Now, as this is my first post, I feel somewhat obligated to contextualize my trip. Having just graduated from college, I'm avoiding the New York job market for a bit by spending two months in Ankara, Turkey this summer. I'll be taking intensive intermediate-level language classes on a State Department scholarship while participating in a home-stay as well as a number of "cultural activities" and "travel opportunities" also funded by American taxpayers. In theory I'll be using this "critical" language skill later on in order to help the USA in the international sphere, so I might end up paying y'all back in the larger sense.
For those of you (including most of my family members) who might be wondering, why Turkish?, I can't really tell you at the moment. I've been abstractly and inexplicably drawn to Turkey for quite some time, and decided on a whim to start taking Turkish after traveling around Turkey with my cousin two years ago. In a part of my undergraduate thesis, I explored the role of Turkish women in influencing recent changes in German politics, literature, and culture, and have since been plotting to move to Berlin to research the sizeable Turkish population established there. In short, I'm trying as hard as I can to prove that Turkish will be useful to me along the road. And I've managed to get the government to pay for my summer abroad. Not a bad deal.
I'm heading out to Washington, D.C. in a couple of days for a pre-departure orientation and requisite State Department-brainwashing before flying to Turkey on the 19th. I'll post some more at that point.
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Oh, and to avoid getting in trouble, I must remind you that this is not an official Department of State website. The views and information presented are my own, and do not represent the Department of State or the CLS program.
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