Jennifer - Ankara- Week 6

Last week at work we started a new club: TOEFL taboo. During the workday we created posters to advertise the club and flashcards with words that frequently appear on the TOEFL. On Wednesday and Thursday we started the after school clubs and a few students showed up. A few of the words were difficult and I had trouble figuring out ways to describe some of them! We have also just been talking more with the students during lunchtime to help them practice for the speaking portion of the TOEFL exam.

Tarik, Ayca, Ecem, and I at METU!

On Tuesday I visited METU(Middle East Technical University) with a few friends I met here. METU is a prestigious university in Turkey and attracts many international students. My friend has an internship at METU so we met up with him and they gave me a tour of METU. While touring the campus, I noticed that the signs around the school were in both Turkey and English because of the diverse student body. We also had dinner there at one of the many cafes on the campus. METU's campus was really impressive and I also was able to see their stadium, "devrim," which stands for revolution. There are many protests held in that stadium and it was interesting to see a campus that was so different from TOBB ETU's. Now I understand why so many students feel that TOBB lacks a real campus. METU's campus was bigger than some of the universities I've seen in the United States!

METU's stadium, Devrim. 

On Wednesday we watched the World Cup match. It was really fun to watch it somewhere outside of U.S.A because it seems "football" is a bigger deal here than back home. We watched the match on a TV in the dorm's lobby and was really fun to hear people so passionate about the World Cup even though Turkey isn't playing in it. I am really excited because tonight we are going to stay up, watch the United States play against Ghana, and order some Adana Kebab! It's so fun that I can celebrate many different cultures from a single experience.

We got to the beach right around Sunset, so lucky!

This past weekend I visited my friend Irem's hometown: Zonguldak. It is a port city on the Black Sea and there were no tourists there which was awesome because I was able to experience a typical weekend for many in Turkey. I met her whole family including her aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. All were so hospitable and welcoming to me. I felt so lucky that I was able to share their weekend and be apart of their lives for a few days. Everywhere we went her relatives fed me and the view of the Black Sea was stunning. At first I was nervous about how I was going to communicate with her family because nobody really knew how to speak English and I barely know any Turkish. However I was very reliant on body language to interpret what people were saying. Also, beforehand I asked Irem to teach me a few traditional things to say when entering someone's home/meeting someone for the first time. Knowing even a little Turkish really made her family happy and laugh whenever I said a couple of words. From all the homes I visited you could see the Black Sea, it was amazing to wake up in the morning with such an incredible view. Her father owns a restaurant so on Sunday, we all had a delicious Fathers Day brunch together. They prepared a traditional Turkish breakfast and I tried a new dish that consisted of honeycomb with cream! I am so happy I was able to celebrate with them and it made me think of my family. Life in Zonguldak seems so happy and relaxing, people spend a lot of time with their friends and family is really important. Her family was so generous to me, her mom and grandma both gave me things to take home to remember them, but I will definitely remember this experience forever! On Sunday in Turkey all graduating high school seniors took the university placement exam that determines where you will go to college. As long as you get a certain score on the test, it places you into a category of schools that will automatically accept you, there is no other application/admission criteria. It is really interesting but many of the students say they are frustrated with the system because it changes every 2 years. Also I took the bus from Zonguldak back to Ankara by myself and successfully made it back to the dorms!

In the sunroof of Irem's dad's car
while he drove around town!

It was such a wonderful week, but time is passing too quickly! I am excited for this upcoming and final week in Ankara!

 Irem and I with her lovely grandparents!

People fishing during sunset at the Black Sea. 

Sunday's brunch with the honeycomb!

Irem's wonderful family and I after Sunday brunch.