Blog entry, Stardate 29.12.08

Finally, an update. I’m spending yet another week on vacation in Izmir. Except for today. See, when Oğuz and I were planning this week, I kinda forgot that I had a teacher training class today. I thought I had the whole week off! No, I only had off from my observations, but I did have a 3-hour class this afternoon. We had already bought our tickets and everything, so in the end we decided I should fly back to Ankara for the day and then return to Izmir for the rest of the week.

Sounds crazy, but it turned out really well because suddenly the department decided that jumping through my bureaucratic hoops had become URGENT and so Oğuz and I were up until 12:30 am last night translating my diploma and my CV from English to Turkish. Have you ever tried to translate a diploma? It’s pretty difficult. I mean, it took me a little head-scratching just to translate it into real English! Here’s what I mean:

Original text excerpt:

In recognition of the successful completion of the requisite course of study and on the nomination of the Faculty, by virtue of the authority granted by charter of the State of Maryland to the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland System, hereby confers upon, [insert name here] the degree of [insert degree here] with all the honors, rights, and privileges thereunto appertaining.

Oğuz asked if I could simplify it a bit so he could translate it easier, and here’s what I came up with:

Because he/she did what he/she needed to do, and because we (the Royal we of the University) can, we decided to give [this degree] to [insert name here], with a side of whatever that actually means in real life.

But hey, I guess that’s why you don’t see any elegantly crafted works of functional literature/art like the Constitution anymore. ::shrug::

So yeah, we didn't simplify it quite THAT much, and the translating was interesting. Fun Fact: There is no Turkish equivalent to the American "county"! The closest word is İlçe, which I realize means nothing to you, but try to imagine the 20-minute-conversation/debate Oğuz had with his friends that led up to us choosing that word.

Amendment to earlier Fun Fact: The Ikea in İzmir DOES, I repeat, DOES serve Swedish meatballs. The cause of the error was Oğuz misunderstanding my question of “Are Swedish meatballs served at Turkish Ikeas?” as “Do Swedish people serve at Turkish Ikeas?” Of course they don’t employ Swedish people in Turkey, was I daft? But it turns out the Turks are big fans of meatballs in any form. The editor apologizes for the misinformation.

Back to my solo Ankaran adventure. Most recently that adventure required me to tromp across campus in inappropriate footwear and then wait for 35 minutes at the bus station as snow gently fell all around and the tenperature hovered around -1 C. When the bus did come, I couldn’t sit down, so I tried to stand where a heater would point toward my frostbitten toes. I thought it would be a short trip, since where I was going was quite near to campus, but the bus meandered o’er hill and dale, picking up seemingly countless frumpy, bag-toting women wearing a parade of gawdy, shiny polyester headscarves. The bus became more and more crowded, and with every additional stop made and each additional rider that piled on, my eyes widened with impatience, I skooched closer to my window, and I felt a definite phoneboothy dejavu. Plus now it was dark, and I was tired, and cold, and I didn’t really know if I would recognize my stop, so I periodically wiped the condensation off the nearest window and strained to see where the hell we were now. That big ole bus depot was a welcome sight. Now I'm on one of the cozy, expensive Havaş buses that go between the airport and the big ole bus depot. I can’t wait to take a nap in the airport...