Kristin Visits, and Advent Begins (No Causality Implied)

I got home Thursday evening from Ankara, and Friday we administered the midterm exam and enjoyed a workshop presentation from Lindsay Clandfield, author of the Global series we've been using in class.

One of my favorite parts of this work is the constant negotiation of how and why English is employed in the "expanding circle", what it means to be using English in a global community, and who controls the use and dispersal of English in these various circles. I am beginning to question the validity of identities such as "native" and "non-native" speakers. If young people begin to learn, speak, and become immersed in a language by ages six or ten, and they are consistently using it effectively throughout their lives, who would deny them the same [privileges?] of a "native" speaker? To me, the distinction becomes ever more dubious.

Kristin was planning to come Friday night, but she was also administering an exam and missed the last bus to Bolu. Then I got a late-night call from Buket: are we doing dinner at Balıkçı soon? Sunday? Shall we have breakfast? Where? We quickly determined that Mado serves some of the best breakfast downtown, and we agreed to meet at 9:30am.

Well, 9:30am came a little soon for me. Both Buket and I were excited to have our first cups of tea for the day.

Then, Kristin called from Düzce, and we planned to meet at the bus station within the hour. Buket took me to another bus stop and waited with me until we realized we'd been waiting too long.

(Mom, and anyone else who might be worried about my getting into cars with people I don't know (or know well), don't read this section further. Skip past the next picture and move on.)

One of my students, a young man who works in the home furnishings store across from the stop, offered to take me with his friend to the station. I gratefully accept the ride and promise lots of tea: he says, "it's nothing, teacher. We love you!"

This happened twice today, by the way. Once on the way to the bus station for fetching KP. And on our way into downtown Bolu after my 7pm lesson with Umut.

[Side note: Saturday's lesson with Umut was oodles of fun for me. We've ordered Word Clues: The Vocabulary Builder, but we've pre-emptively started working on a few critical prefixes and suffixes. BTW-- did anybody else from Ms. Towner's 10th grade English class save this book? My old copy is in Walla Walla, and I've found it completely invaluable. So when Umut's parents (and Abdullah bey) suggested that we focus on vocabulary, I knew this would be the right pick. He's an incredibly logical person, so I think that defining words based on their etymologies and how the prefix, root, and suffix fit together will be a good puzzle for him. Soon, we'll have a Christmas lesson in which he (and his sister Umay, I hope) will assist me in decorating the apartment for the big holiday.]

The rain was coming down hard. In fact, I don't think I've seen it rain so much in Bolu. Kristin and I were chased down the hill by a mean, scraggly dog. We stood at the bus stop for maybe forty seconds before a car pulled up and a young woman leaned out her window and asked where we were going. After finding out that we were headed downtown, she said, "Yes, we can take you there." So we got in, made a little small talk, and discovered that she was a medical student at AIBU. We were dropped off less than half a block from our destination and much drier than we anticipated being. Thank Goodness for the kindness of humans.

It's a good thing to be in geographical proximity with people you can love. Kristin now has the spare keys to my apartment, and I hope she uses them whenever she needs to.

The usual suspects: Murat, Claire, Stephanie, and Ceylan's arm. For some reason, none of the pictures I took of Ceylan came out: I think she moves too much. Sly girl.

Sunday brunch was quite the affair: Stephanie prepared eggs Florentine and banana pancakes. We walked into the apartment and Jack Johnson was playing. Le sigh: when in Rome.

Sunday afternoon, I put Kristin on a bus back to Düzce. That was really hard. I'm realizing that I don't like to say goodbye to people, often because I'm so unsure of myself and my situation here. I truly never know when I'll see anyone again-- because seriously, KP lives 45 minutes away, and we've seen each other all of twice since Ankara. I've never been able to predict the future, but I think I'm more cognizant of that now than I ever have been before.

Consequently, when I got home Sunday evening I decided to floss, clean my ears, and eat a cough drop for comfort. I took care of my animal self and didn't really feel like taking care of my spiritual self. I went to bed feeling ambiguous about Advent.

Advent? Advent!

Yes, it started yesterday!

And yes, I feel much better about it today than I felt about it yesterday.

More to come.