Week 3

Another week has flown by. A lot has happened during the past week. I have been busier at work, which has been so nice. I interview at least 3 or 4 students a day. It has been great to speak with them about why they want to travel. Most of them are so eager to see America they don't even care where they go. My favorite question to ask the students is, "what do you know about the US?" Most of them either say that Obama is the president or tell me their favorite movies/series. Almost every student has mentioned that they watch Game of Thrones and that they are eagerly awaiting the next season. I love that they are just as obsessed with this show as I am! I have also started working with one student who wants to go to England. His English level is beginner and he needs to be at an elementary level before he leaves. We had our first English session last week. It was exhausting, but so much fun. His English is so basic that I have to speak in very simple sentences. I relied a lot upon my charade skills to help me out. We also used Google Translate for the important information such as when he was going to come back. I think I will enjoy teaching him and hopefully this will be a chance to improve my Turkish. I bought a Turkish dictionary for our next session.

 

My roommate Ceren has helped me to gain more of the Turkish experience this week. After cleaning our apartment on Saturday, she took me to a bar to hear some music. We met up with her boyfriend, Arturo, his friends, another girl from the office, and her friends. They were all very nice and kept making sure I was okay. They spoke mainly in Turkish so I just sat there and smiled. Eventually they moved the table around so the stronger English speakers sat next to me. The guy that played, I think his name was Tuna, I really have no idea, was very good. He played guitar and sang some popular Turkish tunes which everyone loved. Eventually everyone began to dance. When I say everyone I mean like 80% of the bar was up and moving. Their dance moves where nothing like what you would see in an American bar. There was a lot of hip moving and snapping and at times there was also some clapping. At one point everyone took a napkin and began waving it in their hands. I don't know what is the best adjective to use to describe the type of dancing they did. The only thing I can say is that it wasn't vulgar or sexual in any way, which seems to be a theme in popular American dances. It was classy and  traditional. My favorite aspect of the dancing is that guys were dancing with other guys and it was completely normal. Men are just so comfortable showing affection to other men here. One of Arturo's friends was giving his other friend a backrub and kept hugging him and telling me that he was his best friend. I just love how men interact with each other here.

 

Ceren and Fulya, the other girl I work with, got me up to dance. It wasn't pretty. After the bar  Arturo, and his friends came over for coffee. I thought this was strange seeing as how it was 2 am, but I went with it. As we drank coffee Arturo's friends began to argue over Turkish politics. One of his friends was very pro- president, while the other supported the protests that have been going on the past three months here. They tried their best to speak in English, but at one point it got heated and they had to speak in Turkish. I have no idea what they said, but each one seemed pretty adamant that his position was right.

 

After work on Saturday, Ceren took me to one of her friend's apartments. Her apartment was wonderful! She had music posters and pictures of Marilyn Monroe everywhere. I could tell that she was really artsy. One of their other friends was there as well. I forget his name, but he was really nice and was studying to be an English teacher. Ceren and her friend prepared dinner for us while he and I talked. He was very nervous and I realized that for many Turkish people it is uncomfortable to speak with me. His English was actually very good, but he explained to me that he was thinking too much when he was speaking to me. He didn't want to make any mistakes, because he knew I would catch them. I told him not worry about it because I am a native speaker and I make mistakes all the time. It was nice speaking with him and gave me a better perspective of what people are thinking when I speak with them. There are quite a few people here who want to practice their English and who are eager to do so. Others want to practice, but are so nervous. It is hard for me to grasp the fact that other people, aside from me, feel nervous and uncomfortable here. I have been so wrapped up in my own discomfort that I have overlooked the fact that some Turkish people actually feel the same way when speaking with me. I think this is particularly true in the office. There is one girl who I work with that I thought hated me. She would speak to me, but it was always very briefly, and sometimes she would just stop in the middle of a conversation. It turns out that she actually likes me, but she doesn't think her English is very good. She asked the previous intern to help her with her English and he wanted her to pay him for his help. I told her that I would teach her three words a day until I leave so that she can improve her English. I have started to force her to speak with me, and I think she feels more comfortable with me now.

 

This week has been great and I am so thankful that my roommate has taken me under her wing. I look forward to meeting more people during these next three months.