On Differences

Whoa, hey. İt's been a while.

Today is my 78th day in Turkey. Needless to say, İ've noticed a thing or two that's different  here than in the US. My mother has been bothering me for about two months to write a post about differences, so here it is! This one's for you, Mumsy.

İn the exchange world, we like to divide culture into two parts, and we like to use an iceberg as an easy way to show these two parts. The aspects of a culture that are easy to see are on the part of the iceberg that's above water. Then there are the aspects of a culture that are below the surface of the water; you wouldn't notice them if you experienced the culture for a short amount of time. Like an iceberg, there's way more below the water's surface than above it. We like to compare exchange to swimming to the bottom of an iceberg; the further down you go, the harder it is to keep going. The aspects that are at or below the bottom of the iceberg are the one's that are very deeply rooted in the culture. İ'm talking so deep that sometimes the culture's natives can't really even explain it. This post will focus on the aspects of Turkish culture that are above or close to the surface of the water, and on how İ've changed or started to do things differently since İ got here.

İ've gotten used to kissing people's cheeks, whether it's in greeting, when İ'm saying goodbye or thanks, or just because. İ can't think of the last time İ kissed someone's cheek in the US. İn the morning, İ usually make my bed unless İ'm running late for school, whereas in Minnesota, İ never made my bed. Ever. At school, we sing Turkey's national anthem on Monday morning and Friday afternoon. We have our assigned classroom and the teachers move around during the day (a perk to this is that İ spend a lot of time with my classmates, so İ'm really comfortable around them). When the teacher walks in, the class stands up until the teacher tells us to sit or says "günaydın," to which we reply (loudly), "sağol." The food is generally spicer than in Minnesota. Breakfast usually consists of tomatoes and cucumbers, bread, cheese, honey, cream, olives, and çay. My host family hates it when İ go up the stairs from the apartment that İ live in to my aunt and uncle's apartment directly above us without shoes on, and back in MN, İ would walk through the horse pastures barefoot. İ've started talking slower (usually); apparently my American accent is hard to understand since most English speakers here learn and are used to British English and the accent to go with it. İ communicate to my friends and family back home, and to other American exchangers, almost only through facebook and whatsapp. Before İ came here, İ had never hearf of whatsapp, but now it's the most practical way to message friends. İ always wear different socks, which isn't very rare in the US. Here, it's something a lot of people haven't seen and they think it's very funny. This difference may be a big tourist city thing, but İ've kind of learned how to walk past street vendors and ignore them when they try to get my attention to sell me something. İt still makes me feel bad every time. İ'm comfortable now with taking the buses to get from place to place. When İ fırst arrived, it really freaked me out since İ had never used public transportation back home. The dessert here is usually very sweet to me. İ've gotten better at listening instead of talking, and at deciphering what someone means when İ only hear part of what was said, or the sentence wasn't correct.

It goes without saying that there are way more differences, but İ think that big blab-paragraph gets the point across. The differences are mostly small, but when you put them together with the bigger differences, it can be exhausting to keep up with. İ'm finally getting to the point of my exchange where İ'm not constantly tired, which happens when your brain is always trying to translate something, remembering when to do (or not do) something, trying to always be agreeable and socialable, or other things that aren't coming to mind right now. This has been the craziest two and a half months of my life, but you can bet that İ'm more than ready to face the rest of my exchange with open arms and an open mind.

İ think that's all İ have for now. İ'll definitely try to make sure my next update isn't two months later.

Görüşürüz!

Note: İ was way too lazy to proofread this. İ'll (maybe) come back later and edit it.

New note (15/12/14): this has now been lazily  proofread. Go me!