Burası Türkiye

"Burası Türkiye"

(This is Turkey)

LANGUAGE

After learning quite a lot of the Turkish language I'm coming to realize that the English language is exorbitantly complicated. The Turks make it so easy. Why isn't every language this simple? Once you get past the ridiculously long words and intense vowel usage that comprises Turkish vocabulary, the rest is a piece of cake. In Turkish there are hardly any irregulars and even the few irregulars that exist have a pattern to them. There are no silly things such as articles and prepositions. The subject always comes first and the verb always goes last. You don't have to worry about learning about possessives because as long as the adjective is next to the noun, who possesses it is obvious. And there is no difference between the structure of questions and statements, all you have to do to make something into a question is add the word "mi" at the end of the sentence and there you go!

However, they do have this funky rule called "vowel harmony" where when adding suffixes and conjugations you have to match their vowels to the vowels in the beginning of the word. It's a strange concept to grasp at first but after you memorize which vowels pair with which, there is nothing else to it.  

(Plus, it makes the language sound really cool.)

What takes 7 words to say in English takes maybe 3 or 4 in Turkish. 

For Example:

"What do you do in the evenings?" = "Akşamları ne yapıyor?"

(literally translated, word for word: "In evenings-what-you do?")

Pronunciation: Ahk-sham-lar-uh  ney  yap-uh-your

The literal translations are kind of silly because it reminds us foreign exchange kids of caveman talk.

SOCIETY

It's hard to make an analysis of Turkish society living in Istanbul and living on campus especially. Istanbul is so different from the rest of the country in that it is much more secular, liberal, and very diverse. Campus is so different from the rest of Istanbul in that the students are typically wealthy in Turkish standards. 

However there is one main generalization I can draw: they have no awareness of personal space. 

I know that this is common for countries outside of the United States but I really did not expect to be bothered by it as much as I have been. 

You would think the following rules of life would apply universally... As I've learned, they don't.

     Don't stand in the doorway.

     Please, hold the door open for me.

     If walking in a large group, don't block the entire walkway. 

     If I'm in line, don't cut me. 

     If I'm in the way, ask me to move politely rather than just pushing me
        out of the way.

     If I'm about to leave through a door, let me exit before you enter.

             Especially if there is a perfectly good double door right next to it
                 waiting for you to walk through.

             What makes the door that I'm using so much better than the one
                 right next to it?

             What makes your passage through the door so much more
                important than mine? 

On the other hand, Turkish bus seating etiquette is outstanding. They strictly abide by the social rule to always let the more needy passengers (such as older persons, women with young children, and disabled persons) take the seat first. Even if someone is already seated, they will stand up and offer up their seat. It took me a while to get used to this social norm but now I've got the hang of it, offering my seat up to sweet old ladies right and left. 

EDUCATION

Koc is supposedly the Harvard of Turkey. It is the hardest school to get accepted into. And yet the work load and course expectations remind me of my sophomore year in High School. No exaggeration. I keep thinking that perhaps it is just the specific courses that I chose to take but I'm pretty sure it's not just my courses, it's all of them. Everyone I talk to feels the same way that I do about the curriculum here. Some people are in science, math, law courses and report that even those are so much easier than similar ones in the states. Class attendance is low, assignments are short, lectures are repetitive, and lessons are basic. I'm for sure not complaining about this slowed pace, it's a breathe of fresh air, just strange to me that this is supposed to be the most difficult university in Turkey and yet it has proved to be relatively easy for all us exchange kids. 

Midterm week still kills though. Thank goodness it's over on Friday.

All of the students here talk about how the educational system is one of their countries biggest social problems, must look further into this.