Report on Turkey continued — life in Istanbul

Well, after eighteen hours we finally said
goodbye to Bulgaria and had to backtrack a
good distance, purchase new tickets, and
take the long way around Bulgaria to our
destination. As a result of this lovely
experience we arrived in Turkey dirty,
tired, hungry and, to say the least, rather
dejected, a full day late and after over
five days on the train. Things were looking
mighty bleak and our summer had only just
begun. Linda was stationed in Ankara and I
was assigned to Istanbul, soafter checking
in at the Turk Kultur Valrfi and getting
the information on our families, we said
our goodbyes.

My first meeting with my family came on my
second day in Istanbul and I could not
have been more appropriately placed. They
were a kind and loving family and treated
me as a son right from our first meeting.
Nihat, the father, sold chemicals and had
a great sense of humour. My host mother
was a full-time housewife and was always
ready with a smile and a traditional kiss
on each cheek when I returned home from
work each day. I was also fortunate enough
to have two brothers aroundmy age—Levent,
25 and Unit, 21. The entire family spoke
English fairly well and their English
improved at an amazing rate. We did have a
little trouble at first, as I speak rather
quickly and, according to them, had a very
strange and heavy accent, but I soon
learned to slow down.

The thing that struck me first about my
family was just how similar they were to
North American families. You had to remove
your shoes upon entering the house, as is
the custom, and were greeted with the
kisses I mentioned, but these were the
only real differences. They lived in one
of the nicer areas of Istanbul on the fifth
floor of a modern high-rise, and although
it was heavily adorned with beautiful
Turkish carpets, it could have passed for
a home in Vancouver. The family also owned
two cars and had once-a-week maid service.
I was to find out in time that this is not
how most of the Turkish people live,
although the poverty level is not high.

Unit was a student of Economics with a
great interest in sports. He also sang (in
English) and played the guitar in a rock

band. His room, which I shared with him,
was a tribute to the Beatles and Led
Zepplin. Levent had just completed a
Marine Engineering degree, and since I am
quite familiar with the sea and work part-
time in a shipyard, this worked out very
well. He was also intensely interested in
improving his English, so we spent many
hours together talking and holding English
lessons each night after work.

Levent was a little more of a traditional

Turk than Unit and knew a great deal about
his country's history and current events.

I learned a lot about some of the less

' We would often go out in the evening
to restaurants or bars, and it was very
rare to see any women at all, let
alone unescorted women. —

known facets of Turkey. Both my brothers
included me in everything and introduced
me to their friends. I also found I had a
great deal in common with many of these
people—so much so that certain people
began to remind me of my friends at home.

Turkish young people are absolutely crazy
about sports, especially basketball, and
although soccer is the national sport,
basketball is gaining fast. The one
profound difference in the life of the
young in Turkey, as opposed to North
America, is their attitude toward and
social interaction with women. Many of
these young men had girlfriends, but they
only saw them during the day. At night in
Istanbul it is very seldom that you see
any young women out past nine o'clock. We
would often go out in the evening to
restaurants or bars, and it was very rare
to see any women at all, let alone
unescorted women. This seemed to cause the
Turkish males a great deal of anxiety. They

“are bombarded with western music, movies,

and literature portraying promiscuity and
free interaction between men and women, but
much to their frustration they are rarely
allowed the chance even to see their
girlfriends at night. This is largely
because the Turkish parents are trying to

CONTINUED ...