Whaddya gonna do in Turkey?

Boy, am I ignornat. I sent everyone my blog address without explaining why I'm going to Turkey. Sheesh, how rude. So here goes.

I've always wanted to be a teacher, ever since first grade when Mrs. Hogan did that thing, --uh, I can't remember exactly what she did that was so inspiring. All I knew was that she was cool and I wanted to be just like her. So after deciding that I wanted to travel to Turkey for an extended period of time, a few people suggested that I teach English. At first I was opposed to the idea, because isn't that sort of an imperialistic thing to do? I mean, everyone should speak English because Americans can't speak any other languages, right? (Ignore the fact that English is also spoken in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England, India, Austrailia, and other places.) I read several arguements pro and con, and in the end thought that maybe it isn't such a bad idea after all. People want to learn English, otherwise there wouldn't be language schools all over the world looking for native English speakers. Did you know that more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers? This language is really being used!

I love teaching people things, whether it be English, yoga, massage, or how to change the oil in your car (not very hard, try it if you don't know how). So I was convinced that it would be a good job for me. So last June I signed up at a training center in downtown Madison and learned the fine art of facilitating learning. It was a wonderful experience and I feel very prepared to enter the classroom in Turkey. As with any new skill, I could use more practice, but I'm sure I'll be fine.

Just a side note here: If anyone else is looking into teaching overseas, I highly reccommend the Midwest Teacher Training Program (http://www.mttp.com/). The instructors are amazing, supportive, and fun. They realize the program is intense, and add elements to break classroom monotony. This program is even good if you already have an education certificate. There were two teachers in my training session and they learned a lot from it as well. My only complaint is that there are few windows in the joint. Oh, and Dan is a bit obsessive about Jack Richards. Really, the instructors are inspiring and prepare you well for teaching in a foreign country.

So let me tell you what I know about Trabzon. It's 600 miles east of Istanbul, on the Black Sea coast (I must live near water), surrounded by mountains that I have heard have a thousand shades of green due to the amount of rain, and is the biggest city in the region (250,000). They have a soccer team, Trabzonspor, currently ranked number 1 in the nation. I'll be living with three other teachers in an apartment within walking distance from the school.

Let's see, did I leave anything out? I'll be there in a week! Holy smokes.

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. I'm standing here outside your door, already I'm so lonesome I could die. "

I've been saying good-bye to people for the last 24 hours now. I have a few more friends and family to say good-bye to and then I'm off! Perhaps I'll post a photo or two before I make my final aufwiedersehen.