A WPI visitor and a surpise in Taksim

It seems that WPI faculty and staff like to pass through İstanbul. Since I moved here almost 6 months ago I've been visited by a small handful of WPI folk, mainly those involved in the international programs in one way or another.

This time it was Tom Thomsen, international student director, co-director of the Denmark project site at which I completed a project, and simply one of the nicest people you can meet at WPI. He was just passing through for a day, representing WPI at a college fair. One of his former students, Erçin, came by to help him at the booth, a major advantage over most of the other colleges there since she could speak Turkish with the recruits. I showed up about half-way through the event, right at a moment when a student had come by interested in learning about the aerospace program. I enjoyed chatting with students about my alma mater, and also learning from Tom (he insists that I no longer call him Mr. Tomsen, though the temptation is annoyingly powerful) about things that have changed there.

About an hour later, my friend Pınar came by and the four of us went for a beer. Tom raised his glass and uttered an old familiar Danish word, "skol!" I recounted some of my experiences in Denmark years ago, and we all proceeded converse on many topics. I was still getting over the shock of sitting across from Tom in İstanbul (I get this feeling every time someone visits me here), when it was time for him to go. I'll definitely miss Tom and his Danish accent, but perhaps he'll be back next year and I'll still be here. Either way, I'm sure I'll see him again before not too long.

Pınar and I then left for nearby Taksim. We got some food and then went to a place I like for some beer. There we were joined by an old familiar face and, in my book, a rather peculiar character, Jeremy. I met him at Vassar almost a year ago while visiting for a day, and he struck me as odd because he is an American named Jeremy and he speaks Turkish. It was a strange experience then, and when I saw him last night, it was less strange. His first remark once we had sat down was exactly what I was thinking. "It seems so much more natural to see you here, than back at Vassar."

Jeremy came to İstanbul to do a semester or two at Boğaziçi University. I had so many questions for him about his experiences since getting here just a couple weeks ago. I could relate to many of the things he described. Like me, his approach to this city is not as a tourist but as someone who wants to integrate and establish a deeper connection. His knowledge of İstanbul is quite vast, and he has a keen eye for its subtle riches.

I can say that Saturday was an interesting day. I can also say that I very much enjoyed seeing familiar face and even meeting some new ones. I wish the best to Tom and I hope to see Tom, Erçin, Jeremy and Pınar as time allows.

Keeps Me Young

Today I took a picture of my little heroes. These are some of the kids I teach everyday at work. I work at a preschool as an English teacher. I have a program, which I follow, but I add my own flavor to the lessons. For example, the other day the children thought they were reciting random numbers as I held them up on flashcards, but really they were reciting pi. Another example is that sometimes after I've read a story, I read it again but much faster, skipping over the less important sections. Then I read it a third time, spending about a second on each page. They all laugh and we move onto something else.

What I like most about my job is the group of other teachers who work there. Many of them teach me Turkish (for lack of knowing much English) and they are all super nice. We gossip, we try to come up with creative ways of involving the children in new activities, and we are all in the same boat each day. Of course I also like the children. One of my favorites is the kid in the foreground of the picture. His name is Oktay, and he's really smart.

The most challenging things about work are: it can be very tiring, it's not easy to act enthusiastic for the times when you are not feeling that way, and it's important to give extra attention to the children who don't speak up or don't learn as quickly.

So now you know my work. I'll be teaching at this school until February, so I'll have a chance to save a little cash and plan my future beyond. On that note, I'm looking into jobs more in line with my profession and graduate school for next fall. Though it may seem like this job I have now does little for me in the long run, it does a lot more than I expected. For instance, it really challenges me in areas which I'm not well-rehearsed. Now I am more comfortable with children, human interaction, teaching, creativity and expression, but at the same time I really miss the heavy application of the left side of my brain with engineering. I can say that my life is full and that I won't be surprised if one day I learn that the true value of these experiences is much greater than I had originally considered.

I never regret cooking dinner

Today I didn't get out much, which is in stark contrast to how the last couple weekends went. In fact, the last couple weekends were probably the greatest I can remember. Anyway, when the evening came, I went out to the market during rush hour to buy some dinner. I bought 2 fresh palamut fish, some pears (for tomorrow), some zucchini, tomatoes, and a loaf of bread.

The bakery was really busy since everyone was out buying food for dinner and so they were churning out piping hot loaves by the minute. I asked for a hot loaf. The guy walked past the large cooling rack holding dozens of fresh loaves and went into the back to take one directly from the oven. While I waited, a Belgian couple was struggling to communicate with the people at the bakery. I am always shocked to see tourists on the Asian side of İstanbul (except for in the vicinity of Kız Külesi of course). Anyway after witnessing the shear inadequacy of French and English on the ears of the kind people working in the bakery and their Turkish's inability to penetrate the understanding of the Belgians, I stepped in briefly to translate. The Belgians thanked me and I felt important. Even warmer than that feeling was my loaf of bread which was almost too hot to grip even when inside its paper bag. I love fresh bread.

I walked quickly home and started the fish, veggies and some rice. I ate enough for two people. Over the evening hours, I finished off the entire loaf of bread. I regret nothing.

I guess it's ironic that I write about what I cooked for dinner rather than my new job which started a couple weeks ago, or the girl with whom I'm in love. I mean there's this wondrous lady who conjures up powerful feelings within me so effortlessly it's as if by accident. In the instant of a moment where I think about her, she speaks a word, or even in the pause between her words, she reduces (enhances?) me to a glorious, pathetic, insurmountable heap of joy and longing. She's like sleep to a tired person... Occupies all your thoughts, weakens you, carries you into a dream, makes you feel alive and gives you the energy to carry on the next day. That's only in the general sense. For me, she is also the dream. But I digress...

This is not a food blog, and I am not a cook. This is not a diary, so I won't go on about my personal things, and this is not a football blog so I won't delve into Manchester City beating the unbeatable Chelsea today. However I will say that dinner, talking on the phone with my love, and the football match today were all wonderful experiences. For being such a quiet day, it was a glorious day.

#4 - Taksim Maksim