Vedat Cingozler

EU between Italy and Poland

2009-11-21T00:29:00.003+02:00

In one of my posts, I`ve mentioned about the Crosses in the classrooms at my college, Lazarski School of Commerce and Law at which I was studying as an Exchange student in Warsaw, Poland last year. When I first saw these crosses which are symbolic items of Christianity in the classrooms, I remembered the issue of education prohibition at colleges for ladies with headscarves since headscarves are the symbols of Islam and contrary with secularism at colleges. Then I asked if I`m only the one who should be irritated by this incompatibility since I`m a Muslim but then I found some others who are going to be irritated by this issue.

They are Christians, Christian Italians. As far as I`ve recently read in one of newspapers, EU wanted Italian colleges to be removed from crosses in the classrooms since they symbolize Christianity. Appearently, Italian Christians will be arguing with EU till either kind of same decision will be valid for Polish colleges, as well or EU lets them have crosses at Italan colleges again.

Till when and with whom Muslim Turkish will be arguing, then? The answer is WITH the government which can remove that silly prohibition easily and TILL the government gets rid of the fear of around 30 percent of the public`s possible tough reaction and uses its will...

BaROCK`s Impressiveness

2009-10-09T15:54:00.008+03:00

During the elections for the US new President, by the Turkish Press, we were informed of a black guy`s being about to carry the election. For me, his being a black was the only impressive side of his victory just because i`ve had no chance to watch any of his speeches. All I could witness on TV's had been his pictures as far as he had his first oversea visit to Turkey as the New President. This time, at his speech in Turkish Parliament, the only one impressive thing was "The" Barack Obama.

Personally, if i had been uninterested in Politics at all, I would have looked forward to hearing his each following sentence even just to listen his fascinating elocution in ENGLISH. In the Turkish Parliament, he made a perfect start on affecting the Worldwide Countries by his self-confidence, geniality, charisma etc.

After the series of his hopeful and consolidative talks all over the world, I was wondering when he`ll be awarded rather with a concrete reward than the positive public reactions. If I had a chance, I`d reward him by A Perfect English Prize but he`d already got the Supreme Nobel Peace Prize.

Finally, in my opinion, the difference between Obama and G.W. Bush is that none of Bush`s speeches are bearable to be listened till the end on the contrary to Obama`s admirable ones...

A Fear of A Muslim

2009-06-13T12:47:00.012+03:00

Participation of the World Blog Surf Day bloggin' event requires you to be an expat blogger. At this point, my flight date to Turkey gives me that chance to be one of the participator of this common day of the bloggers from all around the world since I`ll be a regular blogger when the calendars show 14. Jun. 2009.

Today, the common theme of the expat bloggers' posts is Food, which might allow you to read about diiferent cuisines. To adopt a new cuisine of your new residence is not that easy especially when you`re comin' from a country which is famous with its great food. Moreover if you are coming from a Muslim counrty and at the same time from a "food heaven", it's much harder to resist loosin weight.

I`ve been living in Warsaw, Poland for 8 months and I`ve still no idea what to choose to eat while shopping in supermarkets. When you have no fear to try "Pork" as a Muslim, shoppin' in a supermarket might be enjoyable for you but what if you prefer to read the ingredients of what you buy to make sure even "Pork Oil" is not included in your food? During your shopping in a supermarket in Warsaw, you may seem buying regular Sausage made of turkey or a Spaghetti Sauce but in fact, you are about to taste Pork Oil.

If you have a friend in Warsaw who claims that he's seen a Turkish saying that I lost 3 kilos here, probably, that Turk is me :) because the Turkish people who are tired of readin' ingredients of each food, accept going to "Turecki Market" which is almost only one in Warsaw and very far from the city centre to buy some food . My point of view on the reasons of loosin' weight is that the kilos you have, are dissepearing on your way of that Turkish Supermarket in which you can find all safe Turkish food :)

Never believe the sellers who claim that they are selling Turkish Kebap in Warsaw. When you look from the following view, you will understand what I mean. If those guys sells Turkish Kebap in Warsaw, why would I still look forward to eating my Real Kebap in Turkey? If you still couldn`t differ the Real and Fake Turkish Kebap, here you go then

Real Turkish ( ADANA ) Kebap

Fake Turkish Kebap ( Kebab )

And again If you are still not convinced, last option is to be my guest in ADANA which is my hometown.

I sadly need to confess that the Polish cuisine is poor . You might notice that fact when you see Polish people who mighty prefer to eat those kind of fake kebap which doesn`t belong to their own dishes. Indeed, I still have big doubts on cleanliness of those food and the place in where they are prepared, either.

As a result, I can not say that I m not happy not to write from Warsaw, anymore because I`d rather prefer writing on my table while eating my own food. I`m ending my post with a wish for myself. I`m planing to go to the United States in June in the next summer, I'd love to join this event again next year as an expat from the States.

A big THANK goes to Anastasia Ashman who is the Twitter reporter for this edition of World Blog Surf Day. And I wish you an enjoyable trip within' our mutlinational bloggers' posts during your World Blog Surfing.

Now, the next stop is Hospitalera`s blog for a new advanture. I`m sure you`ll have new surprises in each following blog as in Hospitalera`s.

ENJOY!!!

VedatC.

Triplex City, Paris in France

2009-05-21T23:38:00.008+03:00

Before your trip to Paris, you do not expect the life under the ground to attract your attention when you get there. However, from the first moments of your stroll within the city, you start to pay much more attention to the other city under the ground not to get lost. Yes, there is another city under the ground in Paris. If you are out of a good map which shows you the over and underground routes, you are no more than a stray cat :) There are more than 10 metro lines which have been seperated by different colors and at the moment you think that your access is restricted by underground only, you find yourself somewhere high above. Here is another surprise, one more floor of the city. If you are not a walker in Paris streets, ignore all what`s written above :) These hints worked a lot for me while my Paris walk since I walked during more than 14 hours within 2 days. "The best way of exploring a city is to walk through it" sounds familiar, doesn't it?

After that huge walk, I`ve noticed some details which I could name as unique to Paris such as

Hundreds of parked bicycles and motorcycles for public use near the sidewalks,
French people don't even try to speak English as much as they try to understand while you are speaking or asking something,
Huge amount of people from different nationalities ( I`ll be back in this topic ),
A lot of city maps at the corners of the streets and street names written on easy seable signs on the walls of the each corner buildings,
Dirty streets,
Numerous huge squares,
Many worth seeing structures next to each other,
Several bridges with the same interspaces to each other on the river,
Policeman and policewoman on bicycles,
and the rest I`ve forgetten :)

In order of the other nationalities' majorities in Paris, I determined that Indian people must take the first place, Arabs should follow them, right after Spanish, slant-eyed Asian and Turkish people often appear during a journey in Paris. So that, while I was walking through one of the great streets in Paris, there were only various Indian shops along the street. Any Indian need is supplied in those shops. They didn't miss any detail of showing Indian culture in those shops. Only the detail they`ve missed is that to name that area as Indian Town as I was expecting because I`ve seen no difference from China Town in some cities such as New York City or Boston in that A French Man named street. That street was also a bit scary and was making me feel like an alien between those Indian people around just as China Town made me feel in the same way in NYC.

And of course, there is a spacious place for Love in Paris, too. I`m not gona try to explain in what way Eiffel Tower or Champs- Elyssees impressed me since that would be a useless effort :) but I may present some photos from there.

With your love, Paris is a city of Love... ( I was alone :( )

Best Regards,

VedatC.

An Adorable Capital...

2009-01-08T02:23:00.013+02:00

I had a trip to a Central European City for the last 3 days of 2008. The tragic part of my staying there was that the hostel I stay in was horrible with its construction work, unlikable staff and the beds which are about to crumple up :) The only side of the hostel which made me decide to stay there was that it was close enough to the city centre but it sucks anyway... Don`t worry I`ll not pass without giving the hostel name because I don`t want my readers to be Trip Victims. "CHILI HOSTEL" :(

The City is a beautiul by itself but in compharison with Warsaw in where I`m currently living and studying, it is almost Heaven :) I`m sure that Polish people don`t like when I compare this city with Warsaw but I had to say that Warsaw is nothing beside it... Look! How can you compare these two capital cities of two different European countries which have been accepted to European Union at the same time in 2004? lol. One side, the city I travelled has a great river accompanied with a wonderful view and a bridge, several historical stuff which are worth to see and a well-organized transportation system with its 3 different subway lines... The other side, Warsaw has no more than 10 skyscrapers, a river and a bridge which almost can`t be seen at nights because of the lack of the lights on them and a transportation system which is organized enough but still has just 1 subway line for whole city... now we might have two options , either acclaiming the Czech Community or blaming Adolf Hitler :(

I want you to know that I did leave 2008 behind but couldn`t do the same for Prague which still amazes me while I`m looking at the pictures which I took of that adorable Capital.

Here they are... ( suggest you to view their larger sizes ))

A Turkish Phrase for Polish People

2008-12-15T01:49:00.010+02:00

Have you ever tried guessing the country of a person by considering his appearance?

Slant-eyed people must be from an Asian country such as Korea, China, Japan etc. The people who have a dark brown skin color should be from India, or the people who have tattoos all around their bodies might be from the States (because tatoos are crazily common in the USA, lol)...

As you know, currently I`m living in Warsaw, Poland and I was observing what could be too common on Polish people`s appearances. What could differ them from other races? Finally, I got something to name them in a different way. " Ball Nose " We use this phrase in Turkey for the people who have a nose like a small greengage :)

I couldn`t believe in my eyes each time I see people with a " Ball Nose ". Young or Old, Blonde or Brown, Male or Female, Ugly or Beautiful but almost everyone has " Ball Nose ".

That was the most surprising common thing of Polish people for me. I`ve noticed some other common things here in Warsaw such as most of the students are also working. Meeting people who you met via Internet is also too common. You see people in smart dresses only on Fridays and Saturdays because those days are clubbing days, lol. There many christians who don`t go to the churches. Weekend studies at universities are also common. Turkish Kebap is already favourite of many Polish people altough it`s not real Turkish Kebap :)

Those were some of my observations only for this post :)

By the way, Christmas is very soon so the streets and the christmas trees were already lightened. Here is the biggest Christmast Tree of Warsaw in Old Town.

Observations continue... (now in Europe)

2008-11-16T23:23:00.013+02:00

Hello there!! Long time, no posts but eventually, I had time to write one tonight and again wanted to share my observations here in Warsaw. Here is some of them; I used to know that only us, I mean muslim people use beads for counting prayers but once I was in the bus and saw beads in one old Polish lady`s hands and I got really surprised. I don`t know if the most of the Polish students know what "study" means but they use the word "learn" instead of "study". For ex., instead of "I`m studying English", they prefer to say "I`m learning English". I respect that choise, tough :) I have a request from English Teachers in Poland. Could you please teach how to pronounce "DOLLAR" in English to your students? However, I`m not sure if it works because even one of our lecturer at our university pronounces "DOLLAR" wrong :) I don`t understand some Polish girls. Actually, I`m trying to understand but I fail all the time :) How can they wear miniskirt in that freezing cold weather? They prefer their nice appearances to their health. The most common reaction of Polish people to a sentence is " AHA " means " I see or also Ok" in English . In fact, almost everyday I use that word at least 15 times :) Am I addicted? As you read, I`ve mentioned mostly the language issues because I`m learning Polish at school and I like to compare how people speak Polish and English. That`s really fun! By the way, an advice about the language here is that don`t believe your Polish friends who tell you that many Polish people especially the youth know English :( I was in a supermarket and asked 6 people to help me but none of them knew English. Finally, I wanted to share some photos that I took of the city which is devoid of English, Warsaw- beautiful tough- :)

Greetings from Warszawa!

2008-10-09T18:17:00.009+03:00

II`d like to tell some about Warsaw and its people. I think that Polish people are a bit warmer than the other European Countries` people who I`ve met before. All you need is to prove that you want to have a nice relations with them , to be able to have a positive dialog.

The amazing thing here in Warsaw is that you live the Real Autumn. The trees seem to make effort to form an Autumn Painting.

Warsaw sometimes reminds me Ankara. I don`t know why but Warsaw Streets have a similar atmosphere with Ankara`s.

I also want to mention some points that impressed me in Warsaw. That was the first time that I`ve seen a traffic lighta for the bicycles here. By the way, the people obey the traffic rules that`s because the laws are carried out very well.

I`m more used to see beggars with their baby in Turkey but here beggars beg with their ugly and nasty dogs. That was also quite surprising.

Once I went to Mc Donald`s here , got some food to eat and then I went to the restroom. I was checked if I had a receipt or not. If i had not had one, I would have paid 1 zl ( Polish currency ) for using the restroom :) I`ve never faced with that kind of situation. Even I`ve worked at Mc Donald`s for 2 summers :)

By the way, I can not finish my post without writing about the beautiful Polish girls. I`m not writing about them from a man`s perspective. Even the ladies would fall in love with the Polish girls. The point that I wanted to focus on is not the girls. I`m just surprised at how a city can contain that amount of beautiful girls :)

As a result, I`m sure that it`ll be a different experience for me to study in a European Country for the first time. I`ll share all my new impressions on Warsaw.

Just keep following :)

Next Stop, Warsaw!!

2008-10-03T03:15:00.009+03:00

Those are my first words from Warsaw! I arrived Warsaw at 19.00 pm at airport. My best Polish friend, Gosia was waiting for us at the airport. I didn`t know that she was going to be there. That was a huge surprise for me. Gosia picked me up from the airport to my dormitory. If she had not taken me there, I would have been lost already. Thanks much for your help Gosia, Thanks a lot.

Here are my first impressions in Warsaw. It is kind of a city which I expected from an European one. The roads are well-organized. The people has a different personal structure. Some of them look like Turkish people, especially the elders. Young people give energy to the city. The city seems like the European side of Istanbul.

I`ll keep writing about Warsaw but enough for now because I have to sleep now. I`ll wake up early tomorrow.

Here is my first picture in Warsaw taken by Gosia. Thanks again, Gosia!!

VEDAT UNCLE!

2008-09-26T01:03:00.004+03:00

My second niece was born just 2 days ago :)

An Amazing City, Boston!

2008-09-10T06:23:00.011+03:00

Last week was a great time for me. One of our teachers at Cag University came to visit me and my friends in Lincoln. Then he decided to take us to Boston to see the sights of that amazing city. The first stop of our trip to Boston was Aquarium.

Also the City Centre and Prudential Building were some of the sights that made us amazed in BOSTON. That beautiful city has a different atmosphere than the other cities that I`ve been before.I`d like to thank our teacher, Jason for being that much kind and hospitable. Thanks him so much!

By the way, I`ve last 5 days to leave Lincoln, NH. I`m flying to Turkey on 16th September from JFK Airport, NY. I`ll spent my last day in NYC. I`ll stay in Turkey just for 15 days and then I'm going to Poland on 2nd October to study there till 31st January. I`ll continue to write in my blog in Poland too.

Keep reading :)

Time is passing fast here!

2008-07-12T01:25:00.008+03:00

The last time I posted in my blog was 9 days ago and those 9 days passed with many interesting, weird, funny and exciting things.

I`ve noticed that many of the senior poeple prefer to eat "Happy Meals" which are offered for Children at Mc Donald`s. Those meals have also Toys for children :)

When I was working at Drive-Thru at Mc Donald`s, I took one lady`s order by using my head-set and then she came to the 1st window at where I took money from the customers with their cars. She gave me 10 cents more than the price of the food. She was almost driving through but I stopped her by calling from the window and gave her 10 cents back and she said " Thank you for being that much honest". Actually I was not expecting to hear this sentence because It was about just 10 cents. I was quite glad to hear that, though.

While I was biking with my friend, Serbay in Lincoln , I saw a shop at which one of my friends worked last year. Serbay was following me. I slow down to show that shop to him but I didn`t think that he was coming by looking his back he crashed me but he fell down :))))

My Turkish friend, Yucel and me were making Ayran which is our traditional drink and consists of yogurt, water and salt. One of our American co-worker, Ryan saw that drink and asked about that. We told him what it is. He was like, this mixture is like a mixture of ice cream and spinach :) He tried our drink and was not much satisfied :)

I went swimming to river with my friends last week. Actually I just put myself in the river because I don`t know how to swim :) After I came back from swimming, I put my undershirt which I swam with in my laundry bag. Three days later, I went to laundry to wash my clothes I took my undershirt out of the bag. My undershirt was mouldy. :) I laughed a lot and threw it away.

The pictures at the top of my post show the presents that my best Polish friend, Gosia who I worked with at Mc Donald`s last year and in whose city that I`ll study this year gave me. Those are very meaningful gifts for me. The Polish scarf is for me to use when I go to the stadium near Gosia`s home in Poland. She gave me a Polish-Turkish dictionary to learn some words before I go to Poland. And the last gift was an openable musical paper that plays "Rain Sound" when you open it.

I`d like to thank Gosia for all those meaningful gifts.

Objective Observations!

2008-07-02T02:24:00.005+03:00

I`ve always been curious about the people`s first impressions of a place in where they are for the first time. Actually, I`m curious about the first impressions of myself of the States and the city where I live and work too. That`s why I`m having fun while writing and reading this post. I hope you`ll be satisfied while you`re reading about my observations on the people here and the States.

First of all, the young people in Lincoln where I live and work in, look much more older than they are. The picture above shows one of my managers at Mc Donald`s. He is Thomas Sheffer who is only 18 years old and I respect him very much because despite of his young age, he is capable to manage the things at Mc Donald`s very well.

Secondly, there are almost no street dogs or cats here but instead you can see squirrels on the streets (Street squirrels) :)

Thirdly, the policemen in the States have charisma.

Next, there are almost no black people in New Hampshire but in New York City many of the workers in many stores are black people.

Next, many people here gossip a lot as I didn`t expect before I came here.

Next, the people here speak of smoking marihuana (hallucinogenic drug) freely as if they speak of smoking cigarettes.

Next, the people here don`t wash their hands or mouths after they had their meals.

Next, there is no water pipe inside of the closets as ours have in Turkey.

Next, the parents here let their children order their own food while they are ordering infront of the register in fast food stores but in Turkey usually the parents decide what their children eat in the stores :)

Next, you can see many wives while they are driving and their husbands are sitting next to them. This happens rarely in Turkey. If both know how to drive, mostly the husbands use the cars :)

Lastly, the people here turn music on as soon as they get into their cars. Listening to music in the car is an indispensable part of driving.

Comparing Turkey and here or Turkish people and the Americans makes me intend to learn much more about Americans` life. Additionally, I`m in Poland in October so I can write about my impressions of Poland and Polish (European) people too.

Yours Affectionately

Vedat

I`m getting started!

2008-06-24T20:07:00.009+03:00

(The picture above was taken in our first day in Lincoln and it shows our first dinner here.)

I wanted to start writing by sharing an interesting event that we had in New York. While we were going to our hostel on the subway, there was a black woman standing near us and listening to Tarkan's most famous song "SIMARIK". In a city where around 20 million people live, we found a woman who listens to Tarkan's songs in TUrkish. That was weird and I realized again that Tarkan is Turkey's most famous singer.

After sharing this weird coincidence, I would like to tell about my first days in Lincoln. I`ve seen my friends from last year and I was quite glad to see them again. One of them was Shannon who took us to the river by her car yesterday. I was so happy to see her. I`ve also seen Julia whom I worked with at Mc Donald`s last summer and Brian who is the store manager at Mc Donald`s. Brian made me surprised by saying that "you can work whichever position you want at Mc Donald`s". I was quite surprised to hear that. And finally, Corbin (my best friend in Lincoln) went to see me in my house. When he was in my room, he was standing behind me so I couldn`t see him first. My friends looked at something behind me and I turned to my back, saw him and immediately hugged him. When I saw his face after 1 year, I noticed how much I miss him.

By the way, today was my first working day at Mc Donald`s. It`s been a year I worked at Mc Donald`s and today I was like I have never left Mc Donald`s. I was welcomed very well.

All those thing changed my prejudices about American people as they are too unemotinal. At least people in Lincoln give importance to friendship. And they are not unemotional that I thought before. I`m so glad to know that I was missed by foreign people because this teaches that me a good relation doesn`t depend on where you are from. It depends on how your personality is.

I`ll write about my job, the place where I live now, my friends here and the life in Lincoln again. Thank you for reading my blog again.

SEE YOU GUYS! WISH ME LUCK!

NYC again!

2008-06-20T13:21:00.003+03:00

I arrived to NYC yesterday night after a long and tiring journey. Actually, time passed quite quickly because I was with my 3 friends. We`ve enjoyed a lot during our trip.

I`m writing in my blog from my hostel now. I`m getting ready to watch Turkey-Crotia game. We`re gonna try to find a Turkish restaurant to watch the game with my friends. Hope to win the game and see my country in semi-final.

I`m much more excited to have better relations with the people rather than to see spectecular buildings or to be curious about environmental structure of the States. I think, this is because It`s the second time I`m in the USA.

Finally, I want to say all my readers and all my friends " HI" from the STATES.

VEDAT

Don`t be mistaken!

2008-05-11T11:49:00.016+03:00

A common error that we fall into is to attach importance to "A Day" more than "the Beings" who give meaning to "That Day". It wouldn't be a loss if there weren't Mother's Days anymore, but it would be a loss not to see your mother again.

HAPPY MOTHER`S DAY!

CHAMPION GALATASARAY

2008-05-10T23:41:00.004+03:00

There is nothing to say aside from GALATASARAY.

It finds you somehow!

2008-05-04T03:38:00.009+03:00

Aksel, Jake`s just 3 months old son has got a Galatasaray outfit as a present. This may be a part of his fate. Thanks to this present, he is gonna be aware of being a supporter of Galatasaray, the best soccer club of Turkey when he grow up and see himself in those meaningful colors, yellow and red.

Nobody has wanted to decide on behalf of him but this present has found him somehow.

When you watch the video next to Aksel`s photo, you`re gonna see how passionately people support their team. Luckily I was one of them in that night. There were millions of people who want to be in my place. Hopefully, one day, Aksel is going to be the one who supports Galatasaray in the stadium and I`ll be very proud of him because nothing can satisfiy a real fan of Galatasaray more than to see how enamored of Galatasaray one is since his childhood.

By the way, I would like to thank Aksel`s dad, Jake and his mom, Rana for letting him to wear that suit although they are supporters of different soccer clubs :)

A real foreigner in Adana, Jake Olson

2008-04-24T00:50:00.016+03:00

In the previous article of my blog, I told about what would surprise me if I were a foreigner lives in Adana. And in this article you`re going to read an interview with a real foreigner, Jake Olson about the things which really surprise him about Turkey. When I asked him to list the surprising things, I got those fantastic answers which I`ve really enjoyed reading.

Here is the interview ;

Humm... What surprises me about Turkey?

I'm surprised at how easily the traditional and the modern can co-exist in one place.

I'm surprised at how much people gossip about one another.

I'm surprised at how cheap it is to rent a house and how expensive it is to buy a house.

I'm surprised at the way young people and adults speak of their own and others' circumcision so freely and naturally.

I'm surprised at how kind and friendly most people are.

I'm surprised that Gasoline is so expensive.

I'm surprised that one country can have so much wonderful food.

I'm surprised that prostitution is accepted as normal and not seen as disgusting and shameful for normal men.

I'm surprised at how in some ways Turkey is more technologically advanced than America.

I'm always surprised when I see someone over 35 using MSN messenger (quite often.)

I'm surprised at how facebook became so popular so quickly.

I'm surprised that Alcohol is available so freely in a "Muslim country" but Pork is nearly impossible to find :(.

I'm surprised at how people rip on each other about their weight.

I'm surprised that there are so many beautiful places in Turkey.

I really thank Jake for this interview. I`m sure he`s going to face many other surprising things in the rest of his life in Turkey.

To get to know the concept of an American Family

2008-03-22T23:48:00.024+02:00

This evening, while I was chatting with an American girl, Heather with whom I had worked at Mc Donald`s in Lincoln, New Hampshire last summer, I asked about how her life is going and she told me that she`s living with her sister. I was a bit surprised because I know that most of the Americans who are under 18 live with their families and she is just 17. When I asked why she lives apart from her family she told me that her mom kicked her out. I was shocked. On the other hand, I felt that she was quite calm while she was telling me about her situation. Then she told me that she is paying her sister $300 a month to sleep on her couch. That was the second shock for me. I was trying to understand what is happening.

If I were in her place, I would think that my mom must have gone mad because in Turkey, I know many people over the age 22 who live with their families and their parents don`t complain about it. Even if my parents kicked me out , my siblings wouldn`t ask me to pay them to stay in their house.

This story reminded me that the concept of the family for an American is quite different from the one for Turkish people. The relationship between the members of a family is stronger in a typical Turkish house than an American`s.

I wish Heather a Turkish mom because the Turkish women are famous for their domesticity. I also believe that American men should marry a Turkish woman if they are worthy and seek a restful family life.