First day of work

I'm not teaching yet, but I've started planning lessons. Oh. My. Word. It's a lot more difficult than one might imagine. At least at first. Today John and I sat for about 5 or 6 hours planning three hours! I am pleased with what I planned, but man! did it take a while. I don't know exactly when I'll start teaching. The university students started today (most of our clientele) and they haven't figured out their schedules just yet. I sat in a class on the weekend and most of the students are extremely shy. Emma said they are scared to talk to us because they don't know us. She also revealed that they're even more hesitant to speak to John because he looks so much more professional. He's very smartly dressed and carries an attache case. I also think the fact that he's so much older than them is intimidating. In the class we observed together we played charades and he had to act like a monkey. Hopefully this gave the impression to the students that he is playful.

Yesterday Emma and her husband, Enis (like 'Dennis' without the 'd'), took us up to Sumela. It was up in the mountains about a 45 minute drive away. It's the oldest place that I've ever been to, built in the 4th century. It was way cool. I took some photos, but haven't had a chance to upload them yet. In the meantime, go to http://www.anatolia.luwo.be/index.htm?Sumela.htm&1 and check it out.

In other news, I'm reading a book by an American author who has defected to England: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. He's really funny and down-to-earth. In this book he talks mostly about the recent history of astronomy, geography, paleontology, and chemistry to name a few. I'd like to get my hands on The Mother Tongue but at the moment it's impossible. In that book he talks about the differences between British and American English. This is of great interest to me since I'll be teaching the former, even though I know nothing about it. So if anyone wants to volunteer to be my mailing address and then forward ordered books to Turkey for me, please tell me! I learned that if I order books on the Internet, they won't ship them to Turkey. Why? I'm not really sure. It's a bummer though.

Well, that's all for tonight. Iyi akshamlar!