Thanks to everyone who gave me questions to answer. I have gone through them, answered some of them in the comment sections, and saved some to blog about. So let's get started...
Mentanna said...
Tell us three things you would do differently if you were about to start your time in Turkey all over again.
Well...good grief. Way to make me think. And I have been thinking about this question. I have thought a lot about what we did when we first arrived. The choices we made. And honestly I don't know that I would do anything differently. We made the decision to send the kids to Turkish school for 2 years which was one of the hardest things I think I have ever done. If I were to do that differently I might choose to have the younger two kids go to Turkish school through 2nd grade which would have added two years to Jacob's schooling and 3 years to Anna Grace's. They were only in preschool and kindergarten so they didn't get a very good language foundation. Much of what they learned those two years they have forgotten. Because Erica and Will were in elementary school they seemed to have retained more of their Turkish.
I think about what we did for language, where we lived, the people who became our friends, and I can't imagine it being any different than it was. I'm sure I could have initiated more in relationships. That is something that is hard for me in any language. I guess I could have made more phone calls and invited more people to dinner. I could have studied Turkish more. But I am not sure that any of that would have made much of a difference. When we first arrived in Turkey we pretty much jumped right into the deep end of life. I can't imagine being more busy than we were. I had no idea what to expect when I moved here, but I can say that I have loved just about every minute I have lived here. Yes there have been some really hard times. Times when I haven't known what to do with myself. But I can look back at those times and see the lessons I was learning. I don't regret them. They have helped shape who I am today.
Oh...I do wish I had started a blog right when we got here. I know I have forgotten quite a few things from those early days, and I hate that. I would love to be able to look back on those early posts and compare myself to where I am today. I have been able to do that some since I've been blogging for 2 years, but I know how much I've grown and changed in the past 6 years. I would love to have a more concrete timeline to look back at and see the changes and landmarks. I would love to have a better record of my time spent in Turkey.
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10 comments:
I've been "away" at BlogCamp, so I'm behind! Let me get in on some of this question-asking action.
How many other countries have you visited since moving to Turkey?
And hey - if you're going to BlogHer next year, I CAN NOT WAIT to meet you there!
Oh, oh you have to go to blogher next year!
It's always so interesting to think about what if you had done things differently in certain situations. I guess we all just have to plunge into things and hope for the best.
I have a question. How long to you intend to live in Turkey?
Do you have any stories you remember from before you were blogging that you can re-tell?
Can I please submit a late entry question? If so, I would like to ask:
What is the first thing you are going to do and the first thing you are going to eat on your first day back in America? Actually, let's make this interesting....
Describe your most perfect Turkish Day....where would you go, what would you do, eat, etc.?
Describe your most perfect day in America....where would you go, what would you do, eat, etc.?
As I'm late as usual, plus I've developed a terrible case of munchies from reading, so just one question.
Can we look forward to some of your favorite regional 'home-cooking' recipes when you resume blogging in the US?
ok so did you really answer my question? i should have known....;)
andrea - blog camp! i'm jealous!
since living in turkey i have only visited france and bulgaria for any amount of time. we flew into vienna one day and spend the day and night before we flew on to america. we got a tiny glimpse of that city as well. since there are 6 of us jetting around europe could get pretty expensive! brian has actually been to several other countries on a guys roadtrip once. i wasn't invited!
brittany - are you going to blogher? we would have so much fun!
sparkliesunshine - we leave turkey in november for a 7 month stateside stay. during that time we are going to consider our options. we may end up staying in the states.
heather - i have lots of stories. i should look back through my pictures and see what they trigger. i'm sure i could come up with something!
over-thinker - that will have to be a post. i'll get to thinking!
mike s - i'm sure i'll be sharing some food posts when i am in the states! i can't imagine not talking about food!
mentanna - i tried. i really tried! you know me.
wow-you've given me some things to consider....
I think that you will be happy that you can look back on this blog for reference. Someone mentioned that they were having their blog published-like a memory book. How neat is that?
andrea - i have planned to do the same thing with my blog. i will definitely need to edit the blog because some of the posts aren't really memory book material!
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