One of the first things people rave about when they come to Turkey is the food, so it’s not surprising that ‘Afiyet olsun’ is one of the first Turkish phrases they learn. It’s the Turkish for ‘bon appetite’ and I find it highly amusing that I have learnt the Turkish for something I say in…
Not being sure when and if we were to be paid, we continued on our quest to begin teaching English in Turkey. First there was a little matter of the speaking exams to get through! … As the week progressed we tried to get further details about our teaching duties, to no avail. Although the…
Teaching English in Turkey seemed like a good idea before we arrived in the country. Once there, dealing with the students was the least of our worries. We’d already been at the government university in Kayseri for a week, and despite numerous meetings with our director were still no further along in discussions about what…
Back in 2000 when I first lived in Istanbul, most of the foreign women in Turkey I knew were blonde. Whenever we met up for coffee they would regale me with stories of being followed by strange men and touched intimately and inappropriately on the shoulder or the backside. Perhaps I was more prejudiced than…
I can vividly remember the first time I came face to face with the results of the feast known in Turkey as Kurban Bayram. It’s the traditional religious holiday when all Muslim are expected to commemorate the strength of Ibrahim’s faith by sacrificing a cow, sheep or goat (read more about the meaning of Kurban…
Getting a Turkish residence permit has always been complicated. As a resident of Istanbul I’ve lived through the days of queuing all day for a ticket (to get another ticket) to the new online appointment system. However the system is configured, there are always hoops to jump through, making it a nervewracking experience. “I walk through…
Read on to find out what happened on my Eastern Turkey tour with 52 students who sang, danced and ate the whole time. There was very little sleep to be had! …We were headed for Harran, a small town in famous for its beehive shaped houses made from dried mud. Disappointingly, when we arrived I…
Back in 2004 I worked at Erciyes University in central Turkey. When some of the final year students approached me to be a chaperone on a four day three night trip touring Eastern Turkey I jumped at the chance. This is an excerpt from a longer complete story. “As instructed, we arrived at the faculty…
When I first started teaching English in Turkey I was pretty inexperienced. I’d only taught behavioural sciences at university for a few semesters back home in Australia and then small English classes at a private college in Istanbul for a year. All my students had been in their early twenties, and well able to stay…
Unlike popular stereotypes about women, I am not a great fan of shopping. True, I will go to great lengths to track down the perfect shoe or boot, but when it comes to other items of apparel, I am far less interested. Particularly when it comes to buying an outfit for a special occasion. It’s…