Written in November, recently edited. On October 27th, the NSLI-Y kids in Izmir and the five YES Abroad students living in Aydin and Samsun met up in Ankara for a meeting and some sight seeing.
Both the YES and NSLI-Y programs require a visit to the US embassy to meet our embassy contacts and listen to a security briefing, so we flew to Ankara. After security, we walked into an American-style office building with halloween decorations and people speaking pure, unaccented American English. It was by far the oddest thing I've experienced in a good month in a half. I suppose it was my first taste of reverse culture shock. We sat down in a meeting room and discussed security with a regional security officer (RSO). He mainly told us what we already knew: we are less likely to be victims of violent crime in Turkey than in the U.S., the biggest danger we face is likely crossing the street, we should wear seat belts in cars, pickpocketing happens in touristy areas, and there is no good reason to go hiking along the Syrian or Iranian borders. As long as we don't go there, we should be good.
After the briefing, we chatted for a while with a foreign service officer (FSO) about Turkey and her job. The visit was fantastic, but it highlighted some cultural differences that I hadn't quite noticed before. Being so perfectly and easily understood by those surrounding me exposed for me how much of the cultural barrier that I have yet to overcome. While I'm acquiring the language quickly enough and I've learned and adopted most common Turkish customs (I almost have the cheek kissy thing down!), there's a lot more to it.
My time in Turkey has caused me to think about culturally absorbed ideals that I hadn't necessarily recognized. For instance, Americans generally take pride in doing things on their own. The society is fairly individualistic, and independence and autonomy signal maturity and responsibility. Hard work is another openly cherished American value. While these values are held to some extent in Turkey, attitudes toward work and individualism are quite different. Turkish society places less emphasis on independence and more on spending time sitting together to drink tea and talk. People don't usually go places alone, and they wait for each other even if it threatens punctuality. Children are usually coddled by American standards, but child-like behavior is more tolerated. College students don't usually get any sort of job until after they've finished school, even if they're getting a master's degree. If a student is attending college near home, they'll almost certainly live with their parents. In social lives, personal space and property are lesser concepts. If you're greeting or saying goodbye to friends you will be hugged and kissed by every single one of them, and people are touchier in general. People are also much more relaxed about sharing everything. If food is left on a school desk, it's fair game. People are almost always together, and over-socialization as a concept might not exist here. Moreover, hard work is not prized as a virtue that everyone has a moral obligation to embody. A student that studies for an important exam here is praised, but it's not all that he or she does. Most students don't participate in extracurricular activities and most teachers don't give homework, leaving afternoons and weekends free. Work is definitely performed and respected, and strangers use the idiom "kolay gelsin" on the street to applaud those doing their jobs for "making things easy". That said, people relax more here. I had always internalized working hard and independently as an obligation for a productive member of society. I learned to draw happiness from my work as a student, but never actually questioned if I would be happier with worse grades and more free time. Contentedness was not part of my equation. Americans can sometimes confuse doing minimum work with laziness. I never stopped to consider that perhaps my ambition and work ethic were simple and slightly obsessive personality traits as opposed to universally valued virtues. Turkey has brought my unconscious cultural arrogance to its knees. I can now evaluate aiming for a B or C and taking time to cultivate relationships on the same level as studying all day for an A+. Favorable numbers and great accomplishments are nice. They can often help people get where they want to go in their lives. But that doesn't mean they ought to be held as a morally higher objective than simple happiness.
My fundamental incompatibility with my new culture manifests itself in little ways. The only travel mugs I can find are sold at Starbucks. As a college applicant about to celebrate her third anniversary with caffeine that's learning a new language and sleeping 5.5 hours per night, this is a problem. However, what I view as a "problem" is simply reflective of Turkish culture. People sit down to have coffee or food here. Even street food isn't eaten on the street. There's an overall lessened sense of urgency, and it's definitely good for me to incorporate some aspects into my perspective.
Although the trip to the embassy made me briefly contemplate my identity as an American in Turkey, I was quickly drawn back into Turkish culture with a visit to Anıtkabir, Atatürk's mausoleum. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk played a very important role in modern Turkish history. While I had known a little bit about him beforehand, I learned lots by visiting Atatürk's permanent resting place and the surrounding museum. Atatürk came to power in the 1920s following the Ottoman Empire's fall in World War One. While he might be viewed as authoritarian by today's standards, he succeeded in very quickly modernizing Turkey. He had his people adopt surnames, western dress, secularism, European legal codes, and the Latin alphabet. As someone that's currently learning the Turkish language, I can see how Atatürk shaped its construction. Unlike with English, Turkish almost always follows its own rules. There are few grammatical exceptions.
Atatürk was so beloved by the people that he adopted "Atatürk" as his surname, roughly translating to "forefather of the Turks". It's still illegal to name anyone Atatürk. Every classroom I've been in has had Atatürk's picture along with the Turkish march and one of Atatürk's speeches titled "Gençliğe Hitabe", or address to the young. There are flags with his picture everywhere, and his signature appears in sticker form on every city bus. I've even seen Atatürk tattoos. The country's continued devotion to their leader goes back to Turkey's unique situation. Turkey is unlike any of its neighbors because it is a secular republic, yet lacks a European history. Atatürk's government fought western forces to carve out a place for Turkey following the Ottoman Empire's collapse after WWI, and changed pretty much everything. The Turks are attached to the secular institutions and policies that Atatürk implemented, and there is always a general concern that a modern government might not fully respect Atatürk's tradition. Partially because of this, Turks have made it absolutely impossible to forget him. The beautiful monuments around the country and flags hanging off of most balconies are fairly constant reminders of how crucial this unique bit of history is to Turkey's continuance in its current form.
After the briefing, we chatted for a while with a foreign service officer (FSO) about Turkey and her job. The visit was fantastic, but it highlighted some cultural differences that I hadn't quite noticed before. Being so perfectly and easily understood by those surrounding me exposed for me how much of the cultural barrier that I have yet to overcome. While I'm acquiring the language quickly enough and I've learned and adopted most common Turkish customs (I almost have the cheek kissy thing down!), there's a lot more to it.
My time in Turkey has caused me to think about culturally absorbed ideals that I hadn't necessarily recognized. For instance, Americans generally take pride in doing things on their own. The society is fairly individualistic, and independence and autonomy signal maturity and responsibility. Hard work is another openly cherished American value. While these values are held to some extent in Turkey, attitudes toward work and individualism are quite different. Turkish society places less emphasis on independence and more on spending time sitting together to drink tea and talk. People don't usually go places alone, and they wait for each other even if it threatens punctuality. Children are usually coddled by American standards, but child-like behavior is more tolerated. College students don't usually get any sort of job until after they've finished school, even if they're getting a master's degree. If a student is attending college near home, they'll almost certainly live with their parents. In social lives, personal space and property are lesser concepts. If you're greeting or saying goodbye to friends you will be hugged and kissed by every single one of them, and people are touchier in general. People are also much more relaxed about sharing everything. If food is left on a school desk, it's fair game. People are almost always together, and over-socialization as a concept might not exist here. Moreover, hard work is not prized as a virtue that everyone has a moral obligation to embody. A student that studies for an important exam here is praised, but it's not all that he or she does. Most students don't participate in extracurricular activities and most teachers don't give homework, leaving afternoons and weekends free. Work is definitely performed and respected, and strangers use the idiom "kolay gelsin" on the street to applaud those doing their jobs for "making things easy". That said, people relax more here. I had always internalized working hard and independently as an obligation for a productive member of society. I learned to draw happiness from my work as a student, but never actually questioned if I would be happier with worse grades and more free time. Contentedness was not part of my equation. Americans can sometimes confuse doing minimum work with laziness. I never stopped to consider that perhaps my ambition and work ethic were simple and slightly obsessive personality traits as opposed to universally valued virtues. Turkey has brought my unconscious cultural arrogance to its knees. I can now evaluate aiming for a B or C and taking time to cultivate relationships on the same level as studying all day for an A+. Favorable numbers and great accomplishments are nice. They can often help people get where they want to go in their lives. But that doesn't mean they ought to be held as a morally higher objective than simple happiness.
My fundamental incompatibility with my new culture manifests itself in little ways. The only travel mugs I can find are sold at Starbucks. As a college applicant about to celebrate her third anniversary with caffeine that's learning a new language and sleeping 5.5 hours per night, this is a problem. However, what I view as a "problem" is simply reflective of Turkish culture. People sit down to have coffee or food here. Even street food isn't eaten on the street. There's an overall lessened sense of urgency, and it's definitely good for me to incorporate some aspects into my perspective.
Although the trip to the embassy made me briefly contemplate my identity as an American in Turkey, I was quickly drawn back into Turkish culture with a visit to Anıtkabir, Atatürk's mausoleum. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk played a very important role in modern Turkish history. While I had known a little bit about him beforehand, I learned lots by visiting Atatürk's permanent resting place and the surrounding museum. Atatürk came to power in the 1920s following the Ottoman Empire's fall in World War One. While he might be viewed as authoritarian by today's standards, he succeeded in very quickly modernizing Turkey. He had his people adopt surnames, western dress, secularism, European legal codes, and the Latin alphabet. As someone that's currently learning the Turkish language, I can see how Atatürk shaped its construction. Unlike with English, Turkish almost always follows its own rules. There are few grammatical exceptions.
Atatürk was so beloved by the people that he adopted "Atatürk" as his surname, roughly translating to "forefather of the Turks". It's still illegal to name anyone Atatürk. Every classroom I've been in has had Atatürk's picture along with the Turkish march and one of Atatürk's speeches titled "Gençliğe Hitabe", or address to the young. There are flags with his picture everywhere, and his signature appears in sticker form on every city bus. I've even seen Atatürk tattoos. The country's continued devotion to their leader goes back to Turkey's unique situation. Turkey is unlike any of its neighbors because it is a secular republic, yet lacks a European history. Atatürk's government fought western forces to carve out a place for Turkey following the Ottoman Empire's collapse after WWI, and changed pretty much everything. The Turks are attached to the secular institutions and policies that Atatürk implemented, and there is always a general concern that a modern government might not fully respect Atatürk's tradition. Partially because of this, Turks have made it absolutely impossible to forget him. The beautiful monuments around the country and flags hanging off of most balconies are fairly constant reminders of how crucial this unique bit of history is to Turkey's continuance in its current form.
After Anıtkabir, we went out for dinner and then went to a cool coffee shop and stayed until after midnight talking. Then we went to the hotel and talked some more. The next morning we wandered around Ankara for a bit, and then flew home. That night, we were to help host a webinar about NSLI-Y Turkey and we all needed to get to Gianna's house. We got on the train at the airport and went several stops… and then realized that ME had left her phone on the plane. We went back to the airport and talked to lost and found. They had the phone, and it would just take them 5 minutes (read: 45 minutes) to get it to us. We were kind of delirious from staying up all night, and the airport staff probably thought we were nuts. That said, I was proud of us for handling the entire thing by ourselves and completely in Turkish. We went to Gianna's house and conducted the webinar, and the link to it is right here. Ankara was lots of fun, and I can't wait to go back to catch the things we missed.