A Few Notes on Bolu, Turkey

A lot of people assumed that I would be working in either Istanbul or Ankara, and indeed most English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) are placed in universities in one of these major cities.

When I learned that I would be staying in Bolu and working at Abant Izzet Baysal University (IBU is the most common abbreviation that I've seen for this institution), I determined that any guides to the country I bought would note "Bolu" in their indexes.

The Lonely Planet series on Turkey does not [index] Bolu, but the Insight Guides does: "There is little reason to stop in Bolu, a non-descript Anatolian town, but about 32km (20 miles) west, tucked away in the woods, is the spa-and-hotel complex of Abant, on the shores of a jade-colored crater lake" (293).

But the DK Eyewitness Travel series has this to say: "The Bolu area is known for its deciduous forests and a steep mountain pass, which affords splendid views. It also produces a delicious ewe's milk cheese. At Kartalkaya, 42 km (26 miles) east of the town of Bolu, there is a pleasant ski centre open from December to March" (Swan 246).

In short, the travel books make Bolu (both region and town) out to be some kind of rural backwater. I remain skeptical of this, naturally. And, of course, my mom has a friend who has a friend (kudos, Mom, for being one of the best-connected women I know!) who writes that Lake Abant and the nature park are incredibly beautiful, that local people in Bolu are very welcoming, and that IBU is one of the most rapidly progressing universities in Turkey because it is funded both by the state and by a private foundation.

I can already see that some contradictory reports are to be expected.

Noting IBU, though-- the university takes part of its name from Izzet Baysal, a Bolu-born architect, businessman, and philanthropist who passed away in 2000 at the age of 93. I believe many of the local buildings (state hospital, agricultural bank houses, girls' institute, prison, bridges) credit his design. The private foundation that funds IBU is probably that which is also named after him

Lastly, I wanted to share a link to a paper written by my contact at IBU, Professor Abdullah Coskun. This piece was written in 2010 and is called "Whose English should we teach? Reflections from Turkey". When reading it, I resonated especially with the idea, summarized from Matsuda (2003), that English should be perceived as a pluralistic language rather than a monolithic one. English does not belong only to British or North American (yes, Canadians, I'm lookin' at you) speakers. English can be accessible to an ever-expanding group of speakers who possess a variety of accents, media preferences, and cultural backgrounds.

I am really looking forward to working at this university and living in this town.


Coskun, Abdullah. "Whose English should we teach? Reflections from Turkey." ESP World 27.9 (2010): 1-20.

Insight Guides: Turkey. 6th Ed. by Tom Le Bas. La Vergne, TN: Ingram Publisher Services, 2011. Print.

Swan, Suzanne. DK Eyewitness Travel: Turkey. New York: DK Publishing, 2012. Print.