"There's A Soldier In All Of Us"

elections and methods

The new communication technologies and human-oriented media have power to affect the process of political campaigns directly. Due to existence of the new communication technologies, people can reach all kinds of information with just a click. Voters want to know everything about the candidates such as which party the candidate belong to, what his/her promises and what is the detail of his/her campaign. So, it can be said easily that politicians who considering the influence of the internet on the society, become more successful in elections. Internet is the best way to reach to voters. Most of parties and candidates are aware of that reality and use this way to spread their campaigns. On the other hand, a new media has emerged with the communication technologies alongside the old media in recent years. Netizens frequently use this media and it plays an important role in elections: Blogs. Due to its simplicity updating and becoming also an easy way to exchanging information, blogs can be counted as the most ideal media tool of nowadays. So, social media is the cheapest and fastest way to reach the voters directly and therefore, blogs that offered by these technologies, play an important role in current events and also in elections. The best example of the issue is 2008 United States presidential election. In this election, millions of voters signed to Obama and McCain blogs by writing their opinions and comments. I think we can get the importance of the blogs better and better if we can see clearly how blogs kept an A lot of information and communication technologies are being used in the process of political communication and usage rate is increasing every passing day. Especially if it used properly, internet is the best way to send unlimited messages and reach unlimited people to obtain better results. New communication technologies offer blogs in recent years and it is known as ‘internet blog’. Blogs have simple structures and could be updated everyday. They are the best and simple platforms to discuss all election campaigns. During the United States presidential election in 2008, both Obama and McCain actively used their blogs and connected directly to millions of voters. and it was seen and proved that the blogs are so effective on the decision of voters. so, politicians which use social media and blogs effectively, can reach more people and can announce all campaigns. to use social media and blogs will bring more success to u, and you know what amigo, it s no matter which field you are in. ;)

what a great surprise!..

something has been changing in Turkish football league. You never could see a champion at the end of the Super League but only four teams which counted as the 4 biggest teams of Turkey. They are Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor. But today i really surprised when i opened the news and saw that the champion team of this year is Bursaspor. Bursaspor became the Champion team of Super league.

i didnt follow the league, so i didnt care so much which team would be champion, because every year, without exception, the champion team had become one of the 4 biggest team which i mentioned above. But this year as i said, it is different. It is the best n

ews i have in the morning. I am still in surprise but very happy.

I congratulate Ertugrul Saglam, the coach of Bursaspor and also a member of Besiktas family. I am a fan Besiktas and Ertugrul used to play in Besiktas for years. His name is mentioned with its membership

of Besiktas just like Nihat kahveci. I am not a fan of Bursa but I

wouldnt be happy like that if Besiktas became the Champion in place of Bursa. I am especially happy in the name of Ertugrul. He is an honest and successful coach. He deserved that victory. Congrats Bursa, congrats Ertugrul!..

Shanghai: a History in Photographs, 1842 - Today

Today, same as usual, I slept too late and got up mid-day. I have to regulate my life and my sleep in particular. Anyway, I don’t intend to write my complaints in this post, instead I want to give you good news if you are interested in China, Shanghai or at least Photography.
This mid-day, after getting up, I have seen that the weather was extremely hot and damp. I didn’t feel to do something, so I just sat on couch and switch on the tv and zapping channels. Telling the truth, I hate to watch tv but sometimes news, documentary movies and discussion programs are better if you watch them on tv in place of watching online.
I opened CCTV9 (Chinese international channel and broadcasts in English) and watched sports news. Chinese people don’t like football very much, so you can see many kind of sport news on tv, many kind of sports which I don’t even heard before. I was about to switch off while I saw the face of Yang Rui – the anchor man of the Dialogue-. After news finished, Dialogue has started. It was mid-day and I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect to see the face of Yand Rui at that time. It was really dialogue, my favorite programme on tv. By the way, Dialogue is one the best discussion program on CCTV9 and I really don’t want to miss it. It takes only half an hour and discusses various topics with various people from different countries and fields.
Today’s topic was a book on Shanghai. The name of the book is ‘Shanghai: a history in photographs’. It handled the history of Shanghai in photos from 1942 to nowadays. There are many selected photos related with Shanghai.
If you have this book, you can see the development and changing face of Shanghai clearly. It was a fishing village one hundred years ago but today it is one of the biggest and most important city in the World. Today, millions of people rush into China in order to see Expo in Shanghai.
Shanghai is already the biggest city which attracted domestic and foreign tourists. Millions of people visit Shanghai every year.
Can you imagine it? From where to where? Yeah, you won’t believe your eyes after seeing the photos. It is really unbelievable.
Another point I want to mention here is the price of the book. It is really a bit expensive. I checked some photos from book on the net but I want to see all the pieces, so I must have the book. I have to find a way to buy it. ;) I asked my friend to get for me in Shanghai but as he said, he couldn’t find it in the biggest bookshop in Shanghai. I will buy it online, from amazon.com. no way! But I don’t know if I need a credit card for buying something online on amazon. Anybody knows? I don’t have a credit card, so I don’t know if I can buy the book online. A friend bought a Nikon Dslr camera from amazon and as he said he paid the fee at the door. so I think I can try the same way. Online shopping is so popular today but I still don’t trust online shopping so much. I don’t know, I may not true to treat so but I can’t help it. I will accustom myself to the online shopping at once. It is easier and better. There are two books in my basket now. I will order both as soon as possible, coz I need these both books. Don’t forget to have ‘Deng Xiaoping: Leader in a Changing China’ and check. As I said, you will like it so much. Ah, don’t forget the price as well, as I mentioned in previous paragraphs, the price is a bit expensive. But the book is woth it. It contains thousands of pieces of photos, so it is a big and heavy book like a volume of an encyclopaedia. You can see the details about the book by clicking the link.

no, if we nuke them first!

I got this dialogue from a website: yahoo answers.. someone asked a question related with China and Chinese and a person replied the question in a silly way.

it is said that Mandarin Chinese never will be a global lingua franca if America nuke China. yeah, i can sense that you laughed a lot just like i did. anyway,

Look at the answer!!..

A: Will Chinese dominate English?

B: No if we nuke them first. (should be an american)

I have been writing a thesis for my graduation for several months. In order to get a better result and write a proper mini-thesis, I have read hundreds of articles and many books. With this study, I tried to analyse possibility of Chinese to become a lingua franca, a global or a local one. So I had a look on the net as well for what bilingual or multilingual netizens think about that possibility and if they see Chinese as a global language for seeable future.

During the process of deciding to write this topic, I saw that many people wonder the statue which Chinese may reach in the future and asked the same questions on the forum websites and on the yahooanswers in particular. The question is ‘Mandarin Chinese can dominate the world and can replace English as a global language in the near future?’.

Many people think that Chinese never can be a global lingua franca just because its hardness of learning. Is Chinese really so hard to learn? It depends on which country you are from and how much you have interest in languages. But there is a general thought that Chinese is one of the most difficult language on the globe and I am agree to some extent. As

a person who has been learning this language, I should admit that it is not an easy language and you need years to master its tone and characters. Anyway, I cant do it, I already don’t want to do it.

On the other hand, there are a majority think that Chinese can be a global language even in the near future. According them, there is no obstacle for Chinese to reach that statue. For a language being a lingua franca is related with the development of a country and its economy. So, they say China is on the way to be the most powerful economy. Millions of foreigners rush into China for learning Mandarin. Because speaking Chinese can help you to get a better job and earn more money. Business world needs Chinese-speaking people. Knowing Mandarin besides English may help you to get a better career in your business life. That is why people flood in China in order to learn Mandarin.

On the other side, Some people think Chinese is already a global language. Because Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, it has more than one billion speakers. (as a matter of fact, this reality doesn’t make a language a lingua franca). So as for me, Chine

se is not a global lingua franca.

I don’t know how many years this topic will be discussed but number of learners of Mandarin will be more in the coming years. That is so obvious.

Lastly, I want to mention that I saw an answer to a question related to this topic that the person who replied had said that China wont be a dominate language if we (Americans) nuke them at first.

It is a reality that Chinese government doesn’t want a prospective war or a disor

der condition. Because its economy is flourishing every passing day and China needs a peaceful world to keep this economical increment. China is already a superpower on the globe and Americans also know that nuking China can only be a dream for them, because let alone nuking, America can not dare to involve in the policy of Chinese government, let alone nuke China.

When Americans wake up from the dreams, China will already be the most pow

erful country on the globe. Because heedlessness surround

ed Americans while Chinese people work like hell. Not only America, but also most of western Countries are watching China’s expansion with curious eyes. We can not keep anything secret from the time. Time will show us everything

. The only thing we should do is predicting the future and anticipate for our future. Wish good-luck to everyone in advance!..

fizy:make your playlist and share

There are many music websites that you can benefit. Some of them which I know are imeem.com, lastfm.com, mixpod.com and ilike.com…There are these four websites that I know and use. I mostly used ilike.com till I found fizy. Now I mostly use fizy. It is so useful and has a huge data. It is really an awesome music database. You can find any songs you seek. You can list your favorite pieces and keep them for listening later. You can find the track version of videos as well. The other websites are also almost same but fizy is different as far as I can see.
The other day, I used IDM to download a song from boyz ii men from fizy. I thought it was a track mode but after download process finished, I was surprised. It was a video and two doof boys were lip-synching the song in that video. They look like two stupid guys, let alone being funny.
So I think I wont download anything from fizy. I just enlist the songs and start to listen, but you have to sign in if you want to see your playlists.
Fizy is known all around the world, and it is mentioned in an American-based paper as follow with complimentary words.
‘Fizy is a track-by-track search service. No playlists. No downloads. Just searching for and playing individual tracks you're seeking. So why try it? There are two big benefits to Fizy. First, it's database of music is huge. They're claiming over 75 billion mp3s indexed. Diving through the Fizy music selection made me nostalgic for the good old days of Napster when I could find practically any song I wanted to find. Second, it's international. Fizy supports at least 26 languages and is designed to be accessible to as many people as possible. As an added bonus, Fizy will also serve up a video of the track, if it's available.’

no freakin' idea

Yesterday, after a hard day’s work, I went to Istanbul restaurant to have dinner with a customer. I actually ate the lunch a bit late and I was not so hungry, but the customer gave the orders before I told him that I am not hungry and stated that I wont eat so much.
I left from the table for a while for the lavabo and when I got back to table, I really surprised. I thought I sat the wrong place but selcuk bey was there and asked me to sit. I sat and looked at the table with a surprised face. I was sure that I ordered only a piece lasagna, but there were a lot of things on the table. Selcuk bey ordered two stuffed mutton balls with a piece olive oily mixed farci for us. There is more, a portion tuna salad with a portion french fries.
I wanted to eat some dessert instead of eating a lot of things like a pig. I am already not a gourmand person, I don’t like to eat so much. So as a matter of course, I generally order food as much as I can finish. I don’t want to waste it. But this time I couldn’t do it, because it was really so much that one person – especially a person like me- never could finish it. Unfortunately, I wasted it.
The customer was really terrific at eating. He ate up all portions. What is more, he ordered two different kind of desserts with a teapot Turkish tea. Masallah to him.. 
I really don’t miss kebabs and salads so much but desserts. I miss milky desserts so much. Rice pudding, kazandibi (pudding with a caramel base), tavuk gogsu, chicken breast pudding and many other milky puddings.. I don’t like baklava (a kind of sweet pastry with nuts) and dessets like baklava.
I prefer to go ‘Bolulu Hasan Usta’ a famous sweet seller in Turkey ) to eat sweets instead of Gulluoglu or Seyidoglu (both are famous places for their baklava and baklava syle sweets). It is better for me to prefer milky sweets, because I can prepare these sweets thanks to ready-packet puddings. I have never thought to make baklava or sekerpare (small cakes with syrup), because it is not easy to cook them. Only a master can prepare baklava. It is also need a lot of time to prepare it. Maybe only a piece of baklava with some ice-cream can be eaten with zest, at least for me, otherwise, I am already not able to finish more than three pieces.
Turkish delight may be counted a bit heavy just like baklava when we compare milky sweets. I would like to eat Turkish-delight with a cup of Turkish coffee. it is more delicious like this.
This summer, if I get back to Turkey, I will definitely visit Bolulu or Mado to eat sweets as much I want. : ) If you have chance to visit Turkey one day, dont forget to taste Turkish sweets as well after eating your great Turkish meals.

Lemon flowers

I just saw the English lyrics of a Turkish song that I like so much. I don’t know who did translate it but translation was made totally great!
Some words, that can’t be found the exact meaning in the translated language, so here the translator explained what does it mean in the other language.
‘Zil calan etek’ has a figurative meaning in Turkish language and refers the meaning that being very happy and cheerful. The person who made the translation explained it as saying ‘(I wish) that your playfull skirts raise again (it has dual meaning, literally he talks about the skirt of his lover and metaphorically this expression means someone to feel overly joyfull)’.
it is explained the other figurative meanings as well one by one to make the lyrics more clear and understandable. Listen the song and think of the lyrics, I think you will like it so much. It is really an awesome soulful song.

Here are the best parts for me. Especially the part goes like this; I wish that I could drink the flower honey of your mouth while kissing.. :/

Far, very far away, in the south
pleasantly warm and in love in the summers
A city that is cold and without you in the winters
the city and me (we both both) feel cold
We wish that you stop by
..that you bring your season, your fruitfulness, your abundance
...and cover on us
(I wish) that your playfull skirts raise again
...that your pupils come and sit in my eyes
...that I drink the flower honey of your mouth while kissing

All lyrics are below. And the video is here.

Lemon Flowers
Far, very far away, in the south
(A city that is) pleasantly warm and in love in the summers
A city that is cold and without you in the winters
(the city) And me (both) feel cold
We wish that you stop by
..that you bring your season, your fruitfulness, your abundance
...and cover on us
(I wish) that your playfull skirts raise again (it has dual meaning, literally he talks about the skirt of his lover and metaphorically this expression means someone to feel overly joyfull)
...that your pupils come and sit in my eyes (he means they shall stare at each other)
...that I drink the flower honey of your mouth while kissing
...that I take your sin on my neck (means I shall be responsible for everything) and (take) you to my bosom (means I shall go to bed with you)
I wish that you be my poison, city, and lemon flowers at the same time (you become my everything).
I have not seen such swagger, strut, air
Hey God hear my voice make my voice heard
No one understands my loneliness (that I have no one)
Hey God reach me my god
My God hear my voice make my voice heard
She does not understand my desperation
Hey God give me a hand my god
In the remote, secluded, solitary place
In an ill-faithed course (of events)
I wish that I say a prayer longing for you
I wish that you become my insect my plant cover (vegetation) (He means even if he dies she should be cover on the grave)
that you become my prayer that comes true and I shall say amen and thank God
I wish that I lay roots in you soil
and that my life finds its end in you

seek out the darkness

Yesterday, a friend sent me some French songs. I was listening ‘ je cherche l'ombre ‘ from Celine Dion when she asked me if I like French music. I love French songs like in any other languages. One is not able to understand all languages, so the lyrics are important to a certain extent when a song is being listened.
Personally, I prefer to listen the songs which I am able to understand the lyrics and that is why you can not find many songs on my playlist in the languages that I cant understand. Most of them are English and Turkish. And there are some Chinese and Kurdish as well. But as I said before, I listen any kind of music as long as I like. So, of course I have a lot of songs in Spanish Arabic Japanese French and in many other languages as well. I have never thought to learn French, but I really would like to live in France for a while. I want to live there and go to cinema, watch theatres and concerts in order to observe their sense of art.
But everything aside, I of course prefer to lost in the fascinating voice of oriental and Islamic music. Nothing can take their place in my book. Listening Ney and Kanun is flying your soul to so far away. Just close your eyes and give your ear to the amazing voice. You will feel relieved and you will feel the peace.
I don’t know have you ever listen him but here I want to give his name as an example as a great virtuoso. He is Omer Faruk Tekbilek, one of the noteworthy musician of Kanun and Ney. If you visit his official website, you gonna see that he is honored as a peacemaker and virtuoso. He has many funs from various countries. Yes he is a world-famous musician.
Unfortunately, it is a shame to say but there is a point can not be avoided that he is not known in Turkey thoroughly though his works getting known and popular in recent years.
Lastly, I would like to say that my wish is the value of the real musicians artists and actors should be known by media and society. And we can make a major contribution to this.
Respects!

Beduk and Eurovision

I have been remarked my music addiction many times if you read my previous entries. Yes, it is like an addiction for me. I wish I could be a musician or telling the truth, I wish I could be at least able to play a musical instrument. I want to play only for my love – and maybe for friends- and compose something for her. Today I entered an instrument shop to ask how much the guitar classes were given. No, it is not for me, I don’t have time to learn, at least for these several months. My friend wants to learn playing guitar. I know it is not easy and need to show patience like anything in this life. I know because I had a guitar last year and I learned how playing a guitar is hard. I could play many simple songs. After separating from my friend and also my guitar teacher, I quit to playing anymore. Right now, I am not good at playing. I gave my guitar to my sister as a gift. I think she has more time to get around to learning.
Anyway, I won’t be a musician, and I have never had a goal like this. I won’t participate in Eurovision contest. Haha.
Like every year, these days people start to discuss as well on who should represent Turkey in the Eurovision contest. If you check the comments on the net, you can see clearly that for everyone to be talking all at once. If you asked me who could fly our flag properly, I would say Ismail yk can represent us with his the best and the most famous song ‘facebook’. LOL :)
The other day, I saw someone said Feridun Duzagac should represent us in the Eurovision contest and she said Duzagac is the exact person who can fly our flag properly. No doubt, Duzagac can do it better than previous singers but there is a point that person missed. It is better to sing in English if you want to be placed. -Btw, I don’t know how well FEDE knows English.-
I saw Feridun’s replied to that woman on the twitter.com and mentioned this language reality. He said it should be given chance to young talents and TRT – Turkish radio and television- does it right. As for himself, he doesn’t agree to participant and represent Turkey but he has a piece of advice on who can get a place if the song would be English. He suggests Beduk.
I don’t know have you ever heard Beduk before but I know him for several months. I saw his last video clip on the net by chance and at first I thought he is not Turkish. His English was really good, just like an English native speaker. Later on, I read his interview on the ONE magazine and learned how he has such a good English accent.  He had lived in USA till his five years old, that is why he has such a well-accent English.
So Duzagac, as it should be, recommend him to represent us in the contest. I guess, as much as I know Beduk, he is perfectly the person who can show the Turkish flag and can get the first place.
Let me give you a link where you can listen and watch some pieces from Beduk. Here is the link. Listen and see how Duzagac is right to recommend him. I think you will agree with us.
There is a saying in Chinese goes ‘jiayou’ and refer to stimulate someone in a contest or race. Well, in behalf of all Turks in China, I also wanna say Beduk should go in the Eurovision in the name of Turkey and we support Beduk by saying Jiayou.. JIAYOU BEDUK.. :)))

Festival of Sacrifices

There are many kind of festivals celebrated in Turkey. But the most important ones are religious festivals such as Ramadan festival and the festival of sacrifice. Muslims celebrate them only because God commands to do the ritual worships during the festivals such as sacrifice an animal and give away to the people in need, remember the importance of giving a helping hand to the people and visit the relatives and friends one more time.
There is not any noteworthy difference between old times and today in the celebrating ways of festival, because people celebrate it how God command to celebrate. Today people take the festivals as an opportunity to have a vacation and don’t celebrate it as before. That is the only noteworthy difference from the old days.
I think traditional festivals are very important for all countries as it is important for us.. So, celebrating them is so significant for every society.
Seeing people to visit each other and visit their relatives and families (for whom live far away from them) make me so happy. People give gift to each other, and being more tolerant and happy. So, seeing people happy make me happy as well.
As for Kurban festival in particular, people sacrifice an animal and give its meat away, so rich Muslims gratify people in need. And, would you plz tell me what could make you happy more than that?
When Kurban Festival is mentioned, people who can not afford to buy meat and eat it often, and riches who trying to sacrifice animals for relieving them appear first in my mind.
Visits are the most significant activity during festival and this strengthen the relation between friends, families and relatives.
I sometimes choose the way to pay a visit or send a text-message to show my best wishes. Yes, sometimes I do so if I am far away from the person who I send messages or emails. But I prefer to visit if the time and distance is appropriate.
There is an obvious influence on our religious festivals from western world. In the old days, festivals such as Ramadan or Kurban were known as a time to visit relatives and friends to strengthen the link between each other. But now, when one ask what festival is, many people may answer that it is a chance to leave from the crowded city and unbrace themselves, a chance for a short vacation. That is totally the result of the influence of western culture on our society. If we – as the conscious people- make people conscious of the importance of the festivals, and bring society off the mentality that festivals are command by God to conciliate our relatives and friends, everything would better and we would celebrate it as it should be celebrated. Because of the stressful density of the works, people neglect to gather with relatives and friends and festivals are the exact time to do this. So, it may be taught – or may be reminded- to people to do so.
In my opinion, it is because of the influences of other cultures, especially western world, people neglect to celebrate the festivals as it should be done.
As I said above, the only and proper way to protect our culture is education. It must be taught to people how their culture is important and unique. Making people conscious on the values is the best way to protect traditions and festivals.

mosques need a new vision!

I actually thought to write this article several months ago but I didn’t feel to write anything at that time because of the classes and the thesis matters. But last week, when I was in HongKong, my friend took me the Kowloon masjid and Islamic center. It was located in the center of the Kowloon and Kowloon is regarded as one of the main centers of HongKong. It was really a nice place. The mosque is a good example of today’s modern Islamic architecture and unlike Masjids in mainland China, it was so clean and neat as well. It has really given me an impression that I am in a mosque in Istanbul. I have never felt like this before.
I would write this article to say how a modern mosque should be designed and constructed in this modern age. Yes, I would say a mosque should not only be a prayer place. It should function more than it. Like what? Like being an education place for all Muslims. Islam commands its followers to read and research anything on the earth, and never withhold you from researching and asking. So Muslims should pull themselves out from the ignorance and should get rid of being ignorant. Many years ago, I have seen a sentence in a book that written ‘God is big, His religion as well, so believers shouldn’t be small’. That is right, but nowadays, I am afraid, believers don’t understand their religion correctly and many of them think that Islam cannot meet this modern age’s expectation.
But we forgot that there are two kind of invoking. One is actual invoke and the other one is oral invoke. I mean, we should roll up our sleeves and doing something not only for ourselves but also for the people who don’t find chance to understand the Islamic realities. And we can start with redesigning new mosques. Every year, it is built almost 600 new mosques in Turkey. So, at least, they can be redesigned which are being built today.
As mentioned above, I think they are not only pray places, and vice versa, a mosque should include many activities too. Such as;
Internet: As all we know, internet became a part of human life. Henceforth, you won’t see people anymore to use encyclopaedias, because it is easier and better way to reach any kind of knowledge online. So, internet must be offered to Muslims to follow the developments in the world. Taking some measures will prevent people to misuse it.
Library: Internet started to spread everywhere after 90’s, so, the generation grow up before 90’s is not so familiar with using internet, vice versa, the generation grow up after 90’s can use the internet and other technological tools fairly well. There is an obvious gap between generations. So a library is also necessary. Beside this, some people don’t prefer to read online. Why do people still buy newspapers even though papers are as far from one as a click? Because, no doubt, original texts add zest to reading. That is why people prefer to read original texts and libraries still maintain their importance.
Meeting room: There must be a conference saloon as well. And imam should organize lectures and invite some experts to preach. Sometimes he should enlighten too.
Exhibit hall: This one is also very important. There must be an exhibit hall too and at least once a month an exposition should be exhibited. And beside the leading experts, mosque community also can contribute. Photographs, handiworks, drawings, calligraphy and marbling art works exhibitions will educate mosque community and give a chance to nonprofessional youths to show their works and also will encourage them. By means of such activities, the number of the community can increase.
Cinema: As a matter of fact, I would not write this item. You cannot found a movie house for every mosque. Because, there are many small mosques and sometimes you can find more than one mosque in the same place. I think this item can be thought for the big mosques. If there will be a cinema, worshippers can watch the Islamic-oriented or useful movies. Besides those, short movies also can be released to encourage new film makers.
Finally, I want to finish with an important topic. I am sorry to say, nowadays, mosques are regarded as pray places for only men. And as if men, especially senior citizens have a share in the mosques, coz let alone women, they don’t even let children and youths to enter masjids. Why? As they say, masjids are only for the prayer places, nor for talking inside and doing any other activities. God dammed ignorance!
There must be a section for women in every mosque, and the belief which mosques are not for women should be abandoned as soon as possible by men and women. That should be taught to masjid community too.
All I want to say is that prayer places must be function more activities as the religion command. They should be attractive and adorable places for children, women, men, youths and olds. I hope to see such mosques in the near future as I saw in Kowloon. Let s pray and work for this aim. God bless you all!

visit a middle-school in China

The other day, I went to a middle-school to teach for my internship. It was actually only for seeing a Chinese middle-school, not for the purpose of teaching. Four girls in my class teach there and they asked me to see how they teach and also to introduce me to the class. The first reason was not so reasonable, because I knew that they have a better English knowledge than me. So I went only to meet the class and see a middle-school circumstance.
It was a rainy day and the school was out of the city. It was a suburban school. It took almost half an hour to reach there by taxi. When we arrived the school, headmaster received us at the door. She escorted us from door to class. I entered the class and saluted students by saying ‘hello!’ 
The classroom was a bit different than ours. There were approximately 30 students in the class and it attracted my attention that their all textbooks were on the desk. It was so, I think because the school was a boarding school and they didn’t have to carry many books every day. And they may use the classroom as the study room as well. So why they should carry many book? Don’t need to do it!
I was not there for teaching, so I was asked if I want to speak English or Chinese? I preferred to have a chat in English with them. That would be better for them to shake off the shyness. It is obvious that Chinese students have a fairly well English education, I mean they study hard and have a good English knowledge, and only deficiency is oral practice for them.
Once I read a column on chinadaily.cn and couldn’t get a word though I looked it up. It occurred to me to ask an American friend. I asked him but he said that he didn’t know as well. He said Chinese people sometimes use English even better than native speakers. I too think it is true to some extent. Anyway..
At first, they asked my name and my country. When I said that my Chinese name is Anlifu, they laughed a lot. It is normal because it was a weird name for them. Foreigner names are generally funny. Chinese call Nicolas as Nicolasi, for Thomas, it is Thomasi. There was a girl from German and her name was Balina. I know it is not funny for her and for a Chinese. What about me? It was so funny for me, because balina refers ‘whale’ in Turkish. Haha. Anyway. I think my name is not funny, so, I didn’t care their laughing. Hehe
Well, I am sorry to say that they didn’t know Turkey like any other Chinese citizens. We should advertise our beautiful country to Chinese, because there is a huge tourist potential in China. Their economy is getting bigger and they are getting richer every passing day. We should attract them to our fascinating country.
They asked me many things about Turkey and I tried to introduce as far as in me lies. Some of them were shy to ask question, I tried to encourage them. Boys were shier than girls. Girls were brave and social. I think they will speak English better than the boys in that class. hehe
Before leaving, they asked my qq (qq is an instant messaging-IM- system that Chinese use in place of msn and yahoo), because they wanted to contact with me and have an English practice.
We talked almost about one hour, they asked, I answered. Towards the end of the class, they asked me to sing a Chinese song. Honestly, I don’t know any Chinese songs but their chorus. There is a great song named ‘who can tell you for me that I love you’ ‘有没有人告诉你’.. I sang the chorus for them and they liked it. 
It was a good hour. I liked to talk with them. I thanked to my friend to take me to the class. I don’t know if I am able to teach, but teaching is a good manner. Seeing people learning something gives you great feelings. Teaching is not easy too. I bow respectfully before all teachers. Their job is precious and holy. Educate people is the hardest thing ever. I wish good luck to my prospective teacher friends.

local socities and their beneficial activities

Last summer when I was in Turkey, I stayed with my brother’s family for several days. They live a bit far from us, though we live in the same city: Istanbul. There is a big and famous square in the place they live, named ‘republic square’. After my brother got back from the work one day, he asked me to go out for several hours. He wanted to help me to be more familiar to the district. When we arrived to the republic square, we saw an abnormality there. There was a big crowd. It was like a small concert. When we got closer, we understood that it has taken place a festival there. A big stage was put on the square and many local singers entertained people. Honestly, I didn’t like the organization so much, but there was a great activity of the festival. Let me be clear.
In Turkey, people from the same cities, same hometowns or same villages, come together and found a society to develop their place. So you can see such societies in every neighborhood, especially in the big cities like Istanbul and Ankara. Well, the organization had been taken place by such societies. And every society set up a pavilion to exhibit and to sell their well-known foods and all artistic works. Concerts were done by turns but pavilions were there every evening for a month till the end of the festival. It was possible to visit them and eat or drink all tastes belong to different places.
Go to eat Erzurum’s Sac kebab, Bitlis’ buryan kebab, Urfa’s kebab, Adana’s kebab or Bursa’s iskender kebab or go eat Maras’s ice-cream, Corum’s roasted chickpeas, Ordu’s hazelnut. It is on your preference. Ah, by the way, you also can taste the Rize’s tea and Turkish coffee.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a greedy person, pavilions were great, because sharing cultural values is great. As I read on their ad, it is an annual organization. I hope it will be better this year and getting better every passing year.
Pavilions were not established only to offer foods and drinks. As I said above, you can learn many things about other regions’ culture as well. Cities had tried to introduce their fascinating places and invite to visit each other’s home. Well, is there any better thing than sharing values and help each other? I don’t think so! I wish a better tomorrow for human being.

Korean Tastes

Have you ever tried Korean citron tea? It is so easy to prepare and delicious as well. I have not tasted it before until two years ago when a friend offered me a cup of citron tea. I asked him if it is a kind of Chinese tea. He said it was Korean tea and he found it in the Korean aisle[1] when he bought something in the supermarket.
He offered me a cup and I liked it. And I still drink it. When it is run out, I go to buy a new jar. A jar could enough for almost a month. Coz I don't drink everyday. If I do, I probably would be disgusted with it. But if you don't overdrink, it is a good alternative to coffee and black tea. It never can take the place of coffee of course. But it is worth to drink at times.
Well, let me tell you how will you prepare it if you mind to drink oneday. Firstly, have a cup and some boiling water. Take the jar of the citron tea and add some of it into the cup with a tea spoon. Then pour the boiling water and add some sugar according on your preference. And our citron tea is ready to drink. If you think that the peels of the citron can not be drunk, you are right! Coz peels can not be drunk but it can be eaten!. hehe Anyway, i would say don't throw the peels if you have asked me, eat them instead. That is my choice. Eating or throwing,that is also done according on one preference. Well, have a nice drink.
You are lucky,coz I m touching on this topic for you. Nobody told me about this delicious tea for a long time. Even though I have many friends from Korea. I remember when it was my first year in China, a middle-aged korean lady in my Chinese class, always talked about the fame of the Korean alcohols though I stated many times that I don't drink alcohol. She could tell me about the other things of Korea such as kimbab,kimchi or that citron tea instead of the things I didn't care. But she didn't do it at all. I don't know why but I always remind that alcoholic lady when I drink citron tea. :)
I love Korea and Koreans, so, I go out to eat at Korean restaurants at times. I like kimbap and kimchi. My Korean friends prepared kimbab and brought in my room last year. That was not the first time to taste it. Once, a Turkish friend who study in south Korea, came to China for a journey. We put him up for days and he cooked kimbab for us. It was not so delicious but was fairly well. :) Here is the link to explain how one can make kimbap. It is a bit difficult to find ingredients but you can look at least if you wonder how it is prepared.

The other day, after talking about the Korean cuisine, I am invited to eat at a Korean restaurant by a good close Korean friend. I am recently dealing with my graduation matters but we will eat at the earliest opportunity I have. I promised him to eat together. It is happiness for me to taste Korean foods. :)
Korean dramas, movies, people are very good and I have not been yet but I think Korea itself also a good place to visit. I hope to go to Korea at the first possible opportunity. :)

[1]For such Korean section in the supermarkets, only Korean imported products are put on such aisle and every big market has one to provide their own products to Korean population in China. But of course those sections have not been made for only Korean people, coz a lot of Chinese people like to use Korean products and such aisles are the result of a such demand.