Continued from last week — Work/Study report on Turkey

My job turned out to be as rewarding as I
chose to make it. I was required to show
up at 9:00 am Monday to Friday and check
in, and then I was free to do whatever I

wished as long as I checked in again at 6.
I could stay in the office and perform
duties such as scanning foreign papers for
interesting articles, but my usefulness in
the office was minimal because most tasks
required a working knowledge of Turkish.
Because of this I was encouraged to travel
with various reporters as well as on my
own, and see as much of Istanbul as I
possibly could. If I had any special
requests or questions I had simply to ask
and the other reporters would go out of
their way to help me.

My first interview was with the Mayor of
Istanbul. I covered the Oxford-Cambridge
boat race, found the police hauling a body

out of the sea and, since I was the only
reporter on the scene, wrote an exclusive
story. Imet a Turkish movie star, attended
a dinner for ‘the press put on by the
Turkish Businessmen's Association...and
the list could go on. I think it is safe
to say that I saw Istanbul as very few
tourists do.

All my film was supplied by the paper and
I learned a great deal about photography
from the other reporters. As I am
intensely interested in history and
Istanbul is a historical haven, I took
full advantage of my freedom and took in
much of what Istanbul had to offer. While
visiting the sights I would interview
tourists and sometimes travel with them,
and as I had learned the tricks used by

to work and the eight or so hours I spent
on the job, I found I was becoming very
familiar with the city and more than a
little worn out. I was also beginning to
stagnate, and though I had submitted a
number of articles, nothing had been
published and this was beginning to get me
down. I found the Turkish to be very laid
back and relaxed about work. They do get
the job done, but they have a good time
doing it. Tea was served all day in the
office, lunch was unregulated and nobody
even flinched if someone showed up an hour
or two late. I could obviously see the

1 covered a great deal of country
hitch-hiking, taking ferries and buses
and, yes, even a short jaunt by camel.

My first interview was with the
Mayor of Istanbul.

various con men and shoe shiners, who are
to be found everywhere on the streets of
Istanbul, I would see if I could record
the events and try to expose the scams
they pull on tourists.

As I said before, this job offered as much
as you put into it. After fighting the
crowds of Istanbul each day on my hour

and a half bus-ferry-bus journey :each way

benefits of such an atmosphere, but had a
difficult time dropping my North American
rush, rush, rush attitude.

About the time I was struggling with this
work ethic, Arden approached me with eight
rolls of film one day. He told me to go
to the coast and visit as many resorts and
historical sites as I could. My only orders
were not to be back for at least ten days,
to use all my film, and to enjoy myself.
This was a dream come true for me with my
interest in both travel and history, and
not being the type who's shy of resorts. I
spent ten days on that trip and another 12
a few weeks later as a tourism reporter.

These trips proved to be the most memorable
of my summer and gave meachance to really
discover Turkey. I covered a great deal of
country hitch-hiking, taking ferries and
buses and, yes, even a short jaunt by
camel. Hitch-hiking is ridiculously easy
and a great way to meet people, but since
the Turks rank among the fastest and most
reckless drivers in the world, it can be a
harrowing experience. Buses are by far the
best way to travel in Turkey. They are
cheap, clean and modern. I was also quite
impressed with the travel facilities.
Tourist information offices are numerous,
and Turkish hotels and pensions, though a
little on the rough side, are very cheap

CONTINUED ...