Right around the corner

…. is Christmas! Living abroad for a couple of years now, I enjoy the Christmas spirit, I simply love it. Other than the high sentiments, like appreciation, gratefulness and unity, attached to it, Christmas is just a “different” part of the year.

Here in London, it looks that Christmas is just about to arrive, which is certainly correct. Time flies, right? It started in August- yes, August! I was out for shopping one day and all of a sudden I found myself in a hall of Christmas decorations! Stars, tiny doves, deers, crystal balls, fairies, Santa Clause… August? Christmas? Isn’t it a bit early? Then I thought, probably they wanted to lift spirits of people, as everybody is one way or the other suffering from crisis. Then, the weather got cold: OK, sweater time! And then I noticed the lights on the streets, with the shape of a gift box, ribbons, stars… Following that came the Christmas pudding and other delicious food… Finally, last week asI was shopping with my mum, came these:

Hi there!

So now I know that Chrismas is right around the corner!

Lights, presents, food, candies, shopping, shopping, shopping!

I have been lucky enough to see Christmas in a couple of countries (in different continents, different climates, different languages, different traditions, different practices), thanks to my kind friends who invited me to join them on such a special night. One thing certain: It is an extremely special night and people get united.

Close to my flat in Madrid, they always set up a hut in the garden of a shopping mall, with a different theme every year. Once it was Belem, the other year it was a dwarf baking shop, the other year the polar bear family… One could easily spend hours there- that I did! Maybe I get to see them again this year.

Last year, I moved just on Christmas time to London, to be honest I could not entirely manage to get into the mood as I was kind of overwhelmed by the fast pace of my life, however I recall some scenes with the gorgeous Fortnum & Mason window, where every compartment set on a different theme (don’t ask me please the themes, I was sort of missing trying to locate myself geographically, culturally and phonetically). This year I am hoping to deliver a better performance!

My final remark: about shopping part, I believe I should make a comment: Yes, it is shopping time, you get lots of deals and sales yet I should not do any shopping as my horoscope tells me not to. It is a BIG dilemma. So hard! And my horoscope even takes it further: If you REALLY HAVE TO shop, buy something for the kids in your family. Hummm… There are 3 gorgeous kids in my extended family- OK, they get the presents. And then? Would my sister count? Why the horoscope didn’t say “only buy a gift for the kids and let the others buy you”? Then I would happily forward this to all my beloved! ;)

Let’s see what Papa Noel is going to bring me this year!

P.S. Photos taken in Liberty, one of the style & design shrines of London. 

Cocuk akli…

Deyip de gecmeyin; cogumuzdan daha parlak, daha keskin.. Hatta ben cocuklarin biz onlari kandirmak, veya, itiraf edelim, “gecistirmek” istedigimizde, onlara soylediklerimizi “hiimm.. tamam, kanmis goruneyim ama yemezler cicim! Ben nasil olsa kendim kesfederim” diyerek bizi idare ettiklerini dusunurum. Benim de kuzenimin 5 yasinda bir kizi var, ondan biliyorum. Onunlayken boyutum degisiyor, icim zenginlesiyor, ruhum hafifliyor. O kadar zekiler, o kadar kendi dunyalarinda zenginler ki bazen cocuk olasim gelmiyor degil. Oyuncaklardan tutun da ellerindeki sayisiz imkanlara (Ipod, Skype, bir suru yeni ogretici oyuncak….) Benim cocuklugumdan hatirladigim, materyal olarak, Barbie’ler var, legolar, puzzlelar… Sikayet etmiyorum kesinlikle, cocuklugumun tadini cok cikardim ben, ooohhhh!!

Nereden geldim cocuk aklina? Gecen gun “mahalle”mizin parkinda oturuyordum; etraftan cocuk sesleri geliyor, sanki bir okulun teneffus zamanindaki gibi tum cocuklar bahcede, ciglik cigliga bagirip kosturuyorlar (biliyorum, benim de ilkokulum oyleydi ve biz de sanirim amacsizca o eylemi yapardik. Surekli bir kosturma, terleme, oksurme, ki benim literaturumde “terli oksuruk” diye bir element vardir, sadece terlediginde olan oksuruk – hadi, sizin de vardir! Kostururduk bagira cagira ama ne neden kosturdugumuz belli idi, ne de birbirimize ne dedigimiz.. Amacsizca, maksat sirada otururken biriken statik enerjiyi en kisasindan bunyeden atmak)

Sonra zaman gecti, baktim sesler/cigliklar daha yakina geldi. Dedim “okul gezisinin icine dustum; e iyi ben de “misafir abla” (bu da bizim okulda vardi) olarak katilayim bari.” Sonra onumden bir Ipek Yolu kervani gecmeye basladi! Metrelerce cocuk: el ele tutusmus, ikili siralar halinde, buyukten kucuge cocuk, cocuk, cocuk… Ondeki ve yanlardaki(tampon) hocalar tarafindan kervandan cikmalari engelleniyordu. Kosmuyorlardi ama bagiris-cagiris; o gurultude sesini duyurmak icin daha da bagiris  ziyadesiyle mevcuttu. Konusuyorlar, etrafa bakiyorlar; sanirim 6-8 yas arasi minik yavrulardi. Uniformali – ama elbette o kadar aktiviteden sonra uniforma “eser” miktarda belli oluyordu, yaka bagir acik, kimi o soguga ragmen kisa corapli, minik ayaklar ve eller, saclar orgulu veya belli ki anne modeli taranmis fakat her nedense dagilmis… Kervan gecer, ben bakarim.

Tam o sirada bir gozum bir minigi yakaladi: “Guvercinler!!!! Guvercinler!! Cabuk kacalim benim guvercinlere alerjim var!!!!”

Dedi ve benim dudaklara bir gulumseme kondu. Ne dusundu acaba ki  guvercinlere alerjisi oldugunu soyledi? Belki guvercinleri sevmiyor, belki “alerji” kelimesini yeni ogrendi, belki onun aklinda benim aklima gelmeyen bambaska bir neden  var… Ama cocuk akli iste, beni hep sasirtiyor hem de gulduruyor. Mumkuse onlarla daha fazla zaman gecirmek lazim, dedigim gibi, insanin boyutu degisiyor, ruhu hafifliyor, bambaska bir dunyaya gidiyor.

P.S. Guvercin alerjisi var mi arastirmadim; belki de cidden vardir!

A proper English 5 o'clock tea

…. is actually, in my opinion, quite satisfying, which may probably leave no room for dinner.  The last menu I saw of this 5 o’clock tea consisted of a glass of sweet wine, some sandwiches (salmon& rocket), some sweets (scones, roulade) and tea, of course. Enough?!  At the end, it is a 5 o’clock tea!  And obviously, it is a ritual. Everything about it is a ritual: the china,  the food, napkins, cutlery…. Good to see that people stick to such traditions.

Serving

Now, some different points of views:

My Turkish-self’s 5 o’clock tea: Simit (yummyyyy!!!) and Turkish tea. I would not say no to some cheese and tomato accompanying my simit! I would just have a bite and probably two “bardak”s- but Ajda bardak- tea and would go on with my life.  Then comes the dinner, when we are all together with the family.

My Spanish-self’s 5 o’clock tea:  Pardon me, 5 o’clock tea? I thought we would go for coffee, wouldn’t we? Yes, I consumed little tea when I was my “Spanish self”. It is not a complaint, you know, sometimes you just adapti or feel like adapting, to the general flow of the life wherever you are. I loved the coffee breaks when I was in Madrid- especially the ones with Alba. Or the ones  you would go for breakfast to get the updates from all or the afternoon coffees, which tended to be mini inter-departmental meetings, or a welcome coffees or farewell coffees… Tea? Yes, usually at the end of a nice lunch, especially mint tea…. Sip, I miss it all…

My English-self’s 5 o’clock tea: Absolutely would not be able to eat that much in! Unless I had lunch, maybe…. They are obviously delicious and which is better, it is the “tradition”: fancy and feel-good one.  A social occasion, going there, chit-chatting with mum, friends, sister… girly! Not dinner, not lunch, sweets involved…. Even better, when you have company- no, I would probably not do it alone, but you never know. Maybe one day to pamper myself? A break in the day, something different and uplifting. I like this tradition! I have now a list of some places where I am planning to take either mum or some dear friends when they are in London.

Last time I had a 5 o’clock tea ritual was 2 days ago :)  and here are the traces! 

Just a fraction of it, we didn't have a "regular" 5 o'clock tea but these scones are what and how you eat in a 5 o'clock tea

P.S. Reference for places available 

Rekabet- her yerde!

Bildiğiniz üzere şu aralar oldukça fazla boş vaktim var ve zamanı boşa harcamaktan nefret eden biri olduğumdan “hııımmmm… ne yapsam, ne etsem?” diye sürekli kafa yoruyorum. (ha, yapip yapmadığım ayrı bir yazı konusu ama kafa yoruyorum, yani istek var!) Son maceralarımdan biri “crochet” kursu.  Turkce cevirisi “kroşe” ya da “tığ işi” – ama öyle ultra super ince tığ işi değil tecrübe ettiğim kadarıyla. Neyse, asıl hedefim, bu işle yapılan bir oyuncak var, onu yapmayı öğrenmek; ileride arkadaşların çoluğu çocuğu olur, favori teyze ben olmalıyımmmm!!!! İşte o oyuncağı yapmak için bu ilk kursa gitmek lazımmış. Sonuçta gittim.
Gittim, sanatı öğrendim vb. ama tüm bunlardan çok benim dikkatimi , ben ve saz arkadaşlarımın (!) yakından tanıdığı “hırs ablalar” çekti. Burada da onlardan var. “Hııııımmmm!! Ben yapmalıyım en iyisini”, “en iyi tığ işini ben yapmalıyımmmm!!”, “hem kariyer ablasıyım, hem de tığ örerimmmmm!!”, “du’ bakim, şu Esin n’apmış?! I-ıh, olmamış, becerememiş!!”, “Örtmenim, bakın bakın ben en iyisini yapıyorum di mi?! Ama şurda sanırsam bir ilmek atladım, 1 milim kaydı galiba işim…heeeiiii n’apcem ben şimdi??”

Sonuç: Bunlara dikkat etmekten benim işim hafiften “beginner” oldu ama azimliyim! O oyuncak sınıfında kırmızı kurdeleyi ben takacağım!!! 

San'atım! 

Aslında örgü tarihim başarılıdır, elimin alışması lazım birazcık! 

Reading is good!

As the essence of this blog is my observations “here and there”, here is another thing that comes to my mind to share:  Reading- free reading, actually.

There are 2 newspapers that I have seen until now (Evening Standard and Metro) that are free (yes, the concept “free” is something new to me!) and they can be said to contain almost all the news that are “worthy of” being news (says my past as a journalist). They are distributed in metro stations, at least in all that I have been to. Usually someone hands them to you, sometimes you just go and pick up one. It makes me happy to see that such a service exists, so people are encouraged to read. Instead of just sitting in the metro for, maybe, an hour to get to your work/home, you do something else that also enriches you in various ways. Even if you read all the celebrity news, you’ll have at least practiced your reading skills! 

I have always believed in the power of educating oneself, to put differently, the difference between people/nations/countries who read and who do not. And I know, the difference is striking!

I absolutely do not want to be a harsh critic, this is jusy my humble opinion, yet I know the difference, one just realizes.... From the micro-cosmos (someone who reads) to the macro one (what I have just mentioned about the ones who read and who do not) and I am sure you do, too.

I am sure there are many dimensions of such a service: financial aspects (a free newspaper, widely circulated, salaries of the employees working on these newspapers....), distribution (available to all) or even simply, the content (journalists writing the news and comments). We see that it is possible, although I am not sure about the costs associated with this. My Turkish friends would understand me better: Do you think we could have such a service in Turkey? I wish we could….  I have faith! 

What goes around comes around..I guess it is right!

Today, just as I was  returning from the gym, a group of kids, not more than age 6, asked me so very kindly whether I wanted to have some jam and rasperry juice. Of course I would!

There they were, on a small stand there were some crackers with some jam and a jar and plastic cups. The jam was free but the rasperry juice was 10p- of course I would, I instantly recalled my childhood: I also used to go to the park to “sell” my things, like books, bracelets, hair clips etc. Helping the young & local trade is a task for all of us!

What was even more hilarious is that they could give me a very very small amount of rasperry juice as they didn’t have much- ooppppss, a supply problem!

I was their first customer- so how could I ever refuse them?! I know how good it feels when you manage to sell something!

It has been a long time since I saw such a behaviour, i.e. children behaving like children. Unfortunately we have grown more accustomed to children behaving like grown-ups (and grown-ups, especially the female ones, behaving like children). Maybe it is because I live in a residential area, where kids can go to school on foot or just enjoy their afternoon in the park, therefore they keep their “childhood” relatively in a better way or here live people who still stick to some certain values of child-raising that I also believe are right... Of course I am not an authority or who am I to criticise what people do, yet I have my own terms with life ;) 

BACK- FINALLY! and HELLO!

Finally, I am back- after a (relatively) messy and an exhaustive month, happy to say that I am back!

And I am back with a change in my blog: I have decided to make it bilingual. I believe I will be able to share my life/experience more this way.

Dear friends,

Here is my little project that I have been mingling with for a while. Most of you are very familiar with the latest changes in my life, which is basically why I started this blog.

Coral shoes, seen on the picture, are the ones I wore for my wedding in London. A very dear friend told me “May these coral shoes be your luck” when I started this blog, so I will stick to them! (for the rules of legality, these shoes are Kurt Geiger’s Spring 2010 collection)

Below you can find the translation of what is written above:

Istanbul- Madrid- London

In between:

Schools, life, trips, work, growing up, maturing,

Family, friends, things I have won, things I have lost, experience, joy, sorrow..

More than 50 countries and airports, hundreds of people met and my curious eyes...

The grandoise of life and how tiny we are, yet again getting lost in daily worries...

Basically, what we all live...

I mentioned my blog primarily to family & friends that know me closely, the ones that I wanted to share my experience with. Please do not be shy, I will be happy to read your comments.