Merhabalar!
Well, it's been almost exactly a year since I last thought about blogging, and more than a year since I last actually wrote and posted something here. As most, if not all, of you know, I am no longer living in Turkey. I completed my Fulbright year in Trabzon in June of last year. Now I am a graduate student in Political Science at Duke University, working toward a PhD in 5+ years. A year after I left Trabzon, almost to the day, I will be returning to a Turkish pursuit...but this time I'm not leaving the US. Read on to learn more!
A Little Background
My last post on this blog was written about my adventures in Western Europe, a series that I never finished. My excuse for that is that I finally started thriving in Turkey, and as I came to live more in the present where I was, the less I thought about keeping the world updated, honestly. I've since come to learn about myself that I am not very good at being in two places at once. When I was thinking about home, I wasn't thinking about Turkey. When I was thinking about Turkey, I wasn't thinking about home.
The reason I mention this is that I also sort of fell off the face of the planet to many people this past year, too, even though I've been in the States the whole time, presumably "more in my comfort zone." The truth is that this past year was very difficult, the first half especially--just like the first half of my time in Trabzon. I moved to a new city, Durham, to go to a new school, Duke, became a graduate student (never been one of those before), lived truly on my own, joined a new church, made new friends, adopted a new dog, and so on. Everything was new. Throw in reverse culture shock, and it was an emotionally rocky first semester. Second semester improved significantly, though (where have we seen this pattern before?), and now I actually miss Durham and my community there. Investing in Duke and Durham, though, I haven't been the best of Skypers, emailers, callers, or even texters to my friends everywhere else! I am so sorry to everyone who sends me texts to which I don't respond! (I usually get them when I'm driving or talking to someone, and I tell myself I'll reply when I'm alone and not in a moving vehicle...then I never do. I am SO SORRY!) I am, I am ashamed to admit, hard to get hold of sometimes. I feel terrible about it, and I'm trying to get better. I so appreciate the grace that you all extend me in this area on a daily basis.
"Are you getting to your point anytime soon?" you ask.
Yes. Sorry. As you have certainly gleaned from above, I'm at Duke these days. In Poli Sci, my first field is Security, Peace, and Conflict, and my second field is Political Methodology. I'm also pursuing a graduate certificate in Middle East Studies.*
* denotes clue you're supposed to pick up on
My geographic focus in my studies is the Middle East, with a particular focus on Turkey. I am interested in Turkish foreign policy, domestic politics as they influence that foreign policy, and religion and politics within the region, generally. (Other research interests include conflict forecasting, military strategy, and a bajillion other things at this point.) Sounds like I'll need some area knowledge and language skills so I can do original language research, right? Right. That's why I applied through Duke for a Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. I was fortunate enough to receive both summer and academic year fellowships, which, to make a long story short(er), means I'll be studying Turkish for the next year. For now, let's focus on what's happening this summer. I'm already boring you.
I'm going to Madison, Wisconsin for 8 weeks to learn and speak ONLY Turkish.
The UW-Madison Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Language Immersion Institute
When I tell people I'm going to spend 8 weeks in Wisconsin to learn Turkish, they are understandably confused. Why am I not going back to Turkey? And don't I already know Turkish--didn't I spend a year in Trabzon and all that?
As my students from KTÜ know, there was not much of Kathryn Hoca speaking Turkish on campus. Everyone wants to speak English, and I was, after all, an English instructor. Sure, I picked up lots of phrases and words, and if you want to know stuff about food, I'm your gal. But, I can only speak in three verb tenses--and I don't know that many verbs! I know nothing about Turkish political words. Frankly, if it's not related to food, I'm NOT your gal. I have a lot of gaps in my foundational Turkish, and I want to fill them in. That means, as I study Turkish formally for really the first time, I'll be at about the level of a High Beginner.
Well, those FLAS people, in their rules, will not let you go abroad if you're studying as a beginner. I understand--they don't want people signing up and then taking vacations instead of focusing on learning a language. That's reasonable to me. What that means, though, is that I had to find a domestic summer program in Turkish. Enter the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Language Immersion Institute (APTLII) at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
At APTLII, they basically promise that you'll learn two semesters' worth of your target language in two months. Their secret? You only speak your target language. You only read your target language. You only listen to music in your target language. The key word in APTLII is IMMERSION. Do I want to learn a year's worth of Turkish this summer? Yes. Am I totally weirded out and intimidated by the prospect of not being able to speak English for 8 weeks? Uh, yeah. But, is it worth it? I think it really will be.
So, for two months, from June 15th to August 10th, I will be fully immersed in Turkish, except for "breaks" every Friday after dinner, when I'm allowed to do English things. So you know up front, my first contact priority will be my family during that time, but I would certainly appreciate any and all encouragement in English, which I will then read and (hopefully) reply to during the off time. Of course, if you would like to try to talk to me in Turkish during the week, I would love that. Turkish texts and/or emails are fair game, and if you're one of my Turkish-speaking friends/family, maybe we can Skype!
This Blog
Why the resurrection of the blog? Well, I'm going off into another wild, blue yonder, and I DO want people to be able to play along at home, if they want. Maybe I'll blog a bit in English, but my goal is to actually blog here in Turkish. It will be good practice for me, and it will hopefully be fun for you! So, I'll be posting some here about what I'm learning, how I'm doing, how running/knitting are going (more on those in the next post), etc.
I'm going to fiddle around with some page translation options so you don't have to copy/paste whole posts into Google Translate by hand, so check back soon.
I hope you'll join me on another sojourn--this time, we're heading to Wisconsin.
