Arkadaşlar, öğrenciler ve Sema
Friends, students and the Sema.
A few weeks back, we were happy to welcome Alexandra Frankel and Erik Erkkila, fellow ETAs from nearby Afyon, to Konya. A little about the city where they teach: its full name is Afyonkarahisar, which literally means “black fortress of opium” (afyon = opium; kara = black; hisar = fortress). Opium was widely grown in this city and an old fortress is situated on a large black volcanic rock formation here as well, hence the name. They came with two of their colleagues and spent the day taking in Konya’s attractions.
Album cover. Chillin' in Meram. Abdullah Saykili's photo.
Return visit to Rumi's tomb.
Friend I made near the Alâeddin Cami. I bought a keychain from him. He was very happy that I'm Pakistani.
Side view from the Alâeddin Cami, women walking on the ledge.
Courtyard of Mevlana Museum, boy had trouble getting up.
After lunch, several cups of çay and a lengthy chill session, we went to Konya’s Cultural Center to watch the whirling dervises, enjoy the video I took:
My Classes:
Here we are after so many posts and I haven’t even talked about my classes. I teach 3 hazırlık classes, which are English language classes taken for one year before participating students continue on into their field of study. Hazırlık literally means “preparation.” The idea is for them to get a solid year of English under their belts before they continue their education. Many students view it as a laid back gap year before real college starts, so as you can imagine, I’ve come across some students who just aren’t that much into it, but I’d say most of my students are and work really hard. My three other classes are in the Economics and International Relations faculties. No, I’m not actually teaching ECON and IR, just teaching ECON and IR majors Advanced English. The textbook we use isn’t that great though because the level of English is just way too high for some of my students, but I have to work with what I’ve got.
One of my hazırlık classes. I told them to make funny faces; only one did…look in the back!
Group photo!
rumisapprentice 