September 9, 2013
Pinar and I woke up with one mission in mind: to finish the presentation we would be presenting the following afternoon at the European Conference on Educational Research. We did so in a few hours, analyzing data and developing graphs to depict our results. When we were finished, we decided to register for the conference and check out the room we would be presenting in the following afternoon.
We got ready and walked to a currency exchange store. On the way, Pinar taught me the Turkish number system. I picked up the language very easily because she turned it into a game. Once I learned the basics, 1-10, I would ask her “Ne Kadar?” and she would respond with a number in Turkish. I would then translate it in English. By doing this, I’m proud to say I learned Turkish numbers in less than a half hour… the length of time it took to walk to the train stop!
We traveled by train to Bahcesehir University. When we arrived, we met up with Emine, one of Nazo’s friends that is a TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) professor at the university. She was a huge help in registering for the conference, translating what I said into Turkish. It turns out that the ladies working the registration table were some of her English students, so it was fun having a conversation in broken English.
Once we registered, we sat down with Emine at seaside, ordering pide (Turkish pizza) and drinks. We talked about the Turkish language and learning in general. Pinar and Emine caught up a bit, since they hadn’t seen each other for three years. They spoke in Turkish, and I tuned them out and watched the sea in the distance.
Once we were done at the university, we left and headed to Istanye Park. This is a higher class shopping area, and we went to meet with Pinar’s brother, Ugur. He works close to this area, and met with us to treat us to dinner. He took us to a Mongolian Grill called “Go Mongo.” After we ate, I had my eye set on a glass with a Turkish beer logo, Efes. I asked the waiter “Ne Kadar?” and he went to the back. He brought me back a fancy gift bag with a beer glass all wrapped up. I guess it pays to be a silly American tourist! Turkish hospitality at its finest!
Once we were done with dinner, we had some ice cream and headed home. We took the metro for part of the way, and then took a bus for the rest. When we arrived, I was so exhausted I could barely walk. I literally plopped down and didn’t wake up until the next morning, when Nazo softly woke me up with “Janet, wake up my darling!”