Testing 1 2 3

After a great deal of resistance to the idea of a blog I have finally given into the inevitable take over the technological revolution. When I first moved to Istanbul, I deluded myself into thinking that I would be able to write weekly or even monthly emails giving family and friends updates but as the school year starts I am finding it even more difficult to motivate myself to sit down and type out emails about the going ons of my life. O zaman (therefore) blog it is.

Living in Kadikoy, a quasi-hipster area on the Asian side of Istanbul is just as wonderful as I thought it would be. Although there are a number of yabancilar (foreigners) wandering around, it isn't nearly as overwhelming as Sultanahmet (home of the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque) or Sirkeci, where shopkeepers automatically start speaking to you in English and ignore my attempts to engage with them in Turkish. Despite being surrounded by Turkish I am finding it difficult to build on my language skills outside of my mastery of the basics. For example, when I go into a restaurant I can order food, chat it up with the waiter and ask for the check like a pro but there are times when I'm talking to someone and I literally cannot understand entire sentences or things they are telling me. It's both embarrassing and frustrating and I've decided it's time to seek outside help aka a tutor. I'm thinking one of the dark, mysterious and male variety but right now as long as they speak Turkish and will let me pay them next to nothing, they will suffice.

My school started last week and it was rocky to say the very least. I am the native English teacher for grades 1-5 and each grade has at least 3 different levels of English. I probably have about 100 something students and meet with each class twice a week. The week before classes started I was supposed to go through a week of training but I really just went to school and helped the other teachers cut, color and paste things to decorate their classrooms and the school itself. The first day of class started off really exciting because all of the kids were so psyched to be there and see their friends again. As an opening ceremony of sorts, everyone met in the parking lot in front of the school and they kids recited the Turkish school pledge:

Türküm, doğruyum, çalışkanım. Yasam küçüklerimi korumak, büyüklerimi saymak, yurdumu, budunumu özümden çok sevmektir. Ülküm, yükselmek, ileri gitmektir. Varlığım Türk varlığına armağan olsun.

The basic gist of the which is embodied in the first sentence, "I am Turkish, I am right (true/correct) and I am hardworking." This pledge has been recited in all Turkish elementary and middle schools since the beginning of the Republic (1923) and is one of the many great legacies of the great founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. A few kids then recited what I assumed to be famous poetry (emphasis on assume because I did not understand anything) and then the gym teacher rallied the students, cued the cymbals and electric keyboard (anxiously waiting on the wings) and the school sang a song that sounded like a military march but was probably something similar to our National Anthem. It was really interesting being an outsider and watching this all unfold. It all seemed like a very strange exercise to me, with a hint of militaristic socialism but when I thought back to my elementary school experience and how every morning we would all stand up, put our hands on our hearts and pledge allegiance to the United States of America, I guess it's not that strange at all and only appears so to those who were brought up with different (yet equally conformist) customs.

Ok enough of that, my kids are great. Some are totally mystified by the fact that I am America and only want to ask me about what the US is like and whether or not I know Kobe Bryant (which of course I always reply yes, because well, I'm pretty sure I do know Kobe Bryant). Some classes do not understand a word of what I say and just look blankly and disinterested while others have a solid command of the basics and can follow my instructions. It is definitely going to be a challenging year, balancing the different levels of English and continuing to pretend that I don't speak Turkish or understand their never-ending pleas (teacher I do not understand anything you are saying). It's hard now but I know in the end that if they think I do not understand Turkish then they will be forced to think of ways to express themselves in English and will eventually benefit from it....until that moment I will just have to live with a tremendous amount of guilt and heart-wrenching pain when I look at my sad and frustrating little students. The great thing about the student-teacher relationship in Turkey is that outside of the classroom they are very loving. My colleagues are constantly hugging and giving little kisses to the students and the students in turn come up to us and give us big hugs and kisses. It's wonderful. The other day I was sitting and eating lunch and I had a group of girls just come up to me and give me big hugs and ask, "how are you Sarah Teacher?" (In Turkey surnames are not used and one would call their teacher Sarah Hoca or Sarah Teacher. The Sarah Teacher thing seems like a language cross-pollination gone terribly wrong but who am I to say that they should change it?) It's pretty adorable and it really helps counter the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness that tends to occupy the majority of my day.

Tomorrow starts week 2 (Classroom Rules). Keep your fingers crossed for me that I figure out what to do with these kids for another week before the official curriculum begins.