THOUGHTS OF AN EXCHANGE STUDENT IN TURKEY
Almost three months have passed since I got off the plane at the Gaziantep Airport and my “Adventure Turkey”
began. On the one hand, it feels like more has happened than could ever fit into these few months, but on the
other hand the time seems to slip through my fingers like the lentils piled in the drums at the weekly bazaars.
Not everything in Turkey was new to me because I knew its culture a lot from vacations and my almost entirely
Turkish family. However, I had almost forgotten the Turkish language when I came here, so the first visit was still
full of excitement and surprises.
First, the school system was completely new to me. Works like dershane and etüt I heard here for the first time.
There are no direct translations in German because in Germany students do all their homework at home, and
extra lessons like in dershane are only rarely taken. It was also strange having no choice what to wear in the
morning because I have to wear a school uniform. This was new to me, as well as word battles with the teachers
and laughing so much with them during the lessons.
I noticed early that—even more than education—family has a huge importance in the Turkish society, where
relatives spend much more t ime together than in my country. I have to say that because of this I have a much
smaller private sphere here. I was, for example, surprised in the beginning about never closing the rooms’ doors,
even when one goes to sleep. However, having less space also means automatically being closer to each other.
As someone living in a country which had never dealt with idols in a healthy way, I was at first shocked about the
love and admiration Turks feel for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In Germany there is no person whose picture is
printed on money and fan T-shirts at the same time, and whose signature people choose as a tattoo motif.
After this time of observing and becoming familiar with the new surroundings and getting to know people, my
new everyday life has begun for me and I feel really comfortable in the community of school and family. As my
Turkish gets better every day, I also feel more and more Turkish. Experiencing one’s roots, and at the same time
feeling at home in a foreign country, feels great. Because of all the new things I have seen, heard, tasted and felt,
I am enriched. I also feel that I understand some things better since I see them from the viewpoint of two
different cultures. I want to recommend the AFS exchange program or any other possibility to go abroad,
because it is really worth it.- Meyra Çoban, AFS Student from Germany
To love. To be loved.
To never forget your own insignificance.
To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of
life around you.
To seek joy in the saddest places.
To pursue beauty to its lair.
To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple.
To respect strength, never power.
Above all, to watch.
To try and understand.
To never look away.
And never, never, to forget. -Leandro
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ITIS Cannizzaro International Club
The International Club is active
throughout the year with the aim of:
- Supporting all international initiatives
(online collaborative projects and
cultural exchanges, face-to-face) that
take place within the various classes
- Creating local initiatives to raise the
funds needed to implement the
initiatives.
To learn more about the project and the
educational aims of ITIS Cannizzaro