Student work: coming to Turkey

In one of my classes we spoke about culture shock; it’s a topic in our textbooks and kind of hard for 16 year olds – but they/we produced some lovely results.

Hi mister Sankofi. When you come to Turkey you should think about the following things.

  1. When you meet a friend or a family member it is common to kiss them.
  2. Don’t look people straight into the eyes.
  3. “Raki” is our traditional drink. Before you drink you should toast and say “Şerefe”. It means cheers in Turkish.
  4. If you see a line and you are big enough, you can cut it otherwise it will never be your turn.
  5. Make sure you are a fan of the right football team. Football is a good communication topic.
  6. Although in Turkey has an Islamic majority, it is a very open and modern country.
  7. Especially in Istanbul there is so much traffic. You should leave early, if you need to drive somewhere or if you need to go somewhere by car or bus.
  8. Try to be on time. Despite the traffic.
  9. The people in Turkey are generally very friendly, but if you don’t smile at them they can get unhappy.
  10. Expect the noise level to be very high.

If you follow these points and stay open minded you can survive. No no, you cannot only survive but you’ll have a great time in Turkey.