Yellow Pair of Running Shoes

Today was a great day. It was filled with so many wonderful people.

Scott and I were invited to have lunch with Elif and her mom. Her mom made the most delicious Turkish food. (It’s really a good thing I’m running regularly or I would get SO FAT- the food is so good I can’t stop eating it!!) She made a delicious eggplant dish. Needless to say, we were satisfied visitors.

Then, we stayed and chatted for awhile over tea. The Sekman family was rightly impressed by Scott’s knowledge of Turkish history.

Everyone spoke Turkish except for me. It was a fantastic opportunity to work on my listening comprehension. I’m accustomed to eavesdropping on conversations on the public bus, but I never have the opportunity to evaluate with them the gossip I overheard. So, I’m never quite sure if my guesses at their conversation material is quite accurate. By the by, not only did I work on my listening comprehension, but I also worked on my non-verbal communication skills. 

Isn’t Elif’s mom precious??? She’s a dang good cook as well!

After a splendid afternoon Scott and I headed over to meet up with the Meisel’s. We had dinner at a cafeteria-like place, and then enjoyed the breeze and Bosphorus view with tea. 

Here are Janelle and I very proud to have scored some seriously handsome men!

I’m currently in Istanbul. I’ve been here for almost a week, and I’m excited to report that I got a job!!  I’m an ENGLISH TEACHER!! This morning I taught a banker (not just any banker, but one of the vice presidents of the bank) some English. We had a jolly good time, and since I charmed his socks off he invited me to come back and teach him on Friday. I enjoy teaching English because you get insight into people’s lives. It’s almost the only excusable time to ask people potentially awkward questions like “What is your biggest problem these days?” “Do you lie?” “Have you ever seen the inside of a prison?” Imagine. “Yes, I have seen the inside of a prison. I went there when I killed my old English teacher.” “Yes. I love to lie. I lie everyday.” Good thing my guy keeps it cool. He never lies. I felt very gratified at the end of the lesson. He was smiling, I was smiling. Ah… a day’s money well earned.

I’ve had a fantastic time spending time with friends. The other day I hung out with Elif in Starbucks (I know, I know) for a couple of hours. She is phenomenal. I am doing ethnographic research while I’m here, and she is my informant. I’m convinced that there is no Turk more informative than Elif! She has also been a blessing to me in other ways: taking care of my phone situation (big problem), letting me chat her ear off for hours, teaching me about the environmental situation in Turkey, etc. She is awesome.

The Euro Futbol matches are getting quite intense. Turkey is playing Germany this evening, and it will be a tough match. I watched the game where Turkey beat Croatia, and it was complete bedlam in this city- particularly Taksim, which is where I was. People were throwing chairs when Turkey scored! And, the men were huddled in a big team hug as each penalty kick was underway. I love the patriotism.

And, of course, I’m having a jolly good time with Scott! This photo is from a couple of nights ago. We went to spend some time in Asia with the Meisels and Contreras, and we took a lovely boat ride back to Europe. I love Istanbul at night.  It’s gorgeous. It was a warm evening, so it was fun to sit on the boat and sip tea as we floated to shore. 

I’m looking forward to many more days here. Ah! It’s good to be back!

Scott has been here for the last week, and it’s been great. Unfortunately, I’m so lame and I don’t take pictures!! I’ll try to work on this. However, I did get this picture from a few nights ago. We spent 4 days at a conference in Michigan (which by the way was incredible!). We were driving home and decided to spontaneously pull over and watch the sunset. It was gorgeous as we watched it set over Lake Michigan. 

Who ever knew I’d find a running friend in a Grammar classmate? God, I suppose.

Jane, my TESOL friend, decided it was time to get on the running train, and I gladly took her under my tutelage- just like Brooke  did for me 2 years ago. We first heard about the Cream of Wheaton 10K (I know…what an awesome name!) through our grammar professor, Dr. Seaman. That’s why we diagrammed sentences on shirts as our running outfits! 

Two of our very gracious friends came out to cheer us on. Thanks Katey and Na Young!!! 

Yeah we’re running studs.

P.S. If any of my blog readers is now dying to learn how to diagram sentences- the real way- I’d be happy to show you!      I know, I know. I’m a grammar nerd.

I sometimes wonder if people think I make up the fact that I have two older brothers who are fraternal twins that look nothing alike. Or just wonder if I have siblings at all. Who are these phantom family members I claim? Who are these guys who are the subjects of so many funny and tragic stories I share? We’ll introducing… Sid and Tim. My brothers. Oh yeah. And some girl who obviously got all the looks in her family.

Summer 2008 began for me a couple of weeks ago. Praise God! I love summertime, and I’m thinking that this summer will be especially awesome. This is what’s in store for me:

Summer School Bummer, dude!

Running the Cream of Wheaton 10K

Then, I pick up this hunk from the airport!

While he’s here we’ll visit with some fun people!  

After that, we’ll attend Acton University together in the great state of Michigan.

Once we go to Acton and pump our brains full of great information, we’ll head back to Chicago to hang out with some of these folks!

And then I’m off to Turkey for 6 weeks!!! While there I’ll hang out with my old friends, meet new people, eat iskender and profiterol, do homework, network, have fun, and so much more!!

When I return in August, Sarah will come visit for a whole week!!!

 While she is visiting we will meet up with Leslie, and I’ll finally get to meet little Jameson.

I think it is bound to be a GREAT SUMMER!!

I’m back in Wheaton now. My time traveling the West Coast was fantastic. It was so fun to see my dear friend Lindsey get married, go wine tasting for the first time, camp on the beach in Oregon, visit with family, and so much more! Here are some photos to document the fun time I had!

I wish I were better at documenting great times. If I were there would be a lot more photos to share!

So, my feet are a little deformed. I have bunions. My mother told me that they are genetic. My grandmother had them, my mother had them, and so I, the daughter, have them. Unfortunately, as I increase in age, the size of my bunions increase. They are slowly making my running adventures less relaxing. I’m considering surgery. Do any of you out there know anything about bunion surgery? I’ve just started playing with the idea, but I’m weighing the cost. I’ve heard it is the most painful surgery on earth- doesn’t sound too enticing. I’ve also heard that it’s sometimes considered a cosmetic surgery. Hmmm. Here are some pictures in case you don’t even have a clue as to what these little suckers are. Bone growth- not a corn or sick fungus! 

Well, it seems that a good, clean book is hard to come by these days… or maybe I’m looking in all the wrong places and taking advice from the wrong people.

You see, I like to read before I go to bed. It’s soothes this extrovert into sleepy mode. Well, I finished my most recent book The year of living Biblically by A.J. Jacbos, and I was ready to move onto something else.
Well, I didn’t have any book recommendations off hand, except for one that a random lady gave me in the airport a few months ago. (I was stranded in the airport in need of a good book. She recommended one, but it was hard cover and thus out of my price range.) Well, this book, called The Time Traveler’s Wife, was the book I decided to check out at the library. Wheaton library had 3 copies, and 2 were already checked out. “Must be a good book” I thought.

Well, back to my lamenting about the difficulties of finding a good, clean book. Within my first half hour of reading I came across inappropriate language. I was annoyed. Another dirty book that really seemed quite innocent. The cover is of a little girl’s shoes!!! I thought I was safe.

So, I know there are websites out there to help you censor movies before you go see them- just so you know exactly what you are getting into in case the previews don’t make it clear enough. Is there something like that for books? Or, why can’t books have ratings, just like movies do? That would make it a little easier when selecting from the thousands to choose from.

It is my obligation to my own spiritual health to guard my mind as much as possible. Immodest books do not encourage modest thoughts.

Any recommendations for good, clean books?