Are you guys going to actually do anything?

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I'm sure that you all are wondering about Mike and school, as well as what my plan is.  Despite all of our wonderful travel experiences, the point of us being in Turkey is for Mike to go to school.  And while we're here, I'd like to do something to keep from going too stir crazy.

Mike first:

In Turkey, there are three types of universities.  The first is the state school, which is completely government run.  Ege University is the state school in Izmir.  You must take a Turkish language entrance exam in order to apply and they only accept one foreign student to each program.  We knew that Mike's chances of getting accepted were extremely low, and ultimately, his score on the language test wasn't high enough to even apply.  He had to write an essay on a proverb that was given.  I'm not sure if I could pass if I had to do that in English, so props to him for even trying.

The second school is a private university.  These are super expensive and outside of the foundation's budget, so Mike didn't even really consider these.

The third type is called a foundation school, which is basically a combination of a private and state school.  I'm not really sure how the funding works, but it's a combination of private and public. A while back, I mentioned that Mike had been accepted to school.  This school was Izmir School of Economics, which   While that was true, it had to be approved by the Olmsted Foundation.  Since the program was in English, they denied the approval.

Luckily, the deadline for most universities isn't until a few weeks before class starts, so he still had time to apply to another foundation school, Yashar University. He applied as a "special student" and went in to talk to them about his situation after he submitted their application.  They said that they would let him know about his acceptance (or rejection) in a week.

Then we left for Germany and didn't hear anything.  When we returned, we still hadn't heard anything and it was Bayram, so everything, including the university, was closed for the week.  Nothing would open back up until Monday, which coincidentally turned out to be the first day of school.  Essentially, the office wouldn't open back up until the first day of school.

You better believe that when 8:00am on Monday rolled around, Mike was up and out the door to find out his status and a little while later, I got the news that he had been accepted to the Political Science Master's Program!!  ::Insert sigh of relief::

He couldn't register that day since he needed to do some stuff with the Olmsted Foundation, so he missed the first day, but he was able to get everything sorted and start on Tuesday!!  He'll be taking three classes (they each meet once a week) and then Turkish lessons four days a week.  He's going to be a busy guy, but I know he can handle it.

This is how he felt about having his picture taken for his first day of school.

Trying to please me by doing the "Josh Rehak" pose.

Okay, now me:

Back in July, I emailed my resume to a school that teaches adults English.  I wasn't sure what I would be able to do, if anything, since I don't speak Turkish.  I didn't even know if they were hiring.  I met with the director and observed a class, but communication was shaky (it took a while to get a response via email....Turkey is what I remember of the early 2000s when it comes to Internet).  Between the shaky communication, all of Mike and my travels, and the week long holiday, I wasn't sure if I would ever hear anything concrete.

Then, Monday (the same day Mike found out about school), I got an email and met with the director and we agreed that I should start Thursday!! I'll be working with the more advanced students in their speaking and listening.  Each class at this school has a teacher who teaches grammar and vocabulary.  Then, I'll come in and supplement it with speaking and listening.  Essentially, my job will be to make sure they are using things like idioms and phrases correctly, while helping them improve their listening skills.

I'll probably only be working part time, as I think the majority of these classes are focused on grammar and vocabulary, but that's okay! When I came to Turkey, I knew I wanted to do something with teaching while I was here, I just didn't know what I'd be able to do. I really just wanted something so that when I get back home, it doesn't look like I just took two years off. I didn't really want a full time job since I knew we'd be traveling.  Hopefully this job works out well enough and keeps me busy!

Needless to say, we're very happy in the Hogan household. We're extremely grateful that things are working out for us professionally here. Hopefully, all of these professional opportunities will lead to some friendships!

Household Quirks and Accomplishments

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We've been arranging furniture, unpacking various items, and hanging lots of pictures over the past week.  While doing so, we've noticed that our new living quarters have a few quirks, to say the least.  While there are wonderful aesthetic aspects to our casita, such as granite counter tops and crown molding, there are some aspects that leave us just saying "What?!?!?!"

Let's take a little look....

1. We've been hanging pictures all week and have concluded that our walls and ceilings are not level.  If you look at the floor, you can see where the floor isn't even.  Then, we went to go hang pictures and used a level to make sure it was even.  Despite the fact that the level said it was, my eyes told me it wasn't.  Yup, the ceiling was crooked so all of our pictures and frames look crooked while hanging.  Good thing I'm not OCD....
2. While hanging said pictures, we quickly realized that a hammer and nails was not going to be effective because the walls are made of CEMENT.  Yup.  Our entire house is made of cement. I'll let you figure out how we managed to hang those lovely pictures. Get creative. We did. 
3.  The office and the back guest bedroom share a wall. Or so we thought.  Mike was hanging his "Don't Give Up the Ship" sign and realized that it was a little bit different from the concrete walls.  He left the nail in and went into the guest bedroom and opened the closet door that is on the "shared wall" and, yup, you guessed it, there was the other end of the nail.  So, the supposed wall that these rooms share is non-existent.  The (current or previous) owner decided to just put up closets in this L-shaped room and make it two! We had heard that most rooms don't come with closets, but I guess we just thought we were lucky. 
4. The counter tops have these little lips so you can't wipe things off of them.  It's kind of annoying, but mainly just weird. I guess it prevents things from spilling on the floor. Maybe?

I'm sure there are others that we've yet to discover, but these are the fun ones we've discovered thus far.   I actually love our apartment and think it is perfect for us, despite these little quirks.  Attention to detail has never been one of my strong points, so crooked pictures and oddly shaped rooms don't bother me.  I just think it adds a little character to the house.

And now for the accomplishments!

1. Congrats to my brother Andrew for getting hired as a Program Manager with City Year DC!! Andrew and I both served two years with City Year in various cities, but Andrew is now on staff making the big bucks (comparatively)!  He snapped me this gem on his first day of work, which made me chuckle, so I broke the number one SnapChat rule and took a screen shot to share with all of you.
   
2. Mike got accepted to the University of Izmir School of Economics!! Wahoo!! It's his back up school, but it's definitely a relief to him (and me!) to know that he'll be going to school somewhere.
3. And maybe the biggest accomplishment of them all... I beat Mike at cribbage! Hooray! Don't worry.  He beat me the game before that and the game after, but for one game, I was victorious. 

 

Oh and since it's Wednesday, here's a little something extra I like to call Michael's Musings to get you over the hump of the week. These are probably the you-had-to-be-there funny, but they make me laugh, so you get to hear them too.

Mike has been reading To Kill a Mockingbird (my all time favorite book) and shortly after starting it...

"Scout is kind of a bitch."

Are we reading the same book?

Knowing that I have the bladder the size of a pea....

"Wait. Wife. You don't have to pee?"

After our humbling experience with the oven 

"Do you feel as dumb as I do right now?"  The answer is yes, yes I do.

While we (and by we...Mike) was hanging pictures

"I can't hear you over all the slave driving" 

During our time without an oven, I tried a lot of new crockpot recipes.  Since Mike is an extremely picky eater (no fruits or vegetables), I made a board on Pinterest called "Things Mike Likes" to save the recipes that were good and met the approval of the Mister.  This particular recipe for chicken curry was not that great. 

"You can defriend this  from the Things Mike Likes board."

Mike: Smell my feet.

Me: No thank you.

Mike: Please, it'll be good for you.

Me:

As you can tell, it's a wild world in the Hogan Household.  Until next time