(See CTS-English Marmara region courses begin for Part 1)
After they arrive at the venue, teacher trainers typically prioritise Internet access. They are away from home and need to keep up with email traffic as well as use Skype or another application to stay in touch with family.
Trainers need to unwind after work and then plan for the next day. Typically they want to have a rest and get started after dinner. This means they need Internet access where they are staying and access to a printer or photocopier in the evening or first thing in the morning before starting the sessions.)
Most of the phone calls and emails after work are concerned with such matters. I am looking forward to a day when everyone can get wireless Internet everywhere for free and with no hassle!
The message for schools is please check these points before the trainers arrive so that the courses get off to a smooth start!
The message for trainers - you can help yourselves by setting up a VPN before coming. This way, if there is Internet at least you can get wherever you want to on the web. In schools there is a block on Facebook and all social media.
Turkish sweets (made with butter) plus ice-cream and Turkish coffee
Food and special diets:
In the UK I am a vegetarian, almost vegan. Here in Turkey these concepts are not well understood. Vegans do not eat any animal products so no milk, eggs, yogurt, honey as well as no meat and fish. This diet is quite common and most restaurants in the UK have dishes marked as suitable for vegetarians. They will prepare vegan versions as well when requested. Life for vegans in Turkey can be a bit difficult. I was once in a hotel and asked for a plate with mixed appetizers, but the ones without meat. I got a plate with loads of great salady things but also salami and fried liver on it! When I asked the waiter, he said, "But they're not meat." (!?!)
If you have a special diet, trainers, please bring a few things you can eat to tide you over for the first few days. Fruit, vegetables and salad are freely available but if you are a vegan most cooked dishes in school cafeterias or restaurants will have something you can’t eat…. There is meat stock in soup, butter in rice, etc.
Stock up at the health food store before coming…..
Meanwhile contact people at the schools are eager to help but there is a limit to what they can do when the kitchen staff are busy catering for the rest of the people eating there. It is not possible to prepare separate meals for one or two individuals. Self-catering may or may not be possible depending on the place where you stay. Come prepared to be flexible.
Maps:
A few years ago (well it was before the Internet so more than a few years ago perhaps….) I was in London and needed directions. The policeman I asked pulled out a map, spread it out on the ground, got down on his knees and showed me where I was and where I needed to go. This seemed perfectly normal to me.
I was brought up reading maps. Every day on holiday my father would pull out a map while we were waiting for dinner and show me where we had started and how we had travelled. Being an ungrateful kid, I didn’t appreciate what a valuable lesson this was but I do now. Thank you, Dad!
Other cultures don’t use maps so much. I don’t see Turkish people sitting around looking at maps or hanging maps on the walls like posters or keeping maps as souvenirs of holidays.
The message for schools is please prepare a small welcome pack with a screenshot from Google Maps showing where the school is. Please help the trainers figure out transportation (buses or dolmuses- minibuses) so that they can move around interdependently if they want to.
The message for trainers - please be aware that most Turkish people don't automatically turn to a map or think about looking at maps.If possible, do your research online a bit before you come :).
It's all about cultural expectations and cultural differences.
What other differences do you notice? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section!
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