Artist family... except me

All members of my family have some talents and I have none. My only hobby and job is informational technology.

Gean started to go to piano lessons and so far he is going very good. He knew more then ten colors since he was three. Once, I went with him on a Saturday to a client and he asked my son "What color is this pen?" without expecting something different than black or a basic color. He said "gray". He could also name "light blue", "dark blue" and tones for other colors at an age when children cannot name more then three four colors.

Zuhal, apart from being a painter she takes canto lessons now and she plans to sing in an opera. She will open a personal painting exhibition on February.

I like photography very much but I cannot say I am an artist. I have seen pictures taken by Zuhal and they are much better than mine. Having an artist eye and talent is not something that can be compensated by work.

Few days ago I was speaking with an artist couple, both violinists. I was so happy to see that there are still so innocent people in any matter regarding computers, technology and things like this. They do not look at technology like a goal, or something to be desired but merely a mean to do something. World will still be beautiful as log there are still artist delighting us with their innocence and playfulness. Life is a game after all...

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I am an enemy of Turkey

At least according to my mother in law.

During her visit here in Romania, in July, I was accused by my mother in law that I hate Turkish people and Turkey, and that I did not appreciate what Turkey offered me in seven years of staying. She cut short her visit and took the plain back to Turkey.

I was shocked and even if I do not want to accept, it affected me a lot, specially that it comes from a person I love and I thought she did also. I learned from this that I should not take other person's affection for granted and learn to control what I say. I learned actually a lot in Turkey but I will make this the subject of another story.

Looking back of what I did, here are things that contribute to her reaction (some of these can be amusing but believe me, it may not be amusing for a Turkish person).

Most of the problems came from our talks regarding the EU membership. The current government in Turkey is trying to get into negotiations with EU regarding their membership. This is not seen with good eyes by many Turkish people who consider the "please take us into EU" attitude a mistake ant that Turkey is much better than any other European country. My mother in law is one of these. However I considered her an open minded person and attacked her opinion more than once. There are many things in Turkey that are far from being even close to European standards. She argued that there are bad things in any of the EU countries and they are not taken into consideration and everything is just politics. In the end it does not matter who is right, it looks like she was not as open minded as I believed.

I called the Greeks "our Greek friends" more than a couple of times - related with the fact that they are also in EU and most of our vegetables come from them (and not from Turkey which is also exporting vegetables in Russia and less in EU). Turkish people do not like Greek, they still have a lot of arguments and Greeks have an open aggressive attitude towards Turkey. I was just trying to take the mickey...however I did not anticipated such a reaction. It looks like I really did not get used with they emotional reaction of Turkish people even after seven years...

I actively refused to drink any Turkish tea. I know this seems to be amusing but believe me, it is not. Drinking the black Turkish tea is part of the Turkish culture and tradition. Having a breakfast without tea is hard to imagine and drinking tea in any occasion is usual. Refusing it all the time could have been taken personal. It is like refusing whatever I have got there for such a long time. Actually when I turned back here I was thinking that I will continue to drink it as I got used every morning to have at least one. Maybe I would have had if I had a machine like Jean Luc Picard to say "tea, Earl Grey, hot" and have it ready. However I quickly switched to cereals with milk, it is just easier to have it in the morning rush. I think people here are less attached to habits and traditions and more with rationality and practicality.

I may have done many other things that I am not aware of and may have upset her...

I had many experiences in Turkey, some of them not pleasant, maybe I will write more about these at another time. Even if not pleasant, these experiences were enlightening. I do not hate Turkey or Turkish people and I felt really hurt to be considered one. The better half of my family is Turkish after all... I've had a good time there and I will continue to have...

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Living in Turkey

Today is the last day of Ramadan. Yes, I live in a Muslim country so I will not speak about Christmas or Easter .

People celebrate these days, they are very happy; finally they can eat after fasting for one month. I cannot feel the same joy, but I was happy to finally have some days off. We were at home this time, we could not go anywhere because of Zuhal’s very busy program. She has just finished her PhD and started to teach some theoretical subjects at university like “visual perception”. She is busy preparing these and also preparing for the admission exam as an assistant to the university.

For a change we moved furniture around the house on Monday. Can has finally a big bed as he is a big boy now. He is very happy with it and his new Superman beddings. However he still prefers to sleep in our bed and we carry him to his bed after he sleeps.

Even after so many years in Turkey I still cannot say that I am very comfortable with the difference in customs and habits here but I try to live with it. Yesterday we went to an engagement party of a relative of Zuhal and I came in touch again with the traditions, folk music and dance. I danced and everyone was surprised (including Zuhal) and happy that I enjoy the folkloric dance. I felt very good. I was amazed seeing Zuhal's auntie who is 68 being so happy and dancing more than the younger participants. I was also pleasantly surprised how well educated are the children in their respect towards the others and towards the elders. They take care of each other and older brothers look after the youngest ones in a very mature manner that really surprised me. This is I think the result of living in a small community and is something that it is very difficult to achieve in a big city like Ankara.

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