The thing that makes starting to write difficult is where to begin. One of my students asked me, “how can I improve my writing?” and I responded, “the number one thing to start doing is to write. Write a journal. Write poems. Write songs. Write reviews. Write even when you hate what you’re writing. Just write everything down.” So now I find myself taking my own advice, even though I’m not sure where to start.
My summer was lovely. I did not go home to Southern California, but resolved to stay nearby, not going further than Europe. I spent some time in Portugal at a yoga retreat and exploring incredible beaches. I went to a party town in Turkey, Bodrum, next to the Aegean, with friends. I had a romantic week with my Turkish boyfriend in the most beautiful place in Turkey I have seen thus far, a little town on the Mediterranean known as Kas. I even made it to Poland to see my friend Kristen's new digs. It was a summer of beaches and relaxation. Except perhaps, for the coup.
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| Yoga with a view outside of Lisbon |
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| Me and Caner enjoying Bodrum |
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| Wee! |
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| Leaping into the Med in Kas |
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| Wroclaw, Poland with Kristen and Carlos |
I was home in my apartment in Ankara that evening. My boyfriend was browsing twitter and said to me casually, “the military has taken a bridge in Istanbul.” My response was something along the lines of, “taken? What? From who? What does that even mean?” I had no idea what he was talking about until I finally looked up some American or British news source that said a military coup was taking place. We heard jets- so many, so loud. My dishes shook in my kitchen a few times. I was maybe a teensy bit scared, but where I live is pretty isolated and my man was around so mostly I was just shocked that it was happening.
I still think the strangest part of the coup was the fact that the next day, everything was business as usual. People went to Starbucks. Walked their dogs and picked up the poop. My bf (from here on I’ll refer to him by his name, Caner- pronounced John-are) and I stayed indoors just to play it safe and watched Pixar movies. So although the whole coup experience was as mild as it could possibly be, now I can say I was “in Ankara during the coup,” which sounds pretty badass.
School this year has subsequently taken a turn for the worse. Since the coup, there has been a state of emergency declared and all our new hires are, as of now, still waiting on visas. Our school is ridiculously understaffed, putting totally unqualified people in positions they have no training in (one example is last year’s art teacher now teaching a second grade class) out of desperation. Administration has also been piling on ambitious new initiatives and has upped the amount of meetings for us, while also trying to increase the amount we teach. The result is that I now have twice the amount of bullshit administrative garbage busy-paperwork to do, and ⅓ the amount of time to do that on top of grading and planning. Last year, I never took work home. This year, I take work home regularly. What it boils down to is that I refuse to put in minimal effort for my students. I want to work as hard as I can for them, and if that means I need to work for 3 hours on Sunday, which I did today, then that’s how it has to be.
It hasn't all been work work work. Caner and I attended my friend Pam's wedding in a little mountain town outside Madrid, then took a couple days in Berlin for fun. One of my other long time friends, Robby, came to visit me and we had a good time in Istanbul. My mom even stopped by and we took a little jaunt to Vienna.
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| I'm next to the bride on the left. Beautiful bride, beautiful wedding. |
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| Caner taking me for a ride in Retiro Park, Madrid |
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| Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin |
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| Me and Robby outside Aya Sofia |
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| Me and Mom at Belvedere, Vienna |
Now I’m motivated. I’m motivated to go to move on to a new school, a new country, a new life. I’ve already started searching for jobs and I’m registered for the International School/Teacher Job Fair in London. I’m used to applying for jobs which I am under qualified for (I was under qualified for the job I have now, as well as the one before this), but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that I’m actually qualified for teaching positions in amazing places. 2 years international teaching experience? An American passport? A valid teaching license? It’s all in the bag! I never thought in a million years I’d be able to apply to schools in Europe, and now I’m finding so many American schools looking for a candidate just like me and it’s making me so excited I start feeling overwhelmed- It can really happen! I can move to another place! I’m even looking at schools in the US. Why not? It might be nice to in my home country for a couple years. And if it’s not, I can always leave.
“What about your boyfriend?” I want him to come, he wants to come. The only problem is we can’t prepare beforehand, really. We have to see if/where I get offers and go from there. I’m not worried about that. I believe everything is going in a wonderful direction.
That’s where I am. Not happy at my job and having my work/life balance out of whack, but extremely optimistic for the future. I’m going to kick this year’s ass, teach my students to the best of my ability so I can do right by them and be proud, then move on to bigger and better things. Let’s do this, life. Bring it on.
