01.08.2007 Moo Gaz etc...

Continues from 24.07.2007 Marmaris

Wednesday 01 August 2007 - The Cow Parade project gets underway at Tepe Nautilus. My intention is paint in public and practise Turkish with the punters. You can follow more detail at NPP Moo Gaz

Tuesday 07 August 2007 - Another lesson at Concept Languages. Gokce turned up to film teachers Arzu and Hande. We then went to Tepe Nautilus where I continued with Moo Gaz.

Thursday 09 August 2007 - Nilay sent through a useful online link to Turkish exercises...
http://users.pandora.be/orientaal/classroom.html

Sunday 12 August 2007 - While painting at Tepe Nautilus I received sms messages from the UK regarding the opening game of the season: Arsenal 0-1, then 1-1 and finally a last gasp 2-1. Good. A positive result. All 3 cows are under control, but I feel my Turkish is "resting". It is very difficult to engage with the public while painting. I want most of the work completed within the next week or so. It involves concentration and not talking too much, especially to mothers who get stroppy when they realise their precious little offspring cannot paint today and the bloody artist is a stupid foreigner anyway. I should practise my Turkish more, but I must get this painting done too.

Tuesday 14 August 2007 - Milliyet newspaper mention our cows at Tepe Nautilus...

Monday 27 August 2007 - The Tepe Nautilus project is completed and 3 cows remain in-situ there until the end of October: NPP Moo Gaz. Nilay worked very well and has been a huge help. I believe we are all please with the results. Nihat bought me Harry Potter book 7 as a token of thanks - cool! I've cut my Turkish lessons down to one a week just to keep my hand in while swamped under with fibre-glass bovine matters. I shall attempt to get back on top of my Turkish again. I do not know if this has benefited or hindered my Turkish learning. I know I've lost the focus I had during the first month. It began to go off the rails after Poland. Too many external matters have been distracting my focus on just learning.

Wednesday 29 August 2007 - Nilay has contacted a language school boasting the use of ex-secret service learning techniques. Interesting. Concept Languages have been a revelation and I continue to attend lessons there, but additional sources of inspiration are always welcome. The weakness has been my the organisation of my production and "secret service" techniques could kick start momentum and fun within the project.

Monday 03 September 2007 - Nilay and visited Firat, manager of Alta Egitim where they profess to use ex-secret service techniques to improve language learning.I saw this article in the TDN...Businessmen learn English with secret agent techniques
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=81558
It is apparently based upon Suggestopedia, a teaching method developed by Bulgarian psychologist Georgi Lozanov based on the study of Suggestology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suggestopedia

Thursday 27 September 2007 - Latest lesson with Mine at Concept Languages. I missed my lesson last week due to illness. Today we studied yaparin, gelerim, okurum etc...

Sunday 04 November 2007 - The 5 day secret agent technique course with Alta Egitim looks to be a non-starter. The Ritz-Carlton offered to sponsor a meeting room for the project, but Alta Egitim have chosen to decline the opportunity. Pity.
My lessons have been put to one side for now as I focus on exhibiting and generating enough business to be able to stay in Turkey and keep all projects alive. I've made a return and much more positive visit to Marmaris. Netsel Marmaris Marina hired a camera and cameraman for the exhibition Marmaris? Yeah! http://nppmarmarisyeah.blogspot.com/

Go to Learning Turkish homepage

24.07.2007 Marmaris

Continued from 18.07.2007 Eskisehir

Saturday 21 July 2007 - Fehmican, Gokce and myself head for Marmaris which involves a 5.00hr flight from Ataturk Airport to Dalman. I took my first Havaş from Dalman airport to Marmaris. We were the only 3 on board and I can't remember anything because I woke up in Marmaris. It seemed it was a smooth and comfortable 23,00 YTL per head ride. During the day I walked along Marmaris water front with Gokce. Not impressed and the evening proved just as disappointing. The natural location is wonderful, but the mixture of tourists and corresponding local nose for a piece of the business, endless offers of English breakfast at 5YTL were given a side berth.

Sunday 22 July 2007 - Turkish elections. AKP walked it as I expected. CHP blew it and MHP did OK. Additional independents make up the seats.

Monday 23 July 2007 - Having experienced the Marmaris sea-front both during the day and night, it was a relief to hire a boat and go out into the bay for the afternoon. Captain Imdat and his family cordially obliged.

Fehmi makes space on the table for the camera while mum gives Turku of spot of Kuafor treatment.

I give my skinny white bod a taste of sunshine and sea water. Absolutely fabulous. I needed this.

Gokce rescued this fellow from the water.


Fehmican and myself being daft while the captain's son probably thinks - right bunch here.


Captain Imdat. He ran a smooth and friendly ship and cooked up fish for lunch. Can't be bad eh!


The delightful Turku. She talked to me on camera and really showed how even more child like my Turkish is than hers. We did have a funky dance together on deck too though and Fehmi filmed it.


Back at dock, Fehmi finds a mountain bike or what ever you call it and he and Gokce spend the next half an hour completely enthralled in this bicycling pleasure. This shot of Gokce's hair in mid air was very happy making for Fehmi...

....and he was even more pleased with this one.

Tuesday 24 July 2007 - Having had a splendid afternoon out on the water yesterday, we hit dry land again, with a bit of a thud.
We set off around Marmaris town centre. Stopped by a statue of Ataturk where fountaining waters periodically erupt, then headed for the castle where display information mentioned Knights around the Templar period and how they were at odds with the Ottoman Sultan and all kinds of.... However, my spoken Turkish was dire. I just couldn't hear nor talk adequate Turkish.

Nevermind, returned to base, collected Mrs. Gozum (translates as Mrs. "my eye") and went to find Cleopatra's Island. Well, first their was more complaining about how "çok sicak - so hot" it was and even the neighbours came round to join in the complaining about how hot it was. Even my limited Turkish could understand these sentiments. I went to bed and listened to teachers on my mp3 headphone machine until Gokce collected me to leave.


Rules and regulations - don't do anything to or on Cleopatra's beach; I wondered if the warning sign above says don't look at it; it was about removing the sand from the beach, sitting on the beach or laying on the beach all of which are forbidden. What's the point of having a beach? I never think about taking away sand from a beach - but, because they had kindly put a sign up about it, a challenge was almost being inferred. So, we stole loads of Cleo's sand and I'll keep it in little jars titles Cleo's Sand, very valuable... Not really.

Off the team trundles to Cleopatra's theatre where she originally wrote Romeo & Juliet before leaving it to generations who later ended up living in Stratford, Brittania.

I was in a really obstrofocus mood by now and cynical about cynicism. Fehmi said "Turkce soyle Ned" as he pointed the camera at me to which I eventually flipped with a barrage of abuse in Turkish about not wanting to speak bloody Turkish, English or any other f------ language so f--- off and leave me be. Fehmi said "Ned, you just spoke fluent Turkish!"


The water was fantastic, the sand was glorious to touch underfoot and we had about 15 minutes to enjoy before the last boat left the island.

The Gozums aboard boat.


The glorious waters I was longing to jump into, but the boat was not ours to command.


Back at base, another Gozum get together with sax, guitar and drum. Excellent fun and excellent food - home made kofte, salad and the rest.

Wednesday 25 July 2007 - I returned to Istanbul and although my hosts had been quite wonderful, I was looking forward to home sweet home and a rest from the road.

Turkish airlines sandwich and cake. It was actually quite fresh and the bread reasonably bread like.

In small writing it states "Our meals do not contain pork products." Something about this annoyed me; the pettiness of what we do and what we don't do and how everybody else should respect what we do and don't do. Maybe I was just tired, but I couldn't help thinking of home made roast pork!
Saturday 28 July 2007 - Attended a boat party this evening with Fehmican's band Gevende performing live on deck. We filmed night footage on board, but then I was trapped. The boat went all the way out to Buyukada (Big Island), the band did not play until at least a couple of hours into the evening and even after 2 sets I still had not heard their one excellent catchy tune which is featured on the Learning Turkish teaser film. I ended up being so bored and tired I went below deck and found a bed. Practise Turkish? I was woken about 3am as the boat arrived at Kabatas and spent the next couple of days in bed with the flu.
People appear to have no concept of entertainment - this was not a party, it was torture. The stage was perfectly set for a wonderful night - the band should have come on, blasted out one hot set including their one catchy tune and returned everyone to shore by midnight. I find this sloppy organisation infuriating. The talent is there, but the planning and organisation appalling. These young trendy people should take a few tips from Tayyip and his cronies. At least the AKP know how to organise themselves and realise the goal.

Go to 01.08.2007 Moo Gaz

18.07.2007 Eskisehir

Continued from 14.07.2007 Istanbul street markets

Wednesday 18 July 2007 - Fehmican, Asli and myself headed for Eskisehir (pronounced Eski-shey-hear, written Eskişehir).

Early evening we walked around Eskisehir town centre in order I might enter into conversation with the local Turkish people. For example, I wandered into Studyo Dekor (0222 221 44 68), a shop providing photographic services and met Erkan Ordukiran and his co-worker. I introduced myself and the project and the camera into the shop to film the moment. Generally though, my understanding and spoken Turkish was depressingly poor. In the classroom I had achieved one standard, but in the field, I was suddenly reduced to a much lower level.

Thursday 19 July 2007 - We did find a hire-vehicle and celebrated with a fantastic Turkish breakfast; cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, bali kaymak (balı kaymak - honey and goat's cream).
Leaving Eskisehir. There flags everywhere because of the up coming elections.

Fehmican's university, though this is as close as we got.

Small town of Seyit Gazi with monastery at the top of the hill. If you look above the green house to picture centre, you can see the monastery. Below we see Asli and Fehmican at the monastery; and when I find the correct name of it.

We then toured rooms of coffins and took shoes off and on. A final room containing coffins and pigeon poo was more than enough. However, on departing a magical moment happened. I heard an 80 year old chap sitting under a tree with his mate singing. I introduced myself and he sang for us on camera...

After the monastery we trucked on back down the road, Fehmi behind the wheel. After leaving Seyit Gazi, Fehmi noticed the gas was getting low. We stopped and I asked these youngsters where the nearest petrol station might be. They said 40km and Fehmi said we'll be OK.

We stopped to ask our way to Cifteler - written Çifteler in Turkish with a 'c' with a tail like ç.

Stopped at a site of antiquity along the way. We did not it's name or reason for being. It seemed to be an old burial site with recesses for bodies. It also provided a cool retreat from the sunshine and heat.
Above a possible chamber where once a body was laid to rest. Below the view looking back down onto the van.

We continues our journey to Cifteler, allegedly a location with natural spring where we hoped to find a fresh fish lunch. However, it did not smell very fresh and tedious restaurant owners aggressively selling their premises as the one to stop and eat at. It was just being at the side of the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul and so off putting. We did find a quiet restaurant - indeed, we were the only customers.
Cifteler was unfortunately disappointing with annoying restaurant owners and no black pepper on the table. Ordered, ate and left. Back on the road we found fields of sunflowers and they brightened the mood.

This next place was cool. No tourists, no vending machines, no commercial marketing. It will doubtless change eventually, but for now it was peaceful, beautiful and unspoilt.

The beautiful Yasilikaya - spelt Yasılkaya in Turkish. I loved it here, but struggled to give a decent Turkish dialogue to camera.








Asli sat on a rock with Fehmican below giving his rendition of "Olmak yada olmamak, iste butun mesela ol - To be or not to be, that is the question."

Fehmican likes rock climbing and up he goes...

The moment we had waited for - sun dowm.





On my last night in Eskişehir, my host Kadir and his friend were watching Turkish TV clips on YouTube. It was banal stuff, but great for my learning simple Turkish conversation. This one is where a girl sits on a desk, a boy sits at the desk, the girl answers questions and it seems if she gets too many answers wrong she is obliged to dance on the desk for the boy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-uXDlLkitI&mode=related&search

This is another programme. Not sure what it is called, who it is or whatever, but again useful for basic Turkish...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i%C5%9Fin+asl%C4%B1&search

Another programme for Learning Turkish...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ErTHEFv6DU

Kadir also sent through this link about Galatasaray beating Arsenal on penalties in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final. It is so sad Turkish Galatasaray supporters still hark on about this. When will Turks raise their standards? Still, if it makes you happy Kadir, here it is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-n1dSFv7J8

This is the best one, not necessarily anything to do with hearing spoken Turkish, but just watch out for some one dressed as Donald Duck as another sacrifices an animal to "celebrate" the opening of a store or supermarket or some kind of shop...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDRnJYe6oUA

Go to 27.07.2007 Marmaris