Back in action

So. Hello there.

Eb and I making Valentines for the Access Program party

It's been a while.  Sorry, but the eviction plus winter holiday has kept me away from the internet for a long time.  Not to worry- I'm back in Konya, back at work, and back to a (semi)reliable internet connection.  And I kept a little travel journal to ensure I pass on the choicest bits of my holidays to you.  Where to start?  I guess probably with school or something, since that is my job or whatever.



The new boss has not been doing himself any favors to improve his image, though thank goodness he hasn't decided to make our lives completely miserable either.  We've had our speaking classes cancelled, though we are not sure what we will be teaching in those hours instead.  Speaking is an extremely important skill when it comes to language acquisition (duh) so I can't understand why it is getting cancelled.  We're already limited to 2 hours of it a week anyway.  Not to worry- the all important "video class" is not cancelled.

My schedule is actually quite nice, and I was worried I was going to be stuck with only early morning and late night classes.  Instead, I'm teaching 4 hours every M-Th, with an extra 2 hours on Wed night.  Wed night is an extension of last term's Advanced Reading class in the Lit dept.  Now we'll be doing Advanced Writing.  I think the class will be small, because the students found Advanced Reading really hard.  That being said, the course/teacher evaluations that I gave out had almost entirely good things to say, even though everyone did complain that the class was very difficult.  I think I'll make writing easier because the 4th years are working on their senior theses this term.

I have replaced my 8 hours/week of Montana classes with two new Hazirlik classes:  I now teach four groups of Hazirlik students.  It is a little unnerving to start all over again, and one of my new classes seems like they're gonna be trouble.  I share them with my office-mate Meryem, and I think they are far behind all my other classes, and I think they like to talk too much.  I'll have to crack the whip.  My other new class seems really great, however.  I had them for the first time today, and their English is excellent!  We had a great class today and I think they're going to continue to participate without being bullied, which is refreshing.

This week I milked Valentines' Day for all it was worth.  We had a visit from ELF (Eng Lang Fellow) Martha, and we went with her to the US govt's Access Program, which is supposed to give underprivileged (and high achieving) high school students access to extra English language instruction.  I believe I've posted about going to visit them before, but I'm too lazy to look back and make a link.  Sorry.  Anyway, it is nice to go out and teach in an environment where the students are actually invested in the subject matter, want to learn, and bring a positive attitude to the classroom.  We had a Valentines' Day party where we listened to love songs, made valentines, played bingo, and ate sweets.  Adnan had a girl give him a Valentine, then run out of the classroom.  Classic.  It was very fun, and I used some of those activities with my Hazirlik classes later in the week.

Ok, so this post is getting long.  I think I will wrap up soon and limit the post to talking about life here in Konya.  I'm sorry to say I'll have to post about my travels later.

Our new apartment has come a long way since I left, thanks to the tireless efforts of Adnan and our friends Caglar and Galip.  We now have hot water, a working toilet, internet (sorta), a washing machine (!!!), and beds!  And the fruit fly infestation seems to have leveled off, though the population is not declining.  I hope to get some photos up of the new place soon.  It is really nice to be out from under the university's thumb.  We have our own place, on our own lease, and (supposedly) we can't get kicked out on 12 hours notice for no reason anymore.  We have also managed to stay in Meram, our old neighborhood, which is great.  We have to wake up nice'n'early for a 7:15 shuttle to campus in order to get to our 8:30 classes on time, but it is a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Now I'm taking advantage of my Fridays off, and heading into Istanbul on a whim to see one of my favorite bands play.  I'll also get to see my friend Baris, and Sara Sandmel, Macalester student extraordinaire!  Check our her blog here; she's studying abroad in Istanbul this semester on my old program with Duke!  I can't wait to see Karanfil and Sarah Carpenter again.  More next week!