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How happy are you in your current position in Turkey? |
1 extremely |
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14% |
[ 1 ] |
2 pretty much |
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71% |
[ 5 ] |
3 kinda |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
4 not really |
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14% |
[ 1 ] |
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Total Votes : 7 |
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vre
Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 371
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2004 3:07 pm Post subject: Happy? |
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well? |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2004 5:28 pm Post subject: in retrospect |
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Ghost is presently in Montreal, Canada, but with regard to his time spent in Turkey last year (total of 6 months, and one Koleji and one Language school) the answer would be: 4. - not really happy.....and you already know the reasons for this poster's frustrations.
Turkey, however, does offer some advantages in ESL teaching, compared with other countries, but it is a matter of luck on where you land, and the "chemistry" established with the students and administrators.
There appear to be more dissatisfied teachers in places like South Korea and China, for example, and Turkey is still a reasonably good deal....especially for Europe. Strange that Turkey, for all the downsides, offers better conditions for ESL teaching than countries like Spain, Portugal and Italy....it does not make sense, and something will have to change before the "profession" really goes down the tubes.
Here in the Province of Quebec, the ESL opportunities are really becoming more scarce, as a new law now makes it not necessary for small Quebec companies to have their francophone staff take English lessons. This means many of the contracts have dried up. Many language schools have gone out of business in Montreal, and ex. ESL teachers are trying to get training in other fields. A sad situation, but inevitable.
Greetings from "La Belle Province." |
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yaramaz

Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 2384 Location: Not where I was before
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 6:19 am Post subject: |
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I ticked Pretty Much because, even though I'm at a major cross roads and even though I had a horrifically rough winter and far too much soul searching, I still dont want to be anywhere else right now. Sure my kids are insane and kayseri is choc-a-bloc in headscarves and raincoats and smoking men staring at me like the alien freak I must be, but it's all part of my current life and I accept that. Its not perfect here, far from it, but I like Turkey and am not ready to return to Canada where I tend to feel like even more of an alien than I do here... |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 1067 Location: South Western Turkey
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 10:11 am Post subject: Same for me ! |
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Like Yaramaz I look at this place with a fair degree of affection ,the thought of living somewhere else does not at this moment in time interest me one jot .
However having said that I am not blind to the downside of living here, I still see a lot of things that I find hard to understand, but, unlike Ghost I didn't quit after a lousy 6 months , I think any place deserves a lot more time than that before you can consider yourself worthy to make sweeping general statements which at best are ill informed and at worst show a total lack of tolerance for another culture . That kind of ignorance from the so-called well educated will drive me away from this country quicker than anything else . |
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sweetpea
Joined: 03 May 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Bursa, Turkey
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, I don't know if I can vote... but for what it's worth, if you asked me last month, I would have said 'totally and completely happy'. Today, however, I am in a funk. I don't want to leave Turkey, but want my friendships to morph into something a bit more substantial. I have wonderful friends in Bursa... I love them all and, I think, they love me, too. But, because they are all so much younger, gay and male, and are friends first and foremost because they have a strong command of the English language, I question the ability for the friendships to continue or, rather, grow. Ugh. I am not happy today. I didn't get much sleep and spent the past hour reading news of the world. Screwed up situation we are in, yeah?
Anyway, I love Turkey. I will likely return next year (the school wants me to return in August) but I don't know if I want to come back to Bursa. I want to be in Izmir or Istanbul (preferrably, Izmir) but, as usual, NO SCHOOLS SEEM TO BE SEARCHING YET!! Why is it that Turkish schools don't look for teachers until the last minute? I want to secure a position BEFORE leaving for summer holiday!!!
Ugh.
I think I need sleep and a boyfriend. Go with that where you will. |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 1067 Location: South Western Turkey
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2004 1:29 pm Post subject: Izmir |
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Hi Sweet pea
There are places here that are looking for staff for the next year as I'm sure FGT will tell you, pm me if you want an address . |
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dmb

Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 11:57 am Post subject: |
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I had to tick option 1 as I'm not working at the moment  |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 3:30 pm Post subject: The long and the short end |
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Quitting after 6 months may seem premature, but why wait when the cards are down, and one can see that there is little chance for a better situation?....that would be a waste of time.
As for being intolerant of other cultures, Mr. Ollie is way off the mark there, because poster has always revelled in living and working with people of other faiths and cultures. This does not mean that poster likes everything he sees.
Sometimes the best decisions are to go with your instincts, and that was the case for ghost in Turkey. Cutting short a negative experience was more productive than continuing in that situation.
Poster is currently living in Ville St. Laurent, a community on the Island of Greater Montreal, and home to people from over 100 nationalities and countries. It is an interesting culture, in which Lebanese, Afghans, Cambodians, Laotians, Algerians, Morrocans, Congolese, Haitians, Latinos (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), Irananians, Indians, Pakistanis, Greeks, Italians, Bangladeshis, Chinese, etc....live and work together in reasonable harmony.
The one sore point in the Montreal area (and Quebec in general) is that anglophones are discriminated against when applying for jobs in the Civil Service and Government posts. The employers much prefer to take francophone Quebecers. |
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wyldfiregyrl
Joined: 26 Feb 2004 Posts: 16
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Ok so Ive only been here for 8 days so I know my opınıon ıs not worth very much. But what can I say about the 8 days that >Ive been here?
excellent.
I know... I am easy to please.
Though I am ın the mıddle of tryıng to get my boss to buy me a new bed. Between coıls ın my rıbs and the constructıon goıng on all day everyday... evrythıng else ıs great. |
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Volodiya
Joined: 03 May 2004 Posts: 1025 Location: Somewhere, out there
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 3:03 am Post subject: Happy |
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I live and work in China, but I enjoy following the conversations on the "Turkey" site. What strikes me most is the attention the posters pay to the quality of life you enjoy there.
I haven't seen a poll like this done here, but I'd be surprised if the result were as positive. I am a bit puzzled, however: are there really only six of you?
And who will take up the slack on the postings, now that "Ghost" is gone? (Surely, his lamp will slowly go out with the stimulation of being in Turkey removed.)
By the way, good luck in Istanbul, Yaramaz. Turkey has many beautiful places, but Istanbul will always be Istanbul- timeless, irreplaceable- even with the inevitable hardships life in a big city imposes.... |
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yaramaz

Joined: 05 Mar 2003 Posts: 2384 Location: Not where I was before
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 9:44 am Post subject: |
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jholland, there are indeed far more than 6 of us here... I know a lot of people in this country who lurk and rarely post or never post at all. They do exist. |
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Blueali13

Joined: 26 Apr 2004 Posts: 20 Location: Somewhere wet and cold...
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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Number 7 reporting for the roll call!! There are a few of us who are wallflowers...just waiting in the wings until our expertise is required  |
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