Monday, September 2, 2013
Post Secondary Education in Turkey
While talking to a new Turkish friend whose children either have gone or are now going to BLIS, I found that getting into University in Turkey is extremely competitive. In any given year, about 2 million students graduate from high school in Turkey and there are only 500,000 spots in all of the universities/colleges in the whole country. Students take a summative graduation test as a 12 grader in high school and their spot on the college acceptance list is determined by their score. Going to university in Turkey is free but if you do not score well and do not get a spot as a freshman at any university in Turkey your only options are to take a 2 year technical school course, not go to college at all, or go to college abroad which is very costly.
Church on Sunday----in a different country ---- well technically!
This past Sunday, I went to church. While this activity may not seem to be terribly interesting or adventurous, attending a Catholic mass in a Moslem country can be intimidating. I found a co-worker who has lived in Ankara for the last 5 years who is also a practicing Catholic. We decided to attend church together at the Mother Mary Catholic Church on the grounds of the Vatican Embassy which offers a mass in English at 10 AM on Sunday. So technically, when I set foot on the Vatican Embassy grounds, I was on the soil of another country, the Vatican!
So we set off on the free TMD bus which took us into central Ankara where the route ended very near the corner of Ataturk Boulevard and John F. Kennedy Street. By the way, that is the corner at which the American Embassy is located. Then we picked up a cab and took a 12 minute (13 Turkish Lira or $6.50) journey to the Vatican Embassy grounds; we got there about 50 minutes early for mass. If we had taken the later TMD bus, we would have been 10 minutes late for mass! The TMD bus runs once an hour on the weekends.
I was shown around the church which is quite small. In the church basement is two CCD rooms and a resale shop that benefits the Iraqi refugees. I met Fr. Jean Michel who is a French Jesuit. He also runs the sister congregation in the Ulus (old, Ottoman, section of central Ankara) named St. Therese of Lisieux Church which offers mass in Turkish every Sunday.
During the mass, we sang several hymns very familiar to me and the constant nature of the mass filled me with content because I was suffering just a few small pangs of homesickness. And just like at many churches I have attended in the US, a special collection for the poor was taken at the end of mass because it was the 1st Sunday of the month.
After mass, because it was Hospitality Sunday, there was a gathering in the courtyard for all parishioners complete with baked goods and soft drinks/coffee. As a side note, the new mass text for the English language which has been effect for over a year in the US has only been in use for 4 months at Mother Mary Church. And like any Catholic church, in the back was the newspaper from the local Catholic Press. It was L'Osservatore, the English language version of the Vatican weekly newspaper!
After church and the social gathering, my co-work and I reversed the process and took the cab back to the bus stop and then the TMD back to campus. By that time it was noon and instead of going back to my apartment, I took myself out for brunch and did some shopping at the nearby mall. All in all a very satisfying Sunday.
So we set off on the free TMD bus which took us into central Ankara where the route ended very near the corner of Ataturk Boulevard and John F. Kennedy Street. By the way, that is the corner at which the American Embassy is located. Then we picked up a cab and took a 12 minute (13 Turkish Lira or $6.50) journey to the Vatican Embassy grounds; we got there about 50 minutes early for mass. If we had taken the later TMD bus, we would have been 10 minutes late for mass! The TMD bus runs once an hour on the weekends.
I was shown around the church which is quite small. In the church basement is two CCD rooms and a resale shop that benefits the Iraqi refugees. I met Fr. Jean Michel who is a French Jesuit. He also runs the sister congregation in the Ulus (old, Ottoman, section of central Ankara) named St. Therese of Lisieux Church which offers mass in Turkish every Sunday.
During the mass, we sang several hymns very familiar to me and the constant nature of the mass filled me with content because I was suffering just a few small pangs of homesickness. And just like at many churches I have attended in the US, a special collection for the poor was taken at the end of mass because it was the 1st Sunday of the month.
After mass, because it was Hospitality Sunday, there was a gathering in the courtyard for all parishioners complete with baked goods and soft drinks/coffee. As a side note, the new mass text for the English language which has been effect for over a year in the US has only been in use for 4 months at Mother Mary Church. And like any Catholic church, in the back was the newspaper from the local Catholic Press. It was L'Osservatore, the English language version of the Vatican weekly newspaper!
After church and the social gathering, my co-work and I reversed the process and took the cab back to the bus stop and then the TMD back to campus. By that time it was noon and instead of going back to my apartment, I took myself out for brunch and did some shopping at the nearby mall. All in all a very satisfying Sunday.
Monday, August 19, 2013
People Watching at the Mall
On Monday afternoon (August 19th), I went with 5 other new teachers & 2 spouses to a mall called Kent Park which I was told was about 15 minutes away from the campus and out of the Bilkent area. We took the SMD free bus from the University into the city. We were advised that when we got to the area in which we wanted to stop, just stand up because there is no bell pull on any public busses.
So off we went! When we saw the giant sign that said Kent Park, we stood up on the bus as it hurtled at about 70 mph down the freeway and about 4 blocks later we were let off at a bus shelter on the freeway on the opposite side of the road from the mall. Then we had to climb 2 flights of stairs to walk across a narrow pedestrian bridge to the other side of the highway and then down 2 flights of stairs. Then it was about a 4 block walk back the way we came to the entrance of the parking lot for the mall. The pedestrian bridge was not as scary as I thought it might be because the bridge is between the overhead road signs so I could not see the traffic below as we crossed it. After entering the mall, we decided on a meeting time & place so that we would go home together. Most of the others were shopping for some housewares or clothing. I was there to people watch because I am not much of a mall shopper and I satisfied my needs earlier this week at the REAL (the Swiss version of Wal-Mart) near the campus earlier this week.
Before the new teachers came to Ankara, we were told that as a Muslim country, Turkish women especially were conservative in their dress and to avoid short skirts and shorts as well as plunging necklines and sleeveless tops. At the mall, I saw a few women dressed in traditional dress with headscarves, but most women were wearing jeans with blouses or T-shirts or short sleeveless dresses with 6 inch stiletto heels or tops that showed cleavage. I saw even some shorts. All in all Kent Park mall--which is a 5 story upscale mall and seemed to be very much like Water Tower Place in Chicago--with stores like LaCoste, Calvin Klein Jeans, Mac, H & M and Starbucks could have been almost any upscale mall in the states and the people shopping there could have been seen in any American mall. The only noticeable difference at the mall from an American mall is that all shoppers upon entering the mall must go through a security checkpoint like at an airport. Purses go on a conveyor to be x-rayed and people go through a metal detector. At the small mall near campus, bags and purses are wanded by a security guard at every entrance.
For the trip back to our apartments, we took cabs. In my cab we had 5 of us and the fare back with tip was 5 Turkish Lira each (about $2.50)--super cheap. I think in the future, if I ever go to a mall again (I am not much of a mall shopper), I will take a cab both ways with a small group instead of the bus. It is weird, I have not been inside a mall in the USA for over 5 years, but I get a typical mall experience for the 1st time in years in Ankara, Turkey!
So off we went! When we saw the giant sign that said Kent Park, we stood up on the bus as it hurtled at about 70 mph down the freeway and about 4 blocks later we were let off at a bus shelter on the freeway on the opposite side of the road from the mall. Then we had to climb 2 flights of stairs to walk across a narrow pedestrian bridge to the other side of the highway and then down 2 flights of stairs. Then it was about a 4 block walk back the way we came to the entrance of the parking lot for the mall. The pedestrian bridge was not as scary as I thought it might be because the bridge is between the overhead road signs so I could not see the traffic below as we crossed it. After entering the mall, we decided on a meeting time & place so that we would go home together. Most of the others were shopping for some housewares or clothing. I was there to people watch because I am not much of a mall shopper and I satisfied my needs earlier this week at the REAL (the Swiss version of Wal-Mart) near the campus earlier this week.
Before the new teachers came to Ankara, we were told that as a Muslim country, Turkish women especially were conservative in their dress and to avoid short skirts and shorts as well as plunging necklines and sleeveless tops. At the mall, I saw a few women dressed in traditional dress with headscarves, but most women were wearing jeans with blouses or T-shirts or short sleeveless dresses with 6 inch stiletto heels or tops that showed cleavage. I saw even some shorts. All in all Kent Park mall--which is a 5 story upscale mall and seemed to be very much like Water Tower Place in Chicago--with stores like LaCoste, Calvin Klein Jeans, Mac, H & M and Starbucks could have been almost any upscale mall in the states and the people shopping there could have been seen in any American mall. The only noticeable difference at the mall from an American mall is that all shoppers upon entering the mall must go through a security checkpoint like at an airport. Purses go on a conveyor to be x-rayed and people go through a metal detector. At the small mall near campus, bags and purses are wanded by a security guard at every entrance.
For the trip back to our apartments, we took cabs. In my cab we had 5 of us and the fare back with tip was 5 Turkish Lira each (about $2.50)--super cheap. I think in the future, if I ever go to a mall again (I am not much of a mall shopper), I will take a cab both ways with a small group instead of the bus. It is weird, I have not been inside a mall in the USA for over 5 years, but I get a typical mall experience for the 1st time in years in Ankara, Turkey!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Bilkent University and BLIS (Bilkent Laboratory and International School)
This is a map of Bilkent University. The school at which I will be teaching is at the top left under the "t" in the word "east". Most of the teachers live in the apartments above the "t". Some of us (including me) live in the building under the "c" in the words "Middle Campus". The tops of the hills on which the university is built are towards the south or top of the map.Friday, August 16, 2013
First Day of Work
After sleeping like the dead for 4 hours, I awoke about midnight local time and could not fall back asleep. So I unpacked my bags and spoke to a Milwaukee friend via SKYPE. My apartment is smaller than I expected. We were told that we would have a 2 bedroom lojman but because of the growth of BLIS and the University, some of us are located in studio apartments that are not next to BLIS but in an area of the campus that is about 10 minutes away by bus. We will eventually get the larger apartments as University faculty rotate out and the apartments become available. I have seen the 2 bedroom apartments and they are very nice. The building I am in is very new and my apartment has a dishwasher and microwave which the older, larger apartments do not have and the bus is free to employees.
Bilkent University imports their faculty and teaches all of their undergraduate and graduate courses in English. So the university faculty comes from all over the world especially from North America and Europe.
While I was unpacking, there were 2 short power outages which I hope do not occur a lot. I eventually got tired again and slept a few more hours before I got up to get ready for the first day of new teacher orientation which thankfully started at noon! The first day of orientation consisted of filling out reams of paperwork, getting our teacher laptop and a meal with the school administration team. I saw that BLIS is part of a huge construction site. The school has really grown over the last several years, so they are building a new elementary school building which will be done for next school year. Today it is a hole in the ground with a big crane in the hole! The middle school building is about 4 years old and the high school building was built in 1997. And the school is going through discussions now to become a 1-to-1 laptop school possibly as early as next school year. At 5 PM, I and the other new teachers were tired again -- a reaction to jetlag and the altitude-- so most of us went back to our apartments to nap. Tomorrow (on Saturday) the new teachers will go to a brunch in the city, ride the university bus around the campus to get used to where it can take us and then shopping at the nearby strip mall that has the cell phone store (TurkCell) and the REAL hypermarket (a store like Wal-Mart or Super Target that has groceries and lots of other consumer goods under one roof). REAL is a Swiss company and the other nearby hypermarket is Carrefour, a French company.
Bilkent University imports their faculty and teaches all of their undergraduate and graduate courses in English. So the university faculty comes from all over the world especially from North America and Europe.
While I was unpacking, there were 2 short power outages which I hope do not occur a lot. I eventually got tired again and slept a few more hours before I got up to get ready for the first day of new teacher orientation which thankfully started at noon! The first day of orientation consisted of filling out reams of paperwork, getting our teacher laptop and a meal with the school administration team. I saw that BLIS is part of a huge construction site. The school has really grown over the last several years, so they are building a new elementary school building which will be done for next school year. Today it is a hole in the ground with a big crane in the hole! The middle school building is about 4 years old and the high school building was built in 1997. And the school is going through discussions now to become a 1-to-1 laptop school possibly as early as next school year. At 5 PM, I and the other new teachers were tired again -- a reaction to jetlag and the altitude-- so most of us went back to our apartments to nap. Tomorrow (on Saturday) the new teachers will go to a brunch in the city, ride the university bus around the campus to get used to where it can take us and then shopping at the nearby strip mall that has the cell phone store (TurkCell) and the REAL hypermarket (a store like Wal-Mart or Super Target that has groceries and lots of other consumer goods under one roof). REAL is a Swiss company and the other nearby hypermarket is Carrefour, a French company.
I am in Ankara, Turkey!
I have arrived in Ankara, Turkey and as I write this blog entry, I am in my 4th floor lojman (apartment in Turkish) admiring the beautiful view of the city from atop a hill. I live in a modern semi-suburban area called Bilkent because this area is dominated by the large, private university called Bilkent University. I actually live on the campus because as a teacher at the University Laboratory School (Bilkent Laboratory and International School or BLIS), I am part of the university staff. The university is quite large--over 1500 acres-- and has 13,000 students.
I left Milwaukee on August 14th from the airport at 2 PM after meeting in the waiting area another teacher at BLIS. Betty and her husband are from California but her extended family lives in Milwaukee. She spent time visiting them before coming to Turkey. After the very short flight to Chicago, I had a 3 hour layover and during that layover, I met 4 other teachers bound for BLIS. On the 9 hour flight to Munich, I really lucked out because the two seats next to me were empty and I was able to lie down and sleep for about 3 hours or so. United Airlines served 2 meals, dinner and breakfast, because I left Chicago at dinnertime and arrived in Munich in the morning on August 15th. In Munich, I met even more teachers enroute to BLIS! The layover in Munich was 2 hours and then I boarded a flight to Ankara which took 2.5 hours. The Lufthansa flight attendants were surprised there were so many English speakers on board until they figured out we're all going to the same place. All in all there were 15 teachers and various other spouses and children who arrived bleary-eyed in Ankara on that flight.
The immigration procedures were superficial and after about 1 minute I was at the baggage carousel to pick up my luggage. I loaded my luggage trolley with my 4 pieces of luggage in which I packed the worldly goods I will use for the next two years and pushed the trolley through the door out into the main lobby of the airport. The new teachers were met by officials from BLIS and a coach bus with porters to load our luggage onto the bus. As we drove through Ankara to Bilkent, I was struck by the fact that the parts of Ankara in which the bus traveled were very modern. We drove down a 6 lane freeway past malls, apartment buildings, mosques and businesses that do not see more than 25 years old. As I rode on the bus, I saw signs for John Deere, Burger King, Starbucks, Case Tractors, and KFC.
When we got to BLIS, we were fed a light dinner meal of Turkish pizza, salad, and chicken wraps because it was about 4:30 PM and given our apartment assignments. I took my luggage to my apartments and unpacked just a little and went to bed about 8 PM because I was sooo tired.
Ankara is located on a high desert plateau similar to Denver but a little drier. There is no humidity but it gets hot (upper 80's or low 90's) during the day but quite cool (50's) at night. The predominate natural plant life is a brown scrub grass unless landscaping has been done. On campus, we have the brown grass and a lot of pine trees have been planted all over the place in rows. Some places on campus have green grass and other plantings where drip hoses have been laid over the top so that the plantings can be irrigated.
I left Milwaukee on August 14th from the airport at 2 PM after meeting in the waiting area another teacher at BLIS. Betty and her husband are from California but her extended family lives in Milwaukee. She spent time visiting them before coming to Turkey. After the very short flight to Chicago, I had a 3 hour layover and during that layover, I met 4 other teachers bound for BLIS. On the 9 hour flight to Munich, I really lucked out because the two seats next to me were empty and I was able to lie down and sleep for about 3 hours or so. United Airlines served 2 meals, dinner and breakfast, because I left Chicago at dinnertime and arrived in Munich in the morning on August 15th. In Munich, I met even more teachers enroute to BLIS! The layover in Munich was 2 hours and then I boarded a flight to Ankara which took 2.5 hours. The Lufthansa flight attendants were surprised there were so many English speakers on board until they figured out we're all going to the same place. All in all there were 15 teachers and various other spouses and children who arrived bleary-eyed in Ankara on that flight.
The immigration procedures were superficial and after about 1 minute I was at the baggage carousel to pick up my luggage. I loaded my luggage trolley with my 4 pieces of luggage in which I packed the worldly goods I will use for the next two years and pushed the trolley through the door out into the main lobby of the airport. The new teachers were met by officials from BLIS and a coach bus with porters to load our luggage onto the bus. As we drove through Ankara to Bilkent, I was struck by the fact that the parts of Ankara in which the bus traveled were very modern. We drove down a 6 lane freeway past malls, apartment buildings, mosques and businesses that do not see more than 25 years old. As I rode on the bus, I saw signs for John Deere, Burger King, Starbucks, Case Tractors, and KFC.
When we got to BLIS, we were fed a light dinner meal of Turkish pizza, salad, and chicken wraps because it was about 4:30 PM and given our apartment assignments. I took my luggage to my apartments and unpacked just a little and went to bed about 8 PM because I was sooo tired.
Ankara is located on a high desert plateau similar to Denver but a little drier. There is no humidity but it gets hot (upper 80's or low 90's) during the day but quite cool (50's) at night. The predominate natural plant life is a brown scrub grass unless landscaping has been done. On campus, we have the brown grass and a lot of pine trees have been planted all over the place in rows. Some places on campus have green grass and other plantings where drip hoses have been laid over the top so that the plantings can be irrigated.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Paperwork is finished -- I hope!
While I was on vacation in Canada, I checked my email account periodically. Well I checked before I went to the Canadian wilderness on Lake Huron and I checked 7 days later when I emerged to spend time with my friend at her house. And I found that the paperwork from my new employer had been finished. I had been waiting for a while for the documents needed for my visa application to be completed.
As I returned home yesterday, on July 31st, from Canada, I decided to take the train into Chicago to visit the Turkish Consulate to apply for visa today. I had been told what I needed to bring with me to the consulate by a very organized staff member of my new employer, so I was prepared for my meeting. And to my surprise and delight, I dealt with some very nice people at the consulate who processed my visa application in the same day as my visit. I had been told that the process could take a week! So I spent a few hours shopping and lunching in Chicago until the visa was ready.
As I returned home yesterday, on July 31st, from Canada, I decided to take the train into Chicago to visit the Turkish Consulate to apply for visa today. I had been told what I needed to bring with me to the consulate by a very organized staff member of my new employer, so I was prepared for my meeting. And to my surprise and delight, I dealt with some very nice people at the consulate who processed my visa application in the same day as my visit. I had been told that the process could take a week! So I spent a few hours shopping and lunching in Chicago until the visa was ready.
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