Amerika Birleşik Devletleri

So Obama came to visit Turkey as the last stop of his first international trip as President after attending the G-20 economic conference in London. He spoke to the Turkish Parliament in Ankara and came to Istanbul briefly, where he visited Sultanahmet (the Blue Mosque), the Aya Sophia and the Islamic Arts Museum. While it was rumored that he'd be coming to Boğaziçi University, he didn't. So no, I didn't get to see our President while he was here. And really, other than it being on the news, I would not have even known that he was here. Istanbul is a very *big* city. I'm nearly an hour's drive away from where he was staying, and that's only going a couple miles. I did listen to his speech on the Hürriyet website though (Hürriyet is a popular newspaper in Turkey), and I liked what I heard. I was more pleased to hear though that he made an unannounced visit to Iraq and visited with several hundred troops there in Baghdad. It's a great PR gesture, and I think it means a lot to the brave men and women serving there.

Speaking of our fearless leader, Obama's being president has been the subject of some interesting discussions I've had with other students here, not just other Americans, but also Europeans and Turks as well. For the most part, I would say that the Turkish response to our new President has been positive. A lot of people approve of him and have high hopes for the future, our respective countries' relationships as well the military goings-on in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been some who have expressed negative opinions of Bush, but then I'm not surprised. Still it's been very interesting to discuss America outside of America, or should I say, ABD as the Turks call our country (USA = ABD = Amerika Birleşik Devletleri = America United States).

I also had the chance to observe an American Studies class here at Boğaziçi in which I was the only American student with about twenty-someodd Turks. The teacher is from Boston and discussed American politics as well as immigration and how they are regarded in America. It was fascinating to learn about my own country from the other side, as it were. (I'll definitely be going back to observe again; it's really neat to be able to offer perspective for the class as well.) A very interesting article that he read out loud to the class was about an old mom-&-pop ice cream joint that had been around for decades in a neighborhood outside of NYC. It was the kind of place that people had grown up with, that they remember going to as kids, and now their kids go to it and eat the same kind of ice cream they had eaten years before. It was the place people gathered on hot summer nights, and sat outside on the sidewalk, cones in hand, and hung out. America is full of places like this. We've all had something like that in our own neighborhoods. But now the ice cream was closing and was going to be torn down, and a company run by Indians (as in from India) were going to build a hotel in its place. The story is familiar to me. This sort of thing too happens all the time in America, and it's really sad. This story is particular hit home for me because it was in a neighborhood just outside of NYC (Brooklyn, I believe), and my family is from there originally. What's sad about it are the things that people were saying about the Indians who were coming in to tear down their beloved neighborhood icon. People who years ago were immigrants themselves, or their parents were, people with names like Hernandez and Ching, criticizing this new group of immigrants who take over their blocks and put in Indian supermarkets and Vietnamese dry cleaners. It's sad. It's America all around, and it's very sad. Somehow I just don't think that these Turkish students appreciated the story quite like I did. The teacher later told me after class that he sometimes struggles to make these stories real to the students, but it's hard because they've never been to America, and they have nothing to really compare it to. In a way, it truly makes me appreciate my country.

It's odd, really. There's nothing quite like leaving your country for a few months to make you realize how much at times you loved and hate the place you come from. Yes, I'm proud of my heritages. I'm Germany, Irish, English and French - mostly. I'm sure that there are other nationalities blended in my family's background, but I'm those four mostly. I'm proud of my German names, my Irish blood, all of it. In some ways, it defines who I am. Mingling with other Germans especially here, I feel a kinship with them. I was born there after all, and spent the first few years of my life there. Even though I haven't been in Europe in years, I feel still a part of it in some odd way. But really, when it comes right down to it, I'm an American. I speak American English, I have an American accent, I look, sound, and act American. And I'm damn proud of that too.

"Where are you from?" I hear this all the time from people here. And I always smile when I tell them.

"ABD." :)