Tucson was at Zona 78 and we have now found something almost as good.  The restaurant is called Passage (pasage with a short a) and they even have an English menu.  The pizza is 8 TL which is about $5.00.  Last night we went to the new restaurant down the street that just opened. It’s called the Traveler’s Irish Pub but the only thing Irish about it is the beer.  The menu has a great fish fillet but the really nice thing is that the manager who I’ve mentioned in several other blogs requested that the chef make us a vegetable plate.  When we ask what we should do when he isn’t there to interpret he told us to just say the American’s are here.

That’s enough for now, the good still outweighs the bad, but next time I’ll tell you about my technology frustrations!! 

Daily Life in Eskisehir

Cay (sounds like chai) but it’s tea is an everyday occurrence from morning to night.  We were actually shocked when we went to eat at a coffee place the other night and they didn’t have cay!  People do drink coffee here but cay is the main drink.  It comes in little glasses (best described as hour glass shape with the top cut off and no handle) in most places but we’ve found cups in some restaurants.  During my shopping day last weekend with Ayse we stopped at a pet store where her husband was visiting a friend.  The first thing the owner did was ask if we wanted cay and of course you say yes.  He had an intercom to a delivery tea service and within 5 minutes we were all drinking our cay. We had noticed people walking across the street carrying glasses of tea on a tray but didn’t quite realize what it meant until last weekend.   Except for a few of the chain restaurants like Burger King there is very little ice here.  We buy cans of ice tea but I have yet to see ice sold anywhere. Cay is always served with sugar, none of that fake stuff served in any of the restaurants although you can find artificial sugar in the grocery store.  We use the artificial stuff  at school but use the sugar in the restaurants.  It’s just what you do.

We were walking down the street this morning coming back from breakfast and the manager of our weekend breakfast cafe saw us on the street and invited us into a new restaurant he is helping open just a block from our apartment.  Of course we had cay and he and the owners (a delightful couple who own three other restaurants in a partnership and speak English) shared their new menu and invited us back for their opening tonight.  Halil, the manager, has assured us that he talked to the chef and he can fix us vegetarian options.  They also have fish on the menu which is not very common here since Eskisheir is so far from the ocean or a sea.

Last night coming back from dinner I heard “Carol” and it was one of my kindergarten students with his sister and parents who speak English.  The mother is from Canada. We will probably see them on Sunday when we go back to school for the kindergarten parents meeting. (Last weekend was the parents meeting for the older kids) Turkish people do work long hours and it’s not at all uncommon to work 6 day weeks.

Today, Jerry and I were walking down the street talking and someone said to us, “you speak English”.   He had just returned here after being gone for 18 years and was anxious to speak English with someone.  We had a nice conversation before going on our way.

Today is sunny and warm after a few cold rainy days.  We’re off to see the movie Red at our neighborhood cinema. 

Working on a Sunday

Yesterday was parents day at the school where we teach, TED Koleji so the service picked us up at 12:00 at our usual spot.  The 1st to 5th grade parents came first.  There was an opening session at 1:00. Of course, we didn’t understand anything that went on except we heard our names mentioned.  Then we visited each classroom to answer questions from the parents.  I couldn’t contribute much there either except a few parents who spoke English came up and talked.  Then at 3:00 they had another session for the 6th to 9th grade which are Jerry’s classes.  Bottom line we didn’t get home until after 7:00.  The Turkish people work very hard.

On Saturday I went shopping for pants with my co-worker and friend, Ayse.  She is from Eskisehir and knows all the good spots.  We went to a shop which sells nothing but women’s pants.  I found 3 pairs for 60 TL or about $40.00.  They altered them while Ayse and I had tea and pastry and walked around a bazaar in the Ottoman part of town.  Jerry was off at his Turkish bath while we did our shopping. 

Now it’s Monday morning and we’re off to work again.  Hope everyone out there in cyberspace is doing well.

What makes a Cold and Rainy Day Hot and Steamy? (no not that)

Well, it is about 45 and rainy in Eskisehir today.  So what do you do?  Well first you go to the Starbucks like bakery and have a long and lovely brunch with tea, pastries and great old American music. Then Carol’s goes off with another teacher who is from here and they shop of course.  So I was left with staying in our cold apartment or trying the Turkish Bath House tradition.  So I made a choice.  The century old tradition won out.  I went off to get a massage and enjoy the steamy haman. Well as with most efforts here it was more of learning than doing.  I went in and paid my 6 lira or $4 for use of the facility.  I was told the massage would be 20 TL  (Turkish Lira).  As with everything here people really want to help, but the lack of Turkish on my side and English on their side kept me in a state of confusion.  Finally one person explained the process to me, but is was at the time of a shift change and I had already been there for an hour and it seemed to me that I would be better to take the knowledge and try again. 

So what I learned is that the tradition if still very popular.  A very crowded place with many fathers with their sons getting an early start in the tradition.  It seems that the way it is done is to take at least 2 hours and maybe 3 to relax, steam clean, massage, rest and take nourishment with friends for long conversations.  So I can see why people like it a lot.  

As you can imagine no pictures to go with this post

“Toto” We don’t live in Tucson any more

We are experiencing fall weather for the first time in many many years.  It was actually cold enough to see our breath when we walked the whole 3 minutes to our pick up point for our jobs.  I’m not complaining,(this is Carol) just saying it’s really really different from Tucson.   We are fortunate to live in an apartment that seems to hold the heat during the day because there is some kind of Turkish rule that says you can’t turn on the type of heat we have until October 15th!!  We were prepared to experience this so we’re doing fine.  Our heat is steam heat from a coal furnace.  We have heaters in every room so we’ll let you know how it works.  Showers are a little tricky.  It’s working better for me to do an evening shower and jump into a warm bed, Jerry is still braving the morning.

We went on a peanut butter hunt today.  We found a jar when we first came and stayed at the hotel but just ran out and our local “Migros” and several others around us didn’t have any.  Turkey and other countries we have visited have another type of spread but it’s not like real peanut butter.  Anyway, we found it at the store near the hotel where we stayed when we arrived.  It’s near the Anadolu University so we decided it must be something college students buy that are here from other countries.  I think I mentioned previously that Eskisehir has a very large Erasmus program or foreign student program from all over the world.

Some of you may want to know more about the teaching experience.  Well, I have gone from being a CEO of a non profit  agency to Potato Pals.  My new pals for first and second grades are Dean, Daisy, Chip, Joy, Nina and one other that escapes me at the moment.  In the first grade we are “Getting Up in the Morning”” and the second grade is “At the Store”.  Each unit has a CD and a book with short sentences and a bunch of flash cards.  The trick is to to see if they really learn the English or are just repeating the words in the song that they have heard and sung a “bunch” of times.  My co teachers and I keep coming up with ideas on how to play the right games that will help them learn. Kindergarten is Teddy is Ready which is a new book that was just written and we just got this week.  We’re not sure how  well it will go over yet.  I tried some boy and girl games with my kindergarten class that didn’t work.  It did work in 2nd grade.  You would not believe how competitive they were!  I’ll try them with my other 2nd and 1st grade classes next week.

My 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes have really good books with reading, writing, and listening exercises.  They have a lot of variety and it’s fun to teach from the books.  They go from Starters to Movers to Flyers.  I think I already mentioned that the challenge is teaching to the various levels in each class.  A few know the words well and get the exercises quickly and a few don’t really understand what I am saying or asking for at all.  It would be really good to group them by ability but then that becomes a scheduling nightmare so you just do what you can.

Well, this is long enough for now.  Any of you teachers and former teachers out there that have ideas please forward to me at clittle1946@gmail.com.  Thanks to Nancy Milburn for several good ideas.  Jerry is using her idea to have his students select an English “nickname” and it has gone over very well.  Keep those helpful ideas coming we need all the help we can get on this big adventure called “teaching”

  .

The Younger Side of Teaching

Merhaba (hello) We’ve now been teachers for two weeks and I am struggling to learn my students names.  I started to count the # of students today and realized that I have over 100 students each week.  Of course most of the names are new to me and C’s are really pronounced like J’s.  It helped when I figured that out.  I did have them do name tags for the 3rd, 4th and 5th years which helped some also.  Like Jerry I have kids at all levels of English.  There are a few kids who grew up with English so English lessons can be pretty boring for them.  Since I only have 9 assigned classes a week I have been going to the classes with the English teachers who speak Turkish and going around helping the students during the lessons.   When you have 23 first graders one teacher just isn’t enough.  The one on one gives me a good idea of the level of each student. The Turkish teachers do their best to speak English throughout the class but sometimes use Turkish when the kids need to quiet down.  The kids still aren’t use to the fact that I speak no Turkish.  Some of them try the “I have to go to the bathroom” routine on me.  I can just indicate I don’t understand. Then the demo’s get pretty funny.  Usually I say no but occasionally the “demo” seems pretty real so I say yes.  I think for the most part I am being “conned” by experts. But, I will get to know the game better each time and then I will get my con going and they will learn in spite of themselves. You know me, teacher Carol, I get my man just like the Canadian Mounties even if he is six.

I want to thank our new friends Roger and Sibel for inviting us to the beginning of semester buffet for the communications professors at Anadolu University.  They just moved into a beautiful new building and there are 80 professors involved in the program which serves “erasmus”  or foreign students who come from all over the world.

If any of you blog readers have a chance the link to the article about Eskisehir in an earlier post is a really good description of what one person can accomplish. Worth your time to read, tamam (ok).  (that’s a word you hear a lot in turkey just like in the states.)

A world without Starbucks

We have been having nice leisurely breakfast on the long weekends, but until today it had not occurred to us that we had not had a Starbucks like  experience.  So we set out to find a place that would give us the tea and pastry like Saturday morning feeling, where we could spend 20 bucks for tea.  We had to try several to find the sweet pastry like product, but we had potatoes, spinach and cheese pastries that were very good.  However, not the same idea.  The walk around the university continued with many pasta shops (that is pastry to you). Shop after shop, nice but no cigar so to speak.  Then we turned toward home and on a side street there it was -- Starbucks in Turkish.  Apple turnovers, scone like things and walnut pastries only two miles away so we bought them to bring home.  Then as we got to our bridge 50 yards from home and we looked in the window of our on cookie shop and there they were, We also discovered that they have an upstairs for serving tea, etc. We no longer will suffer the great human tragedy on being Starbuckless. (this is Jerry writing)

This is our new home and it’s story on a great website

Take a look at this website if you would like to see how a city can develop wonderfully and quickly, just like Tucson, for those of you that are familiar with Rio Nuevo in Tucson. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=10810070

Future Leaders of the World 8th and 9th Graders in Eskisehir

 

These are my students(Teacher Jerry)

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This is mixture of all 4 classes, but there are some really bright and talented kids in these groups.  I will say they like to talk and play as much as they like to study.  Today though I hit on an idea to have a student teacher from the class with me on each lesson and I think it will really help.  Each class has three lessons with me each week and that means we will have 3 student teachers per week per class.  These 12 will get special attention from me and also help me translate the assignments into Turkish, which seem to be a big issue with many  of them.  I have some talented musicians and a fine artist in one of the classes.  Learning the 70 names is going slowly, one of my students whose name is pronounced Jon said he noticed that if I did know a boys name I just called him Jon and it seemed to work.  This was not intentional, but maybe part of my answer for now.  No such luck with the girls though.  They like class games so any ideas or experience out in blog land will be appreciated.  We are working with creating a game called “The great game of learning English”  we are going to make up the rules during Sept and Oct and start the competition between classes in Nov.  Carol promises more on her kids this weekend.

Monday morning

I have a few minutes before we leave for our van to start another school week.  We’re taking cookies to school to celebrate getting our residency permits.  Bought my first pair of Turkish shoes, only 30 TL (turkish lira), this weekend and Jerry spent time getting our internet more established.  Sometimes everything comes through fine and other times it doesn’t “stream” very fast.  He thinks he has it figured out.  More about the students this week.  Jerry is trying to set up a pen pal program with some of our granddaughters class in Tucson.  Could be fun.

Being a Teacher what a concept!

Well school has started for real.  This is Teacher Jerry talking.  I have 4 groups of students, two 8th grades and two 9th grades and teach each 3 hours per week.  Sounds easy enough, but there is going to be a lot of prep and lesson planning to go along with the curriculum for their text books.  Not to mention grading homework.  Most of the kids are wonderful and really anxious to learn, but not all of course. There is a wide range of understanding or lack thereof in their English so I will have to work to span the range and still keep it interesting for all of us.  The books are really fun for me, because the topics cover the whole range of the worlds issues, history, math, etc.  They key is going to be a consistent discipline in the curriculum and the classroom.  I have had to get tough with a small group in one class and it looks like it may get even tougher to be fair to the other kids who do want to learn.

I took videos of each student pronouncing their name and telling how many years they have studied English and will watch them to learn the names and show them to entertain the students.  But even more entertaining will be the video of me trying to learn and pronounce the words I asked them to teach me.  They have all ready had a ton of laughs with this idea and it will continue since I have such a bad ear for language and I promised to video me practicing the vocabulary.  It will help me learn faster, but I will suffer the humiliation and hope it will be worth it.  I will get group pics next week. I already have a new and finer appreciation for the profession. I want to see the new film about education in America. Waiting for Superman. Who knew they would make a film about me so soon.

Kent Park Pics what a place to play

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We’re now officially teachers

It was such a busy week that I’ve missed blogging for a few days.  I was preparing for all the different levels that I am teaching. Now we’ve both had our first classes so I’m a little better oriented.  I’ll let Jerry blog about his experiences.  For the most part it was great, the kids are wonderful and don’t know quite what to do with a teacher that doesn’t speak their language.  You should see the pantomiming that goes on when they try to convince me they have to go to the bathroom right after their ten minute break. I’ve said yes a few times because I’m not really sure whether they are “conning” me or not and I don’t need an accident in the classroom!!!!  Classes are 40 minutes long with a ten minute break after each class.  Not hard to tell when it’s break time, the students watch the time down to the second.  There isn’t a bell so everyone just has to be on top of their schedules.  We meet our van at 7:30 and get to school about 8:00.  Classes start at 8:30 until 4:30.  We’re home by 5:30. .We don’t have any classes on Friday so today we are off, not sure if that will last or not.  I have 9 classes which took me all week to prepare for.  I also go into some of the other classes to see how the other teachers handle their classes which has been very helpful.  Now for the response to the “for the most part”.   One of my first grade classes is quite difficult to manage.  As soon as they figured out I couldn’t understand what they were saying some of them decided they could talk or do whatever they wanted.  I was relieved to hear that it wasn’t just me.  The other teachers are having challenges with this class.  After several attempts to quiet them down I went on with the ones who wanted to learn and finished the lesson.  I’m going to suggest that the other English teacher who has the class and I team teach in that room.  There are 24 kids and when you start checking on someone’s work you can lose control quickly.  Hopefully team teaching will help.

The kids are all at different levels with English.  Some grew up in English speaking households and are very good speakers.  Sedefsu, the little girl I met last weekend, speaks great English and was my “helper” in kindergarten.  Her mother, Sibel, loaned me some great books to read to the class.  Even though only a couple know the words that I’m reading they can understand the story with the pictures.   I’m going to try Dr Suess’s Green Eggs and Ham next week. 

The other news is that we got our residency permits yesterday.  We can officially stay in the country until next Sept.  That was an important part of working here.  Otherwise we were only on 3 month visas.  The weather is still beautiful but we can tell fall is coming soon.   We have a week break the middle of November and we’re trying to figure out where to go.  It is a very important Muslim holiday so we’re thinking of going to Italy even though the weather won’t be great.  We can fly out of Ankara which is only an hour and a half away. 

School Started

Carol is just one of the kids at lunch

All the kids and the parents ready for another year

The kids did a fine job of getting school off to a proud start

Well a lot of Pomp and Circumstance but the the real thing started and Carol had her first 5 grade class and she is off and running in her new career as an elementary school teacher.  She did really well and is still very enthused.  I on the other hand don’t start classes until tomorrow morning and am still not officially a real teacher, but tomorrow I dive in at 8:30 with my 8th graders.

Roger’s links take a look

http://http://www.sundialpress.co.uk/RED%20DIE%20Questions%20&%20Answers.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/Albions-Dream-Roger-Norman/dp/0385305338/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1284869301&sr=8-1

“Awesome” Weekend

We  experienced more of the Turkish hospitality this weekend.  We met Roger (English), his wife Sibel (Turkish), and their charming 6 year old daughter Sedefsu (Turkish name,  Christine, English name .  She just turned 6 yesterday.    Roger and Sibel both teach at Anadolu University. We met them at a Japanese tea garden on the University campus for drinks.  Because they had a lot of food from Sedefsu’s birthday party they invited us back to their home.  Everything is within walking distance for us or at worst a quick tram ride.  They have a lovely 4th floor apartment near the University that is very new.  The food, just happened to be vegetarian, which was perfect for us and all delicious.  We had a quinoa dish, several different types of breads and desserts and way more food than we could eat.  Sibel’s mother had made several of the dishes.  Roger is a writer and has worked on over 25 special projects for the UN.  He has great pictures from India and Africa and has worked in many places around the world.  We borrowed one of his books which is  a fantasy along the theme of the movie Jumanji with Robin Williams.  He wrote the book before the movie and it seems to me that he should have got credit for the movie but unfortunately, he didn’t.  Jerry will add the links to his Amazon site and the book site later.  Sibel is a professor of cinema.  The classes deal with the history and themes of films.  Apparently there is quite a film festival in Eskisehir in May.  I’m looking forward to hearing more about their careers and experiences. 

In addition to their home they own an acre of land about 20 minutes from downtown where they have have planted tomatoes, corn, potatoes, onions, fruit trees, and walnut trees, etc.  We drove out to their garden this morning (Sunday) and picked fresh tomatoes off the vine.  We have some to enjoy this week.  You can’t imagine the difference in taste from the tomatoes in the grocery stores in the U.S.   Sibel fed us more delicious leftovers.  While Sibel and Roger watered their trees and plants Jerry and I climbed a nearby hill with Sedefsu.  The views were wonderful and we ended up coming down the hill into a little nearby village.  There was a herd, if that is what they are called, of sheep walking through the village. 

We  ended our Sunday with our friend Diane seeing the new George Clooney movie, The American.  If you haven’t seen it, don’t.  It was pretty worthless.

         

Work Permit

 

We spent two afternoons this week working on getting our official residency card which will allow us to apply for a work permit.  It is quite a process and thank goodness the school is helping us.  Evrim, one of co-workers went along with us and the contract manager from the school so she could translate.  You go to some official office and get a # which then allows you to get a residency card in order to stay in the country past the initial 3 months on our visa.  After you get the # you go to the Foreigner’s Office to get the official residency card.  We think everything is going well!

Our dinner with the couple from England was moved to Saturday which was fortunate since most of the teachers in the school went out to dinner last night (Friday).  We enjoy the opportunity to get to know our co-workers better.  Several of the teachers were born and raised in Eskisehir but Evrim is from Ankara and Merve is from Izmir.  They are both experiencing work experiences away from home for the first time.  Merve’s boyfriend is visiting from Ankara (they both went to school there)this weekend and they invited us out for a drink last night so we could meet him. Would you believe we knew a bar to suggest as a place to meet!  He was a wonderful guy who spoke some English.  He was willing to practice with us.

Today (Saturday) we gathered our laundry to walk over to the lady who runs a laundry.  With sheets we had two loads which will be 12 TL which is about $8.00.  That’s washed, dried and folded.  Worth every lira.  We actually had a cleaning lady this week too.  Those who know me would not be surprised.  She did a great job for about $30.00.  Again, worth every penny.

This may be “TMI” (too much information) for some of you, but we have really liked having a bidet on our toilet.  It’s pretty standard in Turkey.  Some of the older restaurants and government offices still have Asian toilets which are on the ground.  Not my favorite bathrooms and I avoid them whenever possible.  Restaurants get points for having “regular toilets” which all have bidets.Always enjoy comments or e-mails. Hope everyone is doing well. Here is Carol getting some help from the German Teacher on how to get her school scarf tied. Then Carol with a couple from our team. Dressed for the big picture shoot.  More pictures soon, but here are the top admin people from school.  They

have all be working very hard to get school started this year.    More info later about each.