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[ghost]

Professor Susan Lutgendorf, a psychology professor at the University of Iowa suggests that church going may contribute to the overall health and longevity of EFL teachers in Turkey and other places. Recognizing the difficulty of attending church services in many parts of the world, the foreign teachers could set up their own "service," reading passages from appropriate texts and listening to church music.

Here are some selected excerpts from the article (source: Journal of Health Psychology Study of Churchgoing. Regular attendees live longer than non-believers, University of Iowa, 2004 - 12 year study tracking mortality rates).

A 12 year study tracking mortality rates of more than 550 adults over the age of 65 found that those who attended services at least once a week were 35 percent more likely to live longer than those who never attended church.

The research reported in "Health Psychology," found that going to church boosted an elderly person's immune system and made them less likely to suffer clogged arteries or high blood pressure.

Susan Lutgendorf, said: "There's something involved in the act of religious attendance, whether it's the group interaction, the world view or just the exercise to get out of the house. There's something that seems to be beneficial."

Robert Wallace, a co-author of the report, added that doctors could even prescribe a course of church attendance to benefit patients. "It was an interesting and provocative find," he said. " I think that now, we will be trying to aggregate the meaning and experience of going to church to the extent that one can produce medical intervention based on a better understanding of that."

The researchers found that among individuals who reproted never attending religious services, the risk of death over the 12 year period was 52 per cent. By contrast, the risk of death of those who attended chruch services more than once a week was 17 per cent over the same period.

Thirty-five per cent of the 64 participants who never atteded church died before the end of the study. By comparison, 85.5 per cent of participants who went to church twice or more a week survived.

Although the researchers acknowledged that regular churchgoers cold lead more abstemious lives, they insisted that they had factored these variants in to the study by examining a control group of equally healthy non-believers. The variation, they said, had made no appreciable difference.

A Church of England spokesperson said: "For some people, the fact that there is a greater power whom we are confident loves us and has our best interests at heart must remove the daily stresses and worries of thoser who do not believe. But of course, faith is not an ant colony: There are probably as many different explanations for why this research has found what it has as there are people who took part."

What has all this got to do with EFL teachers in Turkey, you may well ask?

The point is, many of the "teachers" one has met in Turkey appear to live lives which do not involve a sense of purpose or community. One is not advocating church services as the solution (ghost is agnostic, b.t.w.), but some form of belonging in a group would be in order. Ghost joined sports clubs in Ankara and Antalya to fill the void, but others could join other groups depending on interests.

Needless to say, it was sad to see many EFL teachers in Turkey living a life devoid of purpose or goals in which the months had turned into years, and these individuals progressed so little. Some of these teachers were bitter and sad, because they came to realize that it was too late now to change things around and go for a new career. They were kind of trapped in an English Teaching cycle in which further prospects of promotion were non-existant. They were in essence living day to day, without a sense of purpose, and many had never really succeeded in becoming integrated into the community they lived in. They were, in the best of cases, honorary guests of the country. The EFL treadmill they were on, could not be shut down.

[Faustino]

I concur; a sense of purpose is very important. I know of several peole who've been haer almost a decade, that are living the kind of day to day existence of which you speak. You can see some of them sitting in bars in the afternoon waiting for someone to join them. Somewhere along the line weeks became months became years....

Do you think that a community could exist to help those of us caught in such a situation?

Personally, I've been very lucky to avoid this. OK; I've worked hard, gotten qualifications, gotten the right experience I need to get a good job, but it could have been so very different.

[almuze]

Yes, many studies over many years have show that people who have a sense of purpose and community are happier and more productive, and many studies have shown that people who have a faith and then practice and believe in said faith are more opptomistic, happier and well adjusted as a whole.
Of course, all this is said with great trepidation, since my buddy George W clearly has a faith, a community and would call himself and all his friends "well adjusted". all in the eye of the beholder, I supoze...

And as for EFL teachers wasting thier sorry lives away in bars with nothing to do, haven't you seen The Simpsons lately? Maybe EFL teachers are just more aware that they should be able to make some kind of choices about how they live, and that's what got them going in the first place, or maybe they just thougth they could get rich quick, who knows how Joe TEFler ended up with no life, but soooooo many people who stay at home and live on the same street they were born on have the same problem, just differnt decorations. not just a efl treadmill, every one's treadmill.

[ghost]

[dmb]

You had me fooled Ghost. From the title I thought it was going to be a positive post. Goodwill to all men and all that. I should know better.
Anyway, isn't this forum a 'community'?

[Otterman Ollie]

Yeah nice idea ,down on bended knee and all that bs ,we all need more time in church ,less in the boozer, doesn't need a phd to work that one out .
I think the outside interests would fill that big void in our lives ,but as you know we can't get our act together to even organize an afternoon stroll up a mountain followed by a picnic ,can we ?
The last thing I need is some pompus windbag spouting off about spirtiual inner strength , for christs sake get a life !

[Ebenezer]

Well... if anyone wants to go to my church: Cumhuriyet Cad. 283/6 - Harbiye. We have services in English on Sundays at 11a.m and in Turkish at 4 p.m

[calsimsek]

Sorry dmb,
Get real, when have you ever seen a positive post from old ghost. This person could turn any point raised anywhere into a negative.

[Faustino]

There are plenty of things that we as foreigners can do. Personally, I try to cover all of my bases. What the hell am I on about? Let me explain.

I try to keep ticking over work-wise by setting goals as to what I want to have achieved in a given time frame. This could be in terms of qualifications, profesional development, new job, attending conferences, etc.

I try to manage stress by channelling energy into productive pursuits outside of work. In my case, this means composing and producing dance music.

I try to keep mind and body in shape by exercising and controlling the old booze intake.

As you can see, I've started each sentence with 'try to', although none of these things have required me to sit down and write a list or anything.

I agree that the rut to which we're referring here is that experienced by many millions in our own countries, and not exclusively part of the TEFL experience. Nevertheless, I think it's a shame that there are many who become trapped in a cycle after having made the bold decision to step out of the monotonous grind suffered by their former peers.

[scot47]

The EFL world ıs full of lost souls. Whether goıng to church would save them is another question !

[yaramaz]

We're not all messed up or pointlessly wandering lost souls. I feel pretty grounded with a lovely bunch of friends here and around the world from my previous existences (South Africa, London, etc). I have plenty of ever-evolving plans and goals. My education did not stop with my degree. A masters degree is hovering on the horizon. And even without that post grad bit of paper, I am still working in a job I enjoy that is stimulating and doesn't leave me dazed and stressed and drunk at the end of the day.

Do we really need church or are they merely suggesting that balance, contemplation, and community are what we need? I am agnostic so I really cant buy the necessity of going to church to be healthy.

[ghost]

[Baba Alex]

[quote="ghost"]

[Theresa]

Er wouldnt it be detrimental to our reputations if we all started to go to church? You know, what with all the missionary/ spy connotations involved.
İ agree with Yaramaz as İ now have a good group of friends both yabanci and Turkish and İ dont feel as if theres a void to be filled ( unless we include my bank acc of course-all donations gratefully received).