Coaching Water – Erich

Our host, the owner of the apartment in which we are staying, is a film director. And he asked us for a favor.

In one of the films he recently made, the main character is a young Turkish man who has been raised in Europe and the United States. Some of the movie takes place in New York. The basic story is that his grandmother is dying and he learns that he is not actually Turkish, but in fact, Kurdish. Then he goes on a journey of discovery.

So here was the favor. The director asked if he could bring over the actor who played the young man and record some of the lines spoken in English again for audio dubbing. He wanted those lines to sound more American.

The actor is a talented man who is Turkish and learned his English in the U.K. So naturally, he doesn't sound like an American when he speaks English.

I don't know much about being a dialect coach. But Alrica and I were able to suggest how we would say some of the phrases, how we would pronounce them. Of course, it is a huge challenge for the actor. He has to say the words again, trying to match our pronunciation, and trying to match the tone and emotion that he had when he actually made those scenes.

The single hardest word: “Water”. The way we say water has nothing really to do with the letter 't'. But how to explain that we “swallow our t”?

The short a sound is also one that is very distinctly different in America and Britain. The actor had to say “ma'am” and that was a challenge. And the long i sound in the word “night” sounded very British when he would say it.

It was a fascinating experience. I hope it helped the film. But I wonder if it just made the actor feel he was sinking into the “water”.

Mixed Emotions - Syarra

Every time we leave a place we have feelings for the place we may never see again. But with different places comes different feelings. It’s hard to explain what brings the emotions to the surface. Maybe we have stronger emotions for the places that remind us of home. The calm homes that are close but not in the center of the city are a great location for us. They are the houses, apartments, locations that remind me most of home, where I am comfortable. When you step inside a life unlike any you would expect, you need a reminder of a place you know.

When you stay long term in a house, you look at the place you are buying, but when we stay “long term” it means most likely one month, maybe two. When we do stay “long term” we look at the pictures provided, which is whatever the host decides to show.

Although this might be difficult, we have chosen this life style. So we live with it. And learn so much more.

Turkish Delight (on a Moonlit Night) – Erich

Turkish Delight (on a Moonlit Night) – Erich

We are in Turkey. Not just in Turkey, but in the splendidly chaotic city of Istanbul. More properly, I should write İstanbul. In Turkish, there is a dotted “i” and a dotless “ı”. When capitalized the dotted “i” retains the dot, so it looks different than our capital I, which is the same as the capitalized version of the dotless “ı”. And the word İstanbul is spelled with the dotted “i”.

The words mean Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

My greatest challenge is not continually singing the song “Istanbul Not Constantinople.” This is made even more difficult when every time the fabulous dessert “Turkish delight” is mentioned, Syarra likes to add “on a moonlit night” referencing the song. This gets it started in my head again. Mean daughter!

Please note: I do not feel a similar temptation to hum “Turkey in the Straw”.

In our first days here, we have seen some pretty amazing sites. We visited the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is well named, because it is grand in size and it is a bit bizarre. It's not strange that there are so many shops. It is strange in how it is built.

One of the streets of shops in the Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar has shops lining the roads, but then arched roofs have been built over the roads. And there are large television screens hanging from the arched roof at each intersection. These can show ads. So it is almost like being in a mall with very wide halls. Except then you look down at the ground where you still see storm drains and manhole covers and you realize that this is a street. Or at least it was before someone turned it into the indoors.

The floor is an actual city street

At one shop just outside of the Grand Bazaar, we got a long lesson in Turkish carpets. We learned that they come from different regions, they were made to be given as part of a woman's dowry. Nowadays, they aren't being made so much. They can last up to 250 years because they are made with double knots which makes them far superior to the single knotted Persian carpets. (Or so the Turkish carpet merchant believes.) And let's not even get into Berber carpets in Morocco! What can compare to Turkish?

Of course, we were up front about not wanting a carpet, not having a home in which to put a carpet, and not having friends or family to whom a carpet could be shipped. (That last part wasn't actually true, but given the first part, that we didn't want a carpet, it seemed like a reasonable claim for us to make.) But we got the hard sell nonetheless. End result: We did not buy a carpet. Though I'm sure his claim that the price was unbelievably low was true, the bargain value of the price is somewhat irrelevant when you don't want the product. (If only I could get that point across to merchants in general.)

We also visited some of the major religious sites of today and of the past. There is a huge mosque called Sultanahmet Camii. (Camii is the Turkish word for mosque.) Most westerners call it The Blue Mosque, because the inside is decorated in 22,000 tiles with beautiful floral designs on them. The majority of the color of these tiles is blue.

This was a far departure from Morocco where you are not allowed in a mosque unless you are a Muslim. Here, outside of prayer times, Sultanahmet Camii is open to visitors. We did have to remove our shoes. Alrica and Syarra had to have their heads and shoulders covered. And none of us were wearing shorts, as that is not allowed.

Not only does this mosque invite you in, but they have a lot of information about Islam. We learned that Islam would say that anyone who believes in the one God is a Muslim, even if he considers himself a Christian, Jew, or even a Hindu. (It explained that while Hindus believe in many gods, ultimately their many gods are manifestations of one true god.) In fact, what the information presented explained is that there truly is only one divine religion or one religion of Allah. But the religions of humans are varied because none of them are actually the true religion of Allah. We just can't replicate what Allah and the angels can understand.

A few interesting stories about Sultanahmet Camii: It was built by the Sultan Ahmed I (which is where it gets its Turkish name, literally the Sultan Ahmed Mosque). When construction began, the Sultan set the price at which the tiles would be purchased. But it took many years to build. During that time, the price of tiles went up, but the Sultan's set price did not change. So the later (higher) tiles are made at lower and lower qualities.

Also, the mosque was built with six minarets. Minarets are the tall narrow towers with balconies around the structure. In the days before electrical amplification, this is where the call to prayer came from. Someone had to climb the minaret and sing out the call to prayer. Today, they can stay at ground level and let the speakers get the word out.

But when it was built, many prominent Muslims were dismayed that the Sultan had six minarets built. This was the same number of minarets as surrounded the Kaaba in Mecca. They found it presumptuous that he would include the same number of minarets in İstanbul. So the Sultan solved the problem. He didn't make fewer minarets here. He ordered a seventh minaret be built at the Kaaba.

Right across from the Sultanahmet Camii is the Hagia Sophia Museum. In Turkish this is the Ayasofia Müzesi. The Hagia Sophia was a massive Byzantine Catholic Cathedral built between 532 and 537 CE, in the time when Constantinople (as İstanbul was called in those days) was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It has a gigantic dome supported by two half-domes.

The massive dome of the Hagia Sophia

In fact, when the Sultanahmet Camii was built in the 1660s, it was meant to rival the Hagia Sophia. But the engineering of the Byzantines/Romans was difficult to match, and the domes on the Sultanahmet Camii, while more decorative, airy, and lit, are not as big.

This marble jar is from around 400 BCE and was used to distribute water and sherbet. Sherbet? So said the sign.

The Hagia Sophia was a Byzantine Catholic Cathedral for many centuries. Though it did have a stretch of about 80 years in which it became a Roman Catholic Cathedral, when Rome sort of recaptured and occupied Constantinople. But it again became a Byzantine Catholic Cathedral until the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Then it was converted into a mosque. The mosque was used until the Sultanahmet Camii was built. And then the Hagia Sophia fell into some disrepair.

In this area, the Byzantine Emperors were coronated

But in the early 1900s when Turkey became a secular government and the Caliphate was replaced with a more pro-Western democracy, the Hagia Sophia became a museum. Inside, there is a fascinating mix of Christian and Muslim iconography.

This mosaic in the Hagia Sophia shows the Emperor and his wife with Jesus. He is giving money to the church.

Another beautiful stop was the Topkapi Palace. This was the palace of the Sultans until the fall of the Caliphate. Then it too became a museum. It is situated in a perfect location, giving views of Sea of Marmara to the south, the Bosporus to the northeast, the Asian side of Turkey across the Bosporus to the east, and the Golden Horn to the north.

There's me with Asia across the water. I might be able to swim that.

Topkapi is different than El Alcazar, a castle complex we saw in Seville, Spain. Both were built by various rulers who added their own elements. But the Topkapi is on a smaller scale. Why build multistory buildings? Instead, you can build a one story building but decorate it so richly that there is no doubt as to the majesty of the Sultan. It also didn't have the extensive and varied gardens of El Alcazar.

Every column is made from a different kind of marble

But what it did have was treasures. First, in the treasury, one could see some of the riches of the Ottoman Empire. There were huge gems, jeweled daggers and boxes, and bowls so richly decorated in gemstones that you couldn't possibly ever use it as a bowl. In another section called the Privy Chambers were relics. Now, I always thought Privy Chambers were the toilet facilities, but that is not what it meant here. Here they were the rooms with the greatest of treasures.

These were major religious relics of Islam. But since many of Islam's prophets are those mentioned in the Jewish Bible and the New Testament, some of these relics would also be considered relics in Judaism and Christianity.

We saw what was said to be the staff of Moses, the sword of David, many pieces of the beard of the prophet (by which is meant Muhammad), his sword and the sword of some of his closest friends and pupils, gutters from the Kaaba, and more. In one room in the Privy Chambers, there is a man who sits and sings the verses of the Quran all day long. These are amplified and can be heard throughout the Privy Chambers. He had a beautiful voice. In that room, there are two screens showing the verses of the Quran, one in Turkish and one in English.

In addition to the sites, we have enjoyed some wonderful foods. Of course, the most singular is Turkish Delight. It's difficult to describe it. The legend says that when some sultan broke his tooth on a hard candy, he wanted something softer as his treat. And his royal chef invented Turkish Delight.

Turkish Delight is a semi-solid candy. It is more firm than gelatin, but less firm and chewy than a gummy bear for example. It comes in a great variety of colors and flavors. And it is sweet and delicious. Even if you eat it at a time other than a moonlit night.

The people of Turkey, who are a mix of both Turks and Kurds, are incredibly friendly. As an example, we had purchased some dried strawberries and they were in a sealed plastic bag. We were trying to open the bag in the Grand Bazaar and having a difficult time. One jewelry shop owner saw us having trouble, so he rushed into his store and returned with a pair of scissors, cutting the bag for us.

People offer to help us find where we are going. They recommend the best places to eat or to find certain items. They are a generous people. And most of them truly appreciate it if you try to speak some Turkish. Even if you're not that good at it, which describes my abilities in Turkish quite well.

Of course, we have much more to see and do here. We haven't yet been in the Asian part across the Bosporus. We want to see the Basilica Cistern. And we want to experience more of the foods of Turkey. But even in the few days we have spent here, we can certainly say that İstanbul has been a true Turkish delight.

On a moonlit night.

A Tale of Four Cities Part IV: Paris – Erich

We ended our April excursion to four European capitals with three days in Paris. (To be honest, it did turn into May while we were there.)

We stayed with our friends Bryan and Ami (@amitakesonparis on Twitter) at their amazing apartment, full of windows and light. They have two daughters almost the same age as our kids. And I'm sure if you asked the kids what the best part of being in Paris was, they would tell you it was playing with friends. One of the hardest parts of this kind of travel for our kids is far fewer opportunities to just play with other children. So we're glad they got to do so at this stop.

But the sights of Paris were pretty cool too.

The creepy clown guy behind us later insisted on shaking people's hands. Not popular with our group.

Naturally, we saw the biggies: the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomph. They are all impressive examples of architecture, and each in a very different way than the others.

This is not the usual view one gets of the Eiffel Tower. This one is better!

But the architecture of Paris is not limited to famous structures.

Detailed work from Notre Dame. The kids loved the guy holding his own head.

The city is full of interesting (and not so interesting) buildings. Some of the modern structures are quite ugly, and sometimes I wonder if that is on purpose. But others are dignified. And there are rare old gems in Paris. I mean, gems of buildings, though there are probably actual gems somewhere. And in some places, there are just interesting art elements added to the building that seem somewhat random.

Someone added a mosaic of Qbert to the side of a building. @!#?@!

However, if you are looking for beauty, the buildings are only one element. Go to some of the magnificent gardens. The Tuileries Garden is filled with sculptures, paths, playgrounds, plants, flowers, and more. At one end is the Louvre which is a gigantic and gorgeous building. Plus there are the two pyramids (small and large) sticking up from the ground at the Louvre.

This is only vineyard in the city of Paris itself. It is in Montmartre. But I hear the wine from it is not so good.

But my favorite garden was the Jardin du Luxembourg. Here's the story. Maria di Medici is married off to some French king named Louis. (There are a lot of those.) Sadly, they hate each other. But she is rich and homesick. So she buys the Hotel du Luxembourg and turns it into a palace. Then outside of it she designs and finances an enormous garden in the Italian style that she misses.

The palace eventually became the home of the French Parliament. The gardens are now open to the public. They are beautiful, with different sections. There is a gorgeous fountain with two lovers and some man in the clouds looking down on them. It is an incredibly impressive place. Amazing what a bout of homesickness (and millions of Francs for this is certain pre-Eurozone) can do.

We greatly enjoyed our visit to the Musee d'Orsay. They have an incredible collection of Impressionist Art and Post-Impressionist Art. Not only did we enjoy the paintings and sculptures there, but Ami gave us many great lessons in those art periods. Still, here is our unresolved question. Was Impressionism a necessary step to get from Realism to the Modern Abstract Movement or could you have jumped from one to the other without an evolving step?

Somber as it may sound, one of my favorite excursions was to the Montparnasse Cemetery. Many important French citizens are buried here. I personally saw the graves of the great mathematician Henri Poincare, the great playwright Jean-Paul Sartre, and the great sculptor Frederic Bartholdi. But the real thing that brought me there was it is also the burial place of Alfred Dreyfus, the man wrongly accused of being a traitor in the 1890s and convicted because he was a Jew, not because he was guilty.

The Parade Ground of L'Ecole Militaire. Here Dreyfus was "degraded" before the public.

As Lumiere says in Beauty and the Beast “...this is France, and dinner here is never second best.” Yes, the food is delicious. We ate dinner one night at a French restaurant. So bouncing from one animated movie to another, do you remember in Ratatouille when Remy is trying to explain flavor to his brother Emile? He talks about two things that each taste good, but when you put them together, it is something even better.

Well, that was the way of this meal. Some people had Beef Cheeks and Codfish which you had to eat together. Others had veal rolls and shrimp that you had to eat together. Needless to say, everything was excellent. The kids ate so much that they declared that their regular stomachs had spilled over into their dessert stomachs. (Though dessert still somehow got eaten. Culinary miracle!)

As good as that meal was, I imagine the kids will remember eating macarons more distinctly. They are sweet meringue based cookies. Though I'm sure the French would not call them cookies. To the Pennsylvanians I lived near, we would say that they were a French version of Whoopie Pies, though the similarities in form are incidental because the differences in flavor are immense. Carver got one that was violet and licorice flavor. He asked our hosts what violet tasted like and they told him “It tastes like the color purple.” That didn't help, but he enjoyed it when he got to eat the real thing.

Paris is a wonderful place to visit. It is easy to get around. There are buses and metros everywhere. But it is also very expensive, including public transportation. (Though London may be even more expensive in regards to transportation. Though not in regards to food. Apples in Paris were the most expensive we have seen anywhere in Europe.)

It is interesting. I enjoyed Paris, thought it was lovely and had so much to offer. But the entire time I was there, I always felt like “This is a city in which I don't belong.” I don't mean the city was unwelcoming. It was more inside of me. Some places you feel right at home. Other places you always feel out of place. For me, Paris is one where I feel out of place. I may one day visit again, but I can't ever see myself feeling the temptation to stay.

A Tale of Four Cities Part III: Berlin – Erich

Berlin is history. I don't mean it's gone. I mean it is so steeped in history.

Of course, many other cities have a great deal of history. In Athens, we saw ancient buildings from the founders of Western Thought. In London, there is fascinating history. But the history on display in these places is from long ago. In Athens you see the Parthenon, built a few thousand years earlier, and history is presented with a certain awe about how our way of thinking began. In London, a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London call tell you tongue-in-cheek stories of queens having their heads cut off. We are far enough removed that we can retell without reliving.

But not so in Berlin. It does have its old history as well, starting over a thousand years ago. But the raw history on display in Berlin is much more recent, mid twentieth century. And it is not presented with awe, but with awfulness. It is not tinged with humor, but with horror.

To its credit, Germany does not try to hide its past, even though there are elements of that past that are terrible to remember. Still, their history museums focus light on the rise of the Nazis (the National Socialists), the Holocaust, the division of Germany and Berlin, the GDR, and the Berlin Wall.

We learned how Hitler rose to power in what seemed like a moderate democracy, but one with a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction and antisemitism. In some ways, it mirrors much of the situation in the United States today. I'm not saying we are going down a similar path, but we are in a similar place in our society.

We saw documentation of the horrors inflicted on Jews, homosexuals, the Roma, and Communists by the Nazis. It is presented fully in the hopes that by remembering it will never be repeated.

And then, with liberation from the Nazis comes the Cold War. Berlin is divided by the Allies. A fence is built, replaced by a wall. Families are separated. And people trying to cross from East to West are shot down. The wall itself is mostly gone. Only one section remains. But in addition to this one piece, there is a long memorial with information about the Wall and life in the border region.

We had many powerful and chilling lessons in Berlin.

But I don't want you to think that the city is only about its past. Berlin is vibrant, beautiful, alive, and flavorful.

We enjoyed one of their local specialties: currywurst. It's a bratwurst flavored with a curry seasoning. It is surprising that it is a German food and it is surprisingly good. Of course, we also enjoyed Schnitzel, Küchen, Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus (potato pancakes with applesauce,) and Strudel. (Carver pointed out that since all of those are nouns in German, I need to capitalize each one.)

Ignore that tall tower that looks out of place

We saw lovely sights. Here you can see a massive church, Berliner Dom. Though the spectacle is somewhat comical with the Fernsehturm Berlin (the Berlin TV Tower) in the background.

It's okay. these days anyone is allowed through the central passage.

We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of Berlin and perhaps Germany itself. It was built when Berlin was a walled city. (Not the Berlin Wall, way before that.) It was a tax collection point for goods coming in and out of the city. The central passage of the five is wider than the rest. While pedestrians could use any of the five passages, those on horseback could only use the four outside passages. Except for the royal family. The central passage was reserved for them.

Now that's German efficiency. Sightseeing efficiency.

Of course, if you don't have time to see all of the sights of Berlin, no problem. Just look down at a manhole cover. What a time saver!

Take that D.C.

We were there in the spring, perfect time for cherry blossoms. I know Japan and Washington, D.C. have their blossoms, but so does Berlin. And they are beautiful.

Yes, we loved Berlin. The public transportation is everywhere and it is on time! The Germans wouldn't accept less. We noticed that the Germans do not jaywalk. They wait for the walk signal faithfully. Both the walk signal and the don't walk signal wear hats in Berlin. We did see a German man smoking in one of the U-Bahn (subway) stations, which is also strictly forbidden. So sometimes Germans break the law.

The kids played soccer with some of the local children at a park down the street. Though their communication wasn't always perfect, soccer is soccer (or football, but you get the idea.)

Euler! (You have no idea how many times I hollered that.)

And to top it all off, we lived on Eulerstraɮe or Euler Street. And it is named for Leonhard Euler, the great mathematician. You can imagine my exponential joy! Isn't that just the limit? (Perhaps Euler jokes are not the best for this crowd. Sorry.)

London in one page - Syarra

On our first day of London, we stayed home and enjoyed. The people who owned the house were friendly, and fun to be with.

On the second day of London, we went around and explored. We were in Barnet, London, United Kingdom.

On the third day of London, we went and saw the tower, yes, The Tower of London.

It was very interesting, full of detail about the kings that ruled England and built The Tower of London. Also we took a tour led by the Yeomen Warders (which is a guard and tour guide of The Tower of London.)

On the fourth day of London, we relaxed at home.

On the fifth day of London, the weather was so lame, we had to do the same.

On the sixth day of London, we explored London.

On the seventh day of London, we meet friends at the natural history museum.

We saw a section on mammals, human biology, dinosaurs, volcanos and earthquakes. I almost forgot, we went UP into the center of the earth! It was a long escalator right through the center of the earth, that went up.

On the eighth day on London, we went to the Abbey.

Westminster Abbey is where the kings are buried. Also it is where important British people are buried. I saw Isaac Newton's memorial! And we got devices that told us about Westminster Abbey.

We had high tea which was a fun experience full or of mini sandwiches and clotted cream.

Then we went to the British museum and saw the parts of the Parthenon that the British government/citizens took.

On the ninth day of London, we went to the British museum once more and saw the Japan section and more.

We have had a great time in London and as you have seen Carver told you about the rest.

Until the End of Paris Exactly! And İstanbul Atatürk Havalimani Airport 2 part - Carver

Part Intro

I have two topics to write about and simply decided that it could all go in one blog post. But think of it as two separate posts.

Part One

I certainly like writing about the day of and night before flights. But it seems to me that that is when you have to be the most flexible.

We were going to an airport hotel to stay the night so we would be close to the airport.

Our Paris Transport Tickets were only for zones 1 through 3 and the airport was in zone 5. But we thought we could get tickets to zone 5 for cheaper in zone 3. So we rode the RER B to Drancy, the third stop of the four on that line in zone 3. But there were two machines to sell tickets and both were broken. So we went to the next stop and the machine there didn't work. So we decided to go to the airport and hope that we could get out.

No. We couldn't get out. The tickets wouldn't work. Somehow the machine knew that we had zone 1-3 tickets. And no one was there. We tried to figure out how to get out and whether or not we would have to go back to Les Halles in the center of Paris when people from the military came through. After we told them, with the help of another group who knew English and French who were leaving the airport, they let us out.

The next day, on the silver line bus between the hotel and the airport, Syarra forgot her pillow pet, a stuffed unicorn that is a pillow and that Syarra loves. So my Dad took the shuttle back to get it. At Check-in, the airport network went down and I think they switched to a backup network. But it slowed everything down. We were at the counter when it happened so, since no one was getting checked in, when it was resolved, security was fast. The plane was 25 minutes late because of the fact that it couldn't leave while people were still getting through the check-in line.

Part Two

There are two airports in İstanbul. One is Atatürk Havalimani and the other is Sabiha Gokçen. Atatürk is bigger and easier to get to. We flew into that one. From there we took the M1, a metro to a station where we got on the tram. The tram is in a road. The road is one lane in each direction. So the trams are like cars. Cars have to follow behind it. And if it stops at a station, the cars have to stop and wait for it. Our station is Çemberlitaş.

Guide to Turkish Letters

Ç makes ch sound.
Ş makes sh sound.
Ü makes oo sound.
Ö makes uh sound.
Ğ seems to be silent.
And there are two i’s. First i(uppercase and then lowercase): I ı. And second i: İ i.

That is why the i in İstanbul looks different.