My new campus in Turkey is massive. That is the first thing anyone notices when they arrive. And it is green — I have only seen this much green space once before in Turkey, and that was around the coast. In an attempt to gather defenses against Cold War Russia, American investors built the campus and fostered its growth. The great irony about that is while the United States hoped it could use the school against communism — they even built it in the shape of a gun pointed north — most of the students I have met have at least a slight leftist leaning.
The investors also seemed to have a perverse desire to transplant American designs — which explains the large forested areas and excessively huge campus. To give you an idea of how huge it is, let me just say it is a common practice for students to hitchhike to class. And there are hills! Just getting to class is enough exercise for me.
In addition to touring campus, running around Ankara like it is going to disappear overnight and eating way too much, I have also been taking Turkish lessons. Amid the crazy jumble of vocabulary and dotted and undotted i´s — yes, there is a difference! — I can only recall Spanish words from the dark ages of high school. It is definitely more difficult to communicate with my host family when I say “si!” instead of “evet.”
Since classes started, I have gained some new insight into Turkish culture that you might find useful if you ever visit someone even slightly associated with the Mediterranean. First, guests must eat — a lot. Even if you know there will be gastrointestinal punishment afterwards, the eager, smiling faces of your host mixed with the delicious smells of Turkish cuisine will convince you to eat and eat and eat.
Second, no one shares the same opinion. Even if the opinion is, in fact, the same, Turks will discuss at length the differences they feel about a topic. This is especially true for politics and religion. And everything else, actually.
Third, meals often end with long sessions of watching soap opera-esque TV series. In fact, I have already been drawn into the dizzying, end of the Ottoman Empire love affair of Mustafa and Vahide from the show “Elveda Rumeli” (Turkish students, please feel free to laugh at me). The show has already caught me in its snare, and although I understand just bits and pieces of the dialogue, even I am wondering what will happen next to the injured outlaw, the interfaith couple and the lovebirds. It is a guilty pleasure similar to “The Hills.” And to one-up American television, Turkish girls look terrible when they cry. Finally! True reality!
In addition to my newfound TV addiction, I have also noticed that my original perceptions of relationships in Turkey were drastically incorrect. I thought I was pretty aware, but apparently, I was wrong.
One night while walking in Konya (which is known across Turkey to be fairly conservative, something I previously never really believed) I noticed a massively imbalanced gender ratio. In two hours I think I very accurately calculated the boy to girl ratio at about 8 billion to 20 ... or, at the very least, 20 to 1. The girls that were out were rarely alone — most had parents along with them — and the boys were more often linked arm-in-arm than the few couples I saw. Talk about realizing things were not as liberal as I had thought!
At least in Ankara the ratio is more equal. Girls and boys walk hand-in-hand, and I have even seen enough making out to remind me of Rugby the first weekend of classes ... or Rugby on any weekend, at that.
So, thus far my experiences in Turkey have not had a profound impact on my life. I am hoping that something starts changing soon. People often say that studying abroad is the among the best experiences of their lives; so far I only know that cities are dirty, that driving (and walking) is scary in Turkey and that there is a legitimate reason for American-bashing ... but that’s another column.
Jessica’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at j.walker@cavalierdaily.com.
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