When the Turks came to Germany

Two weeks of Spring break had ended, and then came the Turks.

This was the second part of the exchange partnership my school has with a school in Izmir. In addition to a cultural exchange, we engage in a week long project having to do with the environment. When we traveled to Turkey, we learned about wind farms. When the Turks came to us, we learned about swamps and marshes. We don’t simply learn about things and then do nothing with that information. We conduct surveys, write reports, take photos, and write blogs that will then get published in the local newspaper. 

Our page in the newspaper from when we visited Turkey. I'm in the red hat in the top photo and also in the group photo. 

One of our activities included visiting a swampland. There we learned about the vegetation, determining the health of the swamp, and how everything functions within the ecosystem. To get us prepared for visiting the swampland, someone came in and gave us a presentation with a general overview so that we would have an idea of what to expect to learn about at the swamp.

During the week, we also had a few hours to work on our assignments.

Because school is not my most important priority here, I missed practically the whole week of school and spent it with the Turks. I went to pick them up and take them back to the airport (not alone obviously). I gave them a tour of our school and our city. I joined them on the excursions to berlin and Potsdam. We visited a couple museums. It wasn’t strange being with them for the majority of the time because I already knew them, and I get along very well with them. I felt like I was gone the entire week. I left for school at 6:50 as usual and didn’t arrive home until 7-8 each night. It was exhausting, but worth every moment.

On Saturday, the majority of the German-Turk pairs went to Berlin to see a famous sight and get some culture (East Side Gallery), and do something they all desperately wanted to do: shopping (Mall of Berlin).

The biggest shock for the Turks while visiting Germany and our region was all the open land. Most of the German students live in a house in a village, whereas most of the Turkish students live in a flat in Izmir. For example, there are cows nearby from where a student in our group lives. She told us that her exchange student was so shocked (in a good way) because so much open space and farm animals simply aren’t there in Izmir. What we see as boring, open fields on our way to school, the Turks saw as beautiful green space.

Another big difference, which I’m sure wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has heard any stereotype about Germans or Turks, is the concept of time. Here is the best example that will explain it all. We had 45 minutes of free time while at the Brandenburger Tor. After free time, we needed to meet up to go to the Bundestag for a scheduled tour. The distance between the Reichstag building and the Tor is maybe half a mile and could take a German (or myself) 5 minutes to walk to. We knew from experience how much our group of Turks likes to take their time getting from place to place. We estimated 10-15 minutes to walk there. Of course, we also needed to account for the fact that you have to subtract five minutes from the meet up time to account for those who will show up late. The whole thing became a small joke among us whenever we set a meeting time. I don’t know how amusing the Turks found it, but I don’t think they were offended. Besides, we meant it all with love.

Brandenburger Tor with two of my German friends.

Some more Germans and myself

my Turkish host sister

On the last night, we had an “End of the Week Cultural Celebration.” We had a potluck at our school, watched a slide show of all the photos from the week, and both groups sang typical songs and put on a short, little show. It was hilarious mostly because everything was put together at the last minute and approximately three people knew what was going on at any given time. While we were setting up the food, though, the Turks saw the chalkboards and were first amazed and then occupied. They don’t have actual chalkboards at their school, so they had lots of fun writing on ours.

All of our names.

Group photo in front of the East Side Gallery of those who went to Berlin again on our free day.

Shopping? check.
Ice Cream? check.

The entire week was just selfies selfies selfies.

East Side Gallery

Love these two Turks.

Group photo of all the Germans, Turks, and me before we left to go to the airport. This is in front of my school. 

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As I have said before, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when my teacher told me about this project in September. Remember that I could barely even speak German at that time. The question was if I wanted to go to Turkey and the obvious answer was yes. I am so glad I took advantage of this wonderful opportunity. It was a learning experience in so many ways: meeting more Germans in my school, meeting Turkish people, learning a little about the Turkish culture, visiting a new country, and of course, learning more about the environment.

I even got two cool, official certificates that I took part in the program.

Shannon