Greetings to Rotary 5710 Members and Friends of Rotary:

After returning from the District Conference in Antalya, we went to Yalova on Monday, May 26.  Yalova, just south of Istanbul, was the site of the the August 1999 earthquake that killed 7000 people in Yalova and 30,000 people in the surrounding area.

Our first visit in Yalova was to the new Earthquake Memorial on the Marmara Sea.  Yalova was near the epicenter of the earthquake; because of this, many house were covered by the sea and remain there to this day.  There were also several neighborhoods in Yalova that were completely devastated.  All of our host families had stories to tell of the relative locations of their famly members during the earthquake.  The earthqake was 7.4 on the Richter scale and lasted for about 45 seconds – very long, really, which account for the amount of damage and the number of deaths.  The American Red Cross, Rotary International and other international agencies helped survivor find food and shelter.  Gina represented us well as an employee of the Red Cross.

After the earthqake site we were able to visit a Turkish Hamam and thermal hot springs, which are indiginous to the region.  This was great fun for the group.

We almost lost Michelle in the Arboreteum because of the wide variety of indiginous and international plants and trees.

We visited two Rotary-sponsored projects in Yalova.  The first was a school for children with various disabilities. Rotary donated clay supplies and a kiln, which are used as part of the education process.  This type of school is relatively new in Turkey and has been a great assistance to the children who have participated in its curriculum.  Rotary helped make this possible.

A Rotary project also had a significant impact on a technical university that we visited.  It is a two-year university with vocational training and associate degree programs, not unlike Johnson County Community College.  An internationally-coordinated Rotary project with four countries, including Turkey and Italy, helped fund a new computer teaching classroom with 20 computers for the school.  Also, a regionally-coordinated Rotary project with clubs from Yalova and Izmit helped fund a state-of-the-art Maritime simulator to help students train in steamboat navigation near Istanbul.  Rotary has a strong presence in the community.

At the Yalova Rotary meeting, they provided a gracious powerpoint presentation to the music of our national anthem with images of memorials from all around the world, expressing their sorrow for the tragedy of September 11.  Gina, Charles, and Michelle were in tears it was so touching.  The Yalova Rotary club was congratulated at the District Conference for adding five additional Paul Harris fellows to their already sizeable Paul Harris alumni.  For a town of 80,000 people, the Yalova club had the most number Paul Harris fellows in the (Rotary) district.  Their professional meeting included two mayors, a former regional governor, and tradional Turkish dancing and music.  At this point it goes without saying that Charles was a great emissary from Kansas with his fine Turkish belly-dancing.

We are enjoying ourselves greatly and spreading the word and mission of Rotary wherever we go.  With anticipation of continued success in our cultural exchange, I bid you adieu.

Shaun

Merhaba web viewing friends!  In case some of you are wondering why we haven't sent or checked personal emails, the access to hotmail and yahoo accounts have been affected by the earthquake in Algeria a few days ago, apparently due to damage to a communication cable in the sea.

As you know we were in Antalya for the Rotary District Conference.  What a celebration!  About 1200 attended, including spouses, 2 neighboring district governors, rotaract, youth exchange, and an international committee delegation.  One of the distinguished speakers was a former ambassador from Turkey (to several countries) who is now a member of parliament.  He spoke about Turkey and the EU, a very important topic for Turks.  He is obviously a very intelligent and well respected gentleman.

The last event of the first evening was a talent show put on by the youth exchange.  They performed some Turkish folk dances in costume, performed an original blues tune - 'baklava blues', which I'm sure will become a hit, and various humorous skits.  It was tremendously enjoyed by all.  I did have the opportunity to meet our student from KS, Brandon.  He is well and enjoying the wonderful memories he is creating which, as I know, will last a lifetime.

The closing ceremonies ended with a candlelit ceremony and dancing in the aisles and on the stage.  The grand ball on Saturday night was first class.  The 'jazz' performer mentioned in the earlier report entertained us with a variety of tunes for dancing.  Everyone danced - if you weren't, District Govr Kaya would make sure you joined in.  What a special privilege to celebrate with people from not only Turkey, but others from around the world (youth exchange and the international committee.)  This is what Rotary is all about!

Another hilite of my visit was swimming in the Mediterranean.

So much to say, so little time!  We are departing for our next presentation, which gets easier each time, so must go.  Will write more later about Yalova, a very dedicated Rotary community.

Gorusuruz.

Michelle

Merhaba (Hello),

A lot has happened since the last update.  We arrived very late on Thursday night at Antalya, and then had a little time to unpace.  That night we had a reception dinner and had the opportunity to hear Carol Wylie, a representative of the International President of R.I., speak.

The next day (Friday) we gave our presentation around noon and had lots of positive compliments on giving our presentation in Turkish.  Ufuk received an award for outstanding service and was lucky enough to win a weekend vacation.  That night we heard a very nice jazz concert by Fatih Erkoc who is one of the best.

Saturday we had a free day and spent most of the day swimming, playing backgammon, and resting.  The next morning we left for Yalova at 11 in the morning and arrived around midnight, and met our new host families.

Monday we started off with a tour of an earthquake memorial followed up by a trip to an arboretum.

-Norbert

Merhaba,

Sorry, it has been a few days. 

We said a sad goodbye to our Luleburgaz friends on Sunday and travelled to the wonderful city of Edirne (population 140,000).  After meeting our host families and enjoying a home cooked meal we toured the Sukru Pasha memorial and museum.  Sukru Pasha  saved Edirne during the Balkan War in 1912.

We spent several evenings dining along the Meriç river which is one of three major rivers in the town.  The owner of the Lalezar was a wonderful host and on another evening Charles enjoyed smoking a nargile which is a water-filtered tobacco "pipe".  One of our dining experiences was hosted by the Governor, a very nice gentleman.

Then we visited Selimiye mosque which is one of the most famous in Edirne.  It was designed by Mimar Sinan (the must famous Turkish architect from the epoque of Suleyman the Magnificent) in the 16th century when he was in his 80's and it is considered his greatest work.  Words cannot describe the beauty of this mosque.  We cannot wait to show you the pictures!

Next was Edirne's Commodities Exchange where wheat and sunflower is stored and traded.  It is also used to provide crop and soil analysis to farmers in the region.  Gina scared us all by carrying a bottle of sulphuric acid used in the soil analysis which someone wanted.  We did not realize that she was a master chemist!

After that we went to a museum that used to be a mosque where mentally ill patients were treated with the relaxing sounds of a fountain and music in the 14th century.  Similar to other mosques of that time, it was a hospital for the physically ill, an educational facility, and provided assistance to the local destitute and disadvantaged people.

We went from there to enjoy a festival of music in the park provided by the local conservatory.  The students were primary school aged children, but if you closed your eyes you would think you were listening to the Kansas City Symphony.

We said goodbye to our Edirne families on Wednesday morning and travelled to Istanbul to spend a relaxing day.  We tried Turkish-style pizza with our Turkish friends.  We are not so sure that mayonnaise and ketchup should be the toppings in the U.S., but we tried it there. We met the bus at 10 o'clock at night and travelled 12 hours to Antalya with a group of Rotarians to attend the 3 day district conference.

Having a great time!  Miss you all!  Nice dilemna

---Gina and Charles (and Bahar :) )

Hello Everyone,

Here are a few humorous images from our visit to the Black Sea.

Norbert and Shaun enjoyed some sun while cooling their feet.

Here is Michelle being attacked by an infamous sea cow!

Have to run to catch a bus.  Will post more later.

-Charles

Hello All,

I am sorry that I only have a few minutes before I transfer to another family.  In the past few days we have ...

Toured the Trakya Glass Factory which employs 3000 people, has 26 product lines, and sells 500 million pieces of glass every year.

Toured the Efes Pilsen Brewery.  Efes has 76% of the beer market in Turkey and 5% in Europe.

Made our presentation to the Lüleburgaz Rotary Club!  We had wonderful food and even tried some belly dancing!

Went to İğneada which is on the Black Sea where we toured a light house, had good food, and put our toes in the water.

Our host families have been wonderful!  We had a great potluck dinner with them last night.  Uh oh.  I have run out of time and cannot upload any other pictures!

Today is Friday, May 16th.  We have been in Lüleburgaz for two days now.  Today we had the pleasure of visiting Siscam, a Turkish glass factory, and Elfes Pilsen, a Turkish brewery.

At Siscam, we learned about the manufacturing process for various types of glass, including hot versus cold cutting for glasses, how glasses can be made in one or two parts, how colors are added to the glass, and how glasses must be cooled to maintain the structural integrity of the glass.  Our guide told us that Siscam is the second largest glass factory in the world.

At the brewery, we learned the various steps of the brewing process, from mixing the malts, adding the water, adding the yeast, allowing for fermentation and maturation, to the bottling and distribution of the beer.  We learned why local, unpasteurized beer tastes better, and we learned that Elfes is very popular in former Soviet republics.  Gina could not keep her hands off of my pilsner, and Michelle had to take a two-hour nap after drinking her beer. (The quantity will be left unspecified.)

We will be giving our first Rotary presentation this evening.  To help us with our presentation, the brewery was kind enough to give us eight cases of beer.  Our Turkish should be perfect!

Thursday, after one good night´s sleep, we went out to eat lunch at a local restaurant. I had döner, a wonderful Turkish dish with beef, a light tomato sauce, a little bread dumplings with a side of sour cream.  Turksih tea with iki seker (two sugars) was a heavenly way to end the meal.

In the afternoon, we visited a Turkish high school.  At the school, we met with the headmaster and visited one of the freshman- level English classrooms.  In Turkey, there are public and private high schools; this one was public, but both types are partially funded by the government. The difference comes with various degrees of quality and competitive entrance.

In the class we visited, the students were very energetic and were excited to see us.  We were their first native English guests.  They asked us a lot of questions about America, Kansas, and why we chose to visit Turkey.  We explained Rotary International´s mission and told them that Turkey is one of the most beautiful countries we have seen.

The highlight of the visit was one freshman girl who thought Gina looked like Mom and one freshman girl who though that Norbert looked like John Wayne.  She asked Norbert if she could e-mail him; we gave her Norbert´s Rotary business card.

For dinner Thursday evening, we went to a new restaurant just outside of Lüleburgaz with all the host families.  Everyone was very friendly and gracious, and we had a great Turkish meal.  I have never had the pleasure of eating dinner with four dicitonaries around the table.  As a language person, it was a real treat.

We are enjoying ourselves, and we are very thankful that you have chosen to send us on Group Study Exchange.  Everywhere we go, Turks hear about Kansas, and everywhere we go, we learn more about the Turkish language and people.  It is a beautiful country.

Until our next posting, teşekkür ederim.  Shaun.

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Team preparing to leave!