Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Getting a bit too cocky
Having mastered making actual phone calls using Skype and Skyping with various members of my family, I was feeling pretty good about my abilities to keep in touch. Then there was yesterday. The shuttle drops us at the campus ten minutes before class begins – truly inconvenient. That leaves me no chance to test my Internet hookup, let alone make copies or write things on the board in my classroom. However, returning from class I learned that the network was down. Then the electricity shut down. I ha been trying to get the elevator from the basement to my office floor and it was acting strangely. I pushed my floor and nothing happened; I pushed door close and nothing happened. The lights went on and off – I took this as a sign that I’d better take the stairs. We’re basically trapped on campus until 5:45 PM so there was a certain amount of thumb twiddling going on. The shocker was that we got home to find out our Internet connections in the apartment building weren’t working either. I’d scheduled a Skype session with Ted. I kept checking my connection until almost midnight and then had to give up and go to bed. So much for feeling on top of the technology. Best not to build one’s personal or professional life around Internet access.
Ellusive 4th Annual Pistachio Festival for Arts and Culture
This last weekend was the Fourth Annual Pistachio Festival of Arts and Culture. There were big banners all over town. Later I started to see billboards with what was obviously the program for a given day. It was all in Turkish, but there were usually pictures of the performing artists and times. I assume locations were also given but it was hard to know. One of the teachers found a Turkish website and thought she knew where there was a concert of traditional Italian folk music Saturday night. She and a couple of others set off into the night. Luckily she met someone at the bus stop who was meeting a friend who knew where the concert really was – in a new culture center that had previously been a church.
I was busy most of Saturday, but we decided we’d try to seek out the festival on Sunday. Somehow I imagined that there would be a central venue somewhere. We’d seen on a TV in a restaurant reporting on several folk dancing demonstrations and the proprietor said they were in the big park downtown. That made sense. Well, we thought we had located a folk dance event in a park that extends miles sort of SW to NE and ends downtown. On the map it looked like it wasn’t too far from the big mall Sanko Park. So we bussed to Sanko Park and started walking SW. On several occasions we thought we’d located the venue but there was never anyone there. I think we’d kind of given up finding the dancers and were just enjoying this truly amazing park. It is not very wide and basically follows a small creek. There isn’t much water it it and what water there is, is mostly stagnant. But this is an arid environment. I image there is more water in winter. Anyhow, there are several paths. One is more of a sidewalk down one edge. Then there is an unpaved, gravel and/pressed dirt path and then finally a brick path. The latter two kind of meander through the park, crossing over the creek here and there. There are large picnic areas (and there were families picnicking), some even with raised barbeque grills. There were playgrounds and even a tea house. We were truly amazed.
Finally we heard drums and moved in the direction of the music. Sadly, by the time we got there the dancers were leaving. However, we did see their costumes from afar. I was surprised at how elaborate they were. A couple of dancers were even wearing feather headdresses reminiscent of Native American regalia. This is something I’ll have to check out because from the quick glimpse I got, the costumes didn’t look European nor did they look like anything one typically associates with the Middle East. I’m really curious about the origins of this attire.
In short, missed the entire Fourth Annual Pistachio Festival, and I won’t be around for the fifth one. Too bad. But we did discover a very impressive park. We’d heard Gaziantep was known for its parks, and you do see little ones everywhere. However, as yet we’d seen nothing on this scale.
I was busy most of Saturday, but we decided we’d try to seek out the festival on Sunday. Somehow I imagined that there would be a central venue somewhere. We’d seen on a TV in a restaurant reporting on several folk dancing demonstrations and the proprietor said they were in the big park downtown. That made sense. Well, we thought we had located a folk dance event in a park that extends miles sort of SW to NE and ends downtown. On the map it looked like it wasn’t too far from the big mall Sanko Park. So we bussed to Sanko Park and started walking SW. On several occasions we thought we’d located the venue but there was never anyone there. I think we’d kind of given up finding the dancers and were just enjoying this truly amazing park. It is not very wide and basically follows a small creek. There isn’t much water it it and what water there is, is mostly stagnant. But this is an arid environment. I image there is more water in winter. Anyhow, there are several paths. One is more of a sidewalk down one edge. Then there is an unpaved, gravel and/pressed dirt path and then finally a brick path. The latter two kind of meander through the park, crossing over the creek here and there. There are large picnic areas (and there were families picnicking), some even with raised barbeque grills. There were playgrounds and even a tea house. We were truly amazed.
Finally we heard drums and moved in the direction of the music. Sadly, by the time we got there the dancers were leaving. However, we did see their costumes from afar. I was surprised at how elaborate they were. A couple of dancers were even wearing feather headdresses reminiscent of Native American regalia. This is something I’ll have to check out because from the quick glimpse I got, the costumes didn’t look European nor did they look like anything one typically associates with the Middle East. I’m really curious about the origins of this attire.
In short, missed the entire Fourth Annual Pistachio Festival, and I won’t be around for the fifth one. Too bad. But we did discover a very impressive park. We’d heard Gaziantep was known for its parks, and you do see little ones everywhere. However, as yet we’d seen nothing on this scale.
Friday, October 2, 2009
My First "Turkish Pizza"
The guidebooks say Gaziantep is famous for its pizza, Lahmacun. Actually, the base is just a white flour tortilla. However, it's shaped like a large oval, about 16 inches long. They smear it with a mixture of some sort of ground meat and spices. The one we got tonight was highly spiced, but apparently that's not always so. Also, in some places they give you fresh parsley to add. You fold it in half and eat away.
We got our Lahmacun just down the street. There's a little complex containing a neighborhood market that reminds me of the Korean markets in Manhattan, a bakery and a meat market. They all seem to work together. When we ordered the Lahmacun in the bakery, one of the young men took us to the meat market. A guy in the meat market scooped out a meat mixture and put it into a plastic bag. We took that back to the bakery. They have a huge wood fired oven that is used for a variety of things. While our Lahmacun were baking, they were baking pita -- not the pocket-style pita but the kind you get at the Continental in the U District. They had two paddles that must have been four feet long. The baker could really slip those pitas in and out. But the most interesting thing is that people brought in things to be baked. As we were leaving someone was bringing in what looked like a chicken-pineapple casserole. There were at least six round or rectangular pans with yummy looking dishes, most containing tomatoes and eggplants. So it looks like we may not be the only ones in these apartments without ovens. And it certainly is a sensible thing. Why fire up an electric oven when there is one across the street that's kept going most of the day. A large neighborhood over sounds like a good thing to me.
We got our Lahmacun just down the street. There's a little complex containing a neighborhood market that reminds me of the Korean markets in Manhattan, a bakery and a meat market. They all seem to work together. When we ordered the Lahmacun in the bakery, one of the young men took us to the meat market. A guy in the meat market scooped out a meat mixture and put it into a plastic bag. We took that back to the bakery. They have a huge wood fired oven that is used for a variety of things. While our Lahmacun were baking, they were baking pita -- not the pocket-style pita but the kind you get at the Continental in the U District. They had two paddles that must have been four feet long. The baker could really slip those pitas in and out. But the most interesting thing is that people brought in things to be baked. As we were leaving someone was bringing in what looked like a chicken-pineapple casserole. There were at least six round or rectangular pans with yummy looking dishes, most containing tomatoes and eggplants. So it looks like we may not be the only ones in these apartments without ovens. And it certainly is a sensible thing. Why fire up an electric oven when there is one across the street that's kept going most of the day. A large neighborhood over sounds like a good thing to me.
TGIF
Well, I made it through the first week. I taught my students the phrase TGIF and told them to say it to any of the American teachers they saw. (I also taught them the phrase “bio break” which they thought was hysterical.) Each group of students has me for 100 minutes of Communication, which includes listening, speaking and reading, and another teacher for 100 of grammar and writing. I feel a bit like an improv comedian on stage for 200 minutes. There is so much the students don’t understand, and I find myself either acting out or trying to draw words and ideas on the board. If one of the students gets it he/she usually shouts the word in Turkish. Maybe it’s more like charades than improv but whatever, it certainly keeps me on my toes. And it feels like a workout. Anyhow, that’s the way it goes.
Also we get paid today. I’ll only get paid for a week, since that is how long I’ve been here. None too soon as there have been certain set-up costs. I think I may end up buying a printer, since there is no time to print in the morning after the bus arrives (usually ten minutes before class) and I often don’t have what I need ready before going home. Furthermore, there are no networked printers. So far, the UNT administrators have let me hook my computer up to their printer to make one copy. Then I sort of have to sneak into the copy room. I’ve learned to use the fax machine to make a few copies – one of the admins showed me that trick (the fax machine wasn't there this afternoon when I went to make two copies.) But I sometimes think that I could be teaching in the bush somewhere without anything but maybe an old blackboard. We’ve just become so dependent on technology that we get miffed when something doesn’t function.
I think I may take a little walk in the hills this afternoon. The Internet is down at the moment so I might just as well enjoy the outdoors.
Update: There were no sheep this morning, but when the bus pulled out of the campus this evening, the flock was on the other side of the road. The shepherd was sitting sideways on a donkey, his legs swinging. There are some goats mixed in and it looked like there was a baby black and white goat on the ground near the donkey. Looks like the shepherd was keeping watch over him while the other animals grazed a way off.
Also we get paid today. I’ll only get paid for a week, since that is how long I’ve been here. None too soon as there have been certain set-up costs. I think I may end up buying a printer, since there is no time to print in the morning after the bus arrives (usually ten minutes before class) and I often don’t have what I need ready before going home. Furthermore, there are no networked printers. So far, the UNT administrators have let me hook my computer up to their printer to make one copy. Then I sort of have to sneak into the copy room. I’ve learned to use the fax machine to make a few copies – one of the admins showed me that trick (the fax machine wasn't there this afternoon when I went to make two copies.) But I sometimes think that I could be teaching in the bush somewhere without anything but maybe an old blackboard. We’ve just become so dependent on technology that we get miffed when something doesn’t function.
I think I may take a little walk in the hills this afternoon. The Internet is down at the moment so I might just as well enjoy the outdoors.
Update: There were no sheep this morning, but when the bus pulled out of the campus this evening, the flock was on the other side of the road. The shepherd was sitting sideways on a donkey, his legs swinging. There are some goats mixed in and it looked like there was a baby black and white goat on the ground near the donkey. Looks like the shepherd was keeping watch over him while the other animals grazed a way off.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Apple in Gaziantep
Although I am at this moment crunching on a very tasty Turkish apple from a little local market, I am actually referring to the computer folks. Apparently, Zivre struck some deal with Apple to purchase 1001 MacPro laptops. All students, staff, and teachers get them free. If you leave Zirve you have to return it, but we’ll have the use of them as long as we’re here. And interestingly, while the apple logo was everywhere, they used the Turkish work for apple "elma" and not the American company name "Apple." In fact that was the one word I understood on all those banners hanging around. (I'm working on Turkish food words -- I figure they are important.)
Today was the big public celebration of the partnership. Having worked in development at two different institutions that know how to put on classy events, I must say Zirve did a good job. They wanted the American teachers to be standing in front so we had to listen to all the speeches without understanding a work. Finally, our fearless leader, Eva Bowman, Director of the English Language Institute at the U of North Texas, got to give a little speech. She noted that today was a special day because it was the last day Turkish would be spoken within the halls of Zirve. It’s supposed to be an all English-speaking institution. I think the message was mostly for the students. If they ask me a question in Turkish, they are out of luck. But more than half the teachers are native speakers of Turkish and they are under great pressure to use Turkish in class. I think they’ve been very good about drawing the line, however.
No one could receive their computer without going through a three-hour training program. We were scheduled for last night. None of us were two enthusiastic because the language of instruction was to have been Turkish. Here’s where snafus sometimes work in your favor. It turns out no one gave the names of the American teachers to the tech guys so they not only hadn’t set up network accounts for us; they didn’t even have computers to give us. So we got to go home. We had training this afternoon from the Apple rep who’d come down from Istanbul for the event. Actually, I’d guessed he was the tech guy during the formal ceremony. All the other speakers were dressed in suits and ties. Then there was this guy who came to the mike in a sweatshirt. It wasn’t a grubby sweatshirt – it had a certain flair to it – but it wasn’t a suit. Of course, he was the techie. Anyhow we got our “training” in English. I use the word training loosely because it began with a presentation on the history of Apple and Apple products. We did get to play around with some of the whiz bang features of this new computer. Like many trainers, he hopped over the “go here, select that, then push on that” more quickly than most of us could follow. But Apple was really designed to be relatively intuitive, so eventually you can figure most things out. Anyhow, that was the big event of the day.
One thing that was nice were the refreshments. Fancy canapés and a range of juices -- good juices. And when people go out around here, they drink tea. It’s not a culture awash in alcohol. That’s a relief of sorts.
Today was the big public celebration of the partnership. Having worked in development at two different institutions that know how to put on classy events, I must say Zirve did a good job. They wanted the American teachers to be standing in front so we had to listen to all the speeches without understanding a work. Finally, our fearless leader, Eva Bowman, Director of the English Language Institute at the U of North Texas, got to give a little speech. She noted that today was a special day because it was the last day Turkish would be spoken within the halls of Zirve. It’s supposed to be an all English-speaking institution. I think the message was mostly for the students. If they ask me a question in Turkish, they are out of luck. But more than half the teachers are native speakers of Turkish and they are under great pressure to use Turkish in class. I think they’ve been very good about drawing the line, however.
No one could receive their computer without going through a three-hour training program. We were scheduled for last night. None of us were two enthusiastic because the language of instruction was to have been Turkish. Here’s where snafus sometimes work in your favor. It turns out no one gave the names of the American teachers to the tech guys so they not only hadn’t set up network accounts for us; they didn’t even have computers to give us. So we got to go home. We had training this afternoon from the Apple rep who’d come down from Istanbul for the event. Actually, I’d guessed he was the tech guy during the formal ceremony. All the other speakers were dressed in suits and ties. Then there was this guy who came to the mike in a sweatshirt. It wasn’t a grubby sweatshirt – it had a certain flair to it – but it wasn’t a suit. Of course, he was the techie. Anyhow we got our “training” in English. I use the word training loosely because it began with a presentation on the history of Apple and Apple products. We did get to play around with some of the whiz bang features of this new computer. Like many trainers, he hopped over the “go here, select that, then push on that” more quickly than most of us could follow. But Apple was really designed to be relatively intuitive, so eventually you can figure most things out. Anyhow, that was the big event of the day.
One thing that was nice were the refreshments. Fancy canapés and a range of juices -- good juices. And when people go out around here, they drink tea. It’s not a culture awash in alcohol. That’s a relief of sorts.
Two Worlds
The last couple of mornings we’ve driven past a herd of sheep just off the road leading into the University. One morning the sheep dogs were chasing the vehicles as the turned into the campus. Someone remarked that they were trying to herd us – I think they just wanted a good chase. When I pointed out the sheep, the young Turkish teacher sitting next to me said almost apologetically: it’s very traditional Turkey. I told her that it made me feel peaceful to look at them. The first morning there was also a herd of goats back down the road. And occasionally you see a cart pulled by a donkey. I’ve been told they are gypsies – Roma, as they prefer to be called. Then you go to the mall and see Burger King, MacDonalds and Sbarro's right next to each other.
The Zirve campus itself will be very modern – tastefully so. Yesterday I walked down to the Presentation Center (I’d call it a Visitor Center) to look at the architect’s model of the finished campus. It will probably be a few years before it’s complete. They are taking great care with the landscaping. They’ve planted hundreds of trees surrounding the campus; yesterday they did a lot of planning in front of our building. One deep breath transported me to riding past the dairy farms on the back roads of Madison Country – that’s a positive statement. No chemical fertilizers.
If you go to http://gaziantepcity.info/site.php?page=universities you can find four pictures of the architects’ conception of the university. The second picture is a photo of the model. In the middle there is a kind of large, concrete plaza. The building to the left is our building – the only completed one. The building to the right is finished on the exterior but there’s lots of interior work to be done. The landscaping is much nicer than the model you lead you to believe. In fact, yesterday I saw a flock of birds pecking around in some of the newly planted areas. It looks to me like they may be creating some nice new habitat for our feathered friends.
The Zirve campus itself will be very modern – tastefully so. Yesterday I walked down to the Presentation Center (I’d call it a Visitor Center) to look at the architect’s model of the finished campus. It will probably be a few years before it’s complete. They are taking great care with the landscaping. They’ve planted hundreds of trees surrounding the campus; yesterday they did a lot of planning in front of our building. One deep breath transported me to riding past the dairy farms on the back roads of Madison Country – that’s a positive statement. No chemical fertilizers.
If you go to http://gaziantepcity.info/site.php?page=universities you can find four pictures of the architects’ conception of the university. The second picture is a photo of the model. In the middle there is a kind of large, concrete plaza. The building to the left is our building – the only completed one. The building to the right is finished on the exterior but there’s lots of interior work to be done. The landscaping is much nicer than the model you lead you to believe. In fact, yesterday I saw a flock of birds pecking around in some of the newly planted areas. It looks to me like they may be creating some nice new habitat for our feathered friends.
Hockey Anyone
The other night I had to make a quick run to the mall. My neighbor had to get a new power cord for her printer. She thinks there was some sort of power surge that burned it out. Needless to say, I wanted to get a surge protector.
As we walked along the top floor of the gallery, I looked down and saw a ----- ? You’ll never guess. And ice skating rink! And even more, there was an adult in the middle of the rink with a hockey stick, hitting pucks – very softly – to a line of kids holding hockey sticks. There were even a couple of girls in the mix. It looks like youth hockey has come to south central Turkey.
As we walked along the top floor of the gallery, I looked down and saw a ----- ? You’ll never guess. And ice skating rink! And even more, there was an adult in the middle of the rink with a hockey stick, hitting pucks – very softly – to a line of kids holding hockey sticks. There were even a couple of girls in the mix. It looks like youth hockey has come to south central Turkey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)