Waiting on Our Classes to Come

Everyone keeps telling us that Trabzon has weather like London: it's cloudy, cold, and damp for a good part of the year. And every day that it's blue skies, no clouds, bright sunshine (which has been most of the week, with the exception of a couple cloudy pockets and one major thunderstorm), they tell us that we shouldn't get used to it...the bad weather's a-comin'. Well, that may be so, but it's been one beautiful week here.

John, Ali, and I are still not exactly sure what classes we'll be teaching, but it's pretty much determined that some of those classes will be in speaking. We've been told that many students here have probably never met a native speaker of English, and even our colleagues--who really speak English quite well--are eager to ask us about idioms and turns of phrase. For example, while driving with Ali Şükrü Bey, our university contact, on our way to get tax numbers, we all somehow got on the subject of the phrase "he/she wears the pants" when it comes to relationships. (The result was an absolutely hilarious conversation.) KTÜ has had native English speakers as instructors before, but Trabzon itself doesn't get a lot of English traffic, being more off of the typical Turkey tourist path and most popular with vacationers from Russia and Georgia. So each of us ETAs will be teaching speaking (because we're automatically good at that!), and then any additional assignments are up in the air. I've heard that I might be teaching some kind of literature or culture course, but nothing's set in stone and I'm just excited to get started. Most of our other Fulbright colleagues are up and teaching, but we don't start classes at KTÜ until week after next. But then things get real, and it's going to be intense! We're...like a pot of water being brought to a slow boil.

I just want to say that Ali Şükrü Bey (I don't remember if I've discussed "Bey," but it essentially means "Mr." and gets added after someone's first or first and middle names, as here.) is absolutely awesome. John, Ali, and I have discussed on numerous occasions how fortunate we know we are to have Ali Şükrü Bey as our university contact; he's considerate, nice, funny, and incredibly hospitable. He really cares about helping us get settled in and making sure we all have a great, productive year. We couldn't ask for a more attentive or effective contact. Here's to you, sir!

So, onto the major events of the week, interspersed with lovely receptions from our new colleagues in the Foreign Languages and English Literature faculties (and lots and lots of tea!)...

Aya Sofya
You might be familiar with the incredibly famous Hagia Sofia (or, in Turkish, Aya Sofya) in Istanbul...well, this is not that Aya Sofya. It is, however, one of Trabzon's most famous landmarks. It's a former Chalcedonian (Greek Orthodox) church, built in the 13th century (back when Trabzon was the capital of the Empire of Trebizond), and one of the last Byzantine sites in the area. In 1461 Mehmed II conquered the city and the church was converted into a mosque, with all of its frescoes covered in whitewash. During World War I, the Russians used the building as a hospital, and then it went back to use as a mosque until its conversion into a museum in 1964.

Well, about those frescoes....they're absolutely beautiful. My photos won't do them justice (flash photography's a no-no), but I hope you can at least get the general idea.

Well, our colleague Elif took us to Aya Sofya on Wednesday. First, we sat in the tea garden right next door and had some kuymak, a local dish of melted butter, cheese, and flour that's a lot like really thick fondue. You eat it with bread and it's hot and delicious....mmm...really want some right now...it must be lunchtime.... But anyway, we had our kuymak with--you guessed it--tea. Apparently you're supposed to drink hot beverages with hot foods. That sounds a little counter-intuitive to me (I'm a big fan of hot dish, cold milk), but at least I like tea!

So, post-tea garden we headed into Aya Sofya itself. As you can see, we weren't the only tourists hanging around. There were at least two large groups of British folk and one of Germans (all stopping off from a cruise; a number of cruise ships do come through Trabzon).

Aya Sofya is also a popular destination for wedding photos, and since September's not quite over, the Turkish wedding season continues. I snapped a quick picture of the ring-bearer (how cute is he?!), and a few of the party itself. How sweet!

And, after a breathtaking look at the church...

...came the turtle.

I like to name things, and I named this guy George. He basically trudged along the perimeter of the wall surrounding Aya Sofya's courtyard, just doing his thing. I immediately loved him, and thus...

After thoroughly annoying George (and, to his chagrin, I'm sure, attracting others to pose for their pictures with the Aya Sofya turtle...sort of like Mickey Mouse at Disney World), we got a few more pictures of us in front of the church, and then we were off. Thanks, Elif! It was a great day.

Residence Permit
If you're a foreigner working in Turkey, you need to obtain a residence permit within one month of arriving in the country. So we scrounged together every possible document we could need and headed down on Thursday to the police station in the City Centre. Before going into the building, we stopped off at a small photography studio, though, because we'd been told we'd need five copies of passport-sized photos and I needed a few extras and John just needed some, period. Well, actually, originally (back in Ankara) we were told we'd need only four photos, but we were just rolling with it. Then we get into the office and they inform us that they need six photos. Good thing we sprang for spares!

But, other than that, the entire process was relatively painless and quick. They even brought us...TEA! The policeman helping us used to be a student of Ali Şükrü Bey, and he engaged me in some English conversation so that he practice. Ali Şükrü Bey joked that he must have liked me, since he was only talking to me, so now there's a running joke in the group that this policeman and I must have some kind of thing going. Haha, well, but of course!

On Friday we returned to a building right near the police station: the tax office. There, we did a lot of sitting and waiting (and drinking tea--no, this is not an exaggeration!) while Ali Şükrü Bey fearlessly got things done on our behalf. Then we signed our names on some paperwork and received cards with what I believe are our tax numbers, which we need to get our secondary ID numbers, which we'll need to get bank accounts and real ID numbers come January 1st. Residing legally in Turkey is like an epic quest...first you need to collect these things, then you go to do these things...then you mix them all together and summon the dragon so that you can fight him to the death. Oh, and then you get your salary from the university.

The Park!
On our way back to campus from the police station (and the tax office), Ali Şükrü Bey showed us an incredible park space tucked into this little valley in the city. Well, Friday morning, after procuring a phone for John and finishing the process to register Ali's foreign phone (if you don't buy a phone in Turkey, you have to register it with the government), we set off west toward where we knew this park must be located. Sure enough, we reached it after a fifteen minute walk or so...and was it worth it!

We sat around in one of the gazebos, just looking at my Turkish phrasebook and hanging out. We think we'll be frequent visitors.

So, last bit of news. Some of you know already that I submitted a paper proposal to the International Studies Association's Annual Conference in San Diego next year. Academics (I want to be one--currently working on my graduate school applications so I can go get my PhD in Political Science) present papers at conferences to get feedback from colleagues and to generally be a part of the general discourse on a certain topic. The ISA is not strictly for political scientists, but a number of poli sci people are members and do present. (The biggest name in strictly Political Science is the American Political Science Association.) There are regional conferences during the year, but the annual national conference (to which I submitted) is the big one. My paper proposed was my undergraduate honors thesis, "Context Matters: Re-conceptualizing Definitions of Democracy." If you're really interested in the abstract and don't already know what the paper's about, let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you.

Anyway, the point is that my paper was accepted. My assigned panel is called "Man, State, and Human Rights" and everyone on it with me is at least a PhD candidate. Intimidating, yes, but also exciting! Here's what they said in the email:
We had to turn down a large number of proposals this year due to space constraints. Your proposal’s acceptance in the program is testimony of its very high quality and worthy contribution to our program. 

Soooo all of my nerdy dreams have come true. Of course, I most likely won't be able to attend the conference (April 1-4) because I'll still be in Turkey, but I'm looking into my options.


Overall, great week. I'm enjoying being here, even if I do miss barbeque every once in a while. And THAT, ladies and gentleman, is a wrap for now.