My Turkish Lira

According to my currency converter in my Vista system, Turkish lira is more valuable than Swiss Franc, now. I found a chart that shows the latest changes between two currencies. This makes my job much easier at markets here, since I don't have to do calculation to compare prices in the markets, since 1 TL = 1 Sfr.

Benim ucuslarim

Ekim ayinda bir hafta tatilimiz var, ondan hemen onceki hafta da IB egitimi icin Atlanta'ya gidiyorum. Tatil boyunca Londra'da 4 gun gecirme planim var;

Ekim 10, saat 07.00 Geneva
Ekim 10, saat 8.40 Amsterdam
Ekim 10, saat 13.40 Atlanta, US

Ekim 14, saat 16. 45 Atlanta
Ekim 15, saat 07.25 Amsterdam
Ekim 15, saat 11.30 Geneva

Ekim 16, saat 09.45 Geneva
Ekim 16, saat 10.30 Londra Luton

Ekim 19, saat 18.35 Londra Luton
Ekim 19, saat 21.20 Geneva

Hersey yolunda giderse...

Their religion

I visited Geneva lately; one of the most important centres of Protestant reformation movement in Christian religion. I was in the great museum of reformation, which then I learnt that owns 'The Best Museum in Europe' award. I watched the city from the towers, and took nice photos. Geneva is the city of rich people; people on streets are all very formally dressed, and they are all very very chick. Very cosmopolitan, and English is widely spoken.

I honestly don't know much about Christian history, particularly need to learn more on the reformation times. For me, Christianity is about Catholic Rome and Orthodox Costantinople. Orthodox Church in Istanbul was under Turkish protection for centuries, that's how they survived from the cruelty of the Church in Rome. Can they forget what happened in Istanbul during the 2nd Crusade? This museum is a must-to-see for all people in Ortodox religion.

Benim gezim ve ogrencilerim (turkce)

Yogun gecen gun/haftalardan sonra tekrar yazacak birsey bulabilmek guzel. Okul isleri Irmak'taki ilk iki seneden bu yana ilk defa bu kadar zamanimi aliyor. Ders plani hazirlamiyorum ama ozellikle lise dersleri icin hazirlanmam gerekiyor, bu pek alisik oldugum bir durum degil. :)

Iki hafta once 6.sinif ogrencilerimle (Ingiliz sisteminde 7. sene oluyor) Leysin gezisini yaptik. Golgede soguk, gunes altinda sicak hava beni son iki gun hasta etti ama yine de guzel bir geziydi. 45 cocukla bu kadar cok zaman gecirmek fikrinin cok hosuma gittigini soyleyemem ancak universite 3'te boyle bir tecrubem olmustu. Diger ogretmen arkadaslarin cocuklarla yakin iliskilerinden etkilendigimi soylemeliyim, benim tarzim biraz daha mesafeli olmayi gerektirir, ancak her nasilsa mutlaka sonunda cocuklar benimle samimi olmayi beceriyor. Bu sefer de bu sekilde oldu.

Mein Deutscher - (Turkce)

Bu haftasonu Baden'e, her 10 senede bir sehre tren yolunun gelisini kutladiklari festivale gittim. Bir gun sonunda ilginc fotograflar cektim. Su kalesine cikip sehri tepeden seyrettim. Gece arkadasimin arkadasi'nin Zurich'teki evinde misafir edildim, ve sabah 8'de yola ciktim. Tren istasyonunda Zurich FC takiminin taraftarlariyla karsilasinca, Besiktas diye bagirmamak icin kendimi zor tuttum.

Okulda yabanci dilim Almanca idi. Ayse Balaban Hocamin derslerinde calistigimiz K-Vorwartz kitaplarindan ve benim almanca'yi sevmemden dolayi hatirladiklarimla basit sekilde konusabiliyorum, ancak en onemlisi basit dahi olsa konusabilecegimi bilmek beni kuzeyde burada oldugumdan daha rahat hissettirdi. Ancak yine de Lausanne'i sevmeye basladim. Ozellikle yasadigim sehir olmasi ve evi hazir bulmayip mobilyalarimi kendim secmem, sehiri ana hatlariyla ogrenmis olmam burayi daha bir benimsememe yol aciyor.


Kisa ara not: Turkiye'deyken Fas'i nasil savunuyorsam, burayi da oyle savunacagimdan. Yakinda Fransiz bolgesinin Alman bolgesinden ne kadar ustun oldugunu soyleyecegimden emin olabilirsiniz. Bu benim objectiflikten uzaklastigimi degil; nerede, kime karsi bir seyin pozitif-negatif yanlarini vurgulayacagimin farkettigini gosterir. Yurtdisinda Istanbul'un bir cennet oldugunu soylerken, Turkiye'deyken trafikten bunalip, "bu millet adam olmaz" lafi cikacaktir agzimdan. Bu normaldir, okuyucularim bunu bilmeliler.

Isvicre'nin 4 dilli boyle ilginc bir durumu var. Almanca, Fransizca, Italyanca, ve Romans yerel dili. Her urunun uzerinde ilk 3 dilde aciklamalar bulunmasi zorunlu. Ancak kimse tek ulus-tek millet diye nutuklar atmiyor, ayrica bu ulke tarih boyunca bir imparatorluk da degildi ama Isvicre bayragini her yerde goruyorsunuz. Insanlar Isvicre bayrakli t-shirtler giyiyor, isvicre bayrakli kupalardan kahve iciyor.

Belki bayraklarinin rengi yuzunden bu kadar seviyorlar; Kirmizi-Beyaz.

Hem Turkiye'de hem Isvicre'de bayrak cok seviliyor.

MMMy Migros

Migros is the largest and the first supermarket chain in Turkey as well as in Switzerland. During our short conversation with ISL's HR manager, she told me how suprised she was when she saw Migro (this is how it is pronounced in Swiss language) in Istanbul. I didn't claim Migros was indeed Turkish, although many Turks believe it is a Turkish brand. They have all the right to think so since Migros is effective in Turkish markets since 1954 and now owned by Koc Group. (1)

If you are in an Anatolian town, Migros is one of the few places you can buy alcohol or pork products, whereas Migros Switzerland markets do not sell alcohol.

Swiss Migros is not only a supermarket chain; if I am not wrong they own a bank, a telephone company, petrol stations and have many other small companies.

The prices in Swiss Migros is said to be lower, this was not the case in Turkey. Migros was always a bit more expensive than CarrefourSA, or than my local bakkal.

Migros Turk is an international brand with 56 stores around the world, mostly located in Turkic countries and Russia under the name "Ramstore". They serve a range of goods to 140 million customers in total. On the other hand, Swiss Migros seems to be earning enough money from Swiss customers and has no international connections. This is really interesting, the owner and the founder of the company is Swiss, but the person who made it an international brand is Turkish. I am sure Koc paid a large bill to take over the copyright of Migros name.

Fas'li Kasabim (Turkce)

Fas'ta tanistigim birinin soyadi Bouachrine idi; bunun "kasap" manasinda oldugunu anlamam uzun surmemisti. Bugun ust sokaktaki penceresinde kocaman "Halal" yazan kasaba ugradim. Muhabbet soyle gelisti:
- Salamunalakum, sidi. Parle Arabi?
- Nahm. Ente magrebi?
- La, ene Turki, pat francais, shiwiya Darija. Injilizya?
- Little, arkadas. (Bu arkadas lafini bir tek biz Turkler kullanmiyoruz galiba, Fas'takilerin de Turkce bildikleri ilk sozcuk buydu)
Harika!, "shiwiya" ingilizce biliyordu amcam.

Tezgahtan Knorr'un "Harrira" corbasini aldiktan sonra ustune bir de tavuk isterken "Djuj" deyince amcam mest oldu tabii.
Biraz Arapca, biraz Ingilizce Ifrane'dan, Akhawayn'den falan bahsettik, ve ben Fas'ta 110 dirhem (16 CHF=18YTL) odedigim bir kilo bonfile'ye 350 dirhem karsiligi Isvicre Frank'i odeyerek dukkandan ayrildim. Birisi buraya TR'deki en iyi bonfile etin bir kilosunun ne kadar oldugunu yazarsa sevinecegim.Bir cok raporda TR'de et fiyatlarinin AB ortalamasi ustunde pahali oldugu yaziyor, bakalim neymis asli?

Not: Isvicre Frank'i gereksiz bir laf oluyor aslinda cunku Fransa artik Euro kullaniyor, dolayisiyla Frank zaten bir tek Isvicre'nin para birimi olarak kaldi. Ayni sekilde Turk Lirasi demek de sacma, cunku Italyan'lar Euro'ya geceli bir hayli zaman oldu.


Not2: "Frank" kullanan bir iki ulke daha varmis; Kongo, Cibuti gibi. Aslinda Lira'yi da kullanan baska ulkeler varmis, ancak bunlar eski Osmanli ulkeleri ve Osmanli'dan sonra da "Lira" demeyi surdurmusler paralarina. Tabii bu arada Lira'nin Cumhuriyet'ten sonra icat edildigini sananlar fena yaniliyorlar, Osmanli'dan beri kullaniyormusuz Lira'mizi. (1)

1 Ottoman Lira = 100 USD = 140 Turkish Lira

Buna fazla yorum yapmaya gerek yok sanirim.

My Swiss Life I

The cost of living in Lausanne is not as high as I was warned; the prices are comparable to Istanbul. However, the greatest difference between two cities is that there is nothing cheap here. In Turkey, if you cannot afford a pair of top quality shoes, you can go to another place and buy a cheaper one. Here, in this country everything has a 2-year guarentee, and nothing is below standard. That means, if you are poor, it is hard to survive in Switzerland.

Swiss people are generally kind but they scare me for some reason. I imagine them like bombs ready to explode. I feel like I really need to be careful in my actions in general. I am not comfortable at all. Behave Sencer, behave.
Something happened 2 days ago, which scared me further. Well, I was on the bus standing, an old man got on the bus then sat next to an old lady. Then, for some reason they started to argue, and the old man started hittting the lady with a newspaper. Who knows what the matter was?

Some of my initial observations:

• Smoking: So many people smoke on the streets or at restaurants, especially the women.
• Ambulances; you can see one at least every hour going through the traffic. The city is quiet, so it is impossible to ignore the loud noise of the sirens.
• Transportation; Busses are working with electricity and they are good at coming on time.
• At a mall, or on the bus; I hear people speaking in Turkish all the time. There should be a significant number of Turkish expats here.
• You can find Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah at every newspaper wholesaler.
• Weather is always a bit chilly and it rains a lot.

Evim - (Turkce)

Kalacagim evin fotograflarini Fas'tayken gormustum. Bir yatak odasi, bir oturma odasi ve mutfak-banyo. 1100 CHF oduyorum bu kucuk evcige. Icerisinde buzdolabi ve firin var, ayrica evin onceki sahibi ogretmen bana bir mikrodalga firin, bicak takimi ve temizlik malzemeleri birakmis. Sonra okuldaki bir baska ogretmen de bir iki sey verdi. Ilk geldigimde sisme bir yatak disinda ev bombostu. Hala bir cok eksigi var ama en azindan su an biraz daha yasanilir bir yere benziyor.

Bir suru insan telefon numarami ogrenmisler; hosgeldin, tanisalim mesajlari attilar. Josh adindaki bir Ingiliz ogretmen ile Ikea'ya gittik. Bu Ingiliz sol kolunu gecen hafta sakatlamis, benimki de zaten ameliyatli, iki yarim adam bir suru sey tasidik eve. Bunlardan en agiri ve zahmetlisi yatagimdi. Tam bir hafta sonra bir baska ogretmenden aldigim alet takimi ile tam 6 saat non-stop calisarak insaati bitirdim.

Iste hikayesi:

Tabii siz buradan farketmiyorsunuz ama ben bu fotografi yatak odasinin kapisindan cektim. Evet, malesef yatagin kafa tarafi odanin ortasinda; hayir, duvara yasli degil. Yanlis yaptik, nasil degistirecegim bilmiyorum.

Bu odaya bir gardrop ismarladim, oturma odasina da bir sofa-koltuk. Sonra evin son halinin fotograflarini buraya atacagim.

Iste salonun son hali:

My first day in Lausanne

It was the chilly, rainy weather welcomed me in Geneva International Airport, and Sebastian, who was working in administration at ISL. He drove me to my apartment where I met Benedicte, HR manager and my buddy, Christopher.

I had a good day with Christopher who showed me around the city. I, now have a cell phone, and a Swiss bank account. I am worried this account in Swiss bank may damage my reputation one day when I become a politician.

I, unfortunately couldn't make ADSL work, but managed to sign up for a dial-up connection. It is extremely slow, and disconnects frequently, moreover it is expensive, meaning I'll not be able to write at least until I sign up for a fast internet connection. I need to take over the telephone line for that, and the teacher whose place I took over should come back from her holiday and sign couple of papers.

My apartment is right next to a beautiful park, which has a lake view.

Last night I discovered a Turkish kebab house, where I met the owner Ali Bey and his friend Ayhan. Then, a blackman with his white mouse came in the shop; how could I eat after seeing this?

My last 10 hours in Istanbul

I lost a bunch of CD's of some mathematical software, including SPSS, Prentice Hall mathematics texts' online versions and Geometer's sketchpad full edition. I searched over the house over and over again, even checked under my bed. They just disappeared. There isn't much to do, I guess I have to admit that I lost them.

Packing up is always a bit painful for me. Deciding what to take, what to leave home is really a difficult issue. This time it was harder than last year since my flat in lausanne will be unfurnished. Still, Switzerland is only 2 hours away from Istanbul, and flights with (Turkish version) are really cheap if you book in advance. It goes down to 50 Euros for one way ticket between Istanbul and Basel.

This was good to know, aye? Meaning, I don't have to take everything with me this time. I must survive at least until October break, which coincides with Ramazan this year than I am most likely to come back, actually in two months and will take the rest of my stuff. Meanwhile, I'll aclimitise myself to Lausanne weather.

I am taking one bag with me only; enourmous in size but still only one suitcase. Plus, of course my books and shoes in two other hand luggages. It will still be somehow difficult to carry all that stuff considering my partially disabled left-hand. By the way, I've had a small surgery last week. It seems to me that I'll need some time before it goes back to normal and function fully. I actually shouldn't have left this to the last week of my one-month stay in Istanbul. I didn't want to postpone it any further but no one had told me it would take so long to recover.

I am most thankful to my mom, and my sister; since they did most of the job. One important difference worth mentioning this time is "EasyBag" or SpaceBag. It is a nylon bag to save from space that is normally filled with air between your clothes. I warn you, you save from space but you may damage your bag, if you overload it. This contradicts to what the manfucturer claims, they say it decreases the overall weight of the suitcase, but I'll disagree. Indeed, on the contrary, more space means heavier bags, because unfortunately our clothes are not lighter than air, I wish they would. Learn more about this great innovation in travel here, click on the pic.

You can buy Space Bag in Turkey from this page (best deal) or from Cagri Supermarkets as we did for ~10 YTL per bag.

Turkish Space Bag.

Enough advertising; let me tell you what will happen tomorrow. Somebody will pick me up from Geneva airport, since I changed my return ticket to Geneva instead of Casablanca when I first bought it in Morocco. Then, I will pick my keys from the school and start the paperwork and bank account, telephone arrangements right away.

I should be able to write more tomorrow. All I can do now is to hope everything will be in order during the coming days, starting from tomorrow.

Their Lausanne Video

MySwitzerland.com is an excellent resource for people who would like to know more about Switzerland. It also includes some videos, two of which are;

LAUSANNE VIDEO #1

LAUSANNE VIDEO #2

Yola cikmak icin zaman yaklasiyor, Baris agabey'i hatirlamak icin dogru bir zaman degil mi? Gecen sene de gurbetteydik ama asil bu sene alisilan manasiyla tam bir 'gurbetci' oluyorum.

My Conditions in Switzerland

During the interview, one of the crucial questions I needed to ask was if my salary would be enough to have a decent life in Switzerland, as I know Switzerland is one of the most expensive places in the world. According to CIA World Factbook, The GDP per capita of Switzerland is about $34,000, which is 4 times of Turkey's, and 8 times of Morocco's.

Although the director assured me that my salary would be competitive, with some basic mathematics I can see my life standard will not be as good as it was in Turkey, or Morocco. Besides, I'll have to pay rent.

I won't have a car for the first year, however public transportation is said to be excellent and extremely punctual.

My flat is only 2 km to Centreville and 5 km to my workplace.
Where I'll live and where I'll work on GoogleMaps.

I rented the place of a teacher who will be moving out in order to share another apartment with 3 other teachers from the school.
This flat has 2 bedrooms, and basic utilities, but no furniture. First thing to do in Lausanne seems to be a visit to Ikea.

My Story

I don't remember any serious issue bothered me in Morocco. Unlike the other members of the staff in Akhawayn, I was content with my conditions. I was especially satisfied with working in a quiet, small school, and being the boss of myself. It is true that from time to time I was feeling like going nowhere forward in my career, but I actually was. First of all, it was my first abroad experience, and I learnt how to survive in a foreign culture without speaking any of the common languages. I taught science for the first time, and I had plenty of time for travel. I even had the opportunity to save some money in this cheap country.
The real reason behind my leave was the university board's decision to adapt the French system, which was followed by some ambiguity about my future in the school.
I actually didn't do much job seeking; sent my CV to 3 or 4 schools in total, which include some schools in China and one in Switzerland.
While waiting for an answer from schools in Far East, the ISL school director Dr. Taylor invited me to Switzerland for a formal interview. This invitation was indeed a strong sign that they were serious about my application. I couldn't go to Switzerland, or couldn't have the chance to see the school before signing the contract, but learnt quite a few things from my colleague and head of department, Dr. Hazenberg, who had taught in Luzern two years before she came to Morocco.
The reason I refused this little trip offer to Lausanne was about the hassle of obtaining a Swiss visa. As a Turkish citizen, I have this problem in Europe. Anyways, thanks to Graham Bell; we talked via telephone, and I was offered a contract soon after.

Turkey ask visa from the citizens of almost all European countries, and reciprocally they do the same thing to Turkish citizens. I can understand the rationale of both sides. We, Turks are not very fond of Western Europeans. This rivalry firsy started at the time of the Crusades, then was carried to another dimension when Turks took over the role of Eastern Roman Empire. This is a long story between two sides of Europe. Is it hate between us? I'll disagree; but our relations with West do have a serious trust issue.
The other side of the story is more economical. Western Europe is where the wealthiest countries of the world are located, and I guess they think that there are people in Turkey who would like to continue their lives there for better life standards. I can understand these people, but also understand Western European countries whose lands are already full of immigrants from third world countries, mostly imigrants from their former dominions.
Personally, I doubt any Western European country is financially more beneficial for me as a teacher from Turkey. Considering my professional qualifications, I am almost sure that I cannot find any other country that I would earn enough money to live in luxury as I was in Istanbul.
So, frankly Switzerland does not seem to be the best place on earth for me if my concern would be to have a better life. However, the biggest educational NGO of the world, IBO's headquarters is only 45 minutes away from Lausanne, and educational NGO's are what I want to build on my career.
Thus, I signed the contract, obtained the work permit, and getting ready for my new life in Lausanne, Switzerland.