Today’s Lesson: Çiğ Köfte and Fasıl Music

Corporate culture always has universal elements wherever you go, but a certain pleasure is derived from stumbling on what makes workplaces unique in other countries. Recently, I was giving a lesson at the IT department of a Turkish bank. The bank, Kuveyt Turk, is Islamic – some would say conservative or even fundamentalist, though I […]

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A Second City That Comes in First

Thessaloniki is Greece’s second city. I have a lot of experience with second cities. I went to university in Oregon’s second largest city, Eugene; I did my study abroad in Ankara, Turkey’s second largest city. I went to Plovdiv last summer for my first visa run, Bulgaria’s second largest city. Second cities always have a slight inferiority complex. But they are always eager to show off their goods. For Plovdiv, it’s a beautiful Roman theater and more genuine Bulgarian artisan shops than those of Sofia. Ankara chimes in with its stately, calm atmosphere that Ankarans say is a nice break from the helter skelter of Istanbul traffic and pretentiousness. What does Eugene have that Portland doesn’t have? Umm, better running trails? I’ll get back to you on that one.

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Me and Ali Sami Yen, A Surly Friend

There I was squeezing through a dark tunnel up the stairs — along with 20,000 yellow and red clad friends. I came to a security checkpoint, a dozen cops stood laughing and checking random people for contraband. One decided to stop me and pat me down. He smiled a greasy smile and asked me how […]

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Polonezköy: Turkey’s Polish Village

There is a place where you can dream of kielbasa and golumpki. Unfortunately, all you can do is dream about it. You can’t have it. At least if you just pop in during the wintertime on a day trip. Don’t get me wrong, its history is interesting, and you should go there, if nothing else […]

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With Little Fanfare, Nişantaşı Art Park Goes Up

It’s great to see that Istanbul, the 2010 cultural capital of Europe, making an effort to distinguish its few greenspaces. This little park is a connector to the park I normally run in. I was surprised one day last week — while zipping through in my wicking running pants — to see city workers putting […]

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