Evet Yapabiliriz

(written on Sat. 9. Oct. 2010)

The title of this post is “Yes we can!” I like that saying- and I like it especially in Turkish because it is pretty advanced grammar, something you all know I am a fan of! Literally: evet = yes yap=infitive “to do” abil=ability suffix (completely arbitrary and unrelated despite the spellings) ir=aorist suffix for present tense and iz=person marker. So, “yes do.able.positive.present.we” ~ Yes, we are able to do (it) ~ yes we can!

Ok, so despite the fun little grammar lesson, this post is actually not as positive as the title suggests. I chose the topic to describe how I felt before coming into this situation at my school. I thought I could do it! I am in quite a tough spot, though.

I have been placed at this university with the intent to teach speaking classes to undergrads. When I arrived, however, I found that there are no speaking classes- at all. In fact, there is neither a foreign language nor English department, despite there being a “head of the foreign lang. dept.” who is actually the head of the Physics dept! When I met with him, he had quite a different vision. He wants me to create and teach “Academic English” courses for the grad students and the staff. WHAT?! Efendim!? Excuse me?! you get the point of my confusion.

Fine. I decided I would put together a curriculum that would include anyone who wanted to learn English (spoken). AND after having had some conversation with other faculty- I quickly realized that an “academic English” class would be too hard because the number of competent English speakers here is limited to the lecturers of English (there are about 8 of them, 3 I have met). Even their English abilities –in the spoken arena –are not what one would expect from a language teacher.

So, imagine you are charged with creating a curriculum for very beginners up through academics FROM SCRATCH. That is a lot of pressure for a person who thought he was coming to teach- not create an entire department.

I have come up with a pretty tricky resolution to the lack of curriculum that would address all levels of speaking ability BUT my work has come to a screeching halt.

I have talked about my living situation before. It is rather rugged and very uncomfortable. Well, now it has gone beyond that and has become unacceptable. With the onset of Winter (we skipped Fall and went from Summer straight to Winter) life has become miserable. The heat will not be turned on until next month, I was told. So I had to go out and purchase a heater so that I could sleep in a room where I didn’t see my breath. This no longer qualifies as furnished. Then I broke completely on Friday when I had spent half the day trying to get back online (they changed the network and I couldn’t use internet to do any research). When I finally started working again I worked right past 5pm, which meant I missed the last meal of the week on campus. I went to go make soup but couldn’t even do that because the hot plate I had used last weekend was gone.

No food. No heat. AND For fresh water, we have to walk about a mile to a watering hole, fill up jugs, and walk back. It is already really cold here and it is the first week of October. What will I have to do in January to get fresh water? I think I have reached the limit of my patience.

Finally, the thing that bothers me most about being secluded up on a “mountain” far from town and civilization is that Fulbright is a cultural exchange. I am not experiencing any culture up there other than “survival” culture that I would expect to see on a reality show. I am not interacting with Turks and I am not learning the language. This is neither what I signed up for nor what Fulbright seems to stand for.

Soo. . . I wrote an email. I wrote to the program coordinator here in Turkey and basically told her everything that I wrote in this post (minus the grammar lesson). I honestly do not think Bozok Univerisity is ready to host an ETA. I just want to get to work without having to worry about where I am going to eat next because there is no food up there or I missed the barely edible student food in the cafeteria. I know that a lot of my colleagues around Turkey don’t have kitchens, but they are at least within reasonable distance to places to eat. I told a friend I called Friday when I was melting down that I was ready to go hunting and gathering up there on that hill!

So, “Yes we can” –just not at Bozok University. I am upset that I had to write my request for a transfer because of all the high hopes I had for Yozgat. It’s just too much for any ETA to handle. Maybe when the guesthouse is complete and a store is open up there for groceries.

I hope that I can be transferred. I am not even sure if it is possible because of all the bureaucracy that plagues this country. If it is not possible, well then I guess I will be stuck up there for the year but I won’t be able to perform to my abilities if I am overwhelmed and discouraged like I am now. Fingers crossed.