Where to begin...

Most people say to start at the Beginning... however, I am a believer that a "beginning" is subjective. One has many beginnings ... life, marriage, divorce, career choices ... and bearing this in mind, I begin in Turkey.


I had taken a course to learn how to teach English. It was an interesting thought considering I am a native speaker of English and well, how hard could it be to teach. I mean afterall, teaching isn't difficult, right? Little did I know, teaching is much more than standing in front of a class and speaking about a dedicated topic.


So, I learned how to teach my native tongue and had a lot of fun in the process. For all that know me, this is not a surprise. It is with this experience behind me that I take on a new opportunity, a new beginning as it shall now be referred to... in Turkey.


So the adventure begins with a flight. A flight across the large pond, as some say, the Atlantic Ocean. I had very little "extra" money so I took the most inexpensive flight I could find. With this option, I found not only was I "saving" some money, I was experiencing as many airports as humanly possible. At least it seemed that way.


I flew from Philadelphia to Boston, from Boston to Dublin, Ireland, from Dublin, Ireland to Manchester, UK. After a brief stop in the UK and a visit to Wales, I found myself back in the airports on my way to my final desination. I started at Manchester to both London airports, and finally from Heathrow to Istanbul, Turkey.


As I said, it was the cheapest way to arrive and have a few days of holiday in Wales and the UK. The bus ride between Gaitwick and Heathrow Airports is an added expense (of 25 pounds) and an hour long. It would have been easier to go directly to Heathrow and spend the hour shopping. Regardless, I finally arrived in Instanbul. This however, was not my ultimate destination. I was going to Izmit. It's a little city about an hour and half South of Istanbul.


My Turkish vocabulary consisted of "hello," "I am," and "bye." I had listened to a CD of Turkish language while on my flights but most of it didn't stick. I met my driver, thankfully, he had a sign with my name on it. That's a great thing to see when it's the only sign you can actually read. It makes me think of illiterate individuals... how empty and difficult life must be. Luckily, it is something that can be changed with a little effort and time. Of course, for me, being surrounded by 99.8% of non-English speakers will also help me to learn Turkish much faster.


I made the ride to Izmit and finally was in a room by 0200 (2 am) local time. I met my housemates, fellow teachers, and knew right away, the adventure had started. My housemates were great and I had a good feeling about this decision I had made.


Let the adventure begin!