Turkish Paradoxes

During the first month I was here I attended an Aiesec cultural seminar in which all of us, Turkish Aiesecers and trainees, discussed several issues, the most interesting being the paradoxes of Turkey. Here are some of paradoxes brought up. If anyone else has any other ideas...post it!

Paradox- a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true

1. For a 99% Muslim country, headscarves are banned in government buildings, educational institutions and in some businesses.

2. Music videos showing a lot of skin and people kissing where those acts are not common or tolerated in the society.

3. Turkish gay singers who rise to popularity in a country where homosexuality is not tolerated.

4. The best university in the country is a public one, but in order to have the required qualifications for acceptance, private schooling is necessary.


Bosphorus University

5. The working class can afford cell phones which are pretty expensive.

6. Having many fair skinned blondes TV personalities in a culture where those characteritics are not common.

7. In a country that is so noisy, public transportation is relatively quite.

Bucharest, Romania-Jan 24

What did I know about Romania before going there……let’s see…Dracula, pointy, bright coloured , leather flat shoes, and that the oldest woman to give birth, at 66, was from…. Bucharest. Well, as we pondered of how little we knew of the country we were about to visit on the bus, Nikki asked exactly what I was thinking, just “Who is Dracula?” Well, I decided to do some research.

Dracula
“Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the son of Vlad Dracul (1436-1442; 1443-1447) and grandson of Mircea the Old (1386-1418). Vlad Dracul was dubbed a knight of the Dragon Order by the Hungarian king. All the members of the order had a dragon on their coat of arms, and that is what brought him the nickname of Dracul (the Devil). Vlad the Impaler used to sign himself Draculea or Draculya - the Devil's son -, a name which was distorted into Dracula.



In order to escape the peril of losing his throne, Vlad would punish the Saxons. Sibiu and the neighbouring area were pillaged and burnt down by Vlad, and many Saxons were impaled. They say that impalling was one of Dracula's favourite punishments, but he was not the only one who made use of it at the time. Other German and Spanish princes would do the same. He used the method for boyars, thieves and criminals, Turks, Saxons and those who conspired against him; more than once it happened that a whole forest of sharp stakes with enemies' heads would rise around Târgoviste, the capital of Wallachia at the time. Horrified by these atrocities, the Saxons printed books and pamphlets in which they told about Vlad's cruelty. These booklets also reached Germany and Western Europe, where Dracula became known as a bloody tyrant.

In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker published Dracula, which made Vlad the Impaler famous world-wide. Stoker read the stories about Dracula printed in the 15th and 16th centuries and was struck by his acts of cruelty. He decided to make him his character; he also read several books about Transylvania (a name of Latin origin, meaning "the country beyond the forests"), and thought that this "exotic" land would make a proper setting for Dracula's deeds.”

Impale- To pierce with a sharp stake or point.

Read more
http://www.rotravel.com/romania/history/app1.php

I bet you all wanted to know that eh? It’s okay, it’s what I’m here for….lol.

Fashion
I am happy to report that the shoe style has changed. All the girls are super pimped out in tight ankle length jeans, revealing a colourful pair of eye poppin stilettos. They all seem to have long, silky hair and are gorgeous. The guy cuties….on the other hand….were more difficult to spot. The three guys we stayed with (Alex, Adi and Dan), of course, were the exception, with their stylish clothes and sophistication.

Music
Our Night at the Roxbury began in a crowed rock bar, and progressed to a fun dance club. The music played in Bucharest is really good for the club. It’s all hip-hop dance music and it is played everywhere, from the taxi radio, to the breakfast diner, to the ice-rink, malls and….everywhere. It was a nice change to the Euro dance, pop music we here in the bars in Taksim.

Random things
 The Romanian language is latin and sounds very close to Italian. I had always thought it a slavic language.
 The people are a mix of Romans and Slavic.
 A popular drink: boiled red wine, added slices of apple and cinnamon…..hmmm.
 The people in Bucharest seemed to have a bit of attitude…not very friendly…maybe it was because we were foreigners.
 Most people speak at least a bit of English.
 The Romanian humour takes a bit of cultural understanding, it's a bit sarcastic and a bit self-deprecating.

Many Thanks
...to Alex, the former Istanbul trainee we went to visit, for having us. To his friends Adi and Dan, who were kind enough to let us crash at their flat. And to Nikki for someone to laugh with about our silliness and the silliness around us.

Romanian links
www.aboutromania.com
www.rotravel.com
www.romania.org
www.caferomania.com

MUSIC AND CLUBS-Dec.27

I bought a really cool CD from a Turkish band called MANGA. They’re rock/funk rappers with a bit of a tecno-y sound. I guess I can’t really describe their music but it’s HOT!



The music videos of Turkish Pop all tend to be the same: some kind of love story with a hot girl trying to be overly sexy by giving a smouldering look into the camera for a looong time, guy trying to be overly sexy by staring at the camera and singing about the girl he is pining for……ya that’s about it. I actually like the music but the videos are pretty funny, those singers need to get some new directors or something man cause it’s a bit of overkill. I think I might actually be missing the lack of all things Britney over here…lol.

I feel pretty out of touch with the North America music scene, so y’all need to keep me updated. I checked the top 5 songs on the Hot 89.9 website the other day, and I didn’t know any of the songs. I wish I could listen to it live but I don’t have speakers on my comp at work .

The music at the clubs depends on where you go. The club we always go to here in Taksim, Sawady (5 floors) has different music on each floor (no cover and open until 6am). Generally they play: Euro dance and pop, Turkish pop, 80s, some mainstream hip hop (Black Eyed Peas, 50 cents). They are a few hip hop bars….I’ve been to one…I’m waiting to go to the others. And there’s a Babylon club here too!! (www.babylon.com.tr )Ya, too bad the cover charge is usually around $20 CDN on weekends, which makes it waaayy too expensive for us poor trainees. But for New Year’s Eve we are hitting up that club and it should be a kick ass party!

The nightlife here is insane with Taksim being the centre of clubs, bars, and restaurants. Too bad we are too poor to fully enjoy it! Most places have a cover charge on the weekends (10-20M TL, the same number in CDN dollars) so we usually go to the places which have no cover, and there’s only a few so our selection is pretty limited. Other bars we go to a lot are: Montreal (a nice bar/café with cheap beer) and Madrid (2 M tequila shots baby!!). But we always manage to have fun and dance till the early mornin’.

MERRY XMAS - Dec. 24

Renan and I had a chill week. We went around Istanbul for a few days and then went to visit the calcium rich stones of Pamukkale, the Roman ruins of Ephesus and Izmir, the third largest city. These are very touristic places and it was nice to go in the off season when it is less crowded. It wasn’t warm, but the weather was alright, not too cold. Renan like Turkey a lot, even though he couldn’t understand a darn thing. My limited Turkish went a long way though. I bought a learn Turkish book to make more of an effort to learn the language.

It is Xmas Eve today and I am so lucky that Xmas day falls on a Saturday. I’m feeling the Xmas spirit and have had Xmas carols in my head the past few days. It’s ironic that the country St. Nick comes from doesn’t celebrate Xmas…..Heheh well, that doesn’t stop us. Us, trainees, are planning a nice dinner and party, Secret Santa, Opera and clubbing filled weekend. This is the first time I’ve celebrated Xmas away from home. Hope you all are enjoying the holidays and Merry Christmas!!

Did you know that Jolly Ol St. Nick came from Turkey? and other interesting Xmas things...

Did you know…that the Jolly Ol St. Nick came from Turkey; that Romans celebrated the birthday of their Sun God, Mithras, on the 25th, and that the pagan Druids associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga?

Taken from:
http://wilstar.com/xmas/xmassymb.htm

The Date of Christmas

The idea to celebrate Christmas on December 25 originated in the 4th century. The Catholic Church wanted to eclipse the festivities of a rival pagan religion that threatened Christianity's existence. The Romans celebrated the birthday of their sun god, Mithras during this time of year. Although it was not popular, or even proper, to celebrate people's birthdays in those times, church leaders decided that in order to compete with the pagan celebration they would themselves order a festival in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Although the actual season of Jesus' birth is thought to be in the spring, the date of December 25 was chosen as the official birthday celebration as Christ's Mass so that it would compete head on with the rival pagan celebration. Christmas was slow to catch on in America. The early colonists considered it a pagan ritual. The celebration of Christmas was even banned by law in Massachusetts in colonial days.

Mistletoe and Holly
Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They would gather this evergreen plant that is parasitic upon other trees and used it to decorate their homes. They believed the plant had special healing powers for everything from female infertility to poison ingestion. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe probably derived from this belief. The early church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins. Instead, church fathers suggested the use of holly as an appropriate substitute for Christmas greenery.

Poinsettias
Poinsettias are native to Mexico. They were named after America's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett. He brought the plants to America in 1828. The Mexicans in the eighteenth century thought the plants were symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem. Thus the Poinsettia became associated with the Christmas season. The actual flower of the poinsettia is small and yellow. But surrounding the flower are large, bright red leaves, often mistaken for petals.

The Christmas Tree
The Christmas Tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was common for the Germanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside and out, with roses, apples, and colored paper. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree with candles. While coming home one dark winter's night near Christmas, he was struck with the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home. He duplicated the starlight by using candles attached to the branches of his indoor Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was not widely used in Britain until the 19th century. It was brought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the 1820's.

Xmas
This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the word Christ in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word. Although the early Christians understood that X stood for Christ's name, later Christians who did not understand the Greek language mistook "Xmas" as a sign of disrespect.

The Candy Cane
Candy canes have been around for centuries, but it wasn't until around 1900 that they were decorated with red stripes and bent into the shape of a cane. They were sometimes handed out during church services to keep the children quiet. One story (almost certainly false) that is often told about the origin of the candy cane is as follows:

In the late 1800's a candy maker in Indiana wanted to express the meaning of Christmas through a symbol made of candy. He came up with the idea of bending one of his white candy sticks into the shape of a Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols of Christ's love and sacrifice through the Candy Cane. First, he used a plain white peppermint stick. The color white symbolizes the purity and sinless nature of Jesus. Next, he added three small stripes to symbolize the pain inflicted upon Jesus before His death on the cross. There are three of them to represent the Holy Trinity. He added a bold stripe to represent the blood Jesus shed for mankind. When looked at with the crook on top, it looks like a shepherd's staff because Jesus is the shepherd of man. If you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter J symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name. The candy maker made these candy canes for Christmas, so everyone would remember what Christmas is all about.

Santa Claus
The original Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in Turkey in the 4th century. He was very pious from an early age, devoting his life to Christianity. He became widely known for his generosity for the poor. But the Romans held him in contempt. He was imprisoned and tortured. But when Constantine became emperor of Rome, he allowed Nicholas to go free. Constantine became a Christian and convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Nicholas was a delegate to the council. He is especially noted for his love of children and for his generosity. He is the patron saint of sailors, Sicily, Greece, and Russia. He is also, of course, the patron saint of children. The Dutch kept the legend of St. Nicholas alive. In 16th century Holland, Dutch children would place their wooden shoes by the hearth in hopes that they would be filled with a treat. The Dutch spelled St. Nicholas as Sint Nikolaas, which became corrupted to Sinterklaas, and finally, in Anglican, to Santa Claus. In 1822, Clement C. Moore composed his famous poem, "A Visit from St. Nick," which was later published as "The Night Before Christmas." Moore is credited with creating the modern image of Santa Claus as a jolly fat man in a red suit.