The Black Sea, near Istanbul.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Photo of the Week
Firstly, I've decided both that any picture which I want to use for this I will either remove or refrain from putting on my facebook page. And secondly, if I'm going to continue doing this I should have more variety than my old vacation photos.
The Black Sea, near Istanbul.
The Black Sea, near Istanbul.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Photo(s) of the Week!
Hello, All
In all likelihood I won't be updating this blog four times a month. I've decided to put up a weekly picture to help bride the gaps between writing, and remind me to continue adding to this thing. They may or may not also be on facebook, the odds are on the former, but neither one is a deal-breaker for me. So here are a few to make up for lost time.
Breakfast. Unlike American breakfast, which can be pretty much anything, Turkish Breakfast isn't up for much debate. This is a very nice, if ordinarily meal. Except for the eggs; I made the eggs. And I don't remember where I sat, but I suspect the plate with all the olive pits on it.
Normally I try to avoid photos like the plague, but my goal is forcing me to change that. I'm going to get as many pictures of myself with Socrates as I can, no matter how much I hate looking at my facial expressions later on. The first picture was taken in the Efes museum during the second Rotary Orientation. The other was over shot during Kurban Bayram, at the Aphrodisias museum near the excavation site. Socrates is on the right.
The Süleymaniye Camii in Istanbul.
Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated.
In all likelihood I won't be updating this blog four times a month. I've decided to put up a weekly picture to help bride the gaps between writing, and remind me to continue adding to this thing. They may or may not also be on facebook, the odds are on the former, but neither one is a deal-breaker for me. So here are a few to make up for lost time.
Breakfast. Unlike American breakfast, which can be pretty much anything, Turkish Breakfast isn't up for much debate. This is a very nice, if ordinarily meal. Except for the eggs; I made the eggs. And I don't remember where I sat, but I suspect the plate with all the olive pits on it.
Normally I try to avoid photos like the plague, but my goal is forcing me to change that. I'm going to get as many pictures of myself with Socrates as I can, no matter how much I hate looking at my facial expressions later on. The first picture was taken in the Efes museum during the second Rotary Orientation. The other was over shot during Kurban Bayram, at the Aphrodisias museum near the excavation site. Socrates is on the right.
The Süleymaniye Camii in Istanbul.
Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated.
Something a little more upbeat than "I Miss Bagels"
Blogger won't let me link this, so I'm sorry to say you'll need to copy and paste.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/10/30/20-things-ive-learned-from-traveling-around-the-world-for-three-years/
My friend Silvia found this on the internet and sent it to the group of exchange students for my district. We loved it, and it found it's way into more than one Outbound report. What attracted mt to it the most was how it made me wonder what I would have thought if I had been reading this a year ago. Even the statements I know I would have agreed with seem so different to me now I've gone through experiencing them, from seeing McDonald's selling the McTurko sandwich to living in eight hours from a terrorist attack. As my host uncle put it, Istanbul is a big city. He could live anywhere and it would be dangerous, whether it was London, New York, or Istanbul. People talk about Taksim Square in Istanbul, where the bomb went off, as the place where there's always something to do. It's where the best clubs are. But that doesn't really make it into the news.
Lastly, some context for the article. Tim Ferriss has become famous for being the ultimate guinea pig. Essentially, he tries to make what we assume are incredibly difficult or impossible things (four hour work week, four hour body) achievable for many, if not most people. Then he writes a book about what works. But he didn't actually write this list. Gary Arndt did, as his first article for the Huffington post. I posted Ferriss' blog because it's a direct link, and you don't have to go through a slide show, which I generally hate.
Blogger won't let me link this, so I'm sorry to say you'll need to copy and paste.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/10/30/20-things-ive-learned-from-traveling-around-the-world-for-three-years/
My friend Silvia found this on the internet and sent it to the group of exchange students for my district. We loved it, and it found it's way into more than one Outbound report. What attracted mt to it the most was how it made me wonder what I would have thought if I had been reading this a year ago. Even the statements I know I would have agreed with seem so different to me now I've gone through experiencing them, from seeing McDonald's selling the McTurko sandwich to living in eight hours from a terrorist attack. As my host uncle put it, Istanbul is a big city. He could live anywhere and it would be dangerous, whether it was London, New York, or Istanbul. People talk about Taksim Square in Istanbul, where the bomb went off, as the place where there's always something to do. It's where the best clubs are. But that doesn't really make it into the news.
Lastly, some context for the article. Tim Ferriss has become famous for being the ultimate guinea pig. Essentially, he tries to make what we assume are incredibly difficult or impossible things (four hour work week, four hour body) achievable for many, if not most people. Then he writes a book about what works. But he didn't actually write this list. Gary Arndt did, as his first article for the Huffington post. I posted Ferriss' blog because it's a direct link, and you don't have to go through a slide show, which I generally hate.
Fufilling a New Year's Resolution in Feburary
Hello Everyone,
One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to blog more. From the guilt for being so lazy; to avoid family members asking me about it; to give my life more context than my pictures on facebook; many reasons. Surely if all those people with school/jobs/kids/something other than their daily lives can find the time to blog, I can too. But I’m still a procrastinator, so instead of an update on everything which has happened to me for the past few months, I’m going to start with a list. It’s simple, it doesn’t’ feel like an apology for my sloth, and I think it’s something which should be published later in the exchange year.
It’s been close to six months from when I left, and there are some things I’ve completely forgotten about, like every article clothing I didn’t bring with me. There are things I’ve gone through stages of not wanting at all, then wanting really, really badly, and then not wanting anymore (bacon). But there are some things which I’ve continued to miss, regardless of how quickly I noticed their absence I continue to miss. A lot. Even when I’m not the slightest bit homesick, unhappy or bored.
1) Newspapers. Real newspapers; not in every color of a tabloid. Fat folds of legitimate journalism without soap opera stars or editorials on page one. As much as I want to read the news I'm too much of a snob to go through the labor of translating one.
2) Saturday Night Live
3) The Atlantic Monthly. Luckily, I can read it online without having to pay for it.
4) Tap water
5) Erasers on the ends of pencils
6) Rye Bread and Bagels. I know these are two separate things, but I don’t want to have two food items on this list. I eat far too many super refined carbs here, so I have no right to complain, but I still crave these nonexistent baked goods.
7) Knowing how long it will take my clothes to dry. We don’t use the dryer. Ever. Even when my laundry’s drying inside the apartment instead of on the balcony I still have no idea how long it will be before my clothes are wearable. This has turned my laundry schedule into a crapshoot.
8) Tissue paper being in every bathroom. And the lack thereof is a legitimate excuse to complain. In my school you have to bring your own. Mercifully, they still provide free soap.
9) Grass. I live in a big city. There are tiny parks everywhere, but the grass is either fine, or disgusting. And they’re far too small to convince me I’m not in a big city anymore.
10) Libraries. They don’t have public ones. The bookstores are fantastic, but bookstores don’t throw off that egalitarian feeling of free education and literary growth as a communal endeavor. But maybe that’s just me being spoiled from growing up in a college town.
I think I’m doing well not because my list is short, but because if I was asked to make a similar list of what I will miss about Turkey it would be at least twice as long. And while Number 10 made the list because I’ve continuously wanted it, I don’t miss libraries every day, or even every other day. The list I would make for Turkey would be of things I think about continuously.
One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to blog more. From the guilt for being so lazy; to avoid family members asking me about it; to give my life more context than my pictures on facebook; many reasons. Surely if all those people with school/jobs/kids/something other than their daily lives can find the time to blog, I can too. But I’m still a procrastinator, so instead of an update on everything which has happened to me for the past few months, I’m going to start with a list. It’s simple, it doesn’t’ feel like an apology for my sloth, and I think it’s something which should be published later in the exchange year.
It’s been close to six months from when I left, and there are some things I’ve completely forgotten about, like every article clothing I didn’t bring with me. There are things I’ve gone through stages of not wanting at all, then wanting really, really badly, and then not wanting anymore (bacon). But there are some things which I’ve continued to miss, regardless of how quickly I noticed their absence I continue to miss. A lot. Even when I’m not the slightest bit homesick, unhappy or bored.
1) Newspapers. Real newspapers; not in every color of a tabloid. Fat folds of legitimate journalism without soap opera stars or editorials on page one. As much as I want to read the news I'm too much of a snob to go through the labor of translating one.
2) Saturday Night Live
3) The Atlantic Monthly. Luckily, I can read it online without having to pay for it.
4) Tap water
5) Erasers on the ends of pencils
6) Rye Bread and Bagels. I know these are two separate things, but I don’t want to have two food items on this list. I eat far too many super refined carbs here, so I have no right to complain, but I still crave these nonexistent baked goods.
7) Knowing how long it will take my clothes to dry. We don’t use the dryer. Ever. Even when my laundry’s drying inside the apartment instead of on the balcony I still have no idea how long it will be before my clothes are wearable. This has turned my laundry schedule into a crapshoot.
8) Tissue paper being in every bathroom. And the lack thereof is a legitimate excuse to complain. In my school you have to bring your own. Mercifully, they still provide free soap.
9) Grass. I live in a big city. There are tiny parks everywhere, but the grass is either fine, or disgusting. And they’re far too small to convince me I’m not in a big city anymore.
10) Libraries. They don’t have public ones. The bookstores are fantastic, but bookstores don’t throw off that egalitarian feeling of free education and literary growth as a communal endeavor. But maybe that’s just me being spoiled from growing up in a college town.
I think I’m doing well not because my list is short, but because if I was asked to make a similar list of what I will miss about Turkey it would be at least twice as long. And while Number 10 made the list because I’ve continuously wanted it, I don’t miss libraries every day, or even every other day. The list I would make for Turkey would be of things I think about continuously.
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