If anyone is consistently following my blog, please let me know by following! There is a gadget below the "Welcome" section to the right where you can sign up.
I would really appreciate it if readers signed up to follow because the purpose of this blog (besides my own enjoyment) is to educate the online community and to serve as a tool - especially for teachers - to show life in a global/international context.
In addition, I have to report results to the scholarship committee. Knowing how many people out there were interested in this blog would really help with the report.
Also, some AWESOME NEWS!
I am working on the video right now and hopefully it will be ready in the next few weeks.
If anyone has specific areas or topics they'd like to see in the film or that they think would be really interesting, please let me know!
That's all for now.
Don't forget to sign up as a follower!
Thanks!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Catching up..
In a number of ways, I need to catch up. I need to write here what I've been up to. I need to complete some unfinished work (for the scholarship I received, for the blog, for life in general). I need to talk to old friends. I need to reconnect with myself, my dreams, my hopes, my inner thoughts.
So, this is going to be a short entry just to let everyone (if there is anyone at all) know that I am still thinking about the blog and processing ideas for it.
Adjusting to life back here has been difficult in a lot of unrecognizable ways. I didn't expect to be frustrated with somethings. I didn't expect to be happy about others. Sometimes, I feel like nothing has changed at all and sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy trying to put two very different worlds and experiences together.
I miss Turkish tea. I miss my host family. I miss trying to get one sentence out about my day in another language without stumbling over the verb conjugation. I miss learning new things and rejoicing in a new level of understanding. I miss smelling new foods on the street and being confused by some new social norm. I miss seeing headscarves all around me (although, luckily, I am still in school and there's a large international and Muslim student body here).
At the same time, I am happy to have my own family close by. I am happy to have Dr. Pepper. I am happy to have prepackaged foods and my own level of salt in my meals. I am happy that I can express myself clearly and easily whenever I want. I am happy that I do not have to stumble to ask for help. I am happy that I can eat plain old cereal for breakfast and that my yogurt is sweet and flavored like fruits. I am happy I don't have to worry about the legality of a headscarf. I am happy that I can meet new people and not be that "new, foreign girl."
It's a weird mixture of missing and happiness. As the time passes, it's even harder to remember exactly what the air smelled like or what it feels like to be surrounded by a language you don't fully comprehend. It's growing fainter, like a dream.
But, I'm trying to hold on to it!
I am taking a Turkish class at my university (they FINALLY are offering it!) and also a class about minorities in Turkey - taught by an AMAZING Turkish student with several other Turks in attendance. I will have a few things to say regarding both of these classes in the next posts.
Well, for now, I will leave it at this. I miss Turkey immensely. Some of the students from my group already have plans to go back. I wish very, very deeply that I could, but I'm going to be responsible and work to pay back some of my student loans. I miss it a lot. And, because I both love, hate, miss, and wish good riddance to it, I know I am inextricably and forever tied to the place.
I will have more to say about Turkey. Don't worry. It's coming.
Just wait.
:)
So, this is going to be a short entry just to let everyone (if there is anyone at all) know that I am still thinking about the blog and processing ideas for it.
Adjusting to life back here has been difficult in a lot of unrecognizable ways. I didn't expect to be frustrated with somethings. I didn't expect to be happy about others. Sometimes, I feel like nothing has changed at all and sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy trying to put two very different worlds and experiences together.
I miss Turkish tea. I miss my host family. I miss trying to get one sentence out about my day in another language without stumbling over the verb conjugation. I miss learning new things and rejoicing in a new level of understanding. I miss smelling new foods on the street and being confused by some new social norm. I miss seeing headscarves all around me (although, luckily, I am still in school and there's a large international and Muslim student body here).
At the same time, I am happy to have my own family close by. I am happy to have Dr. Pepper. I am happy to have prepackaged foods and my own level of salt in my meals. I am happy that I can express myself clearly and easily whenever I want. I am happy that I do not have to stumble to ask for help. I am happy that I can eat plain old cereal for breakfast and that my yogurt is sweet and flavored like fruits. I am happy I don't have to worry about the legality of a headscarf. I am happy that I can meet new people and not be that "new, foreign girl."
It's a weird mixture of missing and happiness. As the time passes, it's even harder to remember exactly what the air smelled like or what it feels like to be surrounded by a language you don't fully comprehend. It's growing fainter, like a dream.
But, I'm trying to hold on to it!
I am taking a Turkish class at my university (they FINALLY are offering it!) and also a class about minorities in Turkey - taught by an AMAZING Turkish student with several other Turks in attendance. I will have a few things to say regarding both of these classes in the next posts.
Well, for now, I will leave it at this. I miss Turkey immensely. Some of the students from my group already have plans to go back. I wish very, very deeply that I could, but I'm going to be responsible and work to pay back some of my student loans. I miss it a lot. And, because I both love, hate, miss, and wish good riddance to it, I know I am inextricably and forever tied to the place.
I will have more to say about Turkey. Don't worry. It's coming.
Just wait.
:)
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