It's All Greek to Me

The white sand stone rises straight up towards the heavens. Separated only by a small ring of trees, keeping the city at bay, the Acropolis rests steadily upon this base, housing the Parthenon, the Temple to Athena and two theaters. It wasn’t until later that afternoon when I was perched atop a rock in the remains of the ancient agora staring out over the Acropolis, Athens and Greece, that I realized it was December first. Already? There, it was still warm and the sun beat down on my face. When I was walking among the buildings, the familiar wash of satisfaction over took me.

As I explored the Acropolis or wandered around the Agora and the Plakas, it was absolutely amazing to see these structures still standing from thousands of years ago. I found myself imagining what this place looked like in its prime, as it did when people like Socrates and Aristotle walked the streets and thought up their great works. I was a bit disappointed to see that they were in the process of restoring the Parthenon, scaffolding marring my pictures on both sides. Oh well, this just gives me an excuse to come back one day.

In Istanbul news, it's still cold and rainy...big surprise there. Thankfully, midterms are over and I can enjoy the city again. Best of luck to all you at home taking exams next week!

pictures!

As promised, pictures from my trips to Israel and Greece are finally posted on my picasa album. Enjoy!

Studying Abroad is Just That...Studying

Studying abroad isn't, actually, all fun and games. Even if you might think so by going through my pictures. There's also, well, studying. And while classes are pretty interesting, it does mean that I have spent a good chunk of the past week and a half doing just that - studying. Two weeks ago, two of my professors moved midterms so that the history students in the class didn't have 3 exams in one week.

Nice, right? Well, it would have been if they didn't both move them to this week and add to my other 2 exams and a paper due. So here I am, instead of enjoying the nice weather (read cold and windy, but it is sunny at last) I'm spending my money at Starbucks buying coffee, reading and poring over notes for hours on end. And of course, with 2 exams and a paper down and 2 to go, I'm here updating for all you lovely folks back at home. What can I say, I know you're all procrastinating on studying too :)

It's hard to belive that I'm finishing up midterms now, but in less than 6 weeks I'll be back in the States starting spring semester classes again. And for those of you who have missed me saying it nearly every 5 minutes...sad day

Giving Thanks

Today is the American holiday of Thanksgiving, a day during which we stuff our faces with turkey, pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes and mumble something about how thankful we are for our families before watching the American football game and falling asleep on the couch. And really, isn't that how it's supposed to be done?

Well, today I won't be eating any turkey or pumpkin pie (but there will probably be some falling asleep on the couch), but even without all the fixings, I certainly have plenty to be thankful for this year ...

I am thankful for my family, all of who supported me during the last few months as I moved to Istanbul. I'm sure there was some nail biting on the parts of my parents at the prospect of Turkey -- "But Turkey is SO FAR AWAY!"


(sorry mom, dad, and amy - all the pictures on my computer are from this semester [ and what I can steal from facebook albums])

I am thankful for my friends back at home, all of you who have made my day in one way or other – letters, random IMs or Skype calls just to say hello and see how I’m doing over here (and inquire as to when I’m going to come to my senses and come home).



I am thankful for my friends here in Istanbul, both Turkish and other exchange students, for having made my semester so memorable. From road trips to Bulgaria to randomly getting lost and exploring parts of Istanbul to cooking a huge Thanksgiving dinner together to share tonight.



I am thankful for my Turkish family – Resa and Mehmet (Anne ve Baba) – for all their help in getting me here, finding my lost luggage (and making sure it found me), recommending Turkish medicines and taking care of me when I was sick. I promise I'll stop jinxing myself on this blog and causing you trouble at some point before I return to the states in January.



I am thankful for the generosity of the Turkish people. These people truly are selfless and kind and giving, more so than any other people I have ever met.

And I am thankful that this world is a good place to be, for all the reminders of how fortunate I am, and that there are adventures galore to last me a lifetime and wonderful people to share them with.

Iyi Sukran gunleri!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkish 101

Learning a new language is not as easy as simply translating verbatim sentences into English. It requires a little bit more finesse, a little more savvy, to memorize not just words, but culture and, dare I say it, a different way of thinking.

Thus my annoyance when some of the students in my Turkish class constantly question WHY Turkish grammar is THIS way or THAT way.

For example, Turks say, “open the light” and “close the light” to mean “turn off” and “turn on” the light. It’s just a different way of thinking about how you use electricity. No big deal, right?

Wrong. One guy always has to ask, WHY does it have to be this way? Why do Turks say, “I hate from mice” instead of just “I hate mice”? Why do Turks use a different verb to say “enter the room” versus “get on the bus”? In English we use two different verbs. WHAT’S SO STRANGE ABOUT THAT?

Then someone else sits there and says, Ah, bu çok zor, hocam (“This is so hard, teacher”) in a pouty, childish voice. Sure, it’s difficult. This is surely not rocket science, but it does take more than a few brain cells to memorize new vocabulary and string together sentences in a completely foreign structure.

The important thing, I think, when learning a new language, especially one that is so completely different from your own (like learning Turkish or Japanese when your first language is English, or learning Spanish or English when your first language is Turkish), is to suspend temporarily the way you look at the world.

Understanding that a chair” is also a sandalye and not having to translate the Turkish word EVERY time you read or hear it is important. Learning a language is more about absorbing new ideas than memorizing vocab lists that have been translated from English into Turkish.

It’s about reading a sentence or a paragraph and intrinsically knowing what it means without having to read it back to yourself in English. It’s about picking up hand gestures and facial expressions that change the meaning of words in a way that your language does not allow. It’s about seeing the world differently, from a perspective that allows for different meanings.

One of the guidance counselors at my high school had a sign outside her door that said something to the affect of, “The breadth of a man’s vocabulary greatly affects how he sees the world.” That is to say, the more words and therefore ideas you know, the more you can comprehend and explain and describe the world around you. Learning a new language is not unlike expanding your vocabulary.