Merhaba! If you're reading this you probably know who I am, and why I'm diving head-first into the world of blogging. If you're reading this and you don't know who I am and you're just looking for advice/travel tales about Turkey, bookmark this page and check back in a few weeks. I've got nothing for you just yet.
My name is Mary, and I am keeping this blog (along with a journal) as a record of my nine-month stint as a Fulbright scholar in the wonderful country of Turkey. I applied for the English Teaching Assistantship grant in October 2010, and had recently been assigned to Balıkesir University in the town and province of the same name. (Its pronounced "bah-luh-keh-sear," for those of you reading at home with no experience with Turkish. And if you don't know Turkish, join the club! I don't either!) I'll be teaching college students English... and that's the extent of what I know as of now.
At this point, you must be wondering (again, if you're unfamiliar with this blog's author), "Turkey? Why Turkey? You don't even speak Turkish. Are you even qualified to teach English if you can't speak Turkish? Isn't Turkey a Muslim country? Do you have to wear a scarf thing?"
Let's break all of these sentiments down:
1. Turkey is a beautiful country whose role throughout history is both extremely fascinating and highly excluded from the American public school curriculum. Modern-day Turkey, readers, was established out of the crumbling ruins of the Ottoman Empire. While in high school, I had always heard of this ever-elusive "Ottoman Empire" when it came to trade routes, Marco Polo, and World War I, but no teacher had ever delved into what it was, who "they" were, when it existed, or even where it was. When I began to take my upper level history requirements at Rowan University, I did not have a particular interest in any time period in history other than the Maya. In the fall of my junior year, I enrolled in a class about the Ottomans. Solely based on the facts that a) I had not a clue what the Ottomans were responsible for that warranted them an entire class at a slightly obscure state school, and b) the professor to whom the class belonged was (and is) possibly the best professor I had at Rowan, I took the class. Long story short, the class was fantastic. I learned so much and was fascinated by the entire societal and governmental structure of the Ottomans. I was outraged on their behalf that such an integral historical player in such a crucial geographic location had been excluded from school curricula across the country. While not the only Muslim empire to ever exist, the Ottomans had been succinctly lumped together with the rest of Islam when I had learned about the religion and its history in seventh grade; while it was not the ultimate member of the Central Powers, it had been entirely erased from high school instruction on World War I. Justice for the Ottomans, at least, has not been done in the United States public school system.
2. Solid observation, I don't speak Turkish... but that doesn't mean I can't LEARN Turkish. Teaching English to Turkish college students could prove to be one of the most valuable learning experiences and cultural exchanges that I will have the chance in which to participate. As for my qualifications, I seem like a trustworthy person, right?
3. While it is the most dominant religion in both the country and culture, Islam does not rule with an iron fist in Turkey. I don't have to wear a headscarf or a burqa or anything of that nature. While it's recommended I dress in a more conservative fashion while I'm there, would I now also dress conservatively in a middle class classroom in New Jersey. It would not be appropriate in either setting to let the goodies hang out, and therefore it's a non-issue.
Overall, I'm extremely excited to go to Turkey. I'm also extremely nervous, extremely overwhelmed, and extremely frazzled. I'm aware that this experience will change me as a person, and that is a scary thing to come to terms with at times. Here's hoping that change will only be for the better.
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