School

First off, I would like to apologize for how lacking I have been with the updates. Internet is down at my home for the past week, so I am left to use the schools network. On that note, school is alright, not fantastic, not horrible, just alright. It is in fact high school after all. I've come to realize that it doesn't matter what country you are in, high schoolers are the same all around. We all have some place we rather be than school, there is a good chance that at least one of us will fall asleep in class (in this case that person is usually me), and it is very cliquey.

The school that I am attending is called Doga Kolleji, it is a K-12 school that is located fairly far away from Manisa in the farm country, in the middle of what I think is an olive grove. Some differences between Turkish school and American school are: The students are the ones who stay in the room, not the teachers, instead of blackboards they have these nifty digital boards that can hook up to the internet and play videos on them, the food is much better, we have to wear uniforms, religion is taught in class, and the classes are a lot smaller. The food is probably my favorite part. In America, if you were served lamb in school, you would think that the budget cuts were over for good, but here it's normal, and it is delicious. Also there is this student store of sorts where they sell drinks and food, I have yet to find something from there that isn't covered in chocolate. It is really interesting being in a K-12 school. Often I see the little kids and think, "Was I really that small?" We don't see the younger kids very much since our breaks are worked out differently, but when we do I always get weird looks from them.

That's  another thing, being a foreigner you are treated much differently. I find it really funny since I've hosted students, and I know what it's like to be so interested in them because they're from a different country, and now I am in there shoes. At times it can be a little overwhelming when you have 10 people asking you questions in Turkish, and only have one person translating, at other times it can be quite boring when all of your classes are taught in a language you don't understand. To pass the time in classes I have taken up perfecting my artistic skills. I have a small journal that I use for drawing, and since discovering that I'm not that bad of an artist, all of my classmates want me to draw them. This wouldn't be that difficult since there are only 5 of them, but I have never been good at drawing other people. My teachers find my drawings entertaining, but sometimes I feel that they are distracting.

All of my teachers are very nice, they usually talk to me in fractured English, but more and more they are asking me simple questions in Turkish, like how I am. Luckily I have no formal homework, which has been wonderful, but my ongoing task is to learn Turkish. One of my teachers has been assigning me segments of my Turkish book that I have been studying from to memorize. Along with my teachers helping me learn, I also have my family and friends. It has been good for me that my family doesn't speak much English, because this forces me to learn Turkish much quicker.

After school is over, Alkin and I take the bus home. Now the buses here are not like the massive yellow ones we have back home. They are small runner vans, and instead of a school having 4-5, they have a whole fleet of them. Once we get home we change out of our uniforms into something more comfortable, and then go out again. Everyday so far we have gone to play basketball. It's funny, because in the states I'm average, but here, or at least with the people I play with I'm considered very good. I think my reputation as an American who is good at basketball has gotten out of hand a bit since I have received multiple requests to join my schools team. I think that it would be a lot of fun to play with them, but I'm sure they are much better and more competitive than the people I play with on the streets.

In any case things are going well. I am making a lot of new friends, I can feel myself learning the language word by word, and I have a great relationship with my host family. I'm really looking forward to all of the trips my group of exchange students will go on, and everything else I will be doing this year.

Hosca Kalin
-Torvald

Vamos Ala Playa

After my tour in Izmir, my host family picked me up, and we drove to their beach house in Cesme. Cesme is a small coastal town that rests right on the Mediterranean, and is a very desirable location to have a summer retreat for most Turks. We got there rather late, so I wasn't able to see much driving in. After we pulled up to the house, we unpacked and drove back to the city to have dinner. The town square of Cesme is dominated by a massive, 500 year old castle that used to be the home of a sultan. Strings with hundreds of Turkish flags are hung overhead all around the area. Before sitting down to dinner, we take a short walk through the shops. I notice that all of the shops look ancient, but have a very modern interior. It was an interesting combination of classic and contemporary. Dinner was nice, as I've come to expect now from Turkish food, after finishing we returned back to the house.

The next morning I woke up to a breathtaking view. The beach house directly overlooks the deep blue ocean and in the distance you can see some islands. Once we had had breakfast, Alkin, my host mother, and I walked down to the beach. Immediately I jumped into the water, it wasn't as warm as I had been expecting, but it sure was warmer than the pacific. For as warm as it was outside, the ocean was the perfect temperature to just float on your back and relax in. Another thing that I found amazing was how clear the water was, because the Pacific, and most of the lakes I swim in back home are rather murky. Alkin and I swam over to a rock jutting out from the shore. When my feet could touch bottom I started walking, but Alkin yelled at me to keep swimming so I asked him why. He dove underwater, looked around for a bit and then pulled up a sea urchin, I didn't need to be told twice after that. Eventually we wore ourselves out and swam back to shore to unwind. I found that almost all of the rocks on the beach were flat, so of course I had to scoop some up and skip them. Alkin joined in, so eventually it turned into a competition of who could skip them the furthest. The rest of the day was spent taking short swims in the ocean, skipping rocks, or throwing a make-shift frisbee to each other.

As night began to fall we pulled ourselves out of the ocean and went back to the house to clean up and pack. My family took me to another historical district in Cesme. I guess the word "historical" isn't really a word I need to use here, since basically everything in Turkey is historical. Anyways, it was a district filled with narrow streets so that the only vehicle that could get through were mopeds, and even they had difficulty getting through. I thought it was a beautiful area. Small two-story shops with windows on the second floor that jutted out into the street, vines that had  been growing for years were now flowering, which made walls turn from a dull brown to a vibrant pink or red. The air was warm, with a slight breeze and it wasn't too crowded. It was a wonderful evening. For dinner we had some sandwiches that were authentic to Cesme. They reminded me of some basic street food you can find in the states. After a wonderful 2 days in Cesme, we got back in the car and headed back to Manisa. I am really looking forward to getting a chance to return to Cesme someday.

Goruscuruz
-Torvald

First Impressions of Turkey

Turkey is an incredibly warm country, and I’m not just talking about the weather. The people here are incredibly welcoming, and love being in contact with one another. When I first met my host family at the airport, every one of them pulled me in close for a kiss on each check, and I had just met them! My family is very nice. The mother and father are both lawyers, the daughter is off at college in Istanbul, and the son is just a year younger than me. It’s interesting since the daughter knew the most English, and at times still had difficulty understanding me. For the few hours she was with us, she served as the translator, and now without her, my family and I are left to communicate with what little English they know, the meager amount of Turkish I know, and a wide variety of hand signs. 

Turkish people love their tea, but it is served at a scalding temperature. On average, I’ve come to figure that Turks drink black tea about 6 times a day.  As for food, I have yet to encounter a Turkish dish that I don’t like, even eggplant, which I have never been a fan of, has somehow been prepared in a way that makes it quite enjoyable. The first meal I ate, which was prepared by my host mother was absolutely wonderful. I am very much looking forward to her teaching me how to cook. Of course there have been foods that I don’t like as much as others, but there has been nothing I found absolutely repulsive. Even though my host family has a dog to help me with my pet withdrawal, it wouldn’t be that much of a problem if they didn’t since there are dogs and cats walking the streets of each city in packs, and all of them are looking for some love. The landscape around here reminds me much of the eastern side of Oregon;  Dry climate, small shrubs, brown grass, and the occasional tall, evergreen looking, tree.

My first couple days here have been spent outside of Manisa, which is the city I will be living in during my stay in Turkey. My first full day in Turkey was spent with the other exchange students in Izmir. I've come to notice that exchange students are all cut from the same block, which makes it very easy to get along with one another. We all are adventurous, and are very friendly and open to each other's similarities and differences. We first had orientation, where we were told the rules for again, and a little bit about Turkey. After getting to know each other we went to lunch. Almost all of Turkey's diners are open air, which makes for a wonderful atmosphere, especially when the food and company are just as wonderful. After eating, our tour guide, a very grandmotherly woman, took us to this ancient site and gave us a history lesson. We were sitting in this ancient market place that was thousands of years old, and again I was left to wonder at how pathetic America is when it comes to history. As we were listening to our guide talk about Izmir, or Smyrna as it used to be called, the city began to echo with calls to prayer from every Mosque in the area. It was quite a cultural experience, being in an ancient market while "Allah akbar" was being sung from every minaret in the city. 

Once we were done touring the agora, we hoped on the bus and went to Izmir's bazaar. The best way I can describe the bazaar in Izmir is like Seattle's Pike Market. Hundreds of people in a small closed in aisle way, pushing their way into shops and booths while shop owners yell at you to come buy their goods. Us students were given some time to go explore the market by ourselves while our guides sat down and had a cup of tea. After pushing through the crowds at the bazaar, we went to get a scenic view of Izmir from a hillside to conclude our tour. I really enjoy the things that Turkey has in common with Oregon, and I celebrate what is different. I can say with confidence that I am glad that I was sent to Turkey, and I am sure that it has much more wonder in store for me.

 Small cafe that we had lunch at

Ancient Greek agora

 Izmir Bazaar

 Some beautiful lamps I found at the bazaar

 Izmir clock tower

Bay of Izmir

Goruscuruz,
-Torvald

In Transit

So my journey to Turkey began at 5:30 in the morning on September, 13.  I woke up, put on the clothes I would be wearing for my travels, and went upstairs to get some breakfast. After I had finished, I said goodbye to my pets and my house, and walked out the door. The drive was like any drive to the airport, but I found myself with this one looking out the window, trying to remember everything about Portland just the way I remember it. We reached the airport, made our way through the check-in counter, which was where my country officer found me, and afterwards we all proceeded to my gate. The goodbye wasn't excessively sentimental, just a meaningful hug to my mom, and a firm handshake with Terry and I began going through the security line. I don't feel the need to explain the security line, judging how we have all experienced having to practically unload your pack and strip to your underwear. I moved past security and went on the board my first flight to Chicago.

As I was sitting, waiting for 2 hours for the plane to board, I decided this would be a good time to cram as much Turkish into my brain as I could. A few minutes after I did this, a couple came over to me and asked "Are you going to Turkey?" to this I gave my pre-programmed response that I will be an exchange student, living in Manisa for a year. They told me that they had been to Turkey quite a few times, and loved it a lot. I sat down with them, and we had a very nice talk for the rest of the time we were waiting. Then the plane started boarding, we said our goodbye's and wished each other luck on our travels.

The flight to Chicago wasn't bad,  the lady I was sitting next to was nice, we had a tailwind, and I was actually able to get some rest. When we landed in Chicago, I had 3 hours to figure out what to do with. I got some lunch, and then walked around for the majority of it. Something cool that I found in the Chicago airport, they have a brontosaurus replica, and on the ceiling of the underground pathway to the other gates, there was this laser-light show. Chicago was were I was supposed to meet up with the other exchange student from Washington who is going to my district, and for the longest time she didn't show up. I saw another Rotary blazer and went to go say hello, but this exchange student was headed to Istanbul. None the less we stayed with each other. She was from Iowa, and her mom had accompanied her to the gate. This was her first time at international travel, and it showed. About 20 minutes before the plane started boarding, the girl from Washington showed up. We all sat down together and started talking about Turkey. Of course another travel over heard us and came up and asked if we were all going to Turkey. We all said yes, and that we were exchange students. She turned out to be going to Izmir as well. The boarding started soon afterwards, and then we took off for Munich.

The flight seemed a lot longer than 9 hours. On the brighter side, I had a very nice man from Serbia as my neighbor. We spent a lot of the flight talking about soccer and other sports related things. There was also a pretty good selection of movies that were playing, and the food was some of the best I've had. Once we landed in Munich, I had another 3 hour layover, but it was nice this time because I had company. Before I walked into the terminal, I was under the impression that I was going to find a nice bratwurst stand, and enjoy a good sausage in Germany. In reality, most of the stores at the airport were over priced, designer clothing stores that would wipe my bank account with one purchase. We went to the Burberry store, and the cheapest thing we could find was a $120 napkin. We ended up just sitting by our gate trying to make time go faster. I got the window seat for my final flight, and as we were flying out of Munich, I saw a very picaresque view of the Alps. There snow covered peaks just poked out of a sea of clouds, and they seemed to stretch on for miles. After 2 hours of flight, which made a grand total of about 24 hours of traveling, I finally touched down in my final destination. Turkey.

Elveda,
-Torvald

Goodbye America

So with less than 12 hours before my departure from Portland, there is quite a mixture of emotions in me. Of course I am excited, a little sad to be leaving my friends, family, and home town, but mostly I'm just tired and very anxious to embark on this new journey. My flight tomorrow is at 9 AM, which means I have to be at the airport by 630, which means I have to leave the house by 6, which means that I have to wake up at 5:30, which is the earliest I've woken up in the past 2-3 summers for anything. My flight path takes me first to Chicago, where I have a 3 hour layover. Chicago is also where I meet up with the girl from Washington who is going to the same district as me in Turkey. Then we go to Munich, and from Munich we go to Izmir, our final destination. Once I get through customs, I should be greeted by my host family, and a few other district people. I'm not sure what is going to happen after my arrival, but it probably involves going back to Manisa, unpacking, and taking a nap.

The next day after I arrive in Turkey, I have a district orientation. So I have to wake up, jet-lagged out of my mind, and somehow find my way into Izmir in order to attend the orientation. Where some other exchange students have had about a week to adjust to the new time zone, I will only have had a few hours, and waking up on time has never been my strong suit.

Anyways, right now I am off to bed. The last night I get to sleep in my own bed for about 10-11 months. I'm going to miss this place and all of it's amazing people, particularly my very close friends, and of course my family. Of course I will find new families to become a part of, and make new life long bonds while I'm in Turkey, but none the less, I will miss Portland. Until next year Cascadia.

Elveda
-Torvald

More days Stateside

So right about now I'm wondering why I am no in Turkey. The answer to that question is that the Turkish embassy in LA is taking their marry old time with my visa approval. I didn't mind the waiting game at first, but now it is starting to get a little annoying.

Although it hasn't all been bad having to stay at home longer. I've had more time to spend with my family and friends. I've gotten to know the Japanese man who is renting out the guest room. I went to the first day of school at Wilson, and was constantly asked "What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be gone?" This was followed by a multitude of weird looks. Although hands down, my favorite thing that has happened in my prolonged stay in the states was Oregon State's 10-7 victory over the Wisonsin Badgers. Not only was it an amazing game, and it gave us Beaver fans something to celebrate, but I got to rub it in my 7th grade Science teacher's face, who has always gloated about how good the Badgers are.

Anyways. I expect to leave relatively soon, but that has been the story for the past 3 weeks. I was told that visa's were to be approved last Tuesday, but that didn't happen, so I still am in the dark as to when I will depart on my big adventure in Turkey.

Elveda
-Torvald