Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

[jcaulkins]

As I said, I have been to Turkey and had a wonderful impression of the place. But there seem to be few, if any, teachers on this board who are truly happy and content with their surroundings and/or job. This is not a criticism; it just leaves me with the impression that perhaps the Turkey vacation is far different than the Turkey reality that is yabanci.

[dmb]

No matter which country you are in holidaying there and working /living there is different. Of course you are going to read negative posts here from time to time. Some people are more negative than others. Of course we all have our bad days where we bi.tch about things. However there are many many happy foreign teachers who choose to live here because quality of life is higher here than our 'home' countries. Don't let a few negative posts put you off.

[scot47]

Any time I see dmb he seems cheery enough ! And no. I am NOT stalking him !

[31]

[dmb]

[31]

[TeachEnglish]

You are right.. working in Turkey leaves a little bit to be desired.. The crime is high.. I don't give a crap about the crime in South America.. I am here.. It is a bi-tch to have to worry about a pickpocket all the time.. and some if not many of the schools exploit the teachers.. lie to us.. and treat us like 3rd class citizens.. and yes.. the women do get to meet lots of perverts.. ok..maybe this is the way the turks are.. hmmm.. But.. I like it here.. and my only worry is if I kill one of these perverts, pickpockets, criminals.. will I be able to come back to Turkey.. I guess making good money, owning a nice car, or having my own home is only something I can do in America.. been there.. done that.. duh.. what in the hell am I doing here.. oh yeah.. now I remember..

[Bahcevan]

Thanks for starting this thread, ghost. I have been beginning
to sense some wimpy attitudes floating around here, so it is
good to have a thread in which to address them directly.

This thread was begun based on a quote from jcaulkins.

So, let's take a close look at what's going on here:

jcaulkins has said that s/he has been to Turkey, liked it, and
decided to try to go and work there. Sensible enough.
jcaulkins has since begun to surf Dave's ESL board in search
of additional info about working in Turkey. S/he has read,
presumably, some crummy complaining posts and some
posts that were positive. I suspect that a large number of
those negative posts were typed by a select few groaners
who only repeat themselves over and over on this board.
For example MOD EDIT has already added her deeply thought-out
reply for you to read here. Very short, often monosyllabic
negative responses- why are these so compelling to you?
And my real question: if you have been to Turkey personally
and had a good feeling about it, why would you let yourself be
dissuaded from your intended plan by a bunch of people you
have never met? Either you don't have a strong resolve about
your plan or you are easily scared off by negative hype.

This post has migrated into another "problems with Turkey"
post that has a pretty narrow point of view. So, now I am
gonna personally add my 2 cents worth to this topic:


CRIME:
*There is a BIG difference between a place being shady and being dangerous.*

Turkey is pretty low on violent crime against foreigners.
Probably the most common violence vs foreigners would be
sexual assaults on women. There are threads on this topic.

As far as pickpocketing and theft crimes- this can happen lots
of places. Except in certain rackets where the cops are in on
the schemes, people caught stealing from or harming foreigners
are generally treated harshly.

BUYING HOUSES: There are plenty of foreigners who buy houses
Turkey. Where they get their money is anyone's guess. I cannot
confirm, and 31 cannot deny that teachers can earn enough to buy
houses (or flats). Just because 31 doesn't know anybody who's
done it doesn't mean it can't be done!

WHINERS: Whiners are everywhere. The problem is when people
start to listen to them too much. These people will always have
problems with things and deal with them by sharing the laments of
their ineptitude with anybody who will listen. MOD EDIT
There are always naysayers, but that's all they ever really do:
sit at the sidelines and run their commentary. Believe it or not:
there are people out there actually doing amazing and bold
things. And usually these Doers will not try to dissuade others
from taking chances and so on.

QUALITY OF LIFE: This is up for debate, because many people
seem to equate being able to purchase materials with a good
quality of life. Some other people think that a good life means
living with less stress and being able to slow their lives down.
I am not so sure that people have better chances buying houses
in their home countries rather than Turkey, though this will
obviously depend on what country...

HAVING PROBLEMS WITH TURKS: Over all, Turks are quite
friendly people! This is a big contrast to lots of other places,
namely most european countries and definitely the US. They
possess an ancient trait called civic virtue. This means
that they have a keen sense of right and wrong, and will tend
to intervene when they perceive someone in distress. This
is very different from the US, where people often witness a
crime and then run away and call the police (maybe).


ALSO, I think a lot of the griping written here is about ISTANBUL
and not other cities. I-bul does not = Turkey! I don't deny that
Istanbul is a tough city, if you are gonna live there you must have
some street smarts and some patience.

[jcaulkins]

And my real question: if you have been to Turkey personally
and had a good feeling about it, why would you let yourself be
dissuaded from your intended plan by a bunch of people you
have never met? Either you don't have a strong resolve about
your plan or you are easily scared off by negative hype.

Visiting a country on vacation, where your entire time is spent in hotels and visiting historic sites can, in no way give anyone a true representation of what day-to-day life is like. That goes for any city anywhere. I am not squeamish or negative. I am trying to make a realistic life decision that will affect my entire future. If I were to move, I would be living alone, in a foreign country on meager means. I simply want to get honest feedback from people who are currently in that situation.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

This thread appears to be informative and of value to members and other readers. Please stay on topic and away from personal attacks or insults. While you may not agree with someone else's opinion, you may not attack him or her for it in a personally insulting or offensive manner.

Discuss the issues all you want. This is one of the reasons this board exists. There are at least two sides to every issue. Just because someone does not agree with your way of thinking, it does not make him/her or you wrong. Also, just because someone holds a minority or majority opinion does not ipso facto make that person right or wrong.

Bottom line: Please debate, discuss the issues and stay away from the personalities. Otherwise, the thread will be deleted or locked. This is something that I would rather avoid.

[calsimsek]

A away for one weekend and the gang is all here again. so nice to have blood flow again. MOD EDIT

As to the comments, I see that ghoast has at long last, started to see the shades of grey in between his blck and white view of this place.

I'm really tied of people who have not gone outside of the western half of the nation passing comments on the place as if they no it well.

FACTS 1. YOU CAN BUY A HOUSE. I DID MY FRIENDS DID ALOT OF US HAVE.

FACT 2. YOU CAN BUY AND DRIVE A CAR HERE. I DID.

FACT 3. IT'S A BIG CITY. LONDON, NEW YORK, MELB.... ALL BİG CITIES HAVE CRIME.

FACT 4. IT'S NOT THAT CLEAN, SO WHAT IT'S ALOT CLEANER THEN OTHER PLACES WİTH LESS POULATION.

FACT 5. AS A TEACHER YOU CAN EARN WELL IN THIS CITY. I HAVE MANY FRINDS WHO LIKE ME DO MORE THAN ONE JOB AND ARE REWARD. I WORK LESS THAN I WOULD IF I WORKED IN A COMPANY JOB BACK HOME. AFTER TAX, BENFİTS, AND THE COST OF LIVING IS ADDED
I'M BETTER OFF HERE.

FACT 6. THE KEY FACT MOST TURKS LIKE US. EVEN THOSE FROM THE LAND OF THE GHOST. THEY CAN BE KIND AND OPEN THEIR HOMES TO YOU.

I'VE lived here to long to leave and think in any other way. I've been to the U.K and I've traveld to a number of countries. Yet I would never think of giving my opinion about a place unless I had lived there for at least 3 or 4 years. Some of our friends will talk the talk and walk the walk, yet they know little other than talk and have not walked that far here.

[Baba Alex]

[31]

to sense some wimpy attitudes floating around here, so it is
good to have a thread in which to address them directly. \

What are you garden boy an ex US marine? Wimpy attitudes? I know it is a national characteristic of you lot to always be right but come on?

This thread was begun based on a quote from jcaulkins.

So, let's take a close look at what's going on here:

jcaulkins has said that s/he has been to Turkey, liked it, and
decided to try to go and work there. Sensible enough.
jcaulkins has since begun to surf Dave's ESL board in search
of additional info about working in Turkey. S/he has read,
presumably, some crummy complaining posts and some
posts that were positive. I suspect that a large number of
those negative posts were typed by a select few groaners
who only repeat themselves over and over on this board.
For example MOD EDIT has already added her deeply thought-out
reply for you to read here. Very short, often monosyllabic
negative responses- why are these so compelling to you?
And my real question: if you have been to Turkey personally
and had a good feeling about it, why would you let yourself be
dissuaded from your intended plan by a bunch of people you
have never met? Either you don't have a strong resolve about
your plan or you are easily scared off by negative hype.

Even the moderator couldn`t stand your crap.

This post has migrated into another "problems with Turkey"
post that has a pretty narrow point of view. So, now I am
gonna personally add my 2 cents worth to this topic:

America the brave.
CRIME:
*There is a BIG difference between a place being shady and being dangerous.*

Turkey is pretty low on violent crime against foreigners.
Probably the most common violence vs foreigners would be
sexual assaults on women. There are threads on this topic.

As far as pickpocketing and theft crimes- this can happen lots
of places. Except in certain rackets where the cops are in on
the schemes, people caught stealing from or harming foreigners
are generally treated harshly.

BUYING HOUSES: There are plenty of foreigners who buy houses
Turkey. Where they get their money is anyone's guess. I cannot
confirm, and 31 cannot deny that teachers can earn enough to buy
houses (or flats). Just because 31 doesn't know anybody who's
done it doesn't mean it can't be done!


Wrong AGAIN garden boy my boss Molly owns her own tiny flat.

WHINERS: Whiners are everywhere. The problem is when people
start to listen to them too much. These people will always have
problems with things and deal with them by sharing the laments of
their ineptitude with anybody who will listen. MOD EDIT
There are always naysayers, but that's all they ever really do:
sit at the sidelines and run their commentary. Believe it or not:
there are people out there actually doing amazing and bold
things. And usually these Doers will not try to dissuade others
from taking chances and so on.


What are you doing? You say you are in business but all you do is play the sterotypical yank.

QUALITY OF LIFE: This is up for debate, because many people
seem to equate being able to purchase materials with a good
quality of life. Some other people think that a good life means
living with less stress and being able to slow their lives down.
I am not so sure that people have better chances buying houses
in their home countries rather than Turkey, though this will
obviously depend on what country...


Preach it bro from your obese American lifestyle.

HAVING PROBLEMS WITH TURKS: Over all, Turks are quite
friendly people! This is a big contrast to lots of other places,
namely most european countries and definitely the US. They
possess an ancient trait called civic virtue. This means
that they have a keen sense of right and wrong, and will tend
to intervene when they perceive someone in distress. This
is very different from the US, where people often witness a
crime and then run away and call the police (maybe).
Crap-nobody here wants to get involved. If you had spent some real time here you would know that even if you complain to the police there is no civic virtue. You have that wrong. Civic - yes virtue no. I think you mena civic responsibility.

Perhaps you were not listening during your civics 101 at Hillbilly Falls State University.

ALSO, I think a lot of the griping written here is about ISTANBUL
and not other cities. I-bul does not = Turkey! I don't deny that
Istanbul is a tough city, if you are gonna live there you must have
some street smarts and some patience.

But you have not lived and worked anywhere else in Turkey.[/quote]