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.

Turkey pavilion

I just saw the Turkey’s pavilion of the shanghai expo 2010 and it is really so cool. It has perforated red walls and seems so sweet. It is written 土耳其 (tuerqi) on it. That means‘Turkey’ in chinese.
I thought that Turkey wouldn't participate in 2010 expo organization but I just saw its pavilion ad on the shanghai daily news (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/) . And what a coincidence, it has showed the pavilions by turns but i liked the two pavilions most. they are pavilions of Brazil and Turkey . They really harmonize each other. look at the colors. they are both so colorful and eye-catching :))
It is really great to see our pavilion, I am so happy now to see it. Hehe. I must go to see it. The beginning of this year, I went to shanghai for the auto fair 2009 and the fair was hold at the shanghai expo center. The pavilions was being construted round the center. I saw many of them still under construction. Yes, they were still being builded at that time. Today, they are probably about to finish. And after passing several months, I will go to see them. Coz they can be done in several months. There are many interesting architectures and they are really worth to visit. Hope to have a chance to see soon. These days I am very busy and can not go to anywhere.
There are many countries pavilions there. I am in china and that is a great chance for me. I couldn't go to beijing 2008 at that time though I was in china but this time I wont miss the chance. Because shanghai is so near and moreover expo will take months. It will be great to take fascinating photos. expo is a big organization and hundred of thounds people from various countries will gather for it. It will be terrific, I can sense it.
I was in shanghai one month ago and almost every part of shanghai was under construction, as If they renew the aspect of the city. Chinese people known for their diligence and they have been preparing thoroughly for the expo organization. What else do we expect, just wish success!

another day has gone...

I just got back from school coz I had an exam today. Thanks God that it s over now. When I selected classes, I choosed that Chinese calligraphy class but what s worse, I didn't know that it was only theoretically. Teacher have lectured the history of the chinese calligraphy for hours and I just occupied in doing some other things like reading or keeping other friends busy. I attended classes because I might fail the course if I didn't do it. Anyway, as I said it is over.
Well, I said the teacher when I saw that the class is not practical, I told him that I wanted to attend a practical chinese calligraphy course instead of listening that theoretical stuffs.
Fortunately, there was some calligrapy classes that I asked to attend. He asked me to join his Wednesday classes and then I started to learn calligraphy practically. It is not easy, at least harder than I thought. But the class lasted only for two months and gonna start again next semester. I have to wait till next semester to carry on the class. No way but trying to do at home all by myself for two months.
I am really happy that theoretical class not last anymore but it made me sorry to be given an end to that practical class. Tomorrow’s class is the last one for this semester. I will carry on next semester where I left.
I am dealing with many things these days, really so busy with many things. I am thinking of someone and I cant help it. It makes me thoughtful and absent minded sometimes but I am still trying to live and finish the unfinished things in my life. I prepared a cup coffee for myself and start to write this paper you are reading now. I am tired of writing about that thesis outline. I just prepared a great frothy Turkish coffee and I am sipping on it now. Hmm. Delicious.  Coffee lightens my stress load.

a small trip to Abant lake

Last summer, I went to Abant lake with my bosom friends from high school.

I couldn’t meet with my friends many times because I had worked during summer and my friends also same with me. You can understand that you are already mature that life assume on you many responsibilities.. we are not same as we were free and irresponsible as in high school.

Mami and Mali were with me, but Hamdi was busy at time and he couldn’t join us. We have met at the morning and set off around eight o’clock. Mami had a small pick-up and we get some oil and went to Bolu Abant directly. It was a well journey and longer than I expected. It was good to see there but it was not a good time to visit. Timing was really bad. Because we were fasting and couldn’t eat and drink anything. It was a good time for a good picnic if it was not Ramadan. We waited for iftaar and went to a restaurant in the center of Bolu city. It was a small and cute city. After breaking our fast, we went to seek a Bolulu Hasan Usta sweet seller. It is so famous in Istanbul and I thought we may find at least a store of Bolulu in Bolu center. But we couldn’t find anyone. J we didn’t have much time, so we went in another cafeteria. After eating sweets, we set off to get back. A long journey was waiting for us.

When we were on the way, two guys were trying to hitch-hike. My friend asked us to take them. They tried to get back to Istanbul, same destination with us. So we let them in the car and left them in Istanbul. It was a bravely and adventurous move. If you do it in China, you may be down on the road for hours, I think nobody would let you in his car, if you are a foreigner in particular. Of course I am not sure about that because I have not attempted such a venture. But as I know Chinese people, it is so hard for them to take a person in their car, except if they know the person. Anyway!..

When we arrived to Istanbul, it was already too late and my mother was still waiting for me. I don’t know when the madame will stop to treat me as a child. We didn’t do anything but I was really exhausted.

I don’t know if we go there again but this summer I will ask buddies to do another activity. For instance, camping. I like to camping so much. Sleep in a tent, fishing, swimming and nights without electricity and technology, for several days, can be a great adventure. We will have a lot of fun if we do. I still don’t know how my summer vacation will pass but I want to let off my steam with my friends. I really miss them so much.