First Day of Classes

After two weeks of getting acclimated to my new home, I finally started classes today. And it was quite an experience.

As I wandered desperately around the halls, my beffudledness oozed. Not only does every building here look exactly the same, but the abbreviations for the buildings make about as much sense as those Southerners that keep llamas as domestic pets. For example, my marketing class, which qualified as a "business administration" course, should intuitively be in the "Administrative Studies" building. Alas, no. I finally fumbled into the correct classroom four buildings further and twenty minutes later, placing my arrival at a fashionably late 9:50, for a 9:30 course. Needless to say I felt like a Freshman again. But as usual, I was able to laugh about it and not stress.

I grabbed a syllabus and took my seat but almost immediately stood back up as I noticed the striking beauty of the woman up front. I thought to myself, "There is no way a woman this attractive could be teaching Accounting." Well, welcome to Turkey. She proceeded to show a five minute video (in Turkish) about managerial accounting. She then abruptly asked for responses. Needless to say, I understood absolutely nothing and could therefore contribute nothing. Awesome start.

But thankfully the courses are taught in English and I found this one video to be an exception to this educational mandate. But despite being taught in my native tongue, I still felt a bit unsettled in the classroom. For one, Turkish students rarely ever raise their voices in class. For any reason. Because of this, my normal inquisitive self had to be restrained in order to not be "that American" or "that overly talkative classmate." The teachers command the classroom and most of the students just sit and (hopefully) soak in their words. In two of my three classes, I was also the only non-Turkish student and while other students partook in little conversations, I found myself facing that insurmountable language barrier again. But I decided getting to know my classmates was more important than risking awkwardness so I jutted myself in and introduced myself. And I never regretted it. A few times the students were taken aback. But it struck me, as a few students have mentioned, that it really benefits them to carry conversations in English as it is a language all the students are still grasping. So I can justify it now. Phew. But hopefully I will soon be able to communicate with them adequately in THEIR native tongue.

I am also taking six courses compared to my usual load of four courses.  So I will be a busy bee this semester. And they are all business classes save for Turkish language and Turkish culture. But I am eager to get underway and start studying. Blessings upon each of you out there. And thank you again for taking the time to read into my little life. As a token of appreciation I would like to share a picture I took as I travelled to Kilyos and watched the sun set over the Black Sea last night. Bask in its splendor.

Sunset over the Black Sea

Oh and one more thing. I took shots as I noticed these wild horses roaming about this small village. The little girl in the picture was being cute and making faces at the horses until she thought it humorous to pick up a whopping dirt clod and hurl it at the pony's face. It hit him smack between the eyes and burst into dust. She laughed and ran away. It was one of the more terrible things I have seen in quite some time. The pony was okay but that didn't stop me from casting deep stared of admonishment in the girl's direction.