Merhaba! (Hello!)

       Well I have been in Ankara for a few days now, and I am pretty much fluent! I wish! Though the lack of my Turkish language knowledge is quite frustrating, other than that everything has gone pretty smoothly thus far. Thank you so much for all your wonderful thoughts throughout this time; I know they are what carry me through it! The flight here couldn't have gone any better. No missing luggage, friendly people on all the planes; the most confusing airport was the one in Chicago and everything was in English! Thanks America! My apartment is quite comfy and very close to the school. The other new teachers her  e have been great companions to explore Ankara with (a.k.a. get lost). Thus far we have successfully shopped at the local grocery store, IKEA, and the mall. No, I am not on a world shopping tour; you just have to get a lot of stuff when you move to a new country.  I have successfully ordered wonderful Turkish food from a restaurant (tavuk Şiş- chicken kebab).  We walk pretty much everywhere, but we have somewhat successfully ridden in a taxi and a dolmuş (small Turkish bus). Locals have been very patient with us all. There aren’t too many non-Turkish people in Ankara so we do a lot of hand gestures and shaking of heads. I really want to learn the language as fast as possible, but must remind myself that it won’t happen overnight. I just hope for courage to use the Turkish I know and am learning when I am out and about. It is a very humbling experience for me, but very good too. It has given me great respect for the people trying to learn English in America! Well I work tomorrow morning, so I will keep this short, but I wanted to share some pictures of my new home and city.   Görüşürüz (See you later!) Love CC

My New School!

My classroom- Lots of windows and no air- conditioning!

Middle of the school- All the different countries the students are from! SOOOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!!

A huge man-made "forest" a block from our house. This Idaho girl can still get her nature fix!

mosque in our neighborhood

Our apartment balcony

West view from the balcony

West view

East view from our balcony

Goodbyes

As I have been preparing to leave for Turkey in just a SHORT time, I have of course been thinking about all the stuff I will really miss that I know Turkey will not have (no matter how cool it may be). So I thought I would list the top five things I will miss when I am in Turkey because i know you are all just dying to know!

5. My Sweet Ride -My 99' Lumina also known by many as The Shuttle because she is so fast, it is like being in a space shuttle. She has been a reliable companion on my many road trips where I would listen to books on tape (yep I said books on TAPE- I am that cool!)

 4. Idaho Sunsets- I know everyone thinks their town/state has the best sunsets, but I am sorry I am have never seen a sunset anywhere that is as breathtaking as an Idaho sunset. (This isn't even the a great picture of one)

3. The Great Northwest Outdoors- As John Muir once said or wrote or whispered or thought or some how communicated "The mountains are calling and I  must go." I am so fortune to have friends and family who hear the mountains calling too, so I have had many great adventures in the Northwest. I feel so fortunate to have grown up here.

  2. My adoptive Dogs, Sadie and Autumn- Yes Autumn I never really appreciated your "Sneaky Frenches" or Sadie I know you are too cool to even acknowledge me most of the time let alone accept me as your friend, but you two canines have enriched my life and your furry backs have collected my tears many a times because sometimes you gave the best hugs when I was blue.










1. The biggest blessing anyone could have- my wonderful friends and family- You are a group of loving, inspiring, unique, and yes sometimes weird individuals and that is why I love you.

I can survive without my car and sunsets, but it will be hard to leave you amazing people. Your love, support, and encouragement is what has made this new adventure in my life a reality,and I feel so fortunate to have all of you  in my life. I love you all and take you in my heart as I go half way across the world!

To Mississippi and back

Dear friend Jill and I trying fried green tomatoes!

Wow, I am not very good at this blogging thing! It is hard to write about life as it is happening, but I will try. So in the midst of gearing up for moving to Turkey to teach and preparing myself for saying goodbye to all my loved ones, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Southaven, Mississippi, a town right next to Memphis, Tennessee, for the last two weeks. Why? Well it wasn't because I wanted to see Elvis's Graceland, or see where



Memphis

MLKJ was shot, or was dying to see the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel, or listen to some tunes while I walked down Beale Street, or dip my feet in the mighty Mississippi. Though I did enjoy doing all of the above, touring Memphis was not the reason I went to this part of the  states. I went to Mississippi for the one and only PFO (Pre-Field Orientation). At PFO I was able to learn more about Oasis, fellowship with the 98 other teachers going overseas to teach including the five other teachers going to Ankara, Turkey, learn about the students I will be teaching, and yes eat good old southern cuisine breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It was two whole weeks full of vital information for teaching overseas that I feel is helping me see this new step in my life as a reality that will come

Roomies at PFO

very, very soon! I have less than a month before I leave now and though I enjoyed PFO, I am so glad to be back in my neck of the woods to spend the little time I have left here with my loved ones. So if I am not able to see you face-to-face before Ileave,  know I love you and my thoughts are with you!

-CC

Here We Go...

     If you ask my closest friends, they will tell you I am not exactly savvy when it comes to technology or social networking (Is that even the correct word-social networking?), so blogging is a new concept to me. I am not sure what exactly to write about. I just figure I will write stuff that I would personally find interesting about this adventure and would want to read about. Of course, who doesn't like to read about themselves, so my plan may not work.  I will try my best though.

    If you are reading this blog, you probably already know I am in the process of packing up my whole life here in the states to teach middle school and high school English at an international school in Ankara, Turkey (See cool pink map of Turkey; Ankara is the giant star).Though I don’t leave for a couple more months, it has been a crazy whirlwind of making to-do lists, preparing myself to say tearful goodbyes, scheduling my couple months of summer, figuring out what parts of my life deserve to go in the two suitcases I can bring,  while still teaching my amazing 8^th graders here in Pocatello for the last few weeks of school. I don’t think my brain has rested since April when I found out I would be moving. I know it will all come together nonetheless.Though the process has been stressful, there have been some fun parts to it also.     

   For example, after I found out I would be moving to Turkey, I gradually started telling the people in my life. First of course my parents, then close friends and family, then I moved on to my current boss and coworkers. Finally, a week or so ago, I decided to tell my current students about the move. I figured it wouldn't  be a huge deal since they are all moving up to high school next year. I wouldn't see many of them after this year anyway. Overall they all seem very excited for me, but I must say, some of their questions have been interesting. I thought I would share a few:

Most common question:

                  “Are you going to eat a lot of turkey there?” (Yes it is the  only food available in the country! I  feel I need a drum set to carry around, so I can do the ba-doom-tssh after such a great joke every time I hear it!)

Funniest response so far: 

                   "Isn't that by Kentucky?" (A student asked this in all seriousness)

Latest hilarity they have conjured up:

                 "Does it smell like Thanksgiving in here?" (They say this every time they walk in to my classroom) 

 
     Oh the joys of teaching; you never know what you are going to get! I know deep down that what all of my loving students are trying to say is “Awesome, Miss Campbell! Congratulations! We are so excited for you! You are so inspiring, how you are following your dreams! It makes me want to follow mine!….” At least that is what I tell myself. Either way, I am sure going to miss them!   

     Thanks for reading this first post if you made it this far! Also thanks to all of you for all your love and support! I know your thoughts are with me, and mine are with you! I hope this post is acceptable to all you blog readers; please tune in for more! If you enter your email in the top, you will get email alerts when I post again. (I think!)
CC