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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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 Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject: Travel on Turkish buses compared with Greyhound.... |
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Travelling on Turkish long distance buses is one of the best things about living and working in Turkey. Turkish long distance carriers are clean, efficient, and provide very good service for the relatively cheap prices paid.......and if you compare Turkish standards with Greyhound - the North American carrier - Turkish buses win hands down!
Ghost occasionally uses Greyhound in the U.S. and Canada, and is always disappointed after remembering the Turkish bus experiences ......
In Turkey, all the little "side services" in the form of food, drinks and cleaning stuff, make the journeys quite pleasurable......but in North America no such service exists, and the buses are usually quite dirty, and often times broken down.....lights, and seats.....despite the high price paid ($186 return from Montreal-Boston)....
In Turkey, also, you will usually have a friendly Turk as your neighbor, who will offer you a piece of the sandwich his mother or wife carefully prepared....in North America, you will likely be sitting next to an ex.convict on parole, or a 300lb African American lady eating junk food and encroaching on your seat space......
In Turkey the bus drivers are unfailingly polite to "yabanciller" and ghost has been invited on a few occasions to partake of their meal at the rest stops without dishing out a single lira.....in North America if you are stuck in the toilet.at the rest stop...the bus will take off without you...no questions asked.
In Turkey, the frequent rest stops for meals and tea are a welcome break in the journey....and a chance to eat some real "slow food" - even though a bit more expensive.....in North America the "rest stops" are real dives, and the only stuff on sale is junk food and trash......
In North America, you have to really watch your belongings, and even the stuff you store in the baggage area is less safe than Turkey which uses a very efficient ticketing system.
Ghost has travelled on five continents worldwide, and Turkey comes out number one in comfort, efficiency, service and value for money.
ghost
Last edited by ghost on Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:31 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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TeachEnglish
Joined: 09 Feb 2005
Posts: 239
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| You are right.. the buses here are great.. I think the best i have riden on so far is Boss bus line. they have 2 big seats on one side and 1 big seat on the other side..and were quite reasonable. Try them sometime. |
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Golightly
Joined: 08 Feb 2005
Posts: 877
Location: in the bar, next to the raki
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| Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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I used to love those long night journeys on dusty roads under clear skies, with nothing else about except Istanbul drivers, crazed on coffee and pro-plus, trying to make it to Antalya in about 2 hours flat.
I always wondered about the little markets and stalls you could see in the middle of nowhere - a 24-hour watermelon stand, or long rows of neon-lit shops selling Pismaniye. |
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scb222
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Posts: 175
Location: Brisvegas, Oz
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:17 pm Post subject: buses |
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| yes greyhound is a disgrace, and soooooo expensive! |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 1067
Location: South Western Turkey
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Makes you wonder why ghost still prefers any other country to his beloved Turkey . If this place has so much going for it ,why does one stay away so much ? |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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I hate to be a downer on this thread but one of our best friends was killed on a Metro bus coming back from Antalya last August. He was one of three killed in that particular crash.
Ask any Turk and they probably know of someone who has been killed on a long distance journey. Either in a car or a bus, but I bet a bus was involved and for what? To meet some crappy targets in time..... ie speeding. Buses are suppossed to be fitted with speedometers to stop them going too fast. Do they? No. Even if they were, the roads are such bad condition(unfinished loose asphalt surfaces) it wouldn't matter.
Metro bus company repatriated my friend's body back to the UK and gave his family compensation of 25,000 ytl. Is that all a young life is worth?
| Quote: |
| Travelling on Turkish long distance buses is one of the best things about living and working in Turkey |
We survived Ghost, we are lucky ones |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:27 pm Post subject: dollars and cents.... |
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| Quote: |
| Makes you wonder why ghost still prefers any other country to his beloved Turkey . If this place has so much going for it ,why does one stay away so much ? |
Ghost needs money at the moment, and for that reason has chosen to work in places like Taiwan.....and soon in Korea and the United Arab Emirates, where savings, normally, are considerably higher than the savings one can make in Turkey.
Ghost found many things in Turkey extremely frustrating when it lived and worked there (2003-04), but has come to realize, in retrospect, that Turkey is a pretty good place to live and work, despite some of the negative things, which most of you know about (do a ghost history search on the postings...).
Turkey is a country which offers a good balance between western ways and eastern mystique, and as the country is so big, and different cultures so varied, one can sample a bit of everything in Turkey, and up till now, for very reasonable prices given the decent quality....and food - nutritious and enticing, with quite a lot of variety, and the possiblity to eat healthily, provided one avoid subsisting on Doner Kebabs and the like......
So yes, Ghost may one day return, but for the moment, needs to build a solid base for retirement, as it (ghost) prefers not to rely on a dubious pension scheme, which might be eroded by inflation, but would rather count on the chance of making money and making it work.....so that it (ghost) can retire in relative comfort some years down the road.
ghost currently substitute teacher in Montreal - $123 per day, net. |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:44 am Post subject: |
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| Is ghost aware that one can earn $123 (net) in 2 hours teaching privates, or in 3-4 hours teaching at one of the better dershanes or universities? |
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howmucharefags
Joined: 30 Nov 2004
Posts: 299
Location: Eskisehir
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:24 am Post subject: |
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I like 300 lb African American ladies.
I am curious as to know where Ghost intends to work in the U.A.E. |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:50 am Post subject: |
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| I would assume Canadian dollars, since ghost is in Montreal, and last I checked, Montreal was still in Canada. It's about 1.15 to the cdn dollar for lira these days. |
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tararu
Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 494
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| I am very sorry to hear about your friend Dmb. The buses here are new, and the service is great. However, the amount of people killed each year in bus crashes in Turkey scares the hell out of me. As I'm not as stingy as l used to be, l think l might try and fly as much as possible from now on. I flew to and back from Kapodokya last şeker bayram. It was a damn sight quicker!! |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: money or stress? |
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Is ghost aware that one can earn $123 (net) in 2 hours teaching privates, or in 3-4 hours teaching at one of the better dershanes or universities?
_________________ |
If that is really true and attainable, show ghost where, and Yaramaz will receive her commission.....
Truth be told, substitute teaching in Canada tends to be a very stressful affair because the students take advantage of teachers who are "subs" here in Canada (and most other places one imagines). The money is decent, but ghost is being "used" by the school boards to the max. and teaches basically non stop from about 9am to 4pm....sometimes 9 periods in one day! (as some periods last just "30" minutes in duration).....high stress, and more stress.....it is a 7 hour day...with one "free" hour for lunch, if no lunch duty, ..and every minute, is usually spent dealing with "class management issues"....with fewer minutes actually spent teaching......as the main challenge is to get the kids to actually shut their traps and listen to what you are trying to say, in the cacophonous surroundings of the typical multi-ethnic Canadian classroom.
So the prospect of teaching for the above mentioned money would be very interesting indeed, but like everywhere else, one imagines that to obtain those kinds of coveted posts in Turkey, one would need to have connections, which one imagines Yaramaz has....
But right now, ghost is in a transition period, looking at two contracts dangling in front of it.....a contract, already signed for Al Ain, U.A.E. and another one for Korea....and Korea is choice number one, so U.A.E. will have to wait. Korea will be a more interesting position, because the position will be one as a "teacher-trainer" teaching Korean teachers how to teach E.S.L., under the supervision/umbrella of the Korean Ministry of Education.
In Korea the money is less than the UAE, (salary in Korea will be about 2.5 million won per month with free housing, salary in U.A.E. is 16,500 Emirate dirhams with including housing allowance (Korea salary=$2729 U.S. with free housing, for 40 hour week, with maximum 21 hours teaching, and the rest in the office and other), in U.A.E. 16500 dirhams, is equal to $4782 U.S. including the housing.....for a 25 hour work week, with the Abu Dhabi ADEC teaching project in which EFL teachers teach English and other skills in some of the local private schools.
But in Korea, the teaching ambiance, one imagines, is more favourable.....and the public more docile....and ghost prefers to teach in a locale where it is not viewed as an "infidel" thing....with all the ramifications that go with that frame of mind on the part of the inhabitants of that region in general, despite the U.A.E., on paper, being a more relaxed venue in the Arab world.
Right now ghost is going through the lengthy paper work process to "prove" it is who it says it is, and has the degrees and certificates it claims to have....and in Korea they take this seriously now, because so many "teacher-backpackers" in the past got into Korea using forged documents or vastly embellished resumes.....and Turkey should take a leaf out of the Korean book in an attempt to weed out some of the charlatans operating there.
Ghost, Montreal substitute teacher, French language school board, $123 per day, net after taxes, but no benefits...... |
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yaramaz
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 2384
Location: Not where I was before
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Ghost, if you are looking for a docile public and a locale where you aren't viewed as an infidel, I think you maybe have your places mixed up- the UAE is pretty calm and the population is almost entirely foreigners from all sorts of religious backgrounds. I found it very accomodating, and admittedly my time there wasn't extensive but it was smack dab in the middle of ramadan so I ought to have felt like an infidel then but I didn't. My partner has been there 5 years and hasn't voiced any such complaints aside from the usual culture shock adjustments. I liked Al Ain, actually. Very relaxed. Nice skating rink.
You might want to give it a shot in the future, if not now. And yes, you can buy a nice cold beer to drink at home. |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject: hesitation keeps ghost at bay... |
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| yaramaz wrote: |
Ghost, if you are looking for a docile public and a locale where you aren't viewed as an infidel, I think you maybe have your places mixed up- the UAE is pretty calm and the population is almost entirely foreigners from all sorts of religious backgrounds. I found it very accomodating, and admittedly my time there wasn't extensive but it was smack dab in the middle of ramadan so I ought to have felt like an infidel then but I didn't. My partner has been there 5 years and hasn't voiced any such complaints aside from the usual culture shock adjustments. I liked Al Ain, actually. Very relaxed. Nice skating rink.
You might want to give it a shot in the future, if not now. And yes, you can buy a nice cold beer to drink at home. |
That may be true about the environment there, in Al Ain, but the problem, as ghost sees it, is that all the teachers at the place where ghost is due to teach in the U.A.E. have warned/advised ghost not to take the job, despite the decent salary and housing allowance....the teachers in Al Ain claim that the kids are absolutely unmotivated, and that the classroom teaching materials are non-existent, and to exacerbate the problem - the management of little/no help whatsoever...you know the situation....
So ghost has some tough decisions to make in the coming months, but the advice and comments about Al Ain are well taken. Thanks.
Ghost, Montreal, Canada, substitute teacher, French school board. |
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Sheikh Inal Ovar
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:59 am Post subject: |
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Yaramaz, has your partner been living for 5 years in Al Ain or in Dubai ... the Al Ain Emirati is quite different from its Dubai cousin ... indeed, when ex-pats living in Al Ain go to the big cities for a weekend they consider it a foreign holiday ...
While from a classroom perspective the older students could certainly be described as docile, or more exactly year-round hibernators, I'm not sure that the population at large could be ... |
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