It’s been another good week-
Saturday my friend Erin and I hit the hammam (bath house)- my first in Turkey What probably would have been a pretty big shock a few years ago felt like old hat after my time in the crowded, all-naked, all-day baths in Korea. Overall it was a nice, relaxing experience, though we made the mistake of going to a pricey touristic one. We paid in a front, unisex area, then went into the women’s area. We were given little locking changing rooms for putting on the wooden sandals and towel, though I’m not sure why they bother, as the door was unfrosted glass. We were able to lock our stuff in there while we lay cooking on a giant, elevated, very hot stone under a beautiful domed ceiling and chandelier. After we’d cooked for what they deemed long enough (about half an hour) some very good-natured, voluptuous, panties-only-clad women came in to dump buckets-full of water over us and scrub all our dead skin off. The scrubbing was nice, though not nearly as tough as the ones I experienced in Korea- which may be a good thing. I’ve had moles scrubbed off my arms in Korean baths! After the scrub, the women took what looked like pillowcases with bars of soap in them, filled them with air, and somehow managed to produce giant heaps of soap bubbles which they mounded on us and rubbed in with a nice massage. The massage was great, though I think Erin had a pretty hard time keeping in the giggles in…sitting upright, with a large topless woman massaging your shoulders heartily while standing in front of you…you get the picture. We got a thorough rinsing, then were left to cook for a while longer on the giant stone. We grabbed our towels and headed out once we were ready.
The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful- Ace and I spent all day Sunday inside, getting started on looking for a job for Ace for next year. It’s that time- Erin has decided to stay, and is enjoying being courted (sometimes literally) by all of the principals of different English-speaking high schools in town, and Ace has decided to get cracking on applications for next year before the applications from the big international job fairs in the U.S start pouring in. We’ve decided on somewhere in South or Central America, but hadn’t narrowed it down much more than that, except for no to Panama and Venezuela- for obvious reasons. Ace has gotten five different applications in now- in Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, and…somewhere else. I can’t remember.
While researching schools, we came to the extremely unfortunate discovery that almost every international/American/Canadian school in South and Central America starts in early to mid-August- i.e., before the wedding. This is a problem. We did find two in Ecuador that start in September, so that’s a possibility- also, we’re hoping that there’s a chance that one of the others will be willing to hire him, then give him a week off to fly home and get married. If he applies to a million, in the 7 or so countries that we’re considering, someone has to be willing to do that, right?? Right? Oh lordy, I hope so. I’m trying not to freak out about it too much, but I’m a worrier. Sigh.
My work life is going pretty well- I started conversation sessions with a really fun new student, so that has been great. I’ve been a little frustrated with the super inconsistent hours and constant cancellations with students at one agency, and am considering taking on a new student on my own and reducing my hours with them. It’s a great place, but if a student cancels 30 minutes before the lesson, (which he often does), it just sucks for me. I hate to not be available when they decide they DO want me around a lot, but you really have to look out for yourself here. Things are in such a constant state of change.
That’s about it for now, I think. We’re getting ready for India- paying the landlady, doing laundry, researching the best beaches, etc. Only two days left! We’ll be in Kerala, Goa and Gokarna, and Hampi, in case you want to check them out. I’ll be sure to post pictures and a blog all about it when we get back in two weeks!
(oh, and Ace has been posting photos from our Turkey vacation last month on our site, in case you want to check those out, too)
XOXO
Kait
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Kait's quiet mid-week projects
Due to a few cancelled and rescheduled classes, the last two days have been quiet ones for me; just one class (two hours) per day. It’s been nice- I’ve been left with lots of free time to do stuff I love. Yesterday I hopped on my usual 7:30 bus out to the Asian side, where a student picks me up at 8:45 for our 9-11 lesson. It’s a long bus ride, but I usually don’t mind: the scenery is mostly nice, I always get a seat on the bus, and I get to sit, listen to music or an audiobook, or snooze for a good chunk of time. We had a good lesson, and then I caught the bus back to Taksim, walked the 10 minutes home, and was done with my workday by 12:30
I was feeling Betty Crocker-ish, probably due to the lovely audiobook I was blasting from my i-Pod (Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”), so I ended up cleaning the whole apartment, doing three loads of laundry in our tiny washing machine and hanging them up to dry in front of the space heater, and undertaking a bunch of cooking projects. We had a bunch of potatoes and the gravy packets I’d brought from home, which amazingly survived the holidays, so I made baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and salad. I also made my first ever batch of homemade applesauce, and it will definitely not be my last! I’ve been missing applesauce for two years…if I had only known that a handful of apples, some water, a bit of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon could somehow turn into one of the best things I’ve ever tasted! Seriously, it’s better than apple pie a la mode. Mmmmm. Bliss.
Ace made it home by six, and we had dinner and then I practiced my guitar (for the second time ever). I’m now able to fumble my way through three chords, and I’ve developed these weird, numb feeling spots on the tips of my middle fingers on my left hand from awkwardly pressing the strings so hard. It’s not unpleasant- it reminds me of music every time my fingers tingle. I found an amazing website, JustinGuitar.com, which has the most helpful video lessons- from “how to tune your guitar” and “how to hold your pick” all the way up to stuff so fancy I don’t even know what it means. It’s wonderful, and I’m so glad I have a (free!) teacher to keep me on track, even if he doesn’t know I exist.
Last night I dragged myself out of the house (it’s so hard for me to get out on icky winter’s nights, even when it’s unseasonably warm like it is here) to go to a Spanish Conversation session. It was great- a bunch of people that met through Couchsurfing, a travel and cultural exchange website I belong to, that meet up weekly to chat and drink tea. There were people of all levels there, from non-speakers to natives, and it reminded me both how much I know and how much I still have to learn. There were lots of good laughs, and I guess they usually go out for drinks (of the alcoholic kind, not the caffeinated kind) afterwards, though I left early. Hopefully I’ll be able to go again soon. While we’re on the Spanish subject- I also became a member of the local Spanish Cultural Center’s library, which I’ve been meaning to do forever. I now have access to tons of movies and books in Spanish, and I’ve been enjoying having something to read, especially as it’s so expensive to buy English (or Spanish) books from bookstores here. I’m inching my way through an autobiography right now, Memorias Prematuras, and while there are loads of words I don’t understand, I’m getting the gist of it. I think.
This morning I didn’t have any classes, so I allowed myself the luxury of lounging in bed till 7:30. I put my audiobook on and cooked up a massive batch of fresh tomato spaghetti sauce to freeze, wrote in my journal, and practiced some guitar again (that makes 3 times! I’m practically a pro now, right?) I daydreamed about stuff to put on the registry we’re starting to put together (mostly food-related), then finally headed out of the house. I finished the time-intensive task of figuring out a rough game plan for India and buying domestic flights and train tickets last week, but we still needed some medications for the intestinal afflictions that are almost sure to keep us debilitated for our two weeks in India.
I walked by “cat square”, the creative moniker I’ve given the open lot near our apartment where about 30 strays eat, play, and have their adorable little kittens. The “cat angel” was there, the guy that I always see pouring food and water, shooing dogs, and occasionally giving eye drops. I assume he’s also the one that built the plywood shelters the kitties love so much. He knows me by now, and nodded at me as I pet my favorite kitten. I want to ask how to help, but the language barrier is too great- I really should figure out some way to get around it, though.
I hit the pharmacy, where I said something eloquent like “I go India” and pointed at the appropriate vocab in my dictionary. Here, if you have a minor problem, you can skip the doctors visit and go straight to the pharmacist, tell him what’s up, and get your prescriptions from him. I left with two packs of medication for about $3.50. It’s kinda sad that I’m more afraid of getting sick in the U.S. with health insurance than I am of getting sick in Turkey without. It’s amazing how cheap medication has been in Korea and Turkey, and it really makes it real to me how obscene the profits that companies in the U.S. are making off our sick people.
I moved on to the gym, where I had a nice workout, then came home for dinner and a blog before the conversation class I’ll lead this evening. I’ve got it good.
I was feeling Betty Crocker-ish, probably due to the lovely audiobook I was blasting from my i-Pod (Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”), so I ended up cleaning the whole apartment, doing three loads of laundry in our tiny washing machine and hanging them up to dry in front of the space heater, and undertaking a bunch of cooking projects. We had a bunch of potatoes and the gravy packets I’d brought from home, which amazingly survived the holidays, so I made baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and salad. I also made my first ever batch of homemade applesauce, and it will definitely not be my last! I’ve been missing applesauce for two years…if I had only known that a handful of apples, some water, a bit of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon could somehow turn into one of the best things I’ve ever tasted! Seriously, it’s better than apple pie a la mode. Mmmmm. Bliss.
Ace made it home by six, and we had dinner and then I practiced my guitar (for the second time ever). I’m now able to fumble my way through three chords, and I’ve developed these weird, numb feeling spots on the tips of my middle fingers on my left hand from awkwardly pressing the strings so hard. It’s not unpleasant- it reminds me of music every time my fingers tingle. I found an amazing website, JustinGuitar.com, which has the most helpful video lessons- from “how to tune your guitar” and “how to hold your pick” all the way up to stuff so fancy I don’t even know what it means. It’s wonderful, and I’m so glad I have a (free!) teacher to keep me on track, even if he doesn’t know I exist.
Last night I dragged myself out of the house (it’s so hard for me to get out on icky winter’s nights, even when it’s unseasonably warm like it is here) to go to a Spanish Conversation session. It was great- a bunch of people that met through Couchsurfing, a travel and cultural exchange website I belong to, that meet up weekly to chat and drink tea. There were people of all levels there, from non-speakers to natives, and it reminded me both how much I know and how much I still have to learn. There were lots of good laughs, and I guess they usually go out for drinks (of the alcoholic kind, not the caffeinated kind) afterwards, though I left early. Hopefully I’ll be able to go again soon. While we’re on the Spanish subject- I also became a member of the local Spanish Cultural Center’s library, which I’ve been meaning to do forever. I now have access to tons of movies and books in Spanish, and I’ve been enjoying having something to read, especially as it’s so expensive to buy English (or Spanish) books from bookstores here. I’m inching my way through an autobiography right now, Memorias Prematuras, and while there are loads of words I don’t understand, I’m getting the gist of it. I think.
This morning I didn’t have any classes, so I allowed myself the luxury of lounging in bed till 7:30. I put my audiobook on and cooked up a massive batch of fresh tomato spaghetti sauce to freeze, wrote in my journal, and practiced some guitar again (that makes 3 times! I’m practically a pro now, right?) I daydreamed about stuff to put on the registry we’re starting to put together (mostly food-related), then finally headed out of the house. I finished the time-intensive task of figuring out a rough game plan for India and buying domestic flights and train tickets last week, but we still needed some medications for the intestinal afflictions that are almost sure to keep us debilitated for our two weeks in India.
I walked by “cat square”, the creative moniker I’ve given the open lot near our apartment where about 30 strays eat, play, and have their adorable little kittens. The “cat angel” was there, the guy that I always see pouring food and water, shooing dogs, and occasionally giving eye drops. I assume he’s also the one that built the plywood shelters the kitties love so much. He knows me by now, and nodded at me as I pet my favorite kitten. I want to ask how to help, but the language barrier is too great- I really should figure out some way to get around it, though.
I hit the pharmacy, where I said something eloquent like “I go India” and pointed at the appropriate vocab in my dictionary. Here, if you have a minor problem, you can skip the doctors visit and go straight to the pharmacist, tell him what’s up, and get your prescriptions from him. I left with two packs of medication for about $3.50. It’s kinda sad that I’m more afraid of getting sick in the U.S. with health insurance than I am of getting sick in Turkey without. It’s amazing how cheap medication has been in Korea and Turkey, and it really makes it real to me how obscene the profits that companies in the U.S. are making off our sick people.
I moved on to the gym, where I had a nice workout, then came home for dinner and a blog before the conversation class I’ll lead this evening. I’ve got it good.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Back from vacation!
Ace and I just got home from a week-long Christmas/New Year’s vacation, which we spent traveling around to a bunch of different cities in Turkey. We’d originally planned to visit a few cities in the middle of the western coast and then work our way around to the southwestern area along the Mediterranean, but once we discovered it would be much easier to get our tourist visas for our India trip in Antalya (the capital city, more or less in the middle of the country) we changed our plans a bit.
We flew from Istanbul to Izmir on Christmas morning, then bussed straight down to Selcuk and Ephesus to visit the amazing ruins there They’re definitely the best I’ve seen in a long time- I’d say they rivaled the beauties I saw in Tunisia! We had a great Christmas dinner with a bunch of other travelers at our cozy hostel. We also bought our first kilim (beautiful flat-weaved Turkish carpet) at a neighboring shop. I’m afraid I may be feeling an addiction coming on…I’m already wondering where in Istanbul I might be able to find a good deal on some smaller ones. Uh-oh. The following morning, we bussed 3 hours east to the gorgeous mountainside covered with hot springs and a pure white, rock-solid coating of calcium (Pamukkale). It was pretty cool to climb up barefoot through the pools and what looked exactly like a bank of snow. It was another pretty big attraction, so we were able to find a nice hostel and plenty of transportation, even though it was the off season. Two of the nicest things about travelling in the off season- being able to bargain hotels down, and people-free pictures of places that are usually swarming
The next morning we bussed back to Izmir and caught a cheap domestic flight to Ankara, where we went straight to the Indian embassy with our paperwork and applied for our tourist visas. We weren’t able to pick them up until Thursday evening, so we had to stay in Central Anatolia for the week- no Mediterranean for us! While there aren’t a ton of attractions in the area, and there isn’t much tourist infrastructure in high season, let alone low season, it was really interesting to see some new parts of Turkey. We did manage to find a few really lovely museums, a cute village, more ruins, and we got to visit the Rumi’s tomb in Konya, which was really cool for me. However, by the time we picked up our visas in Ankara (success!!) we were pretty tired of buses- we were travelling at least 3 hours a day. We’d caught up on sleep enough for months, as it got dark pretty early and there wasn’t a ton to do at night- after our millionth game of backgammon we usually ended up giving up and going to bed at 9. So after our visit to Konya we decided to change our flight and come back a day early (Saturday). We’re both pretty happy to be home with tourist visas and India tickets secured!
It’s looking like a pretty average week for us- the high school is keeping Ace plenty busy, and he’s trying to get in a few workouts a week after work, too. I’m tutoring an average of 4 hours a day, but with travelling to and from the businesses, homes, and schools, I stay busy enough. It’s a good life Between tutoring and prepping, I’m attempting to keep up on my personal stuff- journaling, working out, and my rather feeble attempts to blog and study Turkish regularly. I’m also starting to plan for India- reserving overnight train tickets and hostels- as well as doing some wedding planning. We’ve gotten most of the big stuff done, and the next project is the registry- fun! We’re going to start up some Turkish lessons again on Thursday, I’ve been hitting up a really nice Cuban Salsa class when I have the time and energy, and I also have the guitar Ace bought me for Christmas waiting dejectedly for me to come and learn a chord on it. I’m sitting in Starbucks now, sipping a tea and enjoying some quiet time- my journal and India plans are calling, though, so that’s all for now. Love and peace to all our family and friends- and Happy New Year!
We flew from Istanbul to Izmir on Christmas morning, then bussed straight down to Selcuk and Ephesus to visit the amazing ruins there They’re definitely the best I’ve seen in a long time- I’d say they rivaled the beauties I saw in Tunisia! We had a great Christmas dinner with a bunch of other travelers at our cozy hostel. We also bought our first kilim (beautiful flat-weaved Turkish carpet) at a neighboring shop. I’m afraid I may be feeling an addiction coming on…I’m already wondering where in Istanbul I might be able to find a good deal on some smaller ones. Uh-oh. The following morning, we bussed 3 hours east to the gorgeous mountainside covered with hot springs and a pure white, rock-solid coating of calcium (Pamukkale). It was pretty cool to climb up barefoot through the pools and what looked exactly like a bank of snow. It was another pretty big attraction, so we were able to find a nice hostel and plenty of transportation, even though it was the off season. Two of the nicest things about travelling in the off season- being able to bargain hotels down, and people-free pictures of places that are usually swarming
The next morning we bussed back to Izmir and caught a cheap domestic flight to Ankara, where we went straight to the Indian embassy with our paperwork and applied for our tourist visas. We weren’t able to pick them up until Thursday evening, so we had to stay in Central Anatolia for the week- no Mediterranean for us! While there aren’t a ton of attractions in the area, and there isn’t much tourist infrastructure in high season, let alone low season, it was really interesting to see some new parts of Turkey. We did manage to find a few really lovely museums, a cute village, more ruins, and we got to visit the Rumi’s tomb in Konya, which was really cool for me. However, by the time we picked up our visas in Ankara (success!!) we were pretty tired of buses- we were travelling at least 3 hours a day. We’d caught up on sleep enough for months, as it got dark pretty early and there wasn’t a ton to do at night- after our millionth game of backgammon we usually ended up giving up and going to bed at 9. So after our visit to Konya we decided to change our flight and come back a day early (Saturday). We’re both pretty happy to be home with tourist visas and India tickets secured!
It’s looking like a pretty average week for us- the high school is keeping Ace plenty busy, and he’s trying to get in a few workouts a week after work, too. I’m tutoring an average of 4 hours a day, but with travelling to and from the businesses, homes, and schools, I stay busy enough. It’s a good life Between tutoring and prepping, I’m attempting to keep up on my personal stuff- journaling, working out, and my rather feeble attempts to blog and study Turkish regularly. I’m also starting to plan for India- reserving overnight train tickets and hostels- as well as doing some wedding planning. We’ve gotten most of the big stuff done, and the next project is the registry- fun! We’re going to start up some Turkish lessons again on Thursday, I’ve been hitting up a really nice Cuban Salsa class when I have the time and energy, and I also have the guitar Ace bought me for Christmas waiting dejectedly for me to come and learn a chord on it. I’m sitting in Starbucks now, sipping a tea and enjoying some quiet time- my journal and India plans are calling, though, so that’s all for now. Love and peace to all our family and friends- and Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
An Average Weekend in Istanbul
Has it really been six months since I’ve written up here?
Oh well, let’s just pretend like I never stopped, and we’ll just pick up with this weekend. Catching up is too big of a task to contemplate, so I hope that through my ramblings about our everyday life 2.5 months into our Turkish adventure, you can get a bit of an idea about what our lives here are like.
This weekend was a fairly mellow one- the lovely Istanbul fall and winter, which has so far been clear and pleasantly cool, turned rainy on us. Friday evening I had taken an epic bus journey (over TWO HOURS on a bus just to get to a business on the Asian side- that’s Friday night Istanbul traffic for you) to meet with some businessmen that were looking to learn English. The chat went well, and one of them gave me a ride back to the shore so I could catch a (much quicker) ferry back to the European side. The night was cool, but not so cold that I couldn’t huddle out on the benches in the open air, listening to some music on my i-pod and watching the lights of the European side approaching. Once there, I caught a cab to a party at a friend’s apartment- I got to spend the evening with about 20 of the lovely teachers I met at MEF, the International School I spent two weeks at. My friend had visited Russia for Bayram, the sacrifice holiday last week, so a vodka and borscht party was had It was a great group of people- Columbians, Americans, Canadians, Turks, New Zealanders… after the party, I split a cab home with three really fun Macedonians that are here working for a music booking company. Ace, meanwhile, was home recouping from another week of 12 hour days. Poor kid.
Saturday morning I took off for another meeting at a local Starbucks (sacrilegious, I know, but it’s my favorite place to study!) while Ace slept in. When I got back, we spent a pleasant afternoon lazing around the apartment- Ace graded papers and relaxed while I cooked a white bean and veggie soup. With no microwave, our quick foods are limited- which is probably a great thing, as it means pretty much no processed foods, and I’ve become a soup-cooking master- cheap, yummy, and healthy. Veggies are so gloriously cheap here that it’s hard to not to be inspired to cook with them. On that note, we’re also living without a dryer (normal for Turkey, and every other country I’ve travelled to), without a T.V. (we had one, but it was taking up the space where we wanted to put in the oven we bought, so it went into the closet- this is not normal for Turkey), but the dryer is the only thing I miss. Oh man, I will never stop missing clothes dryers. The rest of the world is missing out, I tell you. Saturday evening our good friend Erin came in. She’s the English Lit teacher at Ace’s high school, and she lives in the teacher housing waaayyy out in the suburbs, by the school. Her commute is much shorter than Ace’s, but our place is a lot more fun for the weekends, so she often comes out to hang out with us and crash on our futon on Saturday nights. We took her out to a late-birthday dinner at our favorite local restaurant, then we got a cheap beer - our apartment is only about 5 to ten minutes from the main restaurant, bar, and shopping area of Istanbul! We then bought some gorgeous Turkish rice pudding to go, came back to our apartment , smoked our hookah, savored our pudding, and watched the m ost depressing movie ever. “Disgrace”, with John Malkovich. Don’t watch it.
Sunday morning Erin headed out on her hour plus trip home, and Ace and I hit the market. Another great thing about our location is the Sunday market that invades the street across from ours every Sunday morning- it’s a ritual for us to load up on armfuls of gorgeous veggies and fruits. I bought 2 kilos of perfect tomatoes for two lira- about $1.50. Awesome. We then caught a ferry back across the Bosphorous to the Asian side- there’s a really nice district over there with lots of good restaurants, cute shops, and a used academic text market that we were wanting to check out. It was freezing, but we had a pleasant day roaming the streets, browsing through stacks of books in a shopping-mall-sized collection of bookstores, and eating yummy food and a fancy lokanta, one of my favorite kinds of places to eat here. We came back with some treasures, including a beginner’s Turkish textbook, a Barbara Kingsolver novel, some e.e.cummings poetry, and something in French for Ace. We were pretty chilled by mid-afternoon, so we took the ferry back, got some food on the way, and came home to drink tea, catch up on emails, and study Turkish together by the heater.
That’s it for now- I’ve resolved to start writing weekly, so stay tuned if I haven’t bored you too much yet!
Oh well, let’s just pretend like I never stopped, and we’ll just pick up with this weekend. Catching up is too big of a task to contemplate, so I hope that through my ramblings about our everyday life 2.5 months into our Turkish adventure, you can get a bit of an idea about what our lives here are like.
This weekend was a fairly mellow one- the lovely Istanbul fall and winter, which has so far been clear and pleasantly cool, turned rainy on us. Friday evening I had taken an epic bus journey (over TWO HOURS on a bus just to get to a business on the Asian side- that’s Friday night Istanbul traffic for you) to meet with some businessmen that were looking to learn English. The chat went well, and one of them gave me a ride back to the shore so I could catch a (much quicker) ferry back to the European side. The night was cool, but not so cold that I couldn’t huddle out on the benches in the open air, listening to some music on my i-pod and watching the lights of the European side approaching. Once there, I caught a cab to a party at a friend’s apartment- I got to spend the evening with about 20 of the lovely teachers I met at MEF, the International School I spent two weeks at. My friend had visited Russia for Bayram, the sacrifice holiday last week, so a vodka and borscht party was had It was a great group of people- Columbians, Americans, Canadians, Turks, New Zealanders… after the party, I split a cab home with three really fun Macedonians that are here working for a music booking company. Ace, meanwhile, was home recouping from another week of 12 hour days. Poor kid.
Saturday morning I took off for another meeting at a local Starbucks (sacrilegious, I know, but it’s my favorite place to study!) while Ace slept in. When I got back, we spent a pleasant afternoon lazing around the apartment- Ace graded papers and relaxed while I cooked a white bean and veggie soup. With no microwave, our quick foods are limited- which is probably a great thing, as it means pretty much no processed foods, and I’ve become a soup-cooking master- cheap, yummy, and healthy. Veggies are so gloriously cheap here that it’s hard to not to be inspired to cook with them. On that note, we’re also living without a dryer (normal for Turkey, and every other country I’ve travelled to), without a T.V. (we had one, but it was taking up the space where we wanted to put in the oven we bought, so it went into the closet- this is not normal for Turkey), but the dryer is the only thing I miss. Oh man, I will never stop missing clothes dryers. The rest of the world is missing out, I tell you. Saturday evening our good friend Erin came in. She’s the English Lit teacher at Ace’s high school, and she lives in the teacher housing waaayyy out in the suburbs, by the school. Her commute is much shorter than Ace’s, but our place is a lot more fun for the weekends, so she often comes out to hang out with us and crash on our futon on Saturday nights. We took her out to a late-birthday dinner at our favorite local restaurant, then we got a cheap beer - our apartment is only about 5 to ten minutes from the main restaurant, bar, and shopping area of Istanbul! We then bought some gorgeous Turkish rice pudding to go, came back to our apartment , smoked our hookah, savored our pudding, and watched the m ost depressing movie ever. “Disgrace”, with John Malkovich. Don’t watch it.
Sunday morning Erin headed out on her hour plus trip home, and Ace and I hit the market. Another great thing about our location is the Sunday market that invades the street across from ours every Sunday morning- it’s a ritual for us to load up on armfuls of gorgeous veggies and fruits. I bought 2 kilos of perfect tomatoes for two lira- about $1.50. Awesome. We then caught a ferry back across the Bosphorous to the Asian side- there’s a really nice district over there with lots of good restaurants, cute shops, and a used academic text market that we were wanting to check out. It was freezing, but we had a pleasant day roaming the streets, browsing through stacks of books in a shopping-mall-sized collection of bookstores, and eating yummy food and a fancy lokanta, one of my favorite kinds of places to eat here. We came back with some treasures, including a beginner’s Turkish textbook, a Barbara Kingsolver novel, some e.e.cummings poetry, and something in French for Ace. We were pretty chilled by mid-afternoon, so we took the ferry back, got some food on the way, and came home to drink tea, catch up on emails, and study Turkish together by the heater.
That’s it for now- I’ve resolved to start writing weekly, so stay tuned if I haven’t bored you too much yet!
Monday, June 1, 2009
The little boy and the taxi driver
I just wanted to pass along a couple of small but fairly entertaining experiences I had last week. While I was waiting to catch a bus to the subway, a small boy and girl were playing with their mother near my bench. Before long, the boy approached me with a water bottle. He held it out to me with a gesture that implied that he either wanted me to open it for him, or he was offering it to me. Anyways, I said these few simple words in Korean: ahnyo, quinchuhnahyo, kahmsahmnida. (I'ts okay, no thanks.) Immediately, the boy looked completely stunned. He ran off to his mother shouting in Korean (He can speak Korean! He can speak Korean!) After suffering about 45 seconds of incredulity, he came back to verify if he was correct. He asked (Do you speak Korean?) And I replied (Yes, I speak a little Korean). And he ran back to his mother once again saying (He speaks a little! He speaks a little!)
On Saturday, I took a cab with my friend Rich after our hapkido test to meet with Kaitlin and some other friends in a different part of town. Once we got into the cab, we could immediately tell that the cabbie was a bit of a character. I didn't smell anything when I got in, but I thought that it was possible that this guy was just a little bit drunk. We sat in bewilderment as the man gesticulated wildly while he was talking, and every time he asked a question, he gave me or Rich a sturdy poke in the interior of our upper thighs (awkward). Once Rich and I exhausted the Korean phrases we knew, the conversation dwindled, and he communicated that the conversation was over by turning up the sound on the satellite TV. (All cabs are equipped with satellite TVs here.) Rich and I sat discussing inconsequential details in the back seat, when out of the blue, the cabbie rolls down the window, and hocks a huge loogie onto the warm asphalt. We barely broke conversation, though. However, when he lifted his right leg a bit and farted audibly, we both contained our laughter as much as we could. I know, it was likely the same reaction a middle school boy would have, but it just caught us by surprise.
Anyways, like I said, I just thought I would share.
*Note: this is not by any means normal behavior for cabbies.
:)
On Saturday, I took a cab with my friend Rich after our hapkido test to meet with Kaitlin and some other friends in a different part of town. Once we got into the cab, we could immediately tell that the cabbie was a bit of a character. I didn't smell anything when I got in, but I thought that it was possible that this guy was just a little bit drunk. We sat in bewilderment as the man gesticulated wildly while he was talking, and every time he asked a question, he gave me or Rich a sturdy poke in the interior of our upper thighs (awkward). Once Rich and I exhausted the Korean phrases we knew, the conversation dwindled, and he communicated that the conversation was over by turning up the sound on the satellite TV. (All cabs are equipped with satellite TVs here.) Rich and I sat discussing inconsequential details in the back seat, when out of the blue, the cabbie rolls down the window, and hocks a huge loogie onto the warm asphalt. We barely broke conversation, though. However, when he lifted his right leg a bit and farted audibly, we both contained our laughter as much as we could. I know, it was likely the same reaction a middle school boy would have, but it just caught us by surprise.
Anyways, like I said, I just thought I would share.
*Note: this is not by any means normal behavior for cabbies.
:)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Early-Mid May
Ace and I are enjoying a slower pace around here, for the time being. The weekend after the Lotus Lantern Festival, I headed back up to Seoul to pick up Rachel from the airport. It was great to have her here- Ace and I loved getting to share all the random bits of Korean insight we’ve picked up, showing off our weak Korean skills, introducing her to our favorite places and restaurants, and introducing her to our friends here. It was lovely to see her again, and a great excuse to visit places I’ve been to and loved, and places I’ve been meaning to check out. It really felt great to get to share everything I’ve learned over the last 9 months.
Unfortunately, we both developed a nasty cold or something in the beginning of the week. The doctor told me I had “cold plus allergy plus voice problem”, whatever that means, which was a bit of an understatement, seeing as I was completely unable to speak above a whisper when I visited him. It was pretty lame having to try not to talk with my friend here, but, on the bright side, I got the day off work and got to spend more time with her. Rach was feeling icky all week, but was still able to enjoy everything. I’d say some highlights were tandem biking around Gyeongju, the cool spas and whole-body-nibbly-fish-pool at Spa Valley, the local waterpark, and getting scrubbed within an inch of our lives, thrown around, beaten and then doused in cucumber and milk by the old ladies at the bath house we visited.
I took the day off on Friday to take Rach up to Seoul, which meant it was a 3 day workweek for me! It was really nice, though I still managed to exhaust myself. Ace met us up in Seoul in Saturday, and we enjoyed some good food, a live show, a night in a Korean traditional house, and a palace together.
Rachel left for Seoul that Sunday, and I spent most of last week catching up on little stuff, while still trying to work out, study Korean, and write in my journal. I had a phone interview with EF INST, my top choice for schools in Istanbul, on Monday. I think it went well, but they won’t be making offers until June, so now I just have to wait. There are a million uncertainties that are driving me crazy, but I’m trying not to dwell on them. What kind of position will they offer me, if they do offer one? How many split shifts and weekends will I have to work? What kind of students and classes will I teach? Will I have enough time with Ace? Will I get enough vacation and holidays to do some traveling in the area? What will my pay be like? What area will I work in? Will I be able to negotiate a 9 month contract? If they don’t offer me something, should I get a job with one of the less desirable schools, or just cruise on into Istanbul when I want and look for work there? Yuck. Anyone that knows me knows that I hate not having a plan, but I’m attempting to be patient.
This weekend was the first time in a month that I didn’t go up to Seoul! Saturday was one of our rare Daegu rainy days, so it was perfect for a lazy day around the house. Ace studied a lot of Korean, and I had a great time working on a photo book with our Turkey pictures, making banana bread, journaling, and getting myself organized. One of the bonuses about our situation is having apartments next to all of our friends, and we spend Saturday evening visiting three different friends’ apartments, all within a 15 minute walk.
Sunday I took myself shopping downtown, and Ace met up with me at night to see Star Trek. It was great! I’m not even remotely knowledgeable about the old stuff, but I still loved the movie. We had a late dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants, then headed home. It was a perfect weekend- just what I needed! It’s getting a bit late here-1:30 a.m.- and I think it’s time to retire with the good book I’m reading, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Goodnight!
Unfortunately, we both developed a nasty cold or something in the beginning of the week. The doctor told me I had “cold plus allergy plus voice problem”, whatever that means, which was a bit of an understatement, seeing as I was completely unable to speak above a whisper when I visited him. It was pretty lame having to try not to talk with my friend here, but, on the bright side, I got the day off work and got to spend more time with her. Rach was feeling icky all week, but was still able to enjoy everything. I’d say some highlights were tandem biking around Gyeongju, the cool spas and whole-body-nibbly-fish-pool at Spa Valley, the local waterpark, and getting scrubbed within an inch of our lives, thrown around, beaten and then doused in cucumber and milk by the old ladies at the bath house we visited.
I took the day off on Friday to take Rach up to Seoul, which meant it was a 3 day workweek for me! It was really nice, though I still managed to exhaust myself. Ace met us up in Seoul in Saturday, and we enjoyed some good food, a live show, a night in a Korean traditional house, and a palace together.
Rachel left for Seoul that Sunday, and I spent most of last week catching up on little stuff, while still trying to work out, study Korean, and write in my journal. I had a phone interview with EF INST, my top choice for schools in Istanbul, on Monday. I think it went well, but they won’t be making offers until June, so now I just have to wait. There are a million uncertainties that are driving me crazy, but I’m trying not to dwell on them. What kind of position will they offer me, if they do offer one? How many split shifts and weekends will I have to work? What kind of students and classes will I teach? Will I have enough time with Ace? Will I get enough vacation and holidays to do some traveling in the area? What will my pay be like? What area will I work in? Will I be able to negotiate a 9 month contract? If they don’t offer me something, should I get a job with one of the less desirable schools, or just cruise on into Istanbul when I want and look for work there? Yuck. Anyone that knows me knows that I hate not having a plan, but I’m attempting to be patient.
This weekend was the first time in a month that I didn’t go up to Seoul! Saturday was one of our rare Daegu rainy days, so it was perfect for a lazy day around the house. Ace studied a lot of Korean, and I had a great time working on a photo book with our Turkey pictures, making banana bread, journaling, and getting myself organized. One of the bonuses about our situation is having apartments next to all of our friends, and we spend Saturday evening visiting three different friends’ apartments, all within a 15 minute walk.
Sunday I took myself shopping downtown, and Ace met up with me at night to see Star Trek. It was great! I’m not even remotely knowledgeable about the old stuff, but I still loved the movie. We had a late dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants, then headed home. It was a perfect weekend- just what I needed! It’s getting a bit late here-1:30 a.m.- and I think it’s time to retire with the good book I’m reading, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Goodnight!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Festivals
One week ago, Kait and I went to Seoul to see the Lotus Lantern Festival that was a week-early celebration of Buddha's birthday. To give just a little background, the lotus flower is important in Buddhist beliefs because the flower grows in swamps, an example of beauty that flourishes amid the muck.
There were many Buddhists from around the world who were celebrating at this festival. I saw people from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and many other Asian countries, but I also saw monks that were completely American, which was pretty cool to see.
The festival took place near the main walking street in Seoul, Insadong, so we all (me, Kait, Carolyn, Laura, and Sarah) enjoyed going from stall to stall to see the activities. The ladies all got their faces painted. Later, we had some traditional tea by sitting cross-legged in a stall while munching on some delicious rice cake. I and Sarah copied a sketch of a hand holding a lotus flower above a bed of clouds. Amid the stalls, there was a temple that we also checked out just off of the street. Many people gathered in this area to pray, pay their respects to the Buddha image, and to watch a slew of performances that were taking place just outside. After we got some delicious potato and pork spine soup and did a bit of browsing through the walking street, we checked out the main event: the parade.
This was definitely the highlight of the festival. The parade went on for roughly three hours, and consisted of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people walking, dancing, or marching down the street. Also, we saw a bunch of awesome floats, depicting fire-breathing dragons, fire-breathing peacocks, a monk in a taxi, and Buddha in a helicopter -- along with a bunch of other floats that seemed more natural at a Buddhist celebration. Another thing to see was the costumes. Some of them were quite elaborate and beautiful.
Traditional food and drinks festival
Two weeks ago we went to a festival in Gyeongju that celebrated Korean traditional foods and drinks. For the most part, we saw barbecued meat and rice cakes for the traditional foods. The focus, however, was more heavily put on the traditional drinks...especially those of the alcoholic variety. Dongdongju, Maccoli, bamboo leaf wine, andong soju, and soju were all there, and, for a mere 2,ooowon, Kait and I each bought a small cup about the size of a shot glass that allowed us to go from booth to booth receiving free samples of drinks. [Dongdongju and moccoli are both similar versions of fermented rice drinks. Soju itself is a much harder version of fermented rice wine, and bamboo leaf wine is, well, bamboo-leaf flavoring mixed with soju.]
A mildly funny thing happened while Kait and I were approaching one of the stalls that gave out the drinks. There were many people with high-quality video cameras that were possibly filming for television purposes. Anyways, when we approached the stall, one such man and his reporter (equipped with a mike and everything) saw us coming. I saw these men see us as they started to get their camera/mike poised for us to approach. At this point I stopped Kait, and told her we might want to go to another stall, but just as I stopped, the men saw us stop, and they realized what we were doing, so they took some hesitant steps in our direction. Realizing that we were already committed to getting filmed drinking some free alcohol, we went ahead to the stall, which seemed to please the men very much. They asked us questions in English such as "How is the taste" and the like, so we were happy to answer them.
Herb Festival
Recently (yesterday) after our Korean language class at the local YMCA, Kait and I went to another very small festival that was celebrating the use of plants/herbs/roots/etc. We just kind of perused, and we decided that we wouldn't try the fried ginger root or pumpkin juice, though I was just a bit tempted. Also, the highlight of this festival was perhaps the giant, inflated vinyl artery (as in a human artery)that served as a play area and bouncy room for children; of course, we checked it out immediately. I am guessing that it was a random way to promote the health benefits of herbal medicines.
Anyways, that's all for now. We will post again soon, as there will definitely be a lot going on in the weeks to follow. Until then, we send our thoughts and love!
There were many Buddhists from around the world who were celebrating at this festival. I saw people from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and many other Asian countries, but I also saw monks that were completely American, which was pretty cool to see.
The festival took place near the main walking street in Seoul, Insadong, so we all (me, Kait, Carolyn, Laura, and Sarah) enjoyed going from stall to stall to see the activities. The ladies all got their faces painted. Later, we had some traditional tea by sitting cross-legged in a stall while munching on some delicious rice cake. I and Sarah copied a sketch of a hand holding a lotus flower above a bed of clouds. Amid the stalls, there was a temple that we also checked out just off of the street. Many people gathered in this area to pray, pay their respects to the Buddha image, and to watch a slew of performances that were taking place just outside. After we got some delicious potato and pork spine soup and did a bit of browsing through the walking street, we checked out the main event: the parade.
This was definitely the highlight of the festival. The parade went on for roughly three hours, and consisted of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of people walking, dancing, or marching down the street. Also, we saw a bunch of awesome floats, depicting fire-breathing dragons, fire-breathing peacocks, a monk in a taxi, and Buddha in a helicopter -- along with a bunch of other floats that seemed more natural at a Buddhist celebration. Another thing to see was the costumes. Some of them were quite elaborate and beautiful.
Traditional food and drinks festival
Two weeks ago we went to a festival in Gyeongju that celebrated Korean traditional foods and drinks. For the most part, we saw barbecued meat and rice cakes for the traditional foods. The focus, however, was more heavily put on the traditional drinks...especially those of the alcoholic variety. Dongdongju, Maccoli, bamboo leaf wine, andong soju, and soju were all there, and, for a mere 2,ooowon, Kait and I each bought a small cup about the size of a shot glass that allowed us to go from booth to booth receiving free samples of drinks. [Dongdongju and moccoli are both similar versions of fermented rice drinks. Soju itself is a much harder version of fermented rice wine, and bamboo leaf wine is, well, bamboo-leaf flavoring mixed with soju.]
A mildly funny thing happened while Kait and I were approaching one of the stalls that gave out the drinks. There were many people with high-quality video cameras that were possibly filming for television purposes. Anyways, when we approached the stall, one such man and his reporter (equipped with a mike and everything) saw us coming. I saw these men see us as they started to get their camera/mike poised for us to approach. At this point I stopped Kait, and told her we might want to go to another stall, but just as I stopped, the men saw us stop, and they realized what we were doing, so they took some hesitant steps in our direction. Realizing that we were already committed to getting filmed drinking some free alcohol, we went ahead to the stall, which seemed to please the men very much. They asked us questions in English such as "How is the taste" and the like, so we were happy to answer them.
Herb Festival
Recently (yesterday) after our Korean language class at the local YMCA, Kait and I went to another very small festival that was celebrating the use of plants/herbs/roots/etc. We just kind of perused, and we decided that we wouldn't try the fried ginger root or pumpkin juice, though I was just a bit tempted. Also, the highlight of this festival was perhaps the giant, inflated vinyl artery (as in a human artery)that served as a play area and bouncy room for children; of course, we checked it out immediately. I am guessing that it was a random way to promote the health benefits of herbal medicines.
Anyways, that's all for now. We will post again soon, as there will definitely be a lot going on in the weeks to follow. Until then, we send our thoughts and love!
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