Job Discussion Forums

[ZIA!]

I am coming to Turkey to teach in September. Just some of those ?'s I need to ask.

I have been in 5 countries to teach already and have some ideas of the things I need for comfort to deal with the "stress" of moving and just want to know what I should bring that I cannot find there in Turkey.

1. Linens.....Does Turkey sell top sheets or are they like Asia and all you get is one bottom fitted sheet and you throw a blanket over the top or sleep with nothing at all like in Thailand?

2. Food..... Like my Mexican food....(toooo much time in Mexico I think!) Do they have chili powder and tortillas in Istanbul? I am sure someone will get a laugh out of this one.

3. Clothes.......I am not petite...A size 16-18 womens in North American sizes. Will I need to bring trousers or will I be able to get something there? Also, as a Kindergarten teacher, what is the normal sort of thing to wear there while teaching the little ones?

4. Internet access.....What are the expected costs for DSL or Dial-up from my residence. I prefer to use the internet from my home whenever I choose.

5. Teaching items.....What sort of things to you miss there that would make your life easier if you had thought to bring them?

6. Anything you wish you had brought and can not find there?


I assume that Istanbul being a large city would have most things you need, but from my experience in Taipei and Bangkok, I found that sometimes there are things you just cannot find.

Finally, I will be located in the Atakoy/Bakirkoy area. How far out in the suburbs have I managed to get myself this time? LOL

Thanks for any comments.

Cheers!

[dmb]

[ZIA!]

Thanks DMB.......I am going to do better than when I was in Bangkok!!!!!! On a Friday night it was about two hours travel time from my house to the centre.

I also heard good reports about the food from my co-workers in Thailand. Must admit it is one thing I am looking forward to. I have only eaten Turkish food when I was in the Netherlands....LOL

[justme]

Linens: Top sheets, yes, but I've never really found fitted sheets, except for ones that are meant to go uner a bottom sheet, like a mattress protector. I find this extremely annoying, like they're just making sure women are kept busy by making beds every day.

Clothes: There's a thread about it somewhere-- Questions for Women maybe? Big sizes (which here, is American size 10 and up-- I'm not sure what it is for British sizes) are tricky. Shops often have them, but not many. The only store I can regularly find American 12s is called Oxxo, and they have a couple of sizes larger sometimes. In 'Big Sizes' shops, clothes are mostly ugly and for old ladies. But, you can always buy fabric yourself, then take clothes whose style you like to a tailor and they'll make it for you really cheaply. Also beware that big shoes are hard to find, and comfortable shoes women's shoes that look nice (like sandals or dress pumps) are almost non-existent. Not sure about teaching kids clothes. Trousers should be fine, though I once had a very smartly dressed friend who was told that her top had to cover her butt for teaching at her primary school. Don't know how common that is.

Tortillas: I've found slightly stale corn ones in the bigger shops. But there's this Turkish stuff whose name escapes me at the moment which makes a perfectly good flour tortilla...

[dmb]

[justme]

Hah! Yes, that's it, thank you! It was niggling at me all through my lesson. All I could think of was hamur, which isn't right...

[corall]

finding trousers in this city, if you are a woman with curves can be very difficult and extremely stressful. i suggest bringing your own trousers.

i taught kindergarten last year and i never wore jeans. my skirts were always long, at least to the knee and longer and i always wore dress trousers. you want to be comfortable but look good too. you know what parents are like. and kindergarten parents drop by ALL the time to chat and i found that i really needed to look presentable. khakis are good too. however on my feet, my shoes were always comfortable and i usually wore trainers or sandles (except for special occasion). always have some nicer looking stuff for parent teacher days and holidays etc, which i am sure that you know.

teaching items i wish i had brought for kindergarten, much better storybooks, the selection here can be a little small. song tapes or cds too. it really depends on the resources at the school - we had really bad resources at the school i was at last year, so the internet saved us bit time.

[sandyhoney2]

Zia - if your feet are any larger than a size 9 you will have problems finding shoes! Take it from me - I know (size 10 American feet). So, bring shoes! Unless you don't mind wearing men's.

As for clothes, I did find it difficult to find larger sizes. But I ended up losing weight while there, so that was a bonus. Plus, others also lost weight and hand-me-downs-because-too-small were flying around. I lucked out with a couple of nice things.

You're in Bakirkoy/Atakoy area - it's nice. I have lived in a number of different areas, including Bakirkoy, and it was one of my favourites.

Ice cube trays were hard to find (though I may have given up too easily). AS for that, I found a lot of new favourites there and didn't mind giving up dairy products (I was a little unnerved about milk being in boxes and unrefrigerated). Turns out, giving up dairy was a good thing for me too. Allergies cleared up just like that.

Bring your own coffee, if you like coffee, because most places only have Nescafe - instant coffee, though there is a Starbucks now in Taksim (likely expensive). If you're Canadian, bringing Tim Horton's with you(even if you don't like it) will end up being great bargaining chips later on during coffee withdrawals by your fellow teachers.

But, you can find pretty much anything (except for fitted sheets - hard to locate, but again, I may have given up too easily). I taught adults, so I wouldn't know what sort of materials to recommend to children. Pennies make good rewards, though.

Good luck!

[crumpy]

Hi guys! Hey DMB, you wrote that you found some Branston pickle in your supermarket - G�z�n�z Aydın. But, has anyone ever seen Marmite in the shops ... or possibly Vegemite ?

[corall]

pennies are good rewards, but not for kindie though. they are too young for that sort of thing. oh and btw, don't bother with anything that has to do with alphabet (ie flashcards, books etc) you are not to even allowed to mention it.

ps. my flatmate always had her marmite sent and so did other friends that ate that stuff, but can't be sure if it is around, they never found it, if it was.

[sandyhoney2]

[dmb]

[ZIA!]

Marmite.....hmmmm maybe toss in a jar and sell to the highest bidder?

If any of you have had experiences with the tailoring business, I would appreciate some assistance. I ended up doing the same thing in Thailand and actually got some of my best clothes made in Vietnam.

Sandy......I do find that I also tend to lose some weight when I am not in North America, but always seem to get stuck around size 14-16(think that is just the weight I am supposed to be since I like food! LOL)

Corall.....I have used stamps on the hands and stickers. How are those accepted over there? I assume resources are limited and learned alot about that in Thailand. Can you think a piece of chalk and 30-35 five year olds? Yippee!

Thanks for the info and hopefully will get to meet some of you. It will be nice to be somewhere that has some foreign teachers that are females. After two years in Thailand and being the only woman with all the guys, I look forward to the experience.

Overall, I think you folks seem fun-loving. I think I am getting why the teachers in Thailand were missing Turkey so much.

Hope to be able to meet some of you when I get there.

Cheers!

[corall]

[dmb]