When I was in 5th grade, I had to journal my week long vacation to make up for the homework I was missing. I got the journal back with some mediocre grade because, in Ms. Dahl's words, I had "told" but not "shown" what I had done during my vacation. I feel like this blog is verging on only telling what I'm doing which is not only extremely boring, but totally underneath my own expectations and ability. In an effort to curb this problem I think perhaps my lent pledge will be to write at least once a week and not be so boring. Ha. Together we'll see how well this works out and if I can make baby Jesus happy with my Lent 'sacrifice'.
So onto exciting things! I'm back in Ankara (hooray!) and now that I'm looking at the semester from a whole new perspective. I came to Ankara upset about leaving my family, friends, and boyfriend. In retrospect I was totally unprepared to move to a completely different country with totally different norms. In addition, all my other travels were either extremely short (read: Janterm) or they were just so much fun I didn't care about the problems I faced (read: Berlin). Coming to Ankara was neither of those things. I was now living in a very different country for a very long time and there were problems that made me initially hate living here. First off its hard to be the foreigner all the time. People stare, people talk about you while you're standing right there, you wake up and the moment you step out the door people look at your like you're some foreign crazy. You get on the dolmus and again people are staring at the yabani who somehow knows how to ride the dolmus. There is literally no way for me to pretend to be Turkish.
At first this used to really really bother me. I was really upset for constantly being told through social interactions that I was different therefore somehow available to be treated like an alien. In my mind I think about how in US we're all taught not to stare at foreigners, handicapped, or disabled people (granted some people are horrible at this). Its part of our ingrained American identity to try and at least pretend that we don't see differences. This is why to me its rude to be stared at because I've been taught that staring at something that makes people feel uncomfortable and 'different'. While it can be infuriating at times, I think I've just grown accustomed to to being stared at. Also when I went to Istanbul I realized that this is really an Ankara thing. In Istanbul (at least in the touristy places I saw) people could care less if you were foreign. There were so many Germans, Brits, and other Europeans there that no could cared that I was clearly foreign. I don't think I was stared at the whole time I was there. In Ankara, the lovely Ankara, foreigners have no reason visit because there are barely any touristy sites. Ankara has Atatürk's mausoleum, the building in which the first parliament of Turkey was held, and an old ruin of a castle... not exactly enough to make droves of tourists come to Ankara. Even the city itself is relatively new to non-American standards. It sprung up in the 1920's when Ataturk moved the capital of his new nation from Istanbul to Ankara. In sum, getting stared at was seriously hard to cope with at first and like most problems I've encountered, I eventually just realized that its a cultural difference that leads to misunderstandings.
What I've found most amazing about Turkey, and also about traveling in general, is how little people actually need to live and how people just made due with what they have. I live in a nice part of town, but still have had the power go out at least four times and the water has been turned off twice, once for three days. To make the hot water in the shower work you also have to turn on the water in the kitchen so there's enough pressure to heat the water. Then the water drains from the tub into this hole next to the tub and when there's too much water it'll just go all over the bathroom floor. The sidewalks are cracked and there's never enough guard rails. The buses are totally irregular and have no timetable. It's just a sort of 'make-do' attitude and I feel like I've started to accept this mindset because the other day I bought a pair of shoes in two different shoe sizes. They only had the left shoe in my size so to remedy the problem I just got the right shoe one size up. (Okay in my defense it was in European sizes so its not like an American shoe size up, its only an centimeter bigger on the right.) I'm walking around with two different sized shoes. It's hard to explain but silly things like this make Ankara all the more enduring now. I've really grown to live the funny little quirks and even when its frustrating I feel like I still really like living here.
Maybe its the fact that I have friends that I love, a wonderful roommate, and a pretty decent system of interaction with friends from home, but I really like Ankara. Visiting England for such a long time also made me made me miss my friends and home in Ankara. It's really weird when you realized you're getting used to living in a very different place, but that's what's happening and I totally love it. So while living in Ankara can be really hard and in the beginning I had some serious doubts about my happiness here, I can honestly say I really love it and when I have to leave in a few months I am going to be very sad.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Merry Ol' England otherwise known as Culture Shock 101!
So I am currently in England with Amy and Pete and my my has it been one culture shock after another. As I traveled to England there was an interesting moment where I was the outsider, the yabancı, in Istanbul then as we landed suddenly I was seemingly assigned to the majority. Weird. The beginning of a lot of weird experiences.
So Amy lovingly picked me up from the airport and right off we whisked ourselves away to Canterbury. She drove and I soaked in all the GREEN and the fields and PALE people. It was really weird. I caught myself staring at children because they were soo pale. The houses all seemed to be either medieval wooden houses or cute little brick cottages. Everything is so ridiculously cute. I know its an American stereotype to think of England as quaint or adorable, but I can't help it everything is so similar to how I'd imagined the English countryside. Ah I just love it when stereotypes come true.
So one of the first things we did after getting into Canterbury was head over to the ASDA, the Walmart/Target of England. Oh my god, it was almost like being home. Everything I could have wanted was there! So much candy, so many American brands! In Turkey, everything is Turkish or European, almost none of the brands in Turkey are American, and in Turkey it is often hard to find certain types of foods (pasta sauce and oregano for example) that are staples in American supermarkets.
The next day we went to Evensong in the Canterbury Cathedral and saw the sight of Saint Thomas Becket's murder, the reason pilgrims have come to Canterbury for over a thousand years. Never missing minute, we drove from Canterbury to Herne Bay then down to the white cliffs of Dover! Hooray! I've always always wanted to go to the cliffs of Dover mostly because they're super famous and they're in Shakespeare's King Lear. So cool. So we hiked around the cliffs and then we headed back to Derby, where Pete and Amy live.
The next day we did a tour of Derby and I got to meet some of the American ladies that Amy hangs out with. Its a group for women who live abroad, mostly because their husbands got a two or three year assignment abroad. It was SO weird to be around so many Americans. I think I've literally met 5 Americans in 4 months and by met I mean spoken too. Jake is the only American I hang out with on a regular basis. So it was weird to suddenly be surrounded by American women talking about such normal American things. Its also really weird for England to feel so like home for me and for these women it is their daily experience of a very different culture. Its just interesting how we all have different levels of tolerance or perhaps, just current experience. In Germany, I felt like I was in another world, but now, after Ankara, anything really Western feels homey.
The next day Amy and I went on a great hike through the English countryside. Oh it was just great! We took the bus to Bakewell (where this pastry called Bakewells come from) and then we hiked along a former railroad track into the countryside. It was freezing, but sunny and so so beautiful! The oak trees, sheep(!), rolling hills, and little cottages--it was just so beautiful. We hiked to a pub in this small little town on top of a hill. It was really great and exactly what I wanted to do in England.
With no time to slow down, the next day we made a short trip to York. Ah and York is one of my favorite places. Its this really old city that still has its old city wall. We toured the castle, or what's left of it, then checked out the museum. The city has a place called the shambles which has all these jetted old buildings. Ah so great. I loved York. We finished off our trip there with some delicious Indian food! So nice to get some different types of food while I'm here!
The next day Amy and I had an early morning bike ride along the country roads near their house to get to the post office in the other village. (Ha! A village!) It was COLD, but there were sheep! Then we took a quick 25 minute bus to Nottingham to check out the city there. Can you remember who lived around Nottingham?? He wears tights? He shots a bow and arrow? He fought the sheriff of Nottingham? That's right Robin Hood! Ha, so we went to the castle in Nottingham which actually had a really great museum, but the city was weirdly modern. Especially after York with its wonderful old streets and Roman roads, Nottingham felt like the first modern city (other than London) that I've been too.
Finally, yesterday we went to the American military base near Cambridge. Now, that was SUPER weird. In line waiting to get my pass everyone was American. It was really weird. Everyone in line was an American saying little American phrases like "hate that with a passion," "if you don't shut your mouth your'e going in time out," and other normal things to say that I just haven't heard in sooo long. Really really weird. The culture shock just kept on coming too because we went to the stores on base and it was like being in Walmart! It was really weird to be surrounded by people who are all American and then actually knowing the socially acceptable thing to do. It's not like I don't know what to do in England and Turkey, its just that I'm always second guessing if I'm acting properly. So being able to walk around a store and know that should be said to strangers was really weird. The good news is that I stocked up on American food that I can't get in Turkey like oregano, top ramen, easy mac, you know, things I don't even like in the states, but I just can't get them at all in Turkey. So I'm going to head back to Turkey with my bags full.
I have a ton of photos of ALL of these events, but I'm afraid I'll forget everything if I don't write it down now! I'll add the photos later and write more about the adventures I'm having. Tomorrow this mother and daughter plus Amy and I are going to drive down to Windsor Castle and see where the monarchs of England have lived for hundreds of years. Then we're heading to Bath to check out some more Roman ruins.
This trip has been such a whirl wind and the time is flying by super quickly!
Last, but not least, with some reflection over this trip to England I really think its interesting how 'normal' Turkey is for me. I feel like I'm still constantly running into problems in Turkey and seeing things that are so different from home. I didn't feel like I'd become normalized to Turkey until I came to England. Suddenly, England which is so similar to home, was the weird unusual place. Everything felt familiar, but it felt so abnormal. Living in Ankara can be hard and frustrating, but I also had the glorious realization as I got on my bus out of Ankara that I was going to miss it, something that has certainly taken a long time to realize.
So Amy lovingly picked me up from the airport and right off we whisked ourselves away to Canterbury. She drove and I soaked in all the GREEN and the fields and PALE people. It was really weird. I caught myself staring at children because they were soo pale. The houses all seemed to be either medieval wooden houses or cute little brick cottages. Everything is so ridiculously cute. I know its an American stereotype to think of England as quaint or adorable, but I can't help it everything is so similar to how I'd imagined the English countryside. Ah I just love it when stereotypes come true.
So one of the first things we did after getting into Canterbury was head over to the ASDA, the Walmart/Target of England. Oh my god, it was almost like being home. Everything I could have wanted was there! So much candy, so many American brands! In Turkey, everything is Turkish or European, almost none of the brands in Turkey are American, and in Turkey it is often hard to find certain types of foods (pasta sauce and oregano for example) that are staples in American supermarkets.
The next day we went to Evensong in the Canterbury Cathedral and saw the sight of Saint Thomas Becket's murder, the reason pilgrims have come to Canterbury for over a thousand years. Never missing minute, we drove from Canterbury to Herne Bay then down to the white cliffs of Dover! Hooray! I've always always wanted to go to the cliffs of Dover mostly because they're super famous and they're in Shakespeare's King Lear. So cool. So we hiked around the cliffs and then we headed back to Derby, where Pete and Amy live.
The next day we did a tour of Derby and I got to meet some of the American ladies that Amy hangs out with. Its a group for women who live abroad, mostly because their husbands got a two or three year assignment abroad. It was SO weird to be around so many Americans. I think I've literally met 5 Americans in 4 months and by met I mean spoken too. Jake is the only American I hang out with on a regular basis. So it was weird to suddenly be surrounded by American women talking about such normal American things. Its also really weird for England to feel so like home for me and for these women it is their daily experience of a very different culture. Its just interesting how we all have different levels of tolerance or perhaps, just current experience. In Germany, I felt like I was in another world, but now, after Ankara, anything really Western feels homey.
The next day Amy and I went on a great hike through the English countryside. Oh it was just great! We took the bus to Bakewell (where this pastry called Bakewells come from) and then we hiked along a former railroad track into the countryside. It was freezing, but sunny and so so beautiful! The oak trees, sheep(!), rolling hills, and little cottages--it was just so beautiful. We hiked to a pub in this small little town on top of a hill. It was really great and exactly what I wanted to do in England.
With no time to slow down, the next day we made a short trip to York. Ah and York is one of my favorite places. Its this really old city that still has its old city wall. We toured the castle, or what's left of it, then checked out the museum. The city has a place called the shambles which has all these jetted old buildings. Ah so great. I loved York. We finished off our trip there with some delicious Indian food! So nice to get some different types of food while I'm here!
The next day Amy and I had an early morning bike ride along the country roads near their house to get to the post office in the other village. (Ha! A village!) It was COLD, but there were sheep! Then we took a quick 25 minute bus to Nottingham to check out the city there. Can you remember who lived around Nottingham?? He wears tights? He shots a bow and arrow? He fought the sheriff of Nottingham? That's right Robin Hood! Ha, so we went to the castle in Nottingham which actually had a really great museum, but the city was weirdly modern. Especially after York with its wonderful old streets and Roman roads, Nottingham felt like the first modern city (other than London) that I've been too.
Finally, yesterday we went to the American military base near Cambridge. Now, that was SUPER weird. In line waiting to get my pass everyone was American. It was really weird. Everyone in line was an American saying little American phrases like "hate that with a passion," "if you don't shut your mouth your'e going in time out," and other normal things to say that I just haven't heard in sooo long. Really really weird. The culture shock just kept on coming too because we went to the stores on base and it was like being in Walmart! It was really weird to be surrounded by people who are all American and then actually knowing the socially acceptable thing to do. It's not like I don't know what to do in England and Turkey, its just that I'm always second guessing if I'm acting properly. So being able to walk around a store and know that should be said to strangers was really weird. The good news is that I stocked up on American food that I can't get in Turkey like oregano, top ramen, easy mac, you know, things I don't even like in the states, but I just can't get them at all in Turkey. So I'm going to head back to Turkey with my bags full.
I have a ton of photos of ALL of these events, but I'm afraid I'll forget everything if I don't write it down now! I'll add the photos later and write more about the adventures I'm having. Tomorrow this mother and daughter plus Amy and I are going to drive down to Windsor Castle and see where the monarchs of England have lived for hundreds of years. Then we're heading to Bath to check out some more Roman ruins.
This trip has been such a whirl wind and the time is flying by super quickly!
Last, but not least, with some reflection over this trip to England I really think its interesting how 'normal' Turkey is for me. I feel like I'm still constantly running into problems in Turkey and seeing things that are so different from home. I didn't feel like I'd become normalized to Turkey until I came to England. Suddenly, England which is so similar to home, was the weird unusual place. Everything felt familiar, but it felt so abnormal. Living in Ankara can be hard and frustrating, but I also had the glorious realization as I got on my bus out of Ankara that I was going to miss it, something that has certainly taken a long time to realize.
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