Job Discussion Forums

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

Hee hee. My trip to the US Embassy in Ankara yielded not only a visa, but these excerpts from the Consular handout "Traffic Safety and Road Conditions":

"Drivers routinely ignore traffic regulations including driving through red lights and turning left from the far right-hand lane."

"Countrywide, 22% of all traffic-related deaths are pedestrians who frequently do not look for traffic before attempting to cross a street."

"There are 120,097 registered buses in Turkey. In 2002, 36,665 bus accidents were reported."

"Normally drivers who experience car troubles or accidents pull over to the side of the road and turn on their emergency lights to warn other drivers, but many drivers place a large rock or a pile of rocks about 10-15 meters behind their vehicles instead of turning on their emergency lights. While dangerous during daylight hours, this practice is deadly after dark when it is impossible to see stopped vehicles. In some instances, those drivers will leave the scene withou removing the rocks from the road."

"The Embassy recommends that you not drive after dark outside of major cities. Some vehicles drive without their lights on or with very low lights in an effort to save the battery power of their car, making it impossible to see them in advance. While driving, it is also not unusual to come across dead animals, rocks, or objects that have fallen from trucks such as fruits or vegetables."

Ah, the power of understatement....

sandyhoney2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 189

I was nicked by a car once in Sirenevler. And I had looked both ways. That's a scary bus statistic though. On that note, I read a strange Turkish-tranlsated-into- English novel while in Istanbul about accidents and being drawn to bus accidents. I can't remember it exactly, does anyone know what I am talking about?

thorn yeti · Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 6

alterego · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 104

"There are 120,097 registered buses in Turkey. In 2002, 36,665 bus accidents were reported."
absolutely scary.
i wonder how many of those accidents were repeats of the same kaptan. that should be easy to figure out and something can be done about those drivers.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

Sure it would be so easy. Nobody has thought of that before. That is why is hasn`t been done. Lets alert the Ministry immediately.

alterego · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 104

31, no need for

.....
i thought this forum was a big

you can be the one with the balloon if you like.

so...

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

Ok, I'll take the balloon. But ı'm happy to share it. Perhaps we could all sit around for a rousing game of Don't Let The Balloon Touch The Floor...

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

^ i have a warmer about not letting the balloon touching the floor.
sorry, cant help being tefltastic at times

Golightly · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:10 pm Post subject:

sandyhoney2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 189

Yes - that is it. Thank you. I remember reading it and thinking how odd but enchanting it was, but now I want to read it again. Thanks again.

saloma · Joined: 07 Jul 2005 Posts: 211

Hey! I have that exact book on my nightstand! I haven't had time to even crack the binding on it...but now you have inspired me to get at it!

Golightly · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:01 am Post subject:

I don't think it's his best - I prefer 'The Black Book' and 'My Name is Red'. 'Snow' is fitfully entertaining - there's a brilliant comical sequence where a ragtag group of communists, atheists and militant muslims try to work out a group comunique - but Orhan isn't too confident with dealing with the world outside Istanbul.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

i agree that the black book is his best. My name is red i found to be a bit weird and snow can be very funny in places. Would you say that Pamuk is the best turkish author?

Golightly · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:03 am Post subject:

definitely - he's developed the Turkish novel immeasurably. While Yasar Kemal is a great storywriter, he's working very much in the milieu of the oral tradition (albeit he's written it down Smile

). A lot of Turks don't 'get' Pamuk, and dismiss him as unreadable at best or a dangerous crank at worst, when in fact he is working on a synthesis of styles so far out of everyone else's league (at least in Turkish literature) that he's hard to follow. In some ways, a western audience find him easier, mainly beacause they've had greater exposure to a variety of narrative styles, not just in reading, but also visually and in music. Turkish literature and music, and by extension drama/tv, are very much grounded in an older, more oral, tradition.