Kurban Bayramı

October 4^th to 5^th was Kurban Bayramı, the Feast of the Sacrifices, an Islamic holiday which honor's Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son to prove his faith. You can read more about the history and religious side of the holiday here. 

Mother's childhood home in Ortaklar

 

The day before Bayram we drove out to a small village outside of Aydın call Ortaklar to stay at my host mother’s childhood home during the holiday. After arriving in Ortaklar, we visited the cemetery to pay our respects to relatives. The quaint village life of Ortaklar was very different from the hustle and bustle of city life and the countryside was very relaxing. It reminded me a little of home since it seems like every farmer owns a Massey-Ferguson 240 tractor which is the same tractor I have. I love the smell of diesel fumes in the morning.

 

Ortaklar

 

Early on the first day of the holiday we had a sheep delivered to the house and was sacrificed. I will spare you the details but I will tell you that it was very gruesome to watch for the first time. After we sacrificed the sheep the work started. We skinned the sheep, butchered the meat, cleaned out the stomach to cook and skinned the head to boil. During the holiday I had some of the best food I’ve ever had as well as some of the worst like işkembe, which is basically boiled sheep stomach with absolutely no flavor to it. Thought the day children visited wishing a happy Bayram and we gave them candy and money in return.

Our sacrifice or kurban in Turkish

kurban eti (sacrifice meat)

On the second day of the holiday we visited friends and family and delivered meat to them. Every house we visited offered almost the same thing; a piece of candy or chocolate, kolonya (a lemon based hand cleanser) and some kind of dessert. Older family members usual gave money to children who kiss the hands of elders to show respect and I made a few lira by kissing a few hands.
 

Bayram money

 

I hope everyone had a great Bayram and to all the other YES student abroad I hope you had just as much of a good experience as I did. It seemed like everyone in Morocco had a great time from their sometimes very graphic pictures.   

Best,
Kyle

Talking Turkey

So I’ve been in Turkey for a little over two weeks now and I’ve loved every minute of it! Turkey has been so kind to me with wonderful food, people’s hospitality and the amazing scenery, I’m blessed to be in such a wonderful country. Some first impressions I had when I arrived is that everyone is willing to help you even if they didn’t speak English, everyone I meet greets me with a big smile and a hug, the culture here is much more “touchy felly” compared to the US, Turks are bottomless pits at the dinner table, how extremely hot it is and Turkish driver are completely insane!     

The Turkey crew awaiting departure at JFK 

I left the United States on September 4^th after a day of pre-departure information, tips, etc. from AFS volunteers and was basically a quick review of what every YES student learned at are program wide PDO back in June. Along with me and the 6 other YES students, eight NSLI-Y students and two regular AFS students traveled with me to Turkey. We flew from New York out of JFK to Paris and from Paris on to İstanbul arriving in Turkey on September 5^th, all very exhausted from are travels. Once we landed we took a quick bus ride just outside İstanbul to a city called Selimpaşa. After catching up on some sleep, we meet the other AFS student studying in Turkey from all parts of the globe. Students from France, Belgium, Germany, Thailand, Hungary and the United States were represented at are survival camp. Everyone was incredibly nice to me and I was glad I got to meet them. After three days in Selimpaşa, regular AFS student left to go to their respective host cities while the scholarship students (YES and NSLI-Y) stayed behind for extra language training. We had a months worth of Turkish lesson in only nine days. Although it was boring at times, the class was very fun and we learned Turkish yet had fun at the same time thanks to are awesome teacher or should I say iyi öğretmen in Turkish. After our stay in Selimpaşa was over we all went our separate ways and traveled to our host cities. Three YES students; Elsa, Jake and Rowan, flew to Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey and four YES students; Priya, Kathryn, Leah and me, traveled to Aydın. The NSLI-Y students traveled to İzmir on the western coast of Turkey.

View of the Sea of Marmara from the hotel in Selimpaşa

The Belgians showing their national pride at the talent show

Turkish class in Selimpaşa

When we arrived in Aydın we meet are host families as soon as we stepped of the train. The first few days with my host family was very exciting because I got to know them better and got to learn more about Turkish customs and culture firsthand. Since the Ministry of Education messed up are paperwork, every exchange student in Turkey was not able to go to school for the first week of school. I spent most of my free time sitting at home watching Turkish soap operas, reading my book the Strain, which I highly recommend you to read, and studying Turkish.  

I finally started school this week and although I was very confused my first day and still a little confused about what kind of work/assignments I should be doing during class. Although I was disoriented my first day, it was very fun to meet new people and make new friends. Hopefully as the year progresses I will become more accustom to how school works in Turkey and what I should be doing.

My school is Aydın Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi, ATAL for short, and I’ve noticed a lot of differences between the education systems in Turkey and the United States. In Turkey, students stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers more from classroom to classroom. Another difference is that each student choose what classes they want to focus on such as science track students focus mainly on science and math while language track students will focus on English, German and literature. There are four different types of coarse tracks a Turkish highschooler can take; math, science, language and Turkish studies.

My new school Aydın Atatürk Anadolu Lisesi

So far I am enjoying my experience in Turkey so far. I love my new family, my new school and new classmates. I hope as the year progresses I will acclimate to the culture that surrounds me and quickly assimilate. I will also try update my blog more regularly as my year progresses. Thanks for reading!

Best,
Kyle  

Frequently Asked Questions

A look into the things my school mates are curious about. Very roughly in order of frequency, but I've been asked them all more than once.

Where are you from?

Where is Kentucky?

Do you like KFC? (Literally first thing they ask when I say I’m from Kentucky)

What is your name?

How old are you?

Do you like Aydın?

Do you like Turkey?

What is your favorite basketball team? (Guys ask me this)

What is your favorite Turkish food? (Girls ask me this)

Do you have a girlfriend back in America?

Hangi takımı tutuyorsun? (Which team do you cheer for? What they mean by team is which of the  three major Turkish soccer teams do you support; Beşiktaş, Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe.)

Do you like our school?

How is our school different from your school in America?

What do you do in your free time in America?

Why did you come to Turkey?

Why did you come to Aydın?

Why aren't you in Istanbul?

When did you get here?

How long are you here for?

Did you choose to come?

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

 -How old is he?

What are your mother and father's jobs?

Where are your mother and father?

 -Do you miss them?

 -Do they miss you?

 -Do you call them?

Do you miss your friends?

What is your religion?

What is your host family like?

 -Do you have any host siblings?

 -What are your host parents' jobs?

 -Where do you live (in which district of the city)?

Have you ever been to L.A./ Miami/ Las Vegas/ New York/ Chicago? I want to go there someday; it is a very beautiful city/ my favorite NBA team is there/ I saw a movie about it.

What other language did you study in school?

What Turkish music do you know?

Who is your favorite singer/ what kind of music do you like?

Do you watch TV with your family/ which Turkish soap operas do you watch?

Saying YES!

Checkout the second episode of Saying YES! Saying YES is a YES abroad student podcast, created for future applicants to use as a tool to anticipate what it would be like spending a year abroad through YES. this episode is a brief update of our pre-departure preparation featuring Me, Natalia, Daniel, Ginya and Sophia.

A quick correction, I will not attend the Adnan Menderes Anadolu Lisesi but the Ataturk Anadolu Lisesi.



Disclaimer: Although the State Department is very generously giving us the opportunity to have this experience, we're just high schoolers! Any opinions expressed are our own and don't reflect on the official stance of the US State Department, government or our implementing organizations. As always, thanks for listening!

Evsahibi Aile (Host Family)

Today I found out who my host family is today and I will be studying in the city of Aydın for ten month. My host family consist of a Father (47), a Mother (45), a Brother (18), and Sister (12).
I'm so excited to meet them in person and my host brother has already contacted me, who speaks great English by the way.

Aydın is a small city in the province of Aydın and is about 100 km away from the Mediterranean sea.

 

Some interesting facts about Aydin from my research:

• Aydın has been conquered and rebuilt over the centuries by Thracians, Spartans, Romans, Selijuks and Ottomans.
• Aydın is famous for its figs and is one of its main exports.
• The builder of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Anthemius, is from Aydın.
•  Aydın is located in the Heart of the lower valley of the Büyük Manderes River.
• Turkeys Prime Minister from 1950 to 1960 Adnan Menderes is from Aydın.

The countryside outside the city.

Ancient Roman ruins nearby the city.

 

  

Aerial view of the city. 

I want to thank my host family for welcoming me into their home for the next year of my life and I look forward to meeting them in person.

Best,
Kyle

 

 

National Pre-Departure Orientation

This past week (June 24-27th) all of the YES Abroad students were flown to Washington DC to attend a National Pre-Departure Orientation. We had workshops from early in the morning until late at night, and on one day went to the U.S. State Department building and the embassy of the country that we will be traveling to. After the orientation, students going abroad to the Philippines went to additional workshop, before departing directly for their exchange.

The workshops were very informative and we learned more about culture shock and how to deal with it, (explained as; it's not good, its not bad, it's just different), how to communicate about our own culture and dispel American stereotypes, how to effectively communicate about the YES Abroad Program, and what it means to be a youth ambassador. We had a brief history and outline of the Islamic faith, such as how to pronounce Muslim and Islam correctly, and learned what things will get you sent home from the program such as drugs, driving, hitchhiking and pregnancies being the main ones. We had a discussion about the common stages of homesickness and culture shock, explained by "Allen's chart of sadness". We also had a seminar about the importance of documenting your exchange and journaling for growth, and being a good online citizen, as well as health and safety while abroad, and the support and organizational structures of AFS. Although I was extremely exhausted by the end of the day, I felt a lot more comfortable and prepared for my exchange.

On Thursday, we had a brief morning workshop, before taking a bus to the Turkish embassy. What was really funny was that we had a whole couch bus for only nine people. At the embassy we where met by the second secretary Yunus Emre Açıkgönül and third secretary Üzeyir Başer and had very informative and interesting presentations about Turkish history, economy and foreign policy. It was really fun because there are only seven of us YES Abroaders going to Turkey, so it felt very personal and we could ask a lot of questions. I would have loved to stay and talk for hours over siyah çay (black tea) with embassy officials, but we were on a tight schedule to go back to the U.S. State Department.

 

The Turkish Embassy was one of the highlights of my week

 

From left to right: Hana Swift (2012-13 Alum), Rowan Tanner from California, Me from Kentucky, Leah Crowder from Virginia, Priyasha Bhatt from Illinois, Kathryn Fleddermann from New Mexico, Elsa Boyd from Washington state and Jake Sullivan from Texas

At the State Department, we met back up with the other YES Abroad 2014-2015 students and received a congratulatory speech by state department officials. We then got to ask them questions about citizen diplomacy and international relations. Afterwards, we asked more extensive questions to a panel of five experts that focused on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, African Affairs, Near East Affairs, South and Central Asian Affairs, and the Affairs in the Balkan Region (covering all of the regions that YES Abroad students are traveling to). The Turkey group also got the chance to discuss with a public relations specialist on the western Mediterranean region and we where able to talk about the crisis in Syria and Iraq and Turkish reactions to those situations.

 

The 2014-15 YES abroad class

 

After the State Department visit we had a brief visit to the Lincoln Memorial and returned to the hotel for more workshops. During the week I learned boatloads of information about Turkey thanks to Hana Swift who went to Turkey with YES in 2012-13. Good luck to all the other class of 2014-15 YES students and shout out to by fellow roommates Yoga, Jack and Aiden for some interesting late night discussions.

 

Best,

Kyle

 

 

P.S. Delta! Delta! Delta!   

Turkish Language

Turkish is a very unique language in my opinion. It belongs to Altaic language family, which are basically languages spoken in Southeastern Europe and Western China. Since Turkish does not belong to the Indo-European language family, understanding the language will not be so easy for me. However, this short time that I have been studying Turkish I have begun to start pronouncing "c" as "j" whenever I read Turkish text. Turkish is a tricky language...

The Turkish language uses the Latin alphabet, which is the same alphabet we use for English. However, there are 6 more letters that play a role of vast importance in the language.

Aa
Bb
Cc -  As in j, in jump
Çç - As ch, in church
Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
Ğğ - This letter is called the yumuşak (YOU-Moo-Shak) it is a "Soft g sound"
Hh
Iı - ( BEWARE this is not an i ) this letter makes a "uh sound"
İi
Jj
Kk
Ll
Mn
Nn
Oo
Öö - as in "eu"
Pp
Rr
Ss
Şş - as in "sh"
Tt
Uu
Üü - as in "uber"
Vv
Yy
Zz

Merhaba - Hello (MAre-Ha-BA)

Güle Güle - Goodbye (ghoul-lay ghoul-lay) This form of goodbye is said by the person that stays.

Hoşçakal - Goodbye ( Hosh-Cha-kawl) This form of goodbye is said by the person that leaves.

Lütfen - Please (Loot - Fen)

Teşekkür  ederim - Thank you (te-she-kewr e-de-reem)

Birşey değil - You're welcome (beer-shay de-eel)

Evet - Yes (e-vet)

Hayır - No (ha-yuhr)