Today's Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Expat Zone

[Diary of an Expat Bride] ‘The honeymoon is over’

ELLE LOFTIS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

This popular cliché has been used by everyone from critics of the Obama administration to my own mother as I was growing up. It means the end of the head-over-heels in love stage or the end of a good time. In my case, it couldn’t have been more literally true.

3-year-old linguists

ALISON KENNY — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

“Hello. What is your name?” How many times had I heard these words from kids of all ages during my years of traveling through Turkey?

[EXPAT VOICE] İstanbul from the one-meter and below perspective

JOHN FOSTER — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

It is said that Muhammad liked cats.
He said dogs, hearing the word of man, obeyed him; but cats, hearing God’s word, would not obey man, only God.

A sporting tradition

KATHY HAMILTON — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

“As American as baseball and mom’s apple pie” is a saying that denotes something that is quintessentially a part of American culture. This adage came to mind as I watched my son learning the fundamentals of baseball, alongside a handful of Turkish children.

Konya prepared to host thousands in Mevlana ceremonies

ŞİRİN KABAKCI — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Konya is expecting an influx of more than 50,000 local and foreign visitors to the city to help celebrate the 736th anniversary of the death of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi. Though these ceremonies previously took place on Dec. 1-17, this year’s ceremonies will be shortened to 10 days and run on Dec. 7-17.

A backwards look at an upcoming bayram

VIRGINIA LOWE — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A French friend of mine is coming to visit on Nov. 26. What she doesn’t know is that after her late night arrival, she will wake up the next morning to an important Islamic festival.

A lush İstanbul treasure: the Atatürk Arboretum

YUSUF GÜNDÜZ — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

One park in İstanbul has an example of almost every kind of the world’s many trees, and the Atatürk Arboretum, located in the city’s Belgrade Forest, is a wonderful place to visit during any season of the year.

A ‘glassy-eyed’ view of İstanbul

ASLIHAN KÖŞŞEKOĞLU — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Thousands of years of history, the unparalleled Bosporus view, the natural beauty, poetry, stories and songs that have all come from İstanbul have found new life this year in Paşabahçe’s 2010 “İstanbul Collection.”

Getting it write

ASHLEY PERKS — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

As an English teacher of some years’ experience, I am always interested in what other people, especially outside the profession, think and say about the language and the way it is taught, learnt and written.

[Diary of an Expat Bride] Therapy for cross-cultural couples

ELLE LOFTIS — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Last February I attended a speech given by Eda Arduman, clinical psychologist, M.A. Eda specializes in couples and family therapy as well as psychotherapy.

‘Public Places, Private Spaces’

KATHY HAMILTON — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

In a metropolis the size of İstanbul, how do we define and create our own personal space amidst millions of other inhabitants?

World heritage experts to evaluate Selimiye Mosque

KADRİ KILIÇ — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A delegation of experts on world cultural heritage sites will visit the Turkish city of Edirne to attend meetings that focus on the city’s historic Selimiye Mosque.

[The old groaner] The Ollie House

JOHN LAUGHLAND — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Behind our house stands what most people would call a shed. I often refer to it as “The Chicken House” to avoid having to repeat the story of exactly what it is and why it is there. Here then is the story once and for all.

Raising a global child

THERESA DAY — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A question for parents living abroad: after comparing your childhood and that of your offspring, have you tried to predict what they will turn out like? The reply is, of course, “Who hasn’t?” But as the world is a totally different place, will they be prepared for life in a more competitive world?

Indoor activities for those cold winter days

KRISTINA KAMP — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

November is here, and that means winter is near. Days are getting shorter, it’s cold outside, the rain is beginning again… but no need to despair: just because it’s cold and rainy outside doesn’t mean you have to be bored.

[EXPAT VOICE] Final score: teaching in the UK 1, teaching in Turkey 4

ALISON KENNY * — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Walking my dog briskly round the park the other morning for our pre-work exercise (I’d soon be in front of a class of eager 3-year-olds; she’d be busy keeping the neighborhood street cats out of our garden), I passed a couple of Turkish friends heading down to the sea for a leisurely swim.

[EXPAT VOICE] Armed police part of culture shock

ASHLEY PERKS — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Those arriving at one of Turkey’s international airports such as Atatürk in İstanbul may well find themselves confronted with a major source of culture shock.

Hamam culture in Turkey

KRISTINA KAMP — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Say, have you ever been to a Turkish bath? Well, if you haven’t, this is definitely the right time of year to give it a try. With winter right around the corner, there is truly no better place to warm up your bones and purify both body and mind in steam and splashes of water.

[EXPAT VOICE] A matter of pride

MATT PORTER — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

While jostling in the back seat of a dolmuş barreling down the streets of Denizli, the minibus halted suddenly as three armored personnel carriers paraded by. It was Cumhuriyet Bayram (Republic Day), the holiday commemorating the official start of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

Friendly folk advice about my cold

VIRGINIA LOWE — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

OK, I have had a cold. A very, very bad head and chest cold. I coughed; I sneezed; I wheezed; I had an alternating fever and shivers. During the past few chilly, rainy days, I trudged up hill and down, with my feet getting soaking wet from the unavoidable instant streams of Sultanahmet and my clothes becoming damp after my umbrella was blown into a tangle by the stiff winds.