School

How different could school be?
That is the question I thought about most this summer leading up to my year here. Would it be hard, easy, in Turkish or English? Well here is all the information about my school.
I wake up every day around 6:45 or 7, about the same as back home, but then here is where things start to differ. I have a uniform and one that I am not a fan of at that. There is a school shirt, white polo with the "Marmara Koleji" name and symbol on it, and then jeans. Now many if not everyone will say this is not that bad at all, but I don't like jeans. I have never owned a pair, worn a pair and dislike wearing them. Give me a pair of khaki's any day over jeans. I just don't like them one bit. After I choose from my 5 shirts (long or short sleeve? Wow, decisions decision) and get dressed it's breakfast and then out the door by 7:30. The school "bus" picks me up at around 7:40 right in front of my apartment building. Most private school's have a fleet of their own buses, or vans, that go to specific areas of the city and pick up about 12 students and bring them back to school. Makes the morning very interesting with all of these vans with all the schools going everywhere. The drivers are incredible sometimes though, I still marvel at their ability to move to one side to let one another pass. In the morning it takes about 30 minutes to pick up the rest of the students and get to school. My school is located a bit outside the city in the hills. Classes start at around 8:40 and from there my day gets interesting. When I met with the foreign exchange coordinater of the school he signed me and my fellow exchange students up for only the classes that are taught with a little English in them. That means I am taking English (it's tough, really I swear.....NOT, the teacher asks me sometimes for explanations) Biology, Math, Economics, and a philosophy type class called Theory of Knowledge (TOK). I'm also enrolled in the 11th grade because 12th is much more of preparation for the tests that all students take throughout the year. But with so few classes I have lots of free time. That lead to the first few weeks of struggling to find things to do. I even tried to read Harry Potter in Turkish from the library because I figured I knew them in English so well I would be able to learn some.....that idea fizzled after the first page. Classes are 40 minutes long with a 10 minute break between each and a 40 min break for lunch. There are 8 periods in the day so we get out at 3:50, buses leave at 4 and I get home around 4:45. I'll write another post about class and things I do in school later. Oh and one more thing I have two other exchange students through rotary with me at the school. Amanda from Brazil and Xelina (Shelina) from California.

Getting Around

Alright so I am now back in Istanbul and I have made a decision. Turks are the worst drivers I have ever encountered. My ranking would be from best or normal to worst is Maine-Massholes (spending the summer working there proved that fact)-Italians-Then Turks. If anyone who is reading this is planning on coming to Turkey at some point DO NOT RENT A CAR. The parking is less to none, and i'm still wondering how people get their license here. Turn signal is like it's not even there. The horn is constantly used to express disapproval of another driver, signal another car to go down a narrow street before you or just to tell the other driver to hurry up. And with so many people in the city (somewhere around 16 million) the traffic is awful at times and it's always about how fast to get to your destination. A manuver I have begun to notice is when an ambulence is making it's way through traffic people will try and follow it because it's getting you there quicker. It's crazy! The alternative is the better choice. The public transportation is amazing and on top of that inexpensive. I can take a dolmuş (a small mini bus that does a set route and you pay depending on the distance you are going), the bus (maybe a little more crowded but very inexpensive, the ferry (a personal favorite when crossing the Bosphorous because no traffic and the view is always amazing), and the taxi (haven't had the chance to experience this one yet but it's still a better option then you driving). I enjoy getting around the city now that I know how to do it. Crossing the Bosphorous is always a great experience no matter ferry or over the bridge. The view makes it spectacular.

Sports (9/13)

One of the great things about countries besides the U.S. You can always find a soccer game on T.V. For the past four years it's been clips during SportsCenter in the mornings and walking through the weight room after school that has totalled as my soccer intake. Already a week here and i've been brought into the fold of Besiktas (Beshektas) my whole host family here decided that for me on the second night when they played. If anyone asks you who do you root for, your answer is Besiktas. Another thing that has been going on here that I think is being totally overshadowed by the NFL premiere is the FIBA Basketball World Championships. They are being held in Istanbul (of course the one week I'm on vacation outside Istanbul) but Turkey has been doing quite well so every other night is another game. If no one saw it they should Youtube Turkey vs. Serbia Semifinal. The ending was one of the most spectacular i've ever seen in a basketball game. This placed Turkey in the Final vs. none other then the U.S. Now recognizing the company that I was in I did not make any comments on how I thought the game would turn out. My host dad went out and got an American and Turk Flag and we laid them out before the game. Well predictably the U.S. almost effortlessly won by 20 something points. Again I wasn't too boastful in my countries victory. Basketball seems to be the second most popular sport here in Turkey. I have a suspicion that I will be watching a lot of NBA basketball this winter. Soccer and basketball are big here, and wouldn't you know I'm a 6'2" American. I think it's going to be my "IN" card.

I'm Back

Hey Everyone
So I know that it's been a few weeks of silence from me. Internet cafes are alot more scarce back here in Istanbul so I haven't been online very much. Fortunately my parents sent over a nifty little netbook (mini laptop to those untechnical people) and so now I have the world at my fingertips again. I will be bringing everyone up to speed on all of my time here from my last post so they will be dated. Pictures will also hopefully be posted this weekend, fingers crossed. Just wanted to let the world know I'm all good here.