The End Approaches

I realize that I have been thoroughly skimpy in my postings regarding China, and for that I can only blame the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and their affinity for Internet blocks (particularly the on against this blogging platform). The blame, however, cannot fall fully on them. I have been rather lax in my commitment to providing you with moderately detailed accounts of the crazy things I keep putting myself through.

As such, I’m going to attempt to provide you with some highlights to get you up to speed. Since you heard from me last, I finished up my time in Beijing, went to Shanghai for the first time, had even more transit fiascos, and made it back to Turkey with my sanity and newly acquired Starbucks mugs in tact.

While in Beijing, I had one of the major highlights of my entire China trip – the massive bookstore that had an entire shelf on branding and brand management. I’m sure I must have seemed extremely strange as the little foreign boy skimming through books on the “power of the brand” in Chinese (and stranger still as I made my way over to women’s fashion magazines – they have excellent advertisements in them). Chinese magazines are, by the way, insanely cheap, so I bought a small army of them for around 2 or 3 US dollars. I’m not sure if they are all going to be relevant or provide much of any value; however, while skimming through one, I did discover a hilarious “visit Turkey” advertisement that took up the entire back page of a magazine – I literally snorted when I saw it in the Beijing airport (classy points for me).

That brings me to transportation woe number one – the flight to Shanghai. Long story short, it was about time to land when the pilot comes over the speaker and informs all the passengers that, due to weather, the plane could not land at Shanghai’s airport. Instead, we sat on the runway in a town called Hefei for around 5 or 6 hours until we could safely continue onwards to Shanghai – putting me there after midnight (thus after public transit runs). Thankfully, I spoke Chinese (unlike the Russian family on the flight) and was able to get on the shuttle bus to where I needed to go. It was quite a feeling of accomplishment to be the only foreigner who was able to take this option.

That brings us to Shanghai, the Paris of the East. Shanghai is, in a word, incredible. I was like a small child in a candy shop almost the entire time. The architecture is amazing, a mix of modern high-rises that look as if they’d been imported from Hong Kong or Tokyo and older traditional and colonial buildings. It’s easily the greatest city in Mainland China, far surpassing the People’s Republic’s grungy capital, Beijing. The people of Shanghai are the most prominent feature of this city. They carry themselves as if they were Japanese or Korean, beacons of fashion and refinement. Speaking constantly in Shanghainese (Wu Chinese), they assert their unique identity within the massive expanse of the Middle Kingdom. With a transit system that seems highly influenced by hyper-modern Hong Kong, Shanghai was easy to get around with only one small thing causing me grief – the weather. Pretty much the only rainstorm I have encountered the entire summer was in Shanghai, and it was not just one. Each day I was there featured a torrential downpour of at least several hours in the middle of the day, significantly inhibiting my ability to bounce around the city at will.

Finally leaving Shanghai, I spent the entire ride to the airport in complete terror that I wouldn’t manage to make the flight since public transit took much longer than I expected and my flight left a few hours earlier than I had remembered (good thing I checked when I got up in the morning). I finally managed to get to the airport and check in, only to discover that my flight was delayed, subsequently causing me to worry about catching my flight in Hong Kong to Turkey. At the end of the day, I managed to make my flights with no problems, and I have now reached my final day in Turkey, which I will spend, packing and being artsy, visiting the Istanbul Modern museum.

The Little White Boy that Could

Taking the overnight bus from Hangzhou to Beijing was nothing less than an extraordinary choice. The bus did not have reclining seats like the one I took from Shenzhen to Xiamen. Oh no, this bus had 3 rows of narrow bunk beds, which I found abnormally comfortable. Between being in a horizontal position and the movement of the bus, I slept like a baby for almost the entire 15-hour trip, shocking the Chinese people around me. To them, I was the little white boy who could sleep through anything and, when awake, converse in halfway decent Mandarin.

I have now arrived in Beijing and am in the process of eating lunch in the midst of Beijing’s hyper-artsy 798 district. My lunch is nothing of much excitement since I chose the location due to its internet and décor rather than it’s extensive menu of delicious dishes. It’s almost sacrilegious, but I’m eating pizza and drinking coffee in Beijing….. I assure you it’s only because the menu lacked Chinese food and I desperately needed a place use the internet and to charge up my electronics (first world problems, I know). More to come soon!

A Mobile Feast

Taking the train in China is never a dull experience; however, it is only when doing so without companions that you really get the full experience. In a massively complex turn of events (the details of which I will spare you), I ended up buying a ticket to go from Xiamen to Hangzhou, a city near Shanghai, as a half way point on my trek up to Beijing by the 8th of August. Little did I know, this train was not the 6 hour train Lonely Planet mentions, oh no…. this train takes a full 22 hours to get from Xiamen to Hangzhou. Needless to say, I found this out about 10 hours into the train ride and simply didn’t know what to say. Allow me to also interject the detail that I had sprung for the considerably cheaper “hard seat” ticket rather than a bed on the train. Luckily I was prepared for the train thanks in part to my 3 years of Chinese classes and to the large bag full of snacks and treats that Amy (my friend in Xiamen) insisted I take with me.

I had noticed before that Chinese people always tend to bring lots of ramen and other little snacks on the train, but I had forgotten the extent to which the train can become a veritable feast. Just to give you an idea, I saw a group of 4 near me during one part of the journey demolish 4 bowls of ramen, a family sized bag of wasabi peas, some chicken legs, fruit, and some other miscellaneous snacks (note they only were on the train for a few hours and it was not during lunch time). Gradually over the 22 hours on the train, I managed to demolish my apple, pre-packed sausage, coffee cake, mini-bread loaf, packet of Oreos, sleeve of gummy lifesaver-like candy, bowl of ramen, water, tea, and half of a giant bag of haw flakes that were in my goodie bag. The sights and sound of crunching and munching are essentially omnipresent on the train until about 1 am when people finally start to fall asleep in any and every position possible. I luckily got an entire row of 3 seats to myself for the last several hours of the journey from 3:00 am to roughly 8:00 am.

It’s really quite surreal now that I went through it all. The cherry on top of the proverbial pie is, of course, that in order to be in Beijing for Ben Turman’s 21st birthday, this afternoon (in fact, in 2 hours) I will be boarding a 15 or 16 hour bus to Beijing from Hangzhou. I already hit up some fruit stands, so I have my dinner of green tea, oranges and bananas in my bag.

It’s hard to explain the entirety of the 22 hours of that train trip, so instead, I will provide you with a few of the more “memorable” of my memories:

1. The man who (at 3 or 4 am) hacked up a massive amount of phlegm and subsequently spat it on the floor of the train. [note this woke me from my sleep for all of the 30 to 45 seconds it took for this to occur]

2. The young child who sat next to me (on his mother’s lap) who was inordinately terrified of me was nothing if not memorable. If I moved too close, he started to cry, until he finally started playing a game with me that involved holding his finger out E.T. style and coming very close to touching mine until he would get too scared and pull away. This eventually led to a game of passing the milk bottle around and pretending to drink it and saying that “it’s all gone.” (a much more entertaining game when played in Chinese) Making this entire thing more interesting still is the fact that he was dressed, in typical Chinese fashion, in pants that have a massive slit running from just north of his rear-end to just south of his navel (yes, that means that all of his business was out on display for the entire world to see. The existence of these outfits will NEVER make sense to me – NEVER).

3. The woman who could not understand why I can’t understand everything everyone always says in Chinese when I’ve studied abroad before in China and have actual Chinese people as Chinese professors. Note I could only understand about 30% to 40% of what she said in her garbled, mumbled, thick, rural, Southern Chinese accent. For those of you who are not as familiar with Chinese, the spark notes version of this irony is that in Southern China, they do not pronounce the Chinese sounds “r,” “zh,” “sh,” and “ch” the way it is “supposed” to be pronounced according to rules of standard Mandarin. This result of this is that the Southern pronunciations of Mandarin have about double the number of homophones than Chinese normally haves, making it 麻烦死了(troublesome to death) to understand.

I could probably go on and on, but I will leave it there, as I’m sure I will share many more memories from that ride later on. I can safely say, however, that my exhausting stint on the train was not for nothing. It essentially forced me to use my mandarin with no option of simply giving up, instead I had to use my dictionary and explain myself as best as possible, resulting in my Chinese vocabulary growing to include such important terms as 隧道(tunnel) and 营养(nutritious).

Hangzhou also proved to be a veritable smorgasbord of examples for my research. I ran around collecting photos that I was probably not supposed to be taking inside of the mall of example after example of many of the things I’m attempting to prove for my honors thesis. I felt like Templeton in Charlotte’s Web, only I am leaving Hangzhou with a large number photographs rather than bloating to three times my natural size – though my eating has not be largely incessant since arriving in China. The crown jewels of my eating experiences thus far have occurred in Xiamen, where I was taken to eat by Amy and her boyfriend (now Fiancé) Aaron. For lunch we went to a restaurant acclaimed for it’s spicy dishes and devoured some spicy green beans, cabbage, chicken, and beef which were only surpassed by that evening’s meal at one of Xiamen’s most famous seafood restaurants where you select the fresh seafood you want and they cook it up for you. We were number 50 something on the waiting list when we arrived around 8:30pm (note that I’ve only once ever waited to be seated at a Chinese restaurant before and that was at a famous Peking Duck place in Beijing). The seafood was incredible – shrimp, octopus, fried noodles, and a plate food of clams that were, in a word, incredible. We feasted and feasted until we could feast no more.

I fully expect Beijing to be more of the same since I have birthday festivities to look forward to. I’ll keep posting as I can since the CCP isn’t exactly a fan of blogspot.

As pictures are difficult to upload at this point, I will provide a link to my snapfish account where you can few what I've managed to get up thus far (this should work, please let me know if it doesn't): http://www5.snapfish.ca/snapfishca/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4130747028/a=6541516028_6541516028/

Fragrant Harbor

Hong Kong, 香港, literally “fragrant harbor” in Chinese is exactly that. After landing at the airport following a nightmarish 9 and a half hour flight on Turkish Airlines (involving at least 40% of people in my vicinity including myself having broken tray tables and the staff seeming completely unconcerned), I trotted myself right along to the information counter to locate where I can apply for my Chinese visa. Upon arriving at the counter I make my one big realization. As I was packing, I wasn’t overly concerned about forgetting something small because as long as I have my passport, money, and western deodorant I can get everything else in China. I had, of course, overlooked the fact that I needed to apply for my visa in the airport; thus, my filled out application form and passport photos were sitting in my suitcase in Istanbul. Luckily, my thinking was correct and since I had my money and my passport, I was able to go get passport photos made for a couple dollars in the airport in 18 seconds (that’s what the booth advertised – Photos in just 18 seconds). A large chunk of cash and 24 hours later, I now have a Chinese visa allowing me to enter the mainland as many times as my heart desires so long as it’s before February 2012 and I don’t stay more than a month each visit.

Entering Hong Kong was surreal. I recognized almost everything from when I was here 2 years ago, and it was every bit as incredible as I remembered. Hong Kong, for those of you who have not been, is essentially 60% New York and 40% Asian Grocery Store. It’s gorgeous high-rise buildings with the smell of incense wafting up from some unseen location and the occasional blast of the odor of roasted duck. Confession – I’m leaving this afternoon to cross to the Mainland, and I have yet to have Chinese food in Hong Kong. I have had Japanese curry and Indian curry and even a chicken salad sandwich (don’t judge – I was having some serious cravings for celery which Turkey apparently does not view as a staple ingredient as I have not been able to find it anywhere). All in all, Hong Kong is very much a fragrant harbor; its streets are filled with the most incredible mixture of things from all over the world. Yesterday, I was on the hunt for a book store for research purposes (look at me dutifully pursuing what I’m supposed to rather than stuffing my face), when I came across a shop called (if memory serves me right) Voi La La. This place was a wine emporium, so I had to go in of course (psh, and there I go ruining my productivity). Hong Kong wine prices are about 25%-50% cheaper than Turkey’s so I walked around and gawked at the decently priced bottles. The shopkeeper (who, note this, speaks fluent English) comes up and asks me if I need any help. I say, “No, I’m just looking around.” Then I spy a bottle that I’d seen several times before, but had never tried. Judging by the classiness of the establishment, I took a chance and asked the guy if he’d tried it before. He said no, but that the same vineyard (Oveja Negra – the black sheep in Spanish) was on sample today. He asked me if I’d like to try it. My answer was “yes,” while in my head I was going “does a bear crap in the woods!?” I went on to sample three of the four wines available, and actually purchased a bottle of the Oveja Negra which was absolutely superb. I figured that the roughly $11 purchase was justifiable as a joint present to me and birthday present to Ben Turman with whom I extend to share the bottle in Beijing in honor of his 21st birthday which means exactly nothing in China since he’s been able to drink legally there for about 3 years and in actual practice, drink since he could see over the counter. I will check out the details on the bottle as well as the other name I wrote down from the sampling and offer them up as my erudite wine recommendations soon.

For now, I will leave you with the simple statement that Hong Kong is absolutely amazing (and far cheaper than Turkey). If you ever get the opportunity to go, you simply must because it is a world in and of itself. You can rest assured that it will be the destination of quite a few of my job applications in the coming months, until then, I’ll going to be prepping myself for my return to the mainland, the land of the Great Wall of China, the land of the Terra Cotta Warriors, the land of the Great Fire-wall of China, and the land of the Chinese Communist Party and their “Communism with Chinese characteristics” (of course those characteristics are not capitalism, they’re just lessened market controls and economic restrictions and more free flowing capital… not capitalism at all).

My Life in Lists

As I have less than a week left in Turkey (only 4 days in fact), I have begun compiling lists galore to remind myself of various tasks and experiences I need to take care of before heading onwards to China. And of course, I have my running list of things I must eat as soon as I arrive there. Thus, I’m going to share with you my life in lists.

Top 5 things I haven’t done yet in Turkey and must do:
1. Turkish Bath
2. Basilica Cistern
3. Eat the street chestnuts
4. Spice Bazaar
5. Eat fresh figs

Top 10 things I’ve done in Turkey and have to do again before leaving:
1. Tombik
2. Turkish delight
3. The Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and surrounding area at night
4. Künefe (a Turkish desert that is like a sweet, cheesy, frosted mini-wheat)
5. Spend hours shopping at Mephisto (my favorite Book Store/DVD emporium/CD vendor/café)
6. Watch the sunset from the bridge
7. haggle in a bazaar and use the phrase “I can get it cheaper in China” to force the price lower
8. Turkish cake (aka “pasta”)
9. Recreate the accent of the Dolmabahçe Palace guide (“Dear guests, all togethers we will go see the pyalace of the sultan midget and the second biggest carpet in the Turkey……”)
10. Either regain my American accent or embrace my newly adopted Canadianisms , eh

Top 10 musts in China:
1. Get my hair washed
2. Get a discount for speaking decent Chinese
3. Street food – all of it
4. At least one completely massive, disgustingly indulgent meal that costs less than 10 USD
5. Understand a Beijing cab driver (I’m convinced they only speak Troll, not Mandarin)
6. Buy a tailored suit
7. Tree Bar (peach beer – enough said)
8. 798 (the insanely quirky, avant-garde art district of Beijing that I’ve never visited but was told to spend quality time in by my honors thesis advisor)
9. Watch 80 year old Chinese people get up at the crack of dawn to do tai chi in public parks
10. Victoria Peak (Hong Kong’s skyline, need I say more?)

The Time Approaches

I now have less than one week left in Turkey before I head over to East Asia, and there is a lot going on – a lot of last minute shopping, a lot of goodbye dinners (most of my friends here are leaving at various points during the week), a lot of a lot.

As I’ve made very clear, I’m quite excited to be going back to China; however, things seem to happening one after the other. I have to do some planning before I head over there that I’ve hardly started as well as an application to take part in a company sponsored forum in Germany in October. This is, of course, on top of my work which so ruthlessly begins every morning at 7:15, only to end at 5:15. I also need to hunt down some films by my favorite director (Ferzan Õzpetek) who is Turkish-Italian before I leave.

One thing I will definitely miss as I venture 5 time zones further east is the musical taste here in Turkey. It’s almost as if the country is running on my iTunes… almost. You walk down the street and you hear some Alexandra Stan, or some “Englishman in New York.” I have actually discovered a whole handful of music while I’ve been here that I simply must get my hands on as soon as possible. Despite the excellent taste in music selection that seems to be pretty pervasive here, the placement of this music is not generally the best – sometime to quite hilarious results. By far the most shocking occurred when grocery shopping in a store that is attached to a neighborhood mosque. While selecting which of the thousands of similar looking cheeses to select, I hear, of all songs, “S&M” come on which could very well be one of the filthiest songs generated in recent memory. My fellow shoppers, clearly incapable of speaking English (like the vast majority of the population here), just carried on with the selection of their vegetables as if they were listening to a Beethoven piano concerto, completely oblivious of the North American women belting out line after line about “sex in the air” and how they “love the smell of it.” It was a classy moment. I think my jaw hung wide open for a good 30 seconds before I was able to regain my composure just enough to glance around for awkward facial expressions that would indicate some degree of comprehension among the others – there was, of course, none.

In more recent news, I had an excellent day of Shopping with friends this past weekend that took me for the first time to the Egyptian Bazaar where spices abound and make me wish that I had something too do with incredibly discounted saffron and vanilla bean. It also really makes me wonder what they put in the confection “Turkish Viagra” or “the sultans’ aphrodisiacs.”

Lastly, my concern: the Turkish Lira. Thanks to a vide variety of recent occurrences, the currency that was being exchanged for a bit under 1.5 to the US dollar when I arrived is now valued at around 1.72 (or at least it was at some point yesterday). As I am, of course, being paid in Lira, that wonderful little turn of events is going to really help me out when I have to exchange to Chinese RMB, Hong Kong Dollars, and Taiwanese Dollars very soon. Hopefully it will bounce back a bit.

Looking Ahead, Thinking Back, and Living for Today

Today marks the 2 week point. After today I have two Mondays left in Turkey, and on the second of those two, I will say goodbye to my coworkers and my abnormally slow work computer in the morning. That afternoon, however, will feature some frantic last-minute packing as late that evening I will board my Turkish Airways flight direct to Hong Kong.

I’m not really excited to be leaving Turkey, especially my new friends here; however, the prospect of going back to what just might be my favorite city on earth where I have the ability to communicate with people on the street is almost overwhelmingly exciting. I literally spent an hour or two last night gushing with my Chinese room mate over coffee about how good the food is in Hong Kong, and I simply have no idea how I’m going to eat everything I need to eat in such a short period. I will only be in Hong Kong for a couple of days since my main purpose of going there is just so that I can get a visa for Mainland China.

This trip to China is going to be an incredible mix of revisiting the familiar and experiencing the new as I will be seeing many of my close friends in Beijing and revisiting Xiamen where I studied abroad; however, this time, I will also be going to Shanghai and Taipei, Taiwan (provided I get a multi-entry visa for the mainland, which I should).

I’m actually quite tempted to fast for a couple days before I leave Turkey just to prepare myself for the frenzy of eating that will take place upon arrival. You can be sure that you will see pictures of Starbucks’ peppery chicken puff (Hong Kong), 辣子鸡丁– spicy chicken pieces (Xiamen), 炒面– real fried noodles (EVERYWHERE), candied plums on a stick (Beijing), 百香冰沙– passion fruit slushy (Taipei/Xiamen), and who knows what else…

Despite what I make it sound like, I am, in fact, not going back to China to eat until I look like a stereotypical American. Actually, I’m going to complete my field research for my honors thesis on branding in modern China. In essence, what I’m doing is observing the way in which companies use aesthetics, images, and other forms of product communication (advertisements, jingles etc.). As I completed the fist part of this project as a integral part of my coursework while studying abroad in Xiamen, I already have a 30-page paper worth of research to get me started. As I continue to do online research in my spare time here in Turkey, I believe that I may have narrowed my subject matter down a bit to the point that I may have a title for my thesis: “Communicating Luxury: trends in contemporary Chinese brand establishment, adjustment, communication and management”

What I plan to do, more specifically, is to examine overarching trends in business practices of both domestic (Chinese) and international (foreign) companies and the ways in which they communicate messages of luxury to Chinese consumers. It will encompass field research, which is basically shopping supplemented with marketing theory blended with other disciplines, particularly the study of urban aesthetics and postmodernism. From what I see right now, my argument can be boiled down to the thought that both Chinese and Western companies are adapting the essence of their brand, what their product/name means, in a way that conveys the concept of “luxury” to the Chinese consumer, and they are doing so in 3 key ways:
1. Exoticizing
2. Urbanizing
3. Modernizing
Companies are creating these brand messages for their products, and I intend to explore these trends, their effectiveness, and what this phenomenon means in the grander context of modern Chinese society, the Chinese economy at-large, and future expansion.

As much as I’m sure you are all as deeply fascinated by my thesis topic as I am, I’m going to save the explosion of china-related blog material until I’m actually there. For now, I’m going to continue making to most of the time I have left in Turkey and with my new friends here. Also, I am hitting the streets with a vengeance to improve my photography, so hopefully you’ll be seeing some incredible shots in the near future. Until then…

Citizenship

Over the past few weeks, citizenship has been a concept that has continually come to the forefront of my thoughts. Coming from one of the largest, most populated, and economically prosperous countries in the world is surprisingly easy to not notice, especially while in the US. The power of my little blue passport is frankly astonishing. Entering into Turkey after my weekend in Greece, it was hard not to notice just how easily I can pass through passport control with considerably less scrutiny as I was in line behind several Russians and two people from Azerbaijan. Their entry was considerably less smooth while the golden eagle on my passport allows me to slide through as if I were covered with a nice layer of Crisco.

The ease with which an American passport holder can travel around the world is quite easily overlooked when you are one of those passport holders. Here, Turkish people need visas to go almost anywhere and the application process for visas are not easy. Similarly, I found out from my new Chinese room mate exactly how limited Chinese passport holders are as well. Neither of my room mates can enter the EU without going through a grueling visa application process while I just hop on a plane, hand over my passport and get a little black stamp without thinking about it.

As I said, I’ve been thinking a lot about my citizenship recently, and it’s not just in a traveling capacity. It’s always interesting to be outside of the US gaining a different perspective. Others notice things about the US that I rarely think about or at least in ways I rarely think about them. Many times, explaining our systems and methods of doing things, I have to confront the fact that we have little or no good justification for some of the things we do, and there is almost no way of validating some of our practices. For example, why do we use Fahrenheit? It’s a ridiculous system of arbitrary numbers that isn’t used or even understood almost anywhere outside the US while Celsius is both logical and used almost everywhere. Similarly, our bizarre clinging to imperial measurements is honestly baffling when you sit and think about it, and I don’t even think I fully understand it. Ounces and gallons and pounds, not to mention the entire concepts of tipping and sales tax (I could rant about the ridiculousness of sales tax for days) – why America, why?

Beyond trivial things like measurements, it’s quite a strange experience to explain to a German citizen that higher education in the United States costs thousands upon thousands of dollars, requiring many people to build up a hefty pile of debt before they ever begin any sort of full-time employment, while in Germany (and much of Europe) University costs almost nothing, although they lack such stimulating course work as “Shalom Ya’ll” (yes, that is a real class at UNC). It’s not that I doubt in any way the quality of our higher education system as I’m personally convinced that in many ways my education is shaping me in far more profound ways one at most foreign universities would, but it is simply incredible the disparity that exists in price. Similarly, for many nations, it’s a bizarre notion that the United States can supposedly be so large, powerful, and prosperous, yet not provide health care to its citizens. Explaining the significant displeasure with “socialized medicine” that exists in the US is quite difficult to do, much less validate. Moreover, the ways in which the US projectile vomits its message of “liberty,” “democracy,” “equality,” and “personal freedoms” upon its citizens and the world at large while it clings to antiquated ideologies and some of its frighteningly Ayatollah-like policies leads me to genuinely question my desire to be even associated with “my country,” much less live in it.

That said, it’s not as if I want to jump ship and immigrate to Canada any time soon – although Canada seems pretty awesome from what I hear (I wouldn’t mind dual citizenship so I could get cheaper visas). It simply makes me realize that my political passivity is not really a good thing and that looking at the US from an outside perspective is a valuable thing that’s not very commonly practiced by its citizens. We, as citizens with voting rights and (in principle) freedom of speech, have the duty and responsibility to strive for what we feel is right, just, and needed in our society, and spending time away from the US is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to actually take an objective look at the US and determine what is right, just, and needed. The US is not and has not been for quite some time the hegemon it was coming out of World War II, and while outside of the United States, it becomes all the more apparent that we, as a nation, must cease and desist our strutting around as if we have all the right answers and we’re better than everyone else. We have many problems in the US that only we, the citizens, are responsible for fixing, and perhaps if we keep an open mind and accept that other places have good ideas too, we might just find solutions in other places. We could certainly learn a thing or two about public transit systems from Singapore (as could pretty much every other in the world).

Sometimes, I’m actually quite ashamed of the US in some regards. I am a direct reflection of our education system in many ways – good and bad. As such, I’m decently well-versed in things like the civil rights movement, the importance of wearing a seatbelt, and the value of teamwork, cooperation and mutual respect (I think those might need to trickle up to the national level and not just linger on wall decorations in elementary school classrooms); however, I also seem utterly stupid trying to mental which is, in my opinion, highly reflective of the simplicity of the American mathematics education. I personally believe that it is this exact simplicity in mathematics instruction that has caused the rampant problems with debt in the US since it’s clear many people don’t understand that they can’t simply live on credit. Alternatively, I take pride in the ideological creativity (not necessarily artistic) that is fostered in our education system. It’s simply not as common in many other countries. I’m sure that this post comes across as veritable bucket list of complains; however, its purpose was chiefly to share some of the more profound thoughts that have been going through my head recently (apart from my essentially never-ending obsession with food and swirling torrent of marketing related musings that are a direct reflections of my internship and honors thesis research). My blog can’t all be about pretty pictures and everything I eat.

I have to say, however, that despite my displeasure with many of my nation’s shortcomings, I’m very happy that I “pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,” even if we still have a little ways to go before we really get to “liberty and justice for all.” At the end of the day, we’re leaps and bounds ahead of many countries in many regards, and “we the people” embrace many of my favorite things that I personally feel are integral parts of my “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” like Mexican food, free refills, the 24-hour pharmacy, and the sheer ecstasy of drying clothes in a dryer – a concept that is impossible to fully appreciate without living without one for several months. The US is sometimes a frustrating place, but it’s home.

Ruins and Ring Roads: From Athenian Memories to Chinese Travel Plans

In my previous post, I attempted to give you a small taste of what I ate in Greece; however, I assure you that’s not all of what I did while I was there. Greek food is, in fact, not the best thing about Athens.

Athens struck me as surprisingly tiny. Geographically, it’s not all that spread out, so it’s quite easy to get from place to place on food – unlike Istanbul which is several times larger. Each site I went to was only a few minutes walk to the next, and I almost never had to look around since you can pretty much see the next batch of ruins from whichever ones you’re at.

The most impressive, by far, were the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora. Though I wish I was better versed in ancient history when visiting the sites, it’s hard not to appreciate their size and grandeur. It just blows my mind that they are thousands of years old, and have been a part of Athens through countless wars and changes over time. They’ve seen the middle ages, the arrival of Christianity, the creation of the EU, and the recent demise of the Greek economy.

It’s truly incredible to see modern political movements taking place just blocks away from where the essence of Western civilization began. You can sit at a Starbucks, sipping your latte while you stare up at the Pantheon. Greece is a truly incredible place.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about Greece was it’s affinity for graffiti. Greek graffiti might be the most eclectic and sophisticated jumble of street drawings I’ve ever encountered, and it was definitely not something I expected to see. Images of Poseidon decorate store fronts while other messages simply remind us of important life lesions. Another strangely wide-spread trend was to adorn buildings and signs across the city with simply the word “Amigos.” Perhaps it’s just a testament to the friendliness of the Greek people who, if I haven’t already mentioned it, speak gloriously refreshing amounts of good English. The ability to discuss payment options and drink modifications while ordering my coffee was a luxury I had largely given up on in Istanbul, although the Starbucks nearest my apartment there does know my order on sight thanks to the few weeks I didn’t have internet at my apartment.

After my glorious weekend in Athens, I returned to Istanbul only to encounter a Sino-Turkish fiasco that could easily rival, nay top my experience with getting a visa to come to Turkey in the first place. My plan for Monday morning was to go to the Chinese consulate, apply for my visa, and then purchase my flights to China that evening. Upon arriving at the address listed on the Consulate website, I discover (thanks to a Turkish man who realized I was lost and called someone who spoke English on his cell phone in order to communicate with me) that the Chinese consulate is in fact in a completely different area of the city which is basically only accessible by taxi. A 40 lira taxi ride that involved the driver asking no less than 15 or 20 people directions on the way later, I arrive at the Chinese consulate ready to apply for my visa. When I get inside, I notice that they have more updated forms that I had already prepared sitting in neat stacks next to the waiting benches. I snagged one and filled it out. Once finished, I strolled up to the window and noticed that the woman behind the window was Turkish and not Chinese. I told her I needed to apply for a visa, and she promptly informed me that despite visa applications being “consular affairs” and me being at the consulate during “consular hours,” the Chinese consulate here does not accept visa applications. I was told that I had to go to a travel agent in Taksim (basically the heart of the city). Knowing that businesses in that area stay open later, I started my 2-hour journey back to work frustrated and slightly defeated, though hopeful.

After work, I got on the shuttle to Taksim at which time I realize that my supervisor is on the same shuttle. She and I discussed where I was going exactly to apply, and she told me that she didn’t think that the address I had written down was correct. She made a phone call in Turkish and eventually informed me that where I was going was indeed to wrong place, but the correct place was right on her way to where she was going. She showed me the way, and I climbed 5 flights of narrow, winding stairs up to the visa application services office of a major travel agency in Turkey. Upon arriving , I was informed that had closed 20 minutes prior to my arrival and that I had to come back the next morning.

Tuesday morning, I hauled myself back to the visa application office, documents in hand. When I sat down in the chair opposite the man I had spoken to the previous day, he took a look at my application and said “you are missing some documents.” Having made completely sure that I had everything listed on Chinese government website, I responded with a slightly perturbed “What? Which documents?” Come to find out, in order for me (even as an American citizen with a US passport) to get a Chinese visa in Turkey, I’m subject to the same requirements of Turkish citizens (though I still would have to pay the higher fee for the visa as an American citizen). I would be required to show bank statements showing that I have at least $5,000 USD in liquid assets to support myself while in China as well as provide proof of airfare to China and hotel reservations for my time there. As I need flexibility in my travel plans while in China, I have no hotel reservations and do not really plan on making any until shortly before hand. Also, I wasn’t going to fork over several hundred dollars for flights until I was sure I could get a visa, and as a college student, I don’t exactly have $5,000 USD just chilling in my bank account to tickle the Chinese government’s fancy. My decision: fly to Hong Kong and apply there so that I would not have to deal with the strange Turkey-specific requirements, and could apply just like as if I were in the US – only with way cooler scenery and better food. Thus, I now am the proud holder of flight confirmations for Turkish Airways flights 70 and 71 non-stop from Istanbul to Hong Kong (amazingly the cheapest possible path, with the best times, and on a Star Alliance member airlines; thus, I can add to my current approximate total of 20,000 air miles on US Airways).

After I left the visa application office, I’m quite glad that it takes almost 2 hours to get back to the office, because I was filled with such profuse displeasure with Turkey that I would have easily said things I would have regretted, plummeting an already low approval rating of Americans even lower. I’ve already been told that “Turkish people really like British people - in fact, even more so than Americans.” To that, I responded with “oh… ok.” The comment came out of nowhere a week or so ago, and I’ve yet to figure out exactly why the UK is so much better. They have neat accents, but really are they that much better than us? I personally think they kind of messed up big time. As one British friend puts it “the UK used to have all of this land all over the world, but look at it now – they’ve lost all of it and are stuck on that crappy little Island.” Crappy, and overcast it may be, but it’s still an Island that I’ dying to visit, regardless of its apparently preferred status here in Turkey.

As my time remaining here in turkey rapidly approaches the two week mark, I’m trying to make plans to do the rest of the “musts.” I have to go to the Modern Art Museum and go to a Turkish bath (hamam) before leaving for sure, so we’ll see how those go. I am glad, however, that most of my friends here will also be leaving around the same time I do, so I’m not necessarily sad to be leaving soon. I’m massively looking forward to my return trip to China. According to my current plans, it will involve time in Hong Kong (Probably tied with New York for my favorite major city in the World), Shanghai (which I’ve never been to before), Xiamen (where I studied abroad Fall 2009), Taipei (which I’ve also never been to), and Beijing (which will be hosting no less than 6 or 7 of my good friends from the US). All I can say is if you think my raving about food has been bad thus far, watch out for my China posts because food there is like nothing else in the world.

Lastly, I’m going to leave you with an interesting update on the strange affinity for the theme song from The Godfather. If you recall, there is apparently a trend to have the theme for a car honk here in Istanbul; however, I have recently discovered it’s an even more wide-reaching phenomenon. While in Greece, I noticed on no less than 3 occasions accordion players on the street playing the theme, and just a few days ago a man in Taksim was trying to sell these devices that you can put in your mouth and chirp like a bird. Of course while demonstrating the amazing abilities of this device, he let out several loud chirps and, of course, the first few bars of The Godfather’s theme in faux birdsong. Why it’s so popular, the world may never know.

For more photos of Greece, check out my Facebook album: Athens

“What do you mean he don’t eat no meat?!?”

My Big Fat Greek Wedding had it right when they say “Greek meat… very nice…. Very nice Greek meat” or when they look upon vegetarianism with shock and disbelief with the exclamation of “What do you mean he don’t eat no meat!?!” Anyone limiting their diet in Greece is limiting themselves to far more than I would have imagined before this past weekend.

In my attempt to catch up on my highly awaited, much needed blogging about my weekend trip to Greece, I’m going to start with my favorite of all topics: The food.

Simply put, it was glorious. I think I might have almost wept tears of joy from how good this stuff was. Meal number one was a Greek salad, complete with giant slab of fresh feta. In the US, much of the feta is not very flavorful, but still a quite nice salad-additive. If history had only been slightly different, I’m sure Greece could have easily started its own religion followed worldwide based on its feta alone. This tuff was delicious, and totally made my salad. The meal would not have been complete without the personal sized bottle of white wine, which was, amusingly, the second cheapest drink on the menu and only fractions of a Euro more than bottled water. Needless to say, I had to have a quick sample of the local vintage. I was impressed. As I’ve said before, and I will surely say again – I could go on for hours about food, but why yap incessantly when a picture is worth a thousand words (or in this case, some stomach growls of fond memory and a few thousand words, most of which are just grunts of enjoyments something along the lines of ommmmmmmg).

I also had a pita of wonder. Much like a Turkish döner, it was a pita with meat and some other vegetables inside; however, Greece, being on top of all things food, decided to add one more thing. That thing was the sauce. I have no idea what this stuff was. It was not tzatziki sauce. It was some other glorious Greek concoction that I only hope I can eventually figure out how to make. I would have eaten by the bucket load with vigor that is usually reserved for depressed pregnant women eating Ben & Jerry’s .

The final food tidbit I will leave you with is my final meal in Greece. It was a pasta with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, and a white cream sauce – need I say more? Of course it doesn’t end there – its Greece. I had to have the Cappuccino Freddo, basically like a iced cappuccino, but creamier and far more delicious.

Lonely Planet’s article on the top 10 countries in the world for food outlines some pretty incredible eating experiences, and I must say that my weekend fully validated Greece’s presence on that list along side some pretty heavy hitters like Indonesia, China, France, and India. Spain’s presence on the list, however, still boggles me. Did I just simply eat the wrong things there? I thought it was good, but not top 10…. Maybe Lonely Planet just forgot about phở and gave Spain Vietnam’s place by accident.

Fortuitous Discoveries

As yet another weekend draws to a close, I have (as usual) accomplished slightly less than I really had wanted to during the weekend. Forgoing a good bit of the reading I had intended to complete for my honors thesis in favor of eating ice cream and watching a movie I bought for $2 USD - a legitimate one. As my title suggests, I have a few fortuitous discoveries to share with all of you. The first of these is the aforementioned ice cream.

One of my favorite things is pistachio ice cream; however, I have always been saddened by American ice cream producers’ apparent need to always put the actual nuts in the ice cream. I just do not enjoy crunchy things in my ice cream (I think it’s more of a consistency thing than anything else as I generally like pistachios – just not in my ice cream). Here is Istanbul, not only do they have nut-free pistachio ice cream, they have the Neapolitan of the gods. Yes, forget the strawberry and replace it with pistachio. This three-flavored delicacy has been making frequent field trips out of the freezer to come visit my mouth over the last few days.

In other food-related news, my beloved Tombik place may, I repeat may, have found a competitor. Just down the street, the opposite direction from where I’m staying, there is a chicken döner place that offers up delicious sandwiches for half the price of a tombik (a whopping 75 cents US or so). They feature crunchier bread and a higher concentration of pickles, leaving me to question the intensity of my devotion to the venerated Tombik. Those of you how know me well know that this can only mean one thing. Yes, I will simply have to buy both in one evening and have them side-by-side to make a final decision. I will not, of course, give up either in favor of the other, as variety is the spice of life - even though both are extremely similar foods. Such an epic food showdown, very much worthy of a half-hour segment on Food Network, will be thoroughly documented, fear not, in both photographic and verbal form. I also think that such an event would hardly be complete without some ice cream to wash it down.

As I’m sure you noticed, my attempts to write about more profound topics in a more critical manner have hardly progressed as I’m back in my rut gushing about food and little else; however, that probably does go to show you how much time I spend thinking about food….

Speaking of food, I made another great food discovery this weekend. Saturday during a grocery outing, I spied a block of cheese. Considerably cheaper than many of the other neighboring blocks, but still a splurge at the price of 3 or 4 Tombiks, I just couldn’t help myself. In was in my buggy faster than you can “moo,” and there was not turning back. I expected it to be like the other similar-looking white cheeses I’d had in Turkey. Oh was I wrong. This cheese could be the creamiest cheese that I have ever had. Think cheesecake creamy. Think TCBY’s white chocolate mousse creamy. Yeah…. It’s some creamy stuff. Though it lacks a strong flavor, it went excellently in the pasta salad I made. I would have taken a picture for you, but I was hungry and then I ate it all. I will, however, probably make some more this evening in which case, I’ll immortalize its creation for you all.

Though I have failed to provide you with photographs of my feeding frenzy, I do have some additional photos of Istanbul to leave you with. My final fortuitous find of the weekend was a great bridge that I walked with some new friends, which offered some stunning views of the city at dusk.

On a more serious note

Shortly after leaving my recently discovered Wi-Fi-equipped Starbucks, I started reflecting on the posts that I have made thus far. Many, if not all, have reflected many of the things I have done, seen and eaten in Istanbul; however, few have really discussed my actual experience. I have been writing the surface, giving a cursory overview of my time here. Yes, I have gone on about some of the things I’ve eaten and places I’ve visited, but I have also been omitting many details, particularly those that are more unfavorable.

Thinking back, I realize that my blog is not truly reflecting the entirety of my opinions and thoughts regarding Istanbul. I have written about a lot of the good, but largely skipped over the bad, and I feel that I have, in some ways, omitted a lot that I should have included. Thus, I am going to go over a few things that have been slightly less than peachy:

Linguistic Frustrations:
Having never lived in a country where I couldn’t speak the language, I don’t know that I was properly prepared for what I have been encountering here in Turkey. I assumed (stupidly) that English would be prevalent in Istanbul since it’s a major world city and was one of last year’s European Capitals of Culture. I thought that there would be plenty of signage in English, especially on the public transit system. That, however, has proven to be completely false. On several occasions, I have realized that what I was doing could have been accomplished in half of the time with incredibly heighted efficiency if only there were even poor attempts at having signs in English in some places. Take, for example, last Thursday when I went to pick up my residency permit from the police station. You would think that at a major police station in a city of over 10 million people would have signs in English, especially when it’s where foreigners must go to get registered to reside in the country. No, I had to walk around with me receipt with my best Bambi-like expression on my face until someone pointed to where I had to go at which point the Bambi face had to continue until they finally gave me my permit without a single word of English. Similarly, I’ve spent countless hours wandering around because I couldn’t figure out where to go because of a lack of signs. At several metro stations, you have to just magically have to know where to go or speak Turkish because there is no indication in English as to where the different exits let out, and I have found a few stations where the various exits cannot be accessed from one another (Thus to get from Exit A to Exit B, you have to pay to go through the metro station). Once I wandered around at an interchange station for almost an hour realizing finally that the signs to the other metro line just take you in a circle back to the original line that you just got off of. Don't get me wrong, a lot of places do have good signage, and I have to acknowledge that there have been some enormously helpful Turks who, despite speaking no English, have helped me get where I need to go. This talk about the metro leads me into my next frustration…

Public Transit:
The transportation system here is a bit ridiculous. One of my biggest pet peeves is when there are multiple metro lines and you have to exit and re-inter the metro at interchange stations to get from one line to another. Istanbul has this system, and I find it enormously vexing. Washington D.C.’s metro, though it hideously looks as if it’s been neglected since the late 60’s, does not have this issue nor does Singapore’s world renowned system. I do not, however, really feel it is fair to condemn Istanbul’s transit system simply for being less clean and magnificently efficient than Singapore’s impeccably designed one. There are, several other reasons that I justified in deeming Istanbul’s system as obnoxious. Like Beijing’s metro, Istanbul’s transit system (busses included) operates on a flat fee, so if you want to go 20 stops or just 1, you pay the same price. This is another practice that I find annoying. Instead of paying just a few cents when I want to hop over to the nearest mall, I have to pay the same price that I’d have to pay for the hour-long ride into the heart of the city. I just don’t care for it, but such is life. We can’t have everything we want all the time, and it’s far from the worst system I’ve seen.

Coffee:
The next in the line of things that I will complain about is the Coffee situation in Turkey. Yes, Turkish coffee is good; however, it’s not really a drink as much as something you sip gingerly as it’s extremely thick and comes in a cup the size of a shot glass. This alone does not constitute my minor bafflement regarding coffee in Turkey. No, what baffles me is that in a country that is famous for it’s coffee you have two options. Option 1 is Turkish coffee – strong but palatable, tiny, and not really a viable option for something you want to drink instead of sip. Option 2 is Nescafé – a rather vial branded instant coffee drink popular also in China. Why anyone thinks this is really an OK beverage, I will never know. It doesn’t really taste like coffee. It tastes more like a memory of coffee, as if you kind of recall the flavor, but are having difficulty remembering most of the subtleties and nuances of it. It reminds me of foods that have been left in the refrigerator and have taken on a flavor that blends the tastes of its neighboring items in the fridge. Nescafé has taken on the flavor of the packaging. It is truly only something I can drink when desperate for caffeine and willing to endure the unpleasant feeling it leaves in my stomach. Why Turkish citizens allow for this injustice on their shelves, I don’t understand. Although, I also don’t understand why they like Ayran (Salty yogurt drink) or car horns that play the theme to the Godfather. Some things I will never understand, but to each their own. At least there are plenty of Starbucks outlets here that provide me with my much needed "real" coffee.

Limes:
My final frustration that I will voice is the lack of limes. Why is it that so many places don’t have limes? They are delicious! Do people just not like them, or are they just such a foreign item in some places that there is no demand for them? I couldn’t find them in China. I can’t find them here. It makes me sad. Singapore sold lime juice like it was crack – they have the right idea. Perhaps there are some small little exotic grocery stores somewhere that may stock them.... I'll have to check with some Turkish friends.


What this teaches me:
When people ask me “do you miss the United States?” my answer is inevitably “Psh, no” with usual caveat of “except Mexican food.” When thinking about it more thoroughly, I have learned that there are a few things that I will forever be convinced that the United States does correctly.

Number 1: Mexican food
It is delicious, and I do not understand why the rest of the world does not share the American affinity for it. Everyone I know who has been to the US remarks on its amazingness, yet it is not a prolific cuisine in the world…. Why? There is so very little better than a 2am burrito when you’re a little bit hungry and need something to hug you on the inside like an old friend. The availability of Mexican food is priceless.

Number 2: The Drier
I will forever be convinced that laundry is a several hour process, not something that takes over a day to complete. I do not like air-drying clothes. The feel weird afterwards, and it takes forever. I want the instant gratification and the wonderful feeling of a warm towel. So many other places in the world do not seem to understand this simple joy. The people I have met outside of the US who have driers don’t use them. Why not? Again, some things I will never understand.

Number 3: Central Air
I like central air-conditioning. It feels nice, and it makes sense to me. Window units are just kind of strange, and I just can’t get over the fact that they don’t cool evenly. Also, why is it that so many places don’t have air-conditioning in Kitchens? I will acknowledge the logic of not putting on in there because it’s going to get hot anyway; however, I will always believe that logic is intrinsically flawed.

I have to say that Istanbul is teaching me a lot about myself – things I like, things I don’t like, and much more. It makes me sad that we can’t get fresh produce in the US without paying ridiculous prices (probably our just reward our insanely cheap fuel prices), and it constantly challenges me to reevaluate my perspective on things and reminds me to try not to be too quick to cast judgment. Yesterday, I had a stray dog follow me for about 5 or 6 blocks, and the entire time I was a bit freaked out with my inner dialogue bashing this country and some of its ridiculous ways. A half hour later, with the dog safely outside and myself inside sitting on the couch, I realized how easy it is to jump to quick and ridiculous conclusions about things, especially in stressful situations. Thus, I have far from made up my mind about Turkey, and I’m sure that my thoughts and opinions about the country will continue to change and develop. Simply sitting here and writing this all down forces me to take stock, so we’ll see how things go. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of ups and downs, but for now, I can definitely say that I’m having a good time – I just wish I had some salsa to make it even better.

A final note on portions:
Getting used to the metric system is something that I always have to do when outside of the US, and it’s strange how I’ve come to acclimate to some things while others continue to seem completely foreign. I’m fine with Celsius. In fact, can better gage how the weather is going to feel in Celsius than I can in Fahrenheit. Why that is the case, I have no idea. I actually had a revelation today when I figured out that what I though was my ideal temperature in Fahrenheit was actually about 10 degrees colder than what it should be. How did I figure this out? I converted the displayed Celsius temperature (which was, in my opinion, perfect) to Fahrenheit, only to realize that I really don’t even know my own system. Kilometers and meters, however, confuse me. Though, I do have to say that I also can’t estimate in feet or miles. Distance in general confuses me. I also can’t estimate weight in pounds or kilos. Though I can’t pick up a bag and guess how many kilos it is, I do enjoy buying things by the kilo. I have found that I do have a pretty good grasp on how long something, say a kilo of cucumbers, will last me. I am also pretty good at eyeballing produce and guessing how many cherries I’ll have to stuff into a bag to make one kilo’s worth. Alternatively, I do not enjoy buying fluids by the liter. How long does a liter of fruit juice last? The answer is – not long enough. I think it’s a strangely small unit to purchase in; however, I do enjoy the 1.5 liter coke bottles. It’s a great size since you finish it before it looses all of its fizz, unlike the American 2 liter size. Today I discovered that they also have a 3 liter bottle. Why they don’t market that in the US, I have no clue. It would be enormously popular with Americans’ affinity for grotesquely large serving sizes. Confession – sometimes I seriously miss being able to buy things in disgustingly massive sizes/quantities. Sometimes, you just really want to be able to buy a 5 pound bag of gummy-bears and sneak them into the movie theater or purchase milk by the gallon instead of by the liter.

Life’s a piece of cake

As I indicated in my last post, Turkish cakes are quite the phenomenon. Referred to as “pasta,” these delicacies have confounded me a bit since arrival. Countless little stores have displays showing off their arrays of different cakes, most sizes that we would call “personal sized” in the US. These displays remind me a bit of the ones you encounter in China; however, few of the cakes are decorated with slices of dragon fruit, kiwi, or lychees here.

Serendipitously, after I made my last post on Thursday, Friday not only brought a chance to wear jeans to the office, but also yet another cake at the office. Seeing it in front of me, I knew that my post on cakes was going to be next. This one was an ice cream cake with thin wafer-like layers making up the top, bottom, and a middle layer that separated the two different ice cream flavors (Each hardly a 4th of an inch thick). The bottom 1/3 of each slice was a layer of rich fudgy chocolate ice cream, and the top 2/3 was vanilla. It was probably my favorite of the cakes I’ve had thus far; however, some of the others have been quite excellent as well.

One has almond slivers on the outside with chocolate icing, two layers of chocolate cake, and a middle layer of icing, chocolate chips, and the occasional cherry. At this point, I will interject that putting fruit in or on cakes is evidently quite popular here. Another one that I had had layers of vanilla cake, chocolate cake, bananas, cherries, and a layer of what tasted like Bavarian cream…. It was definitely the most interesting of the cakes I’ve had thus far. (In case I haven’t already mentioned it, Friday’s cake was either number 5 or 6 in Turkey almost all of which were eaten at the office).

It’s difficult to really describe, but cakes here are not what we think of in the US. They don’t typically have that moist, spongy, well… cake-like quality that we normally think of. Sometimes they have wafer-like layers like in the ice cream cake, and sometimes they are more like the consistency of sourdough bread (although, generally tasting considerably more like a desert). I have a strong inclination that I have not eaten my last piece of cake in Turkey, so only time will tell what other peculiarities that may arise with these confections. I will, however, keep you posted if any pop up.

In other, non-cake related news, I now have tickets to fly to Greece on July 8th; thus, my International adventure will be getting more international soon. We’ll have to see what adventures country number 18 will bring. Considering I’ll be there with AJ (a friend from UNC who is a classical archaeology major for those of you who do not know), I’m sure it will be profound, enlightening, and sophisticated with a healthy dash of delightfully ridiculous (I’m also hoping things will be abnormally cheap since Greece’s economy isn’t exactly thriving right now – I’ve been to plenty of developing countries, but an economically dwindling one, never). Pantheon, here we come...

Steve Jobs is ruining my Life, pasta, and peace offerings

As the title suggests, Steve Jobs is ruining my life. More specifically, my Mac has completely destroyed my PC tolerance. As I’m working with a PC at work for 9+ hours a day, I can’t help but let my mind float off from time to time imagining the scene from Office Space when they take the fax machine out to the middle of a field and beat the ever loving crap out of it. I can picture the entire thing in my mind while waiting for my email client to open up – what joy. Every 2 or three minutes or so, I long for my Mac, grieving lightly for it sitting at home all alone. It’s a very sad situation.

In other news, I have learned another peculiarity of Turkish – the word “Pasta.” It does not, as we North Americans may believe, refer to delicious Italian noodles smothered in tasty sauce. No, it means cake – like a birthday cake with the frosting and decoration. I learned this at an office function (note this is the 4th or 5th time I’ve had cake in Turkey, all of the with my office). Interestingly, I found out that cake is something more along the lines of a bunt cake; yes, they have them here. Apparently it’s only in neighboring Greece that they think a Bundt cake is broken and in need of a geranium in the middle… That or My Big Fat Greek Wedding lied to me – but of course, that couldn’t be the case. Movies are always right…. Right?

Anyway, it is now time to discuss today and my fiasco with Istanbul public transit. I’m not sure if it’s actually the system, my idiocy, or a combination thereof that was the culprit behind today; however, I spent over 6 hours on transit systems today, had to reload my transit card at least 3 times, and ended up missing work. The moral of that story is under no attempts attempt to pilgrimage out to the boonies where work is located on the outskirts of the city without speaking fluent Turkish, a cell phone that is fully charged, and … well, basically, just don’t plan to do anything during work ours other than take the company-run shuttles. I have now purchased a peace offering/token of apology to bring with me to work tomorrow. Based on the company-wide affinity for cake, I’m hoping the coconut wafers things I just bought go over well. If not, I know I love them and can, with little provocation, demolish them all completely on my own. The highlight of my day however, was my discovery (about 45 minutes ago) of a Starbucks not far from my house that not only has free wifi, but also stocks the Starbucks mug that I have been searching for since arriving in Istanbul!

As a final side note, I think I may have found a new hobby. That is, joining the surprisingly substantial number of people who critically post their sometimes-scathing commentary and heavily opinionated analyses on Wall Street Journal articles (at least in the “China” subheading). I recently read an article about “The 5 Myths about Business in China,” and decided to toss in my 2… no, more like 20 cents worth about my thoughts on the accuracy and legitimacy of the material discussed. I was highly inspired after some of the commentators said things that I know, having read far too much for my honors thesis, are completely untrue. I think it may be the beginnings of a new pastime….

At that, I’ll leave you for the time being. As I’ve said before, let me know what you want to know about, and I’ll try to oblige you. (I think my next post may be completely dedicated to the phenomenon of Turkish cakes…. They are half way between Chinese and American ones – It is kind of blowing my mind).

p.s. Above is Turkish Delight - aka, heaven in my mouth.

Weekend Adventures

Firstly, allow me to apologize for the great delay that has been associated with this post. This past weekend was packed full, and I am only just now sitting down to recount everything to you.

Friday was a glorious day. I did a lot of interesting work during the workday, and I made an interesting discovery. Online, I discovered that the French Cultural Institute of Istanbul was presenting a play that evening (about 2 hours after work, leaving me just enough time if I took the shuttle to the city center). The play was called Les Nègres(Link is the wikipedia page), and looked quite interesting. Arriving at Taksim Square 15 minutes before the play was set to begin, I briskly walked to the French Consulate, ducked inside and followed the stream of people heading towards the theatre. At first, I was a bit confused because there was no mention of ticket prices on any of the flyers I had seen for the play, so I wasn’t sure if it was ticketed or free. A few quick conversations in French and 10 lira later, I was in the theatre ready for the play to begin. I made one error in this whole situation. The whole cast was on stage, whistling and staring out at the audience as we filled in and moved down the rows. It was not until after the lights had dimmed that I realized the one detail that I had not ascertained prior…. Though it was a French play, it was in Turkish with French subtitles. An hour and a half later, I emerged, my brain fried from attempting to keep up with the rapid (sometimes seriously lagging) French subtitles while watching the bizarre events of the narrative unfold (including two rape scenes, and several members of the aristocracy acting out their own deaths in effigy with pupets dressed like them). To be entirely honest, I’m not sure how much of it I actually understood – I though I understood at least the vast majority of the French; however, with what was happening on stage, I can’t really be sure. {Note to self: find a copy of this play and figure out what it was that I saw….. no, experienced}

Saturday was my lazy day. After a full week of work, I ended up tossing my original plan to get up at 6:00am and go sight seeing out the window and, instead, joined the living sometime around noon. The was not lost however, after taking care of a few things and showering, I realized I had just enough time to poke my head in the Grand Bazaar for a bit before it closed at 7:30. I snagged a 1 lira döner which I devoured on my way to the metro bus – (I have adopted a no eating in the city center where things cost 6 times more policy, it’s serving me well – hopefully so well that I’ll be able to use the savings for a weekend in Serbia or, dare I say it, the UAE).

I was utterly unprepared for what I was going to experience in the Grand Bazaar. I was thinking something along the lines of the massive market I went to in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where I got my custom fitted suit for $70 US complete with knock offs, cheap touristy knickknacks, cramped little pathways, little food vendors, and a pleasantly rustic and reassuring omnipresent layer of grime. What I found was the upscale king of markets - Full sized cafés, stores with glass windows, rugs, pottery, cleanliness, and a delightful number of vendors all offering so graciously to give me the “friend price.” I flirted with the price of a couple of items, and after about 20 seconds (and prices falling by about 80% to well below what I would spend in the US, and almost to China but not quite Burma worthy prices) I knew that this place and I are going to have some history. I will be going back once my Turkish improves. If China taught nothing else, I know that if you haggle down in the native language, you get the “impressive foreigner” discount, which is, of course, my ultimate goal. The vendors better watch out…. I might just pull a Burma on them and start haggling across currencies and getting bulk discounts. If all else fails, I’ll always revert to my standard “oh, I can just it cheaper in china” comment and walk away, aka my favorite way to get that them to shave off those few extra numbers keeping me away from my dream price.

I then headed over to the Blue mosque and was thoroughly amazed at how beautiful the building was on the inside. The impressiveness of the structure from the outside is absolutely nothing compared to the ornamentations on the inside. It is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful structures I have even been inside of in my life – far outdoing Sacré Coeur, Notre Dame, the National Mosque of Malaysia, and even giving the Taj Mahal a serious run for its money.

Sunday adopted a slightly relaxed version of my original plan for Saturday. I got up at 9:00, picked up some essentials in my area, and was going to grab some lunch at the place that makes the tombik that I am in love with. Sadly, they were only just beginning to open when I walked past around 11:00, so I had lunch somewhere else – I don’t even remember where I was so sad to miss out on my tombik. I’ll go ahead and interject here that all day I looked forward to dinnertime at which point I was going to get my tombik on, maybe even two of them. I was looking forward to it, that is, until I cam back and discovered them closing shop. I almost cried. Instead I had another anticlimactic meal. Don’t worry, I got one on Monday and I inhaled it and all its gloriousness. The owner now knows me and greets me with a “Merhaba!” and a handshake each time I go.

Anyway… Saturday was my day to hit up the other tourist attractions that I had missed thus far. I needed some legitimacy to be added to my experience here. I couldn’t simply keep answering “I’ve walked around stuff and grocery shopped” as my answer to “Have you done anything in Istanbul? Seen any sights?” I headed off for the Hagia Sophia which is also now hanging out with the Blue Mosque on my list of most beautiful structures ever (I’m sure that they are unfairly waited due to the chronic love I have for Islamic art that was instilled in me at the Islamic Civilizations Museum in Kuala Lumpur). The structure was exquisite, and I used my usual method for getting someone to take a picture of me – that is, look for the person who has a more expensive camera than you do, and get them to do it. After the Singaporeans with the 2,000 dollar cannon that they didn’t really know how to use gave it a go, I got a much better one taken by the German guy with the Nikon version of my camera. He clearly uses the same method as me since he was looking around and then saw my DSLR, and asked me to take a photo of him and his friends. His handy work is now being displayed proudly on my Facebook, asserting to the work my presence in Istanbul.

After the Hagia Sophia, I went to the Topkapı Palace. As I walked around and saw the treasury, a nice view of the Bosporus, and several decorated rooms and structure, I started narrating in my head the exact post that I was going to leave for you all. It went something like this:

“Dear friends, family, and those of you how I don’t know but are, for some reason, enjoying my blog, I wish to impart upon you all a few words of advice regarding Istanbul. Entrance to the Hagia Sophia – 20 lira and totally worth every cent. Entrance to the Blue Mosque – free and obviously worthwhile. Entrance to the Topkapı Palace - 20 lira and completely not worth it. The artifacts were nothing that I wasn’t satisfied seeing on Wikipedia, and the decoration leaves a lot to be desired after the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. I could recommend some back streets that are far more entertaining and considerably cheaper”

About 2 minutes later, I ate those words. I got to several of the more intricately designed areas of the palaces, and the designs and calligraphy on the walls were stunning. The colors were brilliant, and it was completely amazing. I continued into another portion where they had, on display, a large number of religious artifacts included a stick that, according the placard, was Moses’ rod... I think I’m with the other American I heard saying “I seriously doubt that’s the real thing. It would be way too big of a deal.” I did, however, note that the rod did not say anything about being a replica while several other things in the exhibit mentioned that they were models or reproductions. This requires further investigation, and I’ll keep you posted if I figure anything out. If the rest of the palace didn’t suffice to make me eat my words, the harem (an additional 15 lira entry) was more spectacular than the rest of the palace combined. The decorations were incredible – definitely the best part of the palace.

After the palace, I decided to walk to Taksim to poke around a bit, and then wall my way up to Şişli where I would grab the metro bus back home. Along the way, I encountered a mall that seemed creepily Singaporean, complete with a Krispy Kreme, Claire’s, a Carl’s Junior, and even a mall Chinese food place (not something you’d find in a Singaporean mall). Note that I have yet to really find Chinese food in this country. It’s an ongoing search, which I feel, sadly, will end in vain. The few venues I have located thus far were all being run by Turkish people, and I’m just not sure if I can trust that. It’s ok, though, I’ll have my fill in August when I head back to China. I’m sorry for the long post, but I had to get caught up a bit. I’ll keep them coming more regularly over the next few days.

I’m now going to go back to my tea break (meaning that I’m sitting down consuming an entire pot of çay) and my epic cleaning of the kitchen while I wait for the internet to get back up and running. It was down when I came home from work today, and I’m hoping that it’ll magically come back sometime before I go to bed. If not, you’ll see this post soon enough.

Oh, and…. As I’m starting to get into that quotidian, living here kind of groove, let me know what you want me to talk about. More food? (I could happily oblige talking about the delicious carton of pistachio and vanilla ice cream that I finished off today). The climate? (Nice). The people? (Turkish). Work? (think office space, only less boring as I enjoy what I’m doing). You let me know, and I’ll yap at you about it. Until next time, I bid you all au revoir and (to those of you in North America) I remind you to rejoice in being able to use dryers to dry your clothes. Later this week, I'll have my laundry day, and I will be hanging mine up on the line.