Thus Begins The Journey

Due to one of those cyclical downsizings of the staff in UW’s English Language Program, I suddenly and with little warning found myself without employment for the coming academic year. I quickly started exploring other opportunities, including one at a UW branch campus that seemed just perfect, but that didn’t work out.

The day before receiving what was essentially a layoff notice, I got one of those mass e-mails about someone is some country looking for someone to teach English. I always delete those, because the timing hadn't seemed right to work outside the country. Strangely, in this case I didn’t delete the e-mail. To make a long story short, the position was is Gaziantep Turkey, in the south central part of the country, just north of Aleppo, Syria. I applied, was offered a job, and accepted. This left me with just two weeks to get ready to leave, six days of which was already committed to a trip to eastern Oregon to visit a dear friend, attend the Pendleton Round-up and enjoy the spectacular countryside. In short, it was a bit of a rush.

I flew from Seattle to Chicago and caught a flight to Istanbul, where I had a six-hour layover before flying on to Gaziantep. I arrived at 1 AM, expecting to be met. I had only an office phone number and no idea where my promised housing was to be. When they locked the airport and turned off the lights if gave up waiting and I entrusted my fate to a taxi driver who said he’d take me to a hotel in the center of town. He did. Frankly, I didn’t doubt he would. I’d had nothing but friendly and helpful encounters throughout the trip, beginning with the gentleman at the United counter who helped me sort out an overweight baggage problem to the taxi driver who got me safely to a hotel that night.

My first impression of Gaziantep was the night sky. There was Orion. He seemed so much larger and brighter than what we see in our night sky. But it was also a comfort to see old friend Orion up there, still shining away. And thus begins the journey.