Category: Touching Down

Sunflowers

Posted in Touching Down, Turkey12 Comments

Istanbul is notorious for its traffic. For this reason, I asked to live outside of downtown and I’m very thankful for the result – a large apartment with an incredible view, a pool to help beat the heat (85F+ daily), and a park to enjoy in the evenings. Teachers who live downtown can face a 1.5 hour bus ride home thanks to the congestion. Instead, I live 25 minutes from school and the bus ride includes fields of sunflowers in full bloom and shepherds tending their flock. In the small village near school, the bakery is occupied with locals having breakfast after morning prayers at the mosque.

My school is made up of two campuses – one close to downtown for Grades K-5 and the Marmara campus (Grades PreK-12) which overlooks Büyükçekmece Lake, which leads into the Sea of Marmara. I work at the latter and my classroom is located in the art cabins, connected to the school by a covered walkway.

While the exterior reminds me of camp (love it), the interior classrooms provide generous space to create and explore. The primary school art teacher has one room, my DP Visual Arts classes have a small room just for Grades 11 and 12, and I also share a large studio with a part-time art teacher. Just yesterday I had to move the full size human model – it was so lifelike that it kept freaking me out.

The school is located on a gated piece of land featuring fig trees and views of the rolling hills beyond. So far, the property gates have only been breached by our school dog, Hope. A stray who has been adopted by the community, Hope sprints the half mile in the woods alongside the driveway to welcome us each morning. Here is Hope, below, with Ali on our first day.

The school hosts students from 62 different countries and the most diverse staff I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Teachers hail from countries such as New Zealand, Ecuador, and South Africa, to name a few. With just over 35 students in last year’s graduating class, it will be an intimate community, but one I look forward to becoming a part of.

Our first week of orientation flew by – from the IKEA trip to a scavenger hunt at the Grand Bazaar and a rooftop Turkish breakfast with the new hires, it was busy but also chill. This dichotomy seems to represent the push and pull of Istanbul that I’m beginning to discover. It’s challenged me to loosen up and also determine what’s really important. A friend of mine has a 5 year rule – when something is frustrating or a decision needs to be made, ask yourself: “Will this matter in 5 years?”. It’s a work in progress. Thankful to have a quiet place to return home to each afternoon.

To celebrate the success of Week 1, Ali and I returned to the rooftop shisha bar, Chapee, on the outskirts of the nearby park. The frozen drink hit almost as smooth as if it included actual booze. As the muezzin call rang out from the mosque next door, the heat of the day gave way to cooler evening temps (a low of 75F). Happy to report that cooler heads have prevailed throughout the stress of making this big move, starting new job, and beginning to carve out this new life. It’s only been seven days but they’ve been well spent. Thank you to all of you who reached out after my last blog. Would love to hear any questions you have about life or school here in Istanbul in the comments below. Have a wonderful weekend!

Supermoon

Posted in Touching Down, Turkey10 Comments

We landed under a glowing supermoon, the last of 2022. Upon our approach into Istanbul, I could see the Bosphorus Bridge glowing neon red, a physical and metaphoric tie between Europe and Asia. My cat sat on my lap as I watched the boats bobbing below, lit up like Christmas lights on the Sea of Marmara.

My last few days in the States were bittersweet, as always. It was a terrible relief when my visa came through but I was also wistful to be leaving family and friends after a year that was nothing short of a gift. Time with my parents, seeing friends in the States and Canada, and exploring northern Massachusetts – I couldn’t have asked for more. Moves like this one take consideration, determination, and a great deal of planning. I don’t enter into these contracts lightly, but I also know what I’m looking for. So when the job opportunity in Istanbul arose, I knew that I had to go for it.

Landing as dawn lit the horizon, I made my way through the brand new Istanbul Airport to Customs. After claiming my luggage (thankful for my direct flight!), I found my hosts – my new principal, an HR representative, and the housing and transportation coordinator. Big smiles all around, the group became quickly smitten with Moloko who took up residence in her first Istanbul cafe like it was her job, reposing on the tile floor. We waited for my good friends from Moscow, Ali and Shalene, who landed only minutes after me on their direct flight from Chicago. Ali is teaching at my school this year and Shalene came for the weekend to help transport Ali’s two cats, also Russian expats 😉

Next stop was Bahçeşehir, our neighborhood in the western suburbs of Istanbul. The name translates to Garden City and it’s apt – from my balcony I can see swaths of green winding between residential buildings as far as the eye can see. Called “B-town” by the expat residents, the park paths are beautiful and I’m so lucky to have an amazing view, day and night. My apartment itself is incredibly lovely and I will share more when it is fully set up. There is a spare bedroom and visitors are very welcome!

Usually the first few days in a new country are a blur of meet ups, dinners, and local tours. Your head can swim with new social norms and the goal of making a positive first impression. It’s helpful to do more observing then concluding during this time, and try to relax any expectations. Here in Turkey, I am beginning to suspect that everything runs on a slightly different timetable. There was nothing on our schedule for the first two days. Thanks to my friends staying just across the park, the three of us began exploring on our own, beginning at my old TASIS staple, Migros. Swiss in origin, Migros is a food market and home goods store, a very welcome one-stop-shop. After purchasing a few essentials, we enjoyed dinner at a local outdoor cafe which specializes in lahmacun, a flatbread with meat, spices, vegetables, and herbs.

There’s no better way to fight jet lag than to make plans you want to keep. Knowing this, we decided on Turkish breakfast for the morning. Turkish breakfast is no joke and we located an adorable spot a little over a mile from our park, replete with a garden setting and a resident cheeky cat (more like kitten). More on the cats of Istanbul to come in a future blog. The meal was as delicious as it looks with the shakshuka as my personal favorite.

Fortified for the day, my friends took off to see the sights of downtown Istanbul, making the most of Shalene’s crazy quick long weekend. I retreated to my own apartment to finish unpacking and take a dip in the pool to beat the heat. Moloko busied herself trying out every possible perch in the apartment. She seems to be adjusting just fine.

Meeting for dinner at a rooftop shisha bar, we enjoyed non-alcoholic frozen drinks (mine was mulberry) alongside halloumi, manti, and, of course that foreign delicacy of corn on pizza (throwback to my SoKo days). Shalene shared some beautiful Turkish delight purchased from the Grand Bazaar and we had a great time playing games at my apartment. No better way to kick off a new country than with good friends trying out amazing local fare.

As has become standard for my overseas postings, a trip to IKEA is scheduled for tomorrow. There is something comforting about walking through the prearranged rooms, seeking an item that might make your life a little easier when assimilating to a new country. With that, I thank you for enjoying this first blog installment from Turkey. Much more to follow in the coming weeks, no doubt!

Origin Story

Posted in Touching Down, Turkey11 Comments

Turquoise: The word turquoise dates to the 17th century and is derived from the French turquois meaning “Turkish” because the mineral was first brought to Europe through Turkey from mines in the historical Khorasan province of Iran (Persia) and Afghanistan. (For more, check out Merriam-Webster’s take)

Tiles, mosaics, and Turkish blues

Istanbul has long been on my teaching bucket list, ever since my first visit in 2009 with my brother, Brett. He was studying in Budapest and we flew to Turkey for a few days. The myths and legends surrounding the city only added to our journey – from Marco Polo on the Silk Road to the whirling dervishes to the Turkish baths (100% worth it).

We saw the Blue Mosque, wandered the Grand Bazaar, ate kebab on the sidewalk and fish sandwiches off the dock. My favorite memory is drinking çay on a boat sailing along the Bosphorus. Served in a glass cup with a saucer, çay is the Turkish word for tea, pronounced “chai”. Palatial estates dotted the Bosphorus waterfront, much like those along my beloved Neva in St. Petersburg.

Bosphorus Strait, Istanbul – May 2009

Over a decade ago, one of my favorite docents at the Peabody Essex Museum, Laurie, connected me with her good friend, a teacher living and working in downtown Istanbul. Throughout our two year correspondence, she shared the highs and the lows of living in the former Ottoman city, from the warm and welcoming locals to Istanbul’s notorious traffic (still horrendous). It was then that I bookmarked Istanbul as a highly desirable destination.

During my time in Moscow, I was lucky enough to coach middle and high school tennis. One year, our tournament took us to Istanbul. We arrived in May to temps considerably warmer than the thawing tundra we’d left in Russia.

While in Turkey, I had the chance to visit my upcoming school (unbeknownst to me at the time), located roughly 40km from the city center. In the lobby, I was struck by a beautiful art exhibit and the warmth of the community, evident in the wonderful families who played host to my players for the weekend. The tournament was very well organized and our host coaches were incredibly gracious. I love this gleeful picture of my friend and fellow coach, Matthew, tucking into a delicious Turkish fish dinner on the coast.

My upcoming experience will mark the first time I have ever visited the foreign country, never mind the school, where I will be employed. This makes for a radically different departure – knowing a bit about the culture I will find and the local fare (eggplant! hummus! simit!). This only adds to my excitement and eases my butterflies.

I hope you will follow along on my journey, wherever it leads. There will be ups and downs and I promise to paint a clear picture of my experience, respectful of my new country of residence and friends I will find there. I will post pictures regularly on my Instagram account (@puttputtchamp) so feel free to follow me there as well. This blog is my way of staying in touch with all of you wonderful humans so I thoroughly appreciate your comments and reactions in the space below. If you’ve been to Turkey, please send highlights and recommendations. I’m all ears 🙂