Ancient Ruins, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Football Games

So, I've realized that I haven't really posted anything about what I've done since about Christmas.  I've let you know a few bits and pieces here and there, but nothing too big.  I kind of wish I was better at this "blogging" thing.  I want to post more often, but somehow find myself constantly busy, despite the fact that the stack of books I've read over the past six months keeps growing and growing.  Anyways, I want to give you a quick update of what I've been doing, and how I've been doing over the past month or so.

So... soon after Christmas, was New Years.

Riad and me

Riad and me dancing like Turkish people

New Years was seriously, a really great night! I went to a party with Riad and his host family with a few other Rotary families.  We got to count down the new year in a foreign language, then attempt to sing and dance along with all the Turks. Turks really know how to have a good time. :)

The rest of January was mainly going to school, and well, school is school.  It wasn't too exciting.  I read a bunch. 

The last week of January and first week in February was a semester break from school! So, I got two weeks off of school.  For a few days the first week I went to Manisa and I stayed with my friend from Canada.  It was so much fun! One day her host family took us to a village where they make a lot of Nazar (evil eyes) things, then to a horse farm, and then we drove up a mountain, where I had a stomachache and we got a flat tire.  It was quite an adventure.  Another day, I went into Izmir to see my friends there. The last full day I had, which just happened to be my 18TH BIRTHDAY, I went to Ephesus, and I got to meet up with one of my friends back home from Ohio, then went to have dinner at a restaurant with my exchange friends who stay in Izmir.  Being with my exchange friends is really great.  I don't get to see them very often because I'm in Bursa, about five hours from most of them, but whenever I get together with them I always have a blast.  I know there are a few students in my group who will probably be my friends for a really long time, and I'm really happy I had the chance to spend a few days with them this month.  

Shannon and me at the horse farm

On February 1 Shannon made cinnamon rolls with her host mom, then at midnight for my birthday we stuck a candle on one and we had a little party!

My friend Emma and me at Ephesus!

The rest of the break I mainly just spent hanging out with my host family or exploring Bursa with Riad. On the last day of break, I switched host families, and moved in with the Ermutlu family.  Riad and I just switched host families, so I knew this family pretty well before I came.  To my surprise, the amount of stuff I own here in Turkey has nearly doubled over the past few months.  Anyways, here's a picture of my new host family and I:

New host family

I really am enjoying my new host family, and my host mom are having a lot of fun cooking together! I taught her how to make chocolate chip cookies, and then she taught me how to make stuffed grape leaves. Mmm :)

Me making making cookies

IT TASTED LIKE AMERICA. IT SMELLED LIKE AMERICA. IT WAS AWESOME!

Learning new things is fun!

So.... I think two weeks ago, I went to a wedding on Saturday for the daughter of my Rotary Club President, then on Sunday Riad and I went to a Bursaspor soccer game.  

Host moms!

Riad and me

My host mom teaching me how to dance like a Turk

BURSASPORRRRRR

Before the soccer game Riad and I had some nice Kofte Ekmek (Meatball  Sandwich) 

Last week and this week there's been an AIESEC program at my school with international university students coming in to give presentations to English classes.  AIESEC is basically international non-profit organization that lets students do various interning and leadership training internationally and it's all run by young people, which is extra cool!  So, last week we had a boy from Indonesia, and this week there is a girl from Egypt, both accompanied by a Turkish student.  It's been really neat to be with these students, and I've had fun getting to know more people and learn about more cultures.  I'm ready to go to Egypt and Indonesia now!

Yesterday, Riad and I gave presentations IN TURKISH to a Rotary club in Inegol, a city about an hour from Bursa.  It was our first time presenting in Turkish, and it didn't go terribly!  The club president even gave us some nice gifts that represent his city and Rotary club at the end. 

In this picture, I'm awkwardly like, "this is my first time speaking Turkish to a lot of people. I'm an exchange student!"

And in this one, I'm like, "LOOK! IT'S AMERICA :))))"

I feel like there's something else I want to share with you guys... but I can't think of it right now. 

OH!!!!

Today my host mom and I were going over the Rotary schedule for the next few months, and I have some pretty exciting Rotary trips and things to do ahead of me.  With my family coming to visit me in the summer, and various Rotary trips all over Turkey, I'm really excited for everything ahead of me.  I'm not so much excited with the fact that I'll be sitting in Ohio in about four and a half months, but I'm REALLY looking forward to the next four and a half months I have here in Turkey. I'll keep you up to date with all my trips as soon as I know more! Now I'm going to go get ready for bed, and hopefully I'll be updating again soon!  Iyi geceler :)

So ya know...

So, do you remember when my last blog got a virus or something about 4 months ago? Well I just copied some of the old blog posts into this blog.  I didn't get all of them, and I didn't copy the pictures, but they're finally here on this site. There might be random extra letters or random parts missing from when I copied them from my WordPress account, but I think you'll get the gist.  I know I'm due for a proper blog post soon... but today I'm really tired and am now going to bed... but, I PROMISE one will be on it's way soon.  I have one almost ready, and another one in my head at the moment.  Iyi geceler :))

Also, here's a birthday shout out to my cousin, Markus! Doğum günün kutlu olsun :)

Turkglish

So today at dinner, my host dad was trying to tell me that if I were still hungry, I could get more food, but instead he awkwardly told me in half Turkish, half English, so we came up with a new language, Turkglish. I don't know if that's the official name for half English, half Turkish, but it's the official name in the Erdoğan household. I'm really good at Turkglish.

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today started as a Lazy Sunday for me.  Sleeping until the early afternoon, having breakfast with my host mom, then cleaning up my room.  I like Lazy Sundays.  I then spent the much of the evening getting ready for  (something like) an engagement dinner.  We showed up late to the dinner because my host dad had to work, but I was told it was just a dinner and party for this couple's engagement, celebrated with their families.  My host mom asked me if we had the same thing in the States, and I said yes, but I don't actually remember. After the dinner, I returned home with my host family and we just hung out watching TV and taking silly photos and now everyone is getting quiet for the night.  I have The Princess Bride playing in the background, and am a very content little exchange student.

I don't know where I'm going with this blog post, I just wanted to write because I haven't written in awhile and I miss it... so here we go! This will probably just be an insane mishmash of thoughts, so... bare with me. Please. This might just turn into multiple blog posts.

As I said earlier, I don't even know if we have engagement dinners like that in the United States.  I don't know because I'm forgetting so much about America, and also I haven't been to an American wedding in about 10 years.  It's strange how I'm forgetting things, it's actually pretty bad.  For instance today, I sneezed. My host mom said, "çok yaşa," and I replied, "Sen de gör," and my host dad asked me what "çok yaşa" meant in English, and I said, "Bless you," and then he asked what the response is to it, and I blanked. I was like, "Thanks? Uh... You too? Yeah, thanks." It was too weird.  I'm forgetting things about my FIRST language and about my home sweet home. Lately I've had so many instances where people ask me what a certain custom is in the United States, and I just look at them and say, "I forget."  Also, I forget how to spell and my vocabulary is very small. Whoops.... But then again, I'm probably just blaming Turkey on my small vocabulary and inability to spell, because I don't want to face the truth.

Yesterday I watched "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations- Istanbul" and it was really fun to watch! I remember starting to watch it on Netflix before I left the States, but it was in the wee hours of the morning, and I fell asleep, so if you have a spare 42 and a half minutes, you can probably watch it on Netflix, but here is the link for YouTube if you don't have Netflix, or if you're like me and "Netflix is not available in your country yet." I think it shows Istanbul really nicely, and I agreed with many of the things shown on the program.  The ideas presented of Turkey being a mystery and surprising, and the expectations of Turkey being a "blank page" are absolutely right.  You will be able to see a bunch of different, but delicious foods on this show, and also the Taxi driver is absolutely HILARIOUS and he's so Turkish, it's wonderful. :)

I forgot to tell you the best part! Friday was our last day of school before our two week semester break. Yippee! There aren't as many long weekends in Turkey as there are in the US, so I've been looking forward to a break for awhile.  On Friday we only went to school until 11:30, then we were released early for our break. It's ACTUALLY crazy to think that I'm halfway done with school here.  I feel as I just stared, and I know the second half will fly by, which is also really crazy to think about. I don't have definite plans for this break, but I think I'll be going to Istanbul with my family for a few days, and hopefully I can get down to Izmir to see my exchange friends for a few days as well.

I know I have a little over a week until the midpoint of my exchange, but I really don't want to think about it.  Although my exchange hasn't been all fun and games, and I've had hard times, it's been pretty awesome.  I've met so many wonderful people thus far and learned so much, but I don't want it to be halfway over! I still have a lot more to see and do and learn, and I'm ready for it.  Hadi bakalim, Turkiye ;D (Roughly, "let's do it, Turkey")

These are some of my recent photos:

One of my teachers, three of my classmates and me right before our semester break!

My host mom and I after the engagement dinner. 

My host dad thought it'd be funny to take pictures in front of the mirror. So here is one. He's a funny guy  :)

Christmas Box

Hey everyone,

It's January 4, and I finally received my Christmas Box from America! It was filled with baking equipment I've been needing, candy, homemade cookies, a pair of boots, a Christmas sweater (we get sweaters every year at the Johnson house), my Christmas pajamas (we get new pajamas every Christmas Eve at the Johnson house), more socks and, of course, because my mother is Julie Johnson, books.  I was so happy to get my box, it was like Christmas in a box, packed with Christmas cookies and warm family feelings.  It was absolutely perfect. Thank you all. :) I also got things from both sets of my grandparents, so thanks to all of you as well!

Christmas in Turkey

To start off:

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

I spent this Christmas in a Muslim country, so as you can probably imagine, it was a lot different than an American Christmas.  On the 23rd of December, I packed my bags and took a bus to Izmir! I met up with my friends in the evening, and we all gathered at one of the houses to just hang out and eat pizza.  It was my first real pizza in four months.  It wasn't my brother's homemade grilled pizza good, but it was better than nothing.  After hanging out with my friends all night, I returned to my host family's house for the weekend, and SLEPT. (I made myself stay up really late the night before so I could sleep on the bus, but then I didn't sleep on the bus, whoops. So I was really tired.)

I spent much of the morning and early afternoon of Christmas Eve out with one of my friends shopping.  The night before all of the girls kept saying, "agh, we spent the whole day shopping for the Christmas party" and I was like, "Why...?" and they said, "Because apparently we have to look nice for the party and wear a dress."   All of my nice clothes were 6 hours away in Bursa, so I had to go buy something new, and so I bought a nice new dress and shoes. The shoes were especially fun to buy because the man at the store didn't know any English and my friend and I had very limited Turkish, but we got them and everything was good!

I spent the afternoon and evening with more of my friends, just hanging out at home.  We talked about our families' Christmas traditions and about Turkey and how we're getting fat (hehe).  We also mixed up some sugar cookie dough, and it was absolutely delectable!!! After hanging out for a few hours, we got ready for the party and were off!

So, as I said before, I had to buy new nice clothes for this party. I'm an exchange student, so money is kind of limited, so I had to buy clothes I would actually wear again. Red dress and black patent leather heels.  So, I was walking down the street, we had to walk maybe a quarter or half a mile to get to the restaurant  and my friend says to me "Annie, what's wrong with your foot...?" And my shoes gave me blisters that completely broke the skin and my foot was bleeding!  I was like "Oh my god, what do we do?" and I took off my shoes, and I was (stupidly) walking around barefoot looking for a store that sold Band Aids and tights.  Thankfully one of my friends took off his shoes, gave me his socks, then wore his shoes sockless so I could wear socks rather than walking around on the nasty sidewalk with cigarettes all over the place barefoot.

Two of the girls went off to find Band Aids while Max and I went into a store looking for tights because I needed something between my feet and my shoes.  I found a store with tights, bought my size, then asked the cashier if there was a bathroom or somewhere I could change.  There wasn't.  And there wasn't in the next like five cafes we passed on the way to the restaurant.  Two of us just eventually just went into a store and into their dressing room, hoping they wouldn't notice I was leaving with extra clothes or accuse me of stealing their tights.  They didn't do either, so once I got my Band Aids and tights on, I was good to go to dinner!

We met more exchange students and Rotarians at the dinner, and had a wonderful night of just talking about the Christmas spirit.  I didn't miss my family too much, I was happy to be with my friends.  At Thanksgiving I was pretty homesick, but this didn't happen at Christmas, it was actually surprising that I wasn't homesick or missing Christmas.  We sang songs and just hung out together, while eating a "Christmas dinner" of salad, turkey, rice and some fruity Turkish dessert.  Although the food wasn't nearly as good as any Christmas dinner my mom has put together, I was happy I could be with my second family, and I had a really, really great time.  After the dinner we all went our own ways to get some rest before Christmas day!

I woke up on Christmas morning alone at home because all of my host family was at school or work, but to my surprise, they left me a present for Christmas next to the breakfast things! It was SOOO nice.  I've stayed with them for a total of three or four days, and they really didn't need to get me anything, but it was so thoughtful, so thank you guys.  I ate my breakfast, then I headed to Starbucks to meet with the other exchange students.

At Starbucks, we continued exchanging Secret Santa gifts, we'd been exchanging throughout the weekend, and then we had a little White Elephant (an exchange of bad/strange gifts) and I got some insanely creepy cat toy.  My friend said believed it was like a demon cat, so now I'm playing jokes on him and I think he actually believes the cat is possessed  (I hope he doesn't read my blog) by saying I had the cat in my lap, but then it disappeared, but in actuality I put it in his bag while he went to get hot chocolate, then by lying to him when he told me to check if it was in his bag, then by letting him find it while we were at a restaurant eating lunch.  No big deal.  I gave Play Doh as my gift, the girl who got it really liked it.

After our gift exchange, we had lunch, I got Turkish pasta, then we returned to one of the homes so we could just be together for Christmas.  We baked our sugar cookies, then we tried to make a gingerbread house, but it just fell through (haha, puns), so we just broke the house up and ate it for fun.  After hanging out for awhile, I had to go back to Bursa because there was school in the morning.  Once I was home I Skyped my family, and it was actually really nice.  I wasn't homesick.  I was happy they were all happy and I was happy I had a wonderful little Christmas here in Turkey.  I know it wasn't the best Christmas I've ever had, but it was a very memorable one nonetheless.  The Turks celebrate New Years similarly to the way we celebrate Christmas, so now I'm looking forward to that and being able to see the way they celebrate their holidays.  I'll try to take lots of pictures and keep you posted about that.  Happy holidays everyone :)

Me buying tights because of my little incident with my shoes.

FAMILY CHRISTMAS PHOTO :)

My friend and I were twins and we didn't even plan it! 

I love you guys!

My friend got a scary Santa mask and a water gun at the White Elephant exchange.  We got a lot of strange looks while he was walking around like this. 

I know I couldn't be with you guys this year for Christmas, but  I love you and I couldn't have asked for a better set of parents or siblings to be supporting me this year and throughout my life. You guys really are the best.

I Found Christmas in Turkey!

So Thursday, December 20, I woke up to SNOW!

Then on Friday, December 21, I found this in the mall:

And later at the mall I had this:

It's hot coco and it was delicious! Yummm :)

It definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. Thanks, Turkey!

Istanbul Trip

I went to Istanbul this weekend! I was up bright and early, like, before the first call to prayer early (the first call to prayer is at sunrise).  I took a ferry from Bursa to Istanbul with Riad and his host family, and then after driving around for like half an hour, we finally found our hotel and were able to meet up with the other exchange students!  Ahh, I love my exchange buddies :)

So, on Saturday we went to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and a few other museums within the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, then we went to the Grand Bazaar.  The mosques were so beautiful, and being with my friends was so great.  Like, I was in ISTANBUL, but I was more excited about seeing all of my friends.  At the Topkapi Palace, I met an American couple who is also living abroad, and they said they were going home for the holidays, and then we talked about how much we miss Chipotle and Five Guys, and all of the other delicious foods I haven't had for four months (it's been too long...).  They were so nice.  I love finding other Americans. :)   After going to the Grand Bazaar, my friends and I found a Starbucks, so we went there to get some drinks.  I seriously felt like I was in America standing in Starbucks. It was REALLY strange, but once I left what looked exactly like an American Starbucks, I remembered where I was. 

Saturday night all of the exchange students stayed up talking, but I was crazy tired because of my really long day with little sleep, so I went to my room and just hung out with one of the girls from Brazil.  After a wonderful night's sleep, on Sunday we went to the Spice Bazaar, then we took a tour of the Bosporus. It was my third Bosporus Tour, so nothing was really new.  After that we had free time to walk around shopping then go to a cafe for hot chocolate.  In the evening my friends had to leave to catch their bus to the airport to go back to Izmir, so Riad and I just sat around the hotel lobby until his host family was able to meet us at a bazaar.  We shopped around for a bit, then we headed to the ferry back to Bursa.  We just waited in the parking lot for about an hour, but I was able to sleep during that hour.  I was a very tired girl after a fun filled weekend in Istanbul!  

I had such a great time with all my friends, and I realized that even though I only get to see most of them once or twice a month, I'm really close to them, and we're like a big old exchange family.  I'll attach pictures below, and hopefully get more up on Flickr soon!

Blue Mosque

Spice Bazaar

Turkish Delight in the Spice Bazaar

Hagia Sophia

Inside the Blue Mosque

Me and my friend inside Hagia Sophia

My friends and me inside of a tree. The nice American couple took this picture.

Little Update

IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY!!!!

Yay :)

This week during school I went to various English classes and gave a presentation about the USA and myself.  It was neat to be able to play teacher for a little while, but dang, did my legs hurt after two lessons. JEEZ.  Also, some of the kids in my school have really good English.  I think people who know multiple languages are cool. HATS OFF TO YA'LL.  Andddd.... I also learned there's a girl from Canada going to my school and a boy who lived in the states for six years.  Crazy, right?

During my presentations, I always had time for questions at the end of the period, and literally every single class a girl would raise her hand and ask if I like Vampire Diaries.  I'm not even 100% sure of what that is, but it's apparently a big deal here, but I'm like "No, sorry?" and she would be kind of sad.  Also, every class a boy would raise his hand and ask me what my favorite football (soccer) team is, so I'd say "Galatasaray and Bursaspor."  I would then get a bunch of laughter and applause, and I don't even know anything about soccer.  On the inside I was all like, "GO BUCKS!!"

Moving on from my presentations, today one of my friends was in a really happy mood, and was being silly and said to me, "Annie! I think I'm in love! ...or maybe I'm just hungry..." It is my quote of the day. Thanks Elcin for making me laugh. :)

Okay, next, I'm going to Istanbul (not Constantinople) tomorrow with my exchange friends! I haven't seen them in about three weeks, so I am ecstatic I don't think words can explain.  I feel something like this:

I'M GOING TO ISTANBUL!! AKLDNIEMLG

So, tomorrow I'm getting up bright and early to hit the road at 6:30AM, and then meeting up with my friends to have a fun filled weekend exploring Istanbul.  We'll be visiting The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, doing a Bosporus tour, going to the Grand Bazaar, and a bunch more cool things.  I'll be sure to take lots of photos!

Due to my early rising tomorrow morning, I need to hit the hay soon.  I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I'll be posting about Istanbul soon! TTFN

Quotes....

Vincent Van Gogh once said, "I am not an adventurer by choice, but by fate." I found this about a month or so ago, but I really like it because I always feel like this whole "exchange" thing presented itself to me.  It started with an email from my school's principal looking for a host family, which turned into my family hosting Sana, to me doing a short term exchange, to me deciding "hey, I kinda like this," and now, here I am, in Turkey, on a long term exchange.  I really cannot imagine what my life would be like now if my family never hosted Sana because she is my best friend and really encouraged me to become an exchange student.  I like to think there's a reason I became an exchange student, and that there's a reason I came to Turkey, but right now I don't know that reason and like I said in my earlier post, I've just got to wait and be ready for just about anything, because who knows what this adventure will present to me next.