my last class of the semester

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the key for the computer cabinet is missing again, 5 minutes to class, an hour of presentations with power point to get to. some panicked students, i try my best to stay calm. the key finds itself, probably in a student's bag or pocket from last week. now the projector isn't working again, it flickers out and shows a blue screen, then it's back again. it looks stable, but fusses out, and then back. we start class hoping it stays up.

a student i call the spokesperson because he's a bit older and speaks for the class enters the room, clicks off the light, and presents a candle-lit cake. the class sings happy birthday to a student who sits at the back of the classroom. i can't remember if it was in english or turkish. cake and pastries are passed around. the students are taking pictures. after 5 minutes or so i quiet them down, relatively quiet, and we start.

the same presentations, some good, some could use work. i'm glad it is the last week. this class has been a student-centered experiment that failed in most ways. the 4th presentation of the night, a student brings a friend up to play McCartney's Yesterday, turning down the lights first, a slide show of hippies young and old playing in the background. the spokesperson clicks on his lighter and sways with the music. some students sing along. everyone cheers after the final line. the presentation is about 60's counterculture.

now 2 students in hippie garb come to the front of the class, and when the presenter starts talking about drug culture the spokesperson comes up with a bag of goods. some herb as fake pot, orbitz gum as fake hits of acid. he is the dealer, rolling joints and distributing. later the presenter talks about the symbolism of flower power while handing out flowers to the class. at the end of the night, we take class pictures. and i realize how much i'm going to miss these classes when i'm gone. the element of surprise each class brings, the ability for certain students to rise above the monotony and really get into a topic, and how much my mood can swing in a class.
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a month and week of bits

it is not uncommon to bargain for medical operations. the medical advisor at the U.S. embassy had LASIK eye surgery for $800. low-income citizens have a green card for free health care. our group leader Ersin is irritated that we keep asking which doctors take our insurance- they all do. they all do. (any operations i've been itchin for? turkish for "i don't care if my kidney is dragging on the ground. 200 or this boy is hittin the road"?)

Bush's approval rating 25%, only one point better than the post-watergate Nixon. U.S. citizens approve congress 13% of the time, a record low. Pew report for Turkey has 12% favorablity towards the U.S., lowest of the 25 countries polled. Polls show skepticism about change with both Obama and McCain in Turkey.

watching Al Jazeera. dusty shoes, dusty apartment. coughy face. want to be a journalist.

Sean Hannity, your ass hat is showing again.

why is the economy the stock market? who needs a stock market?

the evenness of homes and genders at Çatalhöyük has me asking "what went wrong?" in Kappadokian cave-houses i hear myself saying "that's religulous" indiscriminately.

2009 looks like a great year for socialism. inşallah. commentator says socialists are punch-drunk.

filled in an Illinois circle for Ralph Nader. ballot affidavit incomprehensible.

the English Dept. has a tea room with two employees. i pick up the phone, dial, "Muhammed, merhaba, nasılsınz, iyim. bir çay lütfen." piping hot black tea in tulip shaped cup, lemon wedge, tiny spoon, bowl of sugar cubes appear on my desk.

Turkish student listing off metal bands to me "Iron Maiden, Pantera, Korn, Slipknot, Black Sabbath." his first time talking to a native speaker.

connection hasn't the girth to support the daily show. i miss you Jon.

my students have to be laughing at me right now. yes, wrong classroom. just kidding!- wish i could communicate with you. iyi akşamlar!

la!,la!,la!,la!

speaking a new language

i didn't think i'd be relearning English here. at first i had to find out how to understand Turkish English, the woman on the plane saying "sandviç" three times before i understood, me thinking it was a Turkish word i didn't know (it is a loanword, but phonetically the same).

now, after my first day of classes, i'm clearly speaking a new English. i've been told that students have little or no experience with native speakers, affirmed by a student visiting my office today. he told me to slow down and repeat myself when i said "is-ben-goo-meding-you"- the words melting together, different from his reading literacy.

in my second class of the day, speaking and listening to pre-first-year students, someone remarked that i was not speaking american english.

"yes. i have had to- slow down- my english. because i need- everyone to hear- me. and to understand- what i- am saying to them."

it's interesting what slowing down and changing breathing patterns does to my thought process. i wonder if it helps students to slow down so much and to speak such an unnatural English.

what i have found out today is that teaching here, to about 300 foreign language learners, will be much different than teaching experiences i've had in the past.

made this post cause i was tired of looking at the beard.