Job Discussion Forums

[travelingirl68]

Hi everyone! I have been reading the message boards about Turkey for a few weeks now and have found the exchanges to be generally very interesting and only occasionally hostile. (Is ghost still in Turkey? I must admit, I have not been able to read all of the postings!) I hope to be with you all next September and would like to throw out a few questions. I taught at a university in Kazakstan for two years and befriended a few Turks in town doing business and running a Kazak-Turkish Lyceum and found them to be wonderful people. Oddly enough, they sometimes shared the same concerns about Kazak culture and mentality that I have seen ghost write about Turkish culture... hmmm...

Anyway, some basic questions... Do people in Turkey tend to wear the same clothes every day for a week? After a time, I learned to love that about Kaz., as it saved so much on buying/shipping, etc. Who is this infamous JoD at Bilkent University? I have an interview on Monday with them and am concerned about the rather negative comments from many on this site about the program there... Is Tarkan as hated in Turkey as he is beloved in Kazakstan? (If you ask "who is Tarkan?", I will know the answer! )

Imanh I lost where the thread was, but I loved the conversations about Islam, women, interesting books, etc. That was the thread that convinced me Turkey was the place I wanted to go. I think I need to find and watch this "Eastenders" program now though or I will be lost in the ex-pat community! (Besides a strong desire to know the culture, history, language, etc.) I have seen soooo many negative things about other countries that were related to job/pay/scams,etc. The issues here often seemed to be that of people experiencing culture shock more than anything else. I agree with Molly that it is important to learn the local language (whether being respectful or just savvy doesn't really matter!), and I agree with ghost to not use it in the classroom, or to use it very sparingly at most.

I think this is enough to start, just wanted to write and introduce myself -Carolyn is my name - and say Merhaba!

[dmb]

welcome to the forum tg 68. To answer a couple of your questions. Young turks(male and female) are quite fashion conscious. I have never been to kazak but most people in Istanbul dress more like Europeans. All my students have a clean shirt on every day.
Tarkan is very popular.
And yes you should get into Eastenders otherwise you won't understand what we are talking about.

[ImanH]

Crikey; that's twice in one week that the thesis appears to have been useful - probably two times more than since it was written a fair few years ago.
Welcome to the forum, Carolyn. And yes, definitely get into Eastenders; provided, of course, you can tolerate the possibility that at any minute "someone" might go into plot-buster mode.

[travelingirl68]

thanks for the responses, I must say I am a bit sad, I am going to have to do a lot of handwashing I see... OK, first things first, since I am an American who has never been to London, I need some orientation. (Oh, wait, am I wrong in assuming that Eastenders is about London??) I am thinking of an old Pet Shop Boys song about West End Girls - so what is the East End like?

[gadfly]

I am married to a Turkish woman; who was incredibly shocked to find that I change my pants every two days and my shirt everyday. Additionally, she was a little surprised to find out that I like to shower everyday. This is definitely not common in Turkey trust me to change your clothes everyday or very frequently for that matter. I dont know what the aversion to personal hygiene is but I can guess that it maybe because that they dont use clothes dryers therefore washing clothes can be a time consuming process. Additionally, hotwater costs money and this is one way to save money.
If you travel by innercity bus in Turkez, you would able to attest to the unique stench of hair gel mixed with unmistakeable body odour assaulting your nasal passages. Since my wife, does the laundry I wear two sets of clothing for a week or so. People think I change my clothes everyday but I am really only wearing two sets and alternating. Unfortunately, I dont think this will fool anybody for too long lol. I dont think I will be able to live with this sham in the summer. I will breakdown and change my clothes everyday lol.

[gadfly]

Hello everyone: I would like to retract my former remarks. My wife was offended by the generalization that I made about Turkish hygiene. Apparently there is a great deal of individual variation in terms of hygiene some people bathe and change their clothes quite regularly. It was not my intention to offend Turkish peoples bathing habits or their clothes changing routine. It was a difference that I noticed but apparently it is not accurate so I wish to withdraw my remarks.

[ghost]

Turks, Arabs and Orientals.....in general, are much cleaner than your average westerner, because they (the aforementioned) clean the delicate parts of the body which need cleaning...such as areas involved with bathroom duties and so forth. Even your average cheap lokanta has a place where you clean your hands etc....before eating..

It is true, that many Turks do not shower as much as westerners, but they make up for it with good bathroom hygiene, which we do not have such as water spouts and such for delicate areas......

Arabs and Turks think it disgusting and disturbing that westerners do not wash the parts involved with #2 human waste disposal.....and they are right......

[scot47]

Those disgusting westerners - can you imagine they use PAPER to clean themselves ! Yuk !

(Incidentally ghost, where are you these days ?)

[travelingirl68]

Well now, it is not just Westerners! Many a time when using the ole' outhouse in Kazakstan, the pages of old books and journals etc. were used - and that was decidedly NOT a western culture! It was kind of nice actually, because I could practise my Russian/Kazak reading skills and then get yet another use out of the material - just be careful of those paper cuts!