Sunday, July 20, 2008

Learning Languages...

I've been lucky this summer to have fallen into a Turkish language class in Boston. Prior to the class, my entire background in language has been with the Classics. Although, it was an enriching experience to learn about the ancient Roman and Greek societies. My Turkish class has been a very different class.

The difference is expression. In Latin and Greek, we constantly translated the opinions and verses of Caesar, Ovid, Vergil, and Homer. However, our classes never focused on expressing ourselves with the language. For me, it's been somewhat discomforting when I would sometimes try to find the words to respond to my teacher or name the object on our homework pages in Turkish. However, when the words were found, I felt a sense that I can only describe as a greater feeling of connectedness. An ability to reach out to someone or a group that I otherwise would not be able to fully connect to because of the "language barrier".

For example, I have had many personal experiences with the "language barrier" in my family. Although, my stepfather speaks both English and Arabic, there were plenty of times where I've felt blocked by the wall including when I watched television from Lebanon with my Dad, sat at cook outs with my Dad's friends, and my own ability to communicate with his father(my grandfather) during his time with us. For me, not knowing Arabic always kept me at arms length from being up close with my Dad, his friends, and family. However, I got used to that feeling and worked on other ways of getting as close as possible, without taking the involved step of learning the language.

My work this summer has shown me how much I have missed through not knowing Arabic more completely. With that said, I hope that I will be apply my work in Turkish, but without a doubt this summer has at least given me the chance to see how beneficial the process of learning spoken languages are. It's obviously clear that schools should keep emphasizing foreign language learning although I feel being graded for what is a difficult subject for anyone often makes students disgruntled at the class versus looking at what it's meant to do. But that is another discussion for another day.

That's all for tonight. iyi Geceler! (Good Night for those not up on their Turkish)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Where the Hell is Matt?

Ok, so I'm not talking about me, but I just got an e-mail from a friend about a man named Matthew Harding who has spent another 14 months going around the world and dancing in front of his camera. I remember reading about him maybe a year and a half ago when his first video created another youtube sensation. Anyways, it is a really smoltzy video, but a great look into the world we sometimes don't get to see.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

A New Kind of Tea

I haven't shared anything in about a week, but yesterday I had the chance to visit the new Turkish Cultural Center in Boston. It was a great experience, I was welcomed by my friend Ismail who I had met through my adviser at BC. There we sat and drank some Turkish tea which although strong was very good.

In any case, I had a great chance to talk about Turkey and my thoughts about going with a Turk. We touched on food, the cities, universities, and must dos in Turkey. After talking for about two hours, I was really glad I had come and Ismail has given me a lot to think about as I keep working on these proposals due in October. I think Turks are great people with many stories to tell, and my meeting at the TCC definitely supported that.

After finishing our meeting with a glass of lemonade and some Turkish delight, I look forward to going back for a coffee or movie night. Hopefully, bring a few friends as well.

Besides that, I had a great fourth of July working as a Production Assistant at the Esplanade show. Two straight nights of seeing the Boston Pops and Rascal Flatts from the front row. Plus, I had the privilege to work with one of the best PA teams ever. So, if any of them are reading, awesome job!

That's it for now...