Job Discussion Forums

[Yoda]

What about the special protection bubble that forms around every Turk? I think it takes years of eating sucuk to develop but once formed the subject gains so much confidence that they can step out in to a busy road and be totally oblivious to any approaching cars.

[lucy k]

True, but if you worry too much about the approaching cars, you'll never get across the street!

[Yoda]

I find it particularly amusing when parents or older siblings are instructing the younger ones, who as yet haven't fully developed their protection bubble. They do this by pushing them in to the road ahead of themselves, trying to trigger the 'sucuk rush' that forms the bubble.

[richard ame]

These are the same parents who chase the kid around the restaurant with a fork full of food and force it down their throat what are kids that age doing in a restaurant after 11 clock at night anyway .
So concerned are they about their offsprings welfare aren`t they ? Yet they both smoke near the poor little fecker without a moments pause to the damage they may cause and as for the other diners who just happen to share the same air space TOUGH!!!
I have the honour of sharing an office with three smokers, young people from one of ther better universities, would they ever consider my feelings of discomfort before they indulge in their addiction ,no chance its one of those many things we put up with cos we like the place . Funny enough the same people will tell me I lead an unhealthy lifestyle because I don`t look semi starved and I tend to leak body fluids when the temperature goes past 99 c . But they have more time off sick than I do . I could go on and on and on and on ,but , that will do for now ,interesting thread ,when are we going to start the Turkey and EU debate ?

[nimra_ghalat]

I must say I've never seen or experienced some of these peeves, like spitting on the pavement or cutting in line. Can't comment on school kids cuz I've only taught in private language schools, where I can't recall any bad behavio(u)r.

Someone mentioned that the tourist parasites speak with a funny accent. A lot of these (selpak boys, incl.) are Kurdish and did not learn their English in a formal course, thus the different accent. (BTW, I've also heard that they pick up English a lot quicker, being native speakers of another Indo-European language.)

I used to complain about foreign driving until I went back to the States last year and saw how horrendously we drive now. Not what I remembered and therefore used for years as the high moral ground for complaining about foreigners' habits.

My peeves: smoking in general with uninterested second parties, ESP. smoking by bus drivers. They often claim a dispensation, and, oddly, passengers think that's perfectly OK (because it supposedly keeps them from falling asleep at the wheel!). If you really want, you can complain to the bus drivers' union when you get to your destination. I'm going to buy a bunch of smoke alarms and place them on the luggage rack behind the driver next time I make an intercity bus trip. Last time I complained and they gave me dirty looks and joked about me the rest of the trip. G@tlerine girsin, in$allah.

Yaramaz- I've also found the bra/old man connection a bit weird as well. Here in Sinop the old man that sells the bras in the bazaar has his cart next to the fishmonger. That always struck me as amusing.

People- KOLEJI is not a word, i.e., you can't say "ozel koleji" The word you want is KOLEJ, the +i means "of." About like saying "after I graduated from the university of." This is grammar. And we like grammar.

And when is the EU discussion gonna start?

[yaramaz]

While we are back on the topic of irritants, can someone explain to me the Turkish fear of possibly getting cold, which inevitably will lead to illness and then certain death? Today is a warm day, sunny, and I am wearing a skirt and a sleeveless (but respectable) top. Everyone keeps rushing up to me insisting I'll die if I don't cover up. Windows are usually kept shut tight. A drop of rain on the head or a freshly showered mop of hair in the morning are certain indicators of iminent pneumonia. Bare feet will kill you. When I got severe bronchitis last year and had to go to hospital, everyone said it was because I went outside with wet hair the day before (it was 28 degrees in the shade, folks! Hair dried in minutes...)

[dmb]

Don't forget that drinking cold water makes you ill

[yaramaz]

Another quirk, though I'm not sure how widespread it is: when someone spills food on themselves or on the table (ie bread crumb, hint of lettuce, morsel of kebab, etc) they get a paper napkin to fastidiously pick it up rather than use their fingers, as if it were toxic or made of dog sh#t. Is it a fear of any thing dirty? It's a big deal around here.

Everyone is apparently warm 'n dry 'n clean as a whistle.... except my grade 9 boys who have apparently never ever heard of deodorant or bathing or of flushing the squat loos after usage (waaa! horrific stench)

[nimra_ghalat]

I haven't spent much time in western Europe, but everywhere I've been from the Nile to the Pacific and I assume from the Arctic Ocean to the Himalayas, and probably south of there as well, these are commonly held beliefs.

I always tell my Turkish relatives that it's because they BELIEVE that they will get sick that it happens.

Also, don't eat fish with milk products.

Ask some women when it's not okay to handle pickles.

And don't sit around in sweaty clothes. Or open a bus window even though it's a million degrees out.

A lot of these are beliefs that we would share if we'd been born 100 years ago. Just look at all the references to "drafts" and "night air" in our literature and the havoc they supposedly caused.

Bare feet only kill if you're standing on stone or another "cold" surface.

[vre]

pickles??????????

[Mike_2003]

Air-conditioning is the same. They have obviously heard that air-conditioning spreads viruses. This is indeed true. An internal air-conditioning system in your office or in a plane can spread around any rogue viruses carried by your colleagues/fellow passengers.

BUT a 20mTL Arcelik rotary fan DOES NOT have the ability to create life!!! So you WILL NOT die if you stay in the same room as one...

I've tried explaining to them that shutting in all the air and turning up the heat in fact creates a more prolific environment for harmful viruses, but they just look at me with pity, tuck in their vests and pull on another sweater.

[Bogazicibaby]

My husband's brother is a physician and when his first child was born (in the middle of summer) they refused to turn on the airconditioner because the baby would be ill. The poor child was swadled in diaper, clothes, and over clothes AND a blanket. They did at least open a window for a wee bit of air. Thier apartment was so hot that I had to leave after 40 minutes. I felt like I was in a sauna and my face was flushed and I was wearing short sleeves.
They finally started turning the airconditioning when the baby's physician asked them why they weren't using it.

When I was working in a university with airconditioning/ heating, my students wanted the heater on full blast (of course blasting my face not theirs as I was standing in front of the class) and would complain about being cold when I set it at a nice comfy indoor temperature of 68/70 F.

When it turned the least bit warm outside, the girls would start wearing skimpy clothes and then complain that they were cold inside.

My pet peeves from 3 years in Turkey are medical care (there are some doctors that have told me I was ill because of having had wet hair, having a cat in the house, etc. and Veterinary care is much the same),

the "I am the center of the universe" (personal bubble) that causes people walking in the street to suddenly turn around and look very surprised when you honk the car horn so that you can continue to drive without hitting them,

going to class just to find out that classes were canceled due to some conference that I was not informed of,

the lack of interest in student centered learning - yes we really do want you to stand in front of the class and read to us, we can't talk about the reading material until you tell us about it, we all have the same ideas so we should just skip the group discussions- bu ne ya?????

and the way everyone tells me I will get used to freaking spicy food. I hate peppers- all peppers and why can't they cook food here without having to put so much pepper in it that I can't eat it? (ok, the pepper thing is just Antep and there are Turks who share my feelings)

[dmb]

Turkish food isn't that spicy. How many turks do you know that like a good vindaloo?

[RoseMarie]

That's funny, I complained non stop about the food not being spicy enough when I was in Turkey. I carried around a bag of crushed red peppers that I would sprinkle over my food when nobody was looking. I find that most Turks don't mind some spices, but they shy away from chilies.

In general, that's a problem for me. Once your tastebuds acclimate to an abundance of chilies and spices, it's very hard to go back. Here in France, they fear that too much spice of any kind would just spoil the 'natural flavor' of the food. I feel the way some people would feel if they had to live off of boiled white rice and water.

I would kill for some decent Thai or Indian food.

[vre]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm VINDALOO!!!!!!!!!!!

ONLY TWO MONTHS TO GO!