The Physicality of Texas Greetings

Turkish Greeting: 1 kiss on each cheek (or rather touching cheek to cheek)

Texas Greeting: bearhug

Turkish sign of companionship: walking arm in arm

Texas sign of companionship: piggy back ride; surprise cuddle attack; tussle the hair; backhand

Source of my pondering: Hug after an exam. There was a calculus exam going on in a classroom just before my class was supposed to start. One girl finished earlier than her friend and was waiting outside of the classroom. When the friend walked out, they both looked at each other with that "worst exam ever" expression and then embraced each other. This is when I realized how long it'd been since I'd seen two people just hugging.

For as intimate as Turkish greetings are and as delightful as I find it to walk arm in arm down Istiklal Caddesi, they still lack the physicality that distinguishes the greetings I've become accustomed to in Austin. The difference, I think, is that here the interactions between friends feel much more polite. There is an element of raw emotion in holding a friend's body against yours that seems to be lost in touching cheek to cheek. When I think about the kind of hugs that Key gives (bearhug with a lift, a twirl, sometimes a toss onto the nearest piece of furniture) there's nothing polite or formal about it. Sometimes I have to hold on for dear life because it seems like he's going to drop me. All pretensions are stripped away in this moment of embrace. Whole ideas can be communicated in some of these bearhugs that you could never really put into words. Perhaps it's some strange remnant of the Old West rustic bawdiness and small vocabularies. Who knows? Regardless, it's something that I feel is missing in my life right now.

Same distinction goes for dancing. I think the system here is a bit better. Guy and a girl dance together, but really more of across from each other and very seldom come in contact. There's a bubble of personal space like the "room for Jesus" the Catholic schools used to lecture us about. To me, it's more like dancing in front of someone rather than dancing with someone. No arms around each other even during slow-dances unless you're either goofing off to a cheesy song or seriously involved with the person. At least this is as much as I've been able to observe. When Flo Rider's "Low" came on the other night I slipped back into American mode for a half a chorus. I quickly corrected myself. In Austin, it would have been just two friends dancing. No big deal. Here, I could sort of tell that it wasn't the case. Perhaps it's part of the politeness. Perhaps it's something else.

Shoes

I was on campus today talking to a friend and waiting for some photocopies to be done when a very peculiar thing happened. A girl I'd never met came up to me and asked about my shoes.

"Hi. Where are you from?"

"Texas"

"But your shoes are from Argentina. Where did you get them?"

"Uh... I bought them in Austin"

"They're not from Argentina?"

"Might be based on an Argentine design, but they're definitely from the states. I think the company's based in California. You can find them online. They're called TOMS."

"Oh okay, thank you. I'll look for them."

I had noticed that no one wore TOMS over here, which wasn't that surprising as I got here in winter. However, now that it's springtime, I thought I might see a few pairs at least since they're so popular among college students in the states and a lot of the fashion here follows American fashion (Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP, etc.). Apparently TOMS haven't made it to Istanbul yet. I've seen one other person wearing them, but she was also an exchange student.

Converses are still the shoe of choice here. Asics are probably a close second as far as daily shoes go. I had debated about bringing my Converses but thought they'd be impractical over here. Not so at all. I ended up buying Turkish-made knockoffs of Converses anyway and wear them most days. They're gray and cheap, but as long as you don't look at the back label, you can't tell they're not chucks.

You might be wondering why nicer shoes, like heels, aren't as popular. I can think of one reason off the top of my head: pavement. The sidewalks here are brick mostly, and about a foot above the road. I think the height of the curb is to discourage drivers from parking with half the car on the sidewalk. I have become quite adept at hopping on and off of the sidewalks to get around people who are walking slower or to simply get out of their way. It's difficult to do if you're in anything with a heel. I know that when I was wearing my boots, which have a slight heel, walking on these uneven sidewalks was a real pain. I went out in them one night and swore to never do it again. I haven't quite figured out why ballet flats aren't as common here. People wear them, they're sold everywhere, and they can be pretty cheap if you know where to go, but they aren't nearly as common as in Austin.

It's one thing that I have yet to understand: students dress well to go to class here, but still wear very casual shoes. It's the exact opposite of the case in the states: casual clothes and nice shoes (here I cite the sorority uniform of Sperries, Nike shorts, Ray-Bans, and a highlighter yellow greek t-shirt). Who knows, perhaps I'll start a TOMS trend over here.

I enjoy long walks along the water... and eavesdropping

I should be writing a paper right now, but as has become my habit here I am procrastinating. It's only two pages. I can do that in no time... Now, on to my main topic: spring.

I've never really understood how wonderful seasons are until now. That seems really strange, but it's true. Winter honestly doesn't exist in Texas. Spring is 1-2 weeks before the six-month summer and is only renowned for horrible allergies. Fall is just wet. Here, however, spring is a time when class attendance drops, tulips bloom, people go for long walks along the water or lay in the grass smoking, playing tavla and talking about how they should be going to class. It's a beautiful thing.

A stray dog sleeping in his doghouse in Bebek

I myself became caught up in this springtime celebration today, and have the sunburn to prove it. Yes, it's barely April and I have a sunburn. I know, I'm pale. It happens. After class I dropped off my books, grabbed my ipod and went for a stroll down in Bebek. Well, I started out in Bebek, ended up almost in Ortaköy which is a pretty long ways away. Bebek is a really rich area of town so people watching is very interesting there. There were lots of young moms taking their children out to the playgrounds, old women taking their afternoon walk in jogging clothes, and young businessmen walking along the water in designer suits.

This is where I digress for a moment. Some of the conversations I overheard made me think about language for a little while and the way that bilingual sectors of society communicate. One of my professors jokes about Boğaziçi Turkish, in which students at Boğaziçi Üniversitesi randomly insert English words into Turkish sentences. Sometimes these English words are shortened, which makes slightly less sense. For instance, "facebook" can become "face" in Boğaziçi Turkish. This should not be confused with Boğaziçi English, in which you do not "throw a party" or "have a party." You "make a party." To these two, I would like to add Bebek English, in which Turkish words are randomly inserted into English sentences. For instance, I overheard someone say "çünkü it's just going to get stolen again." When I was closer to Ortaköy, a businessman answered his iPhone "Efendim? Yes, how can I help you?.... Ne? They did what? Hayır. No. No that's not good." I give these examples not as a criticism of anyone's grasp of a language. I think of no less of anyone for wanting to make a party. I just find the mixture of languages interesting. If the person you're talking to speaks both languages, I suppose it does make sense to switch back and forth.

tavla = backgammon

çünkü = because

efendim = sort of like sir, but used to answer phones as well

ne = what

hayır = no