1. Zach and I are "huggers." Back home in Missouri & Texas we often greet/say goodbye to family and friends with hugs. Well here in Turkey the appropriate cultural way to greet/say goodbye to someone is with a kiss on both cheeks. I do this, and am used to it now, but when we first arrived there were some AWKWARD moments due to the double cheek kiss. I remember being greeted by a neighbor during our first week here. She pulled me in for what I thought was a hug/one cheek kiss. When I thought the hug was over I pulled back...only to find that she was again pulling me toward her. The end result was a resisted kiss with some awkward head dodging as I tried to figure out what she was doing and where my head was supposed to go.
2. The Turks have a unique way of saying "no." While there are words to express "no" (i.e. Hayir, yok, etc.) they often raise their chin, tilt their head back, close their eyes briefly, and do a click of the tongue. It is done by children, adults, grandmas, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, and the rest of the population. Here are a couple of examples -
Me (to the clerk at the grocery store): "Do you have any fresh milk?"
Clerk: chin goes up, head tilts back, eyes close briefly, tongue goes "jik."
Me(to Eli's babysitter): "Are you watching Eli this Thursday?"
Babysitter: chin goes up, head tilts back, eyes close briefly, tongue goes "jik."
At first, this was WAY awkward. They do it so quickly and at times I wonder if they've even answered me. Also, at first, it seemed quite rude to me....like I wasn't even worth speaking to. But I quickly realized that it is common and appropriate, and actually quite fun to do. :)
3. Turks use the terms "older sister" and "older brother" (any many other relational titles) for people even if they are not relation. It's a respect thing. This past week Zach and I were buying fruit at our neighborhood bazaar. The seller was speaking to me with statements like, "Older sister, the strawberries are very sweet! Please look here older sister! What can I get for you older sister?" And then when Zach was paying he said, "Thank you, older brother. Have a good day!" Eli's babysitter wants him to call her "Fatma, Taze" which litterally means Aunt Fatma (by the way Fatma, pronounced FahtMah, is a very common Turkish woman's name).
2 comments:
lol. #1 is hilarious. i can just picture the dodging with the puzzled look.
cheek kisses/hugs are big down here amongst the ahem, "older brothers and sisters" i interact with often.
this often led to me feeling quite awkward when i didn't kiss back and an inner monologue that sounded something like "wait, was i supposed to kiss, too? what if i don't want to kiss her? is she going to hug me until i kiss her back?"
then I learned the code: if someone else tries to kiss me on the cheek, just make the kiss sound. things have been smooth ever since.
THe two-cheek kissing thing was hard for me too in Costa RIca. There were a couple of near-kisses on the lips for me. Awkward.
Post a Comment