Preschool Christmas Party

(Joni) As a general rule, people in Turkey don't celebrate Christmas. Because of this, we've been surprised and pleased to learn that Elias' international preschool in fact makes a HUGE deal of Christmas! They've been learning Christmas songs all month, doing Christmas crafts, having one day when everyone wore red and green, and then Friday was their huge Christmas party. (It was the same format as the one they threw for Halloween.)

Unfortunately, Justin had to work, but I was able to attend the Christmas presentation from Elias' class. The class filed in wearing adorable Rudolph hats they had made from their handprints.

Then they sang a series of songs in English. We had been hearing Elias sing them at home for weeks, so I knew he knew the words, but he must just not like performing with a group because he just sat in his chair rather than participating in the singing. Here are a few of the songs (Elias is seated on the far left.):
Then the highlight of the party was that Santa came!! He made his big entrance, and then one by one each child sat on his lap and answered the questions "What is your name? How old are you? What do you want from Santa?" The kids had varying levels of proficiency in English, but I could see a great improvement in the ability of the kids to answer those questions since the Halloween party. Elias still wouldn't answer them even though he obviously knows English. :) Here is Santa's entrance and Elias on Santa's lap. The lady helping him is Ms. Olga, the school's phonics teacher. Elias LOVES her, and you can see him answer her questions (He said "Yeah." to all her questions.) rather than Santa's.
One funny note about his class is that the boys in his class almost all said they wanted Angry Birds from Santa! Who knew Angry Birds was so popular among 4- & 5-year-olds in Turkey?! Although Santa asked them what they wanted, he gave them all the same gift, which was a small Santa that dances and sings Jingle Bells. (See it pictured below.)

Then they had a spread of Christmas cookies, which Elias enjoyed immensely.

And they sent him home with a huge bag of fun things.

Clockwise from top: Paper bag with wreath craft, dancing Santa, cookie on a stick, bag of cookies/candy from his teacher, stocking craft with bag of popcorn/cookie/candy/winter rubber duckie, and gingerbread man/Christmas tree/snowman crafts.

So it was a fun Christmas celebration! And now Elias is off school for 10 days, which is practically unheard-of in Turkey. Since they don't celebrate Christmas, they don't have a school holiday. But I'm sure the International Preschool teachers enjoy the break! :)

The End of the World (Kıyamet Günü)

I wanted to chronicle something about the last week. Friday, December 21st was the day that supposedly the Mayan calendar ended (even though this supposedly isn't true) along with the world. This was a big deal in Turkey and the talk of my students and co-workers the past couple weeks. Şirince, a Turkish village on the Mediterranean, was somehow prophesied to be a "safe" haven and saw its population swell as a result. Tom Cruise was even rumored to be coming.

On Thursday, one of the 4th grade teachers had an "Apocalypse" (Kıyamet Günü) party and several students promised not to be in school on Friday. Indeed, Friday's attendance in my classes was the lowest all year.

One of the local malls had a clever marketing scheme around the day. This poster reads "The apocalypse is happening at Kentpark Mall! 110% (off)" The fine print says "100% Kentpark Mall, 10% off all purchases over 100 lira." Clever!

When I got to school on Friday I was reminded that we still had until about 1:20pm local time before the apocalypse was supposed to happen (times for each city were tweeted out quite a bit). Thankfully, the world didn't end while I was with my 2nd grade class. But the low attendance made it one of the most well-behaved classes of the semester.

Commemorating 10th of November in Ankara

(Justin) A couple weeks ago I wrote about how Turkey would celebrate its Republic Day holiday just after Kurban Bayram. I unfortunately forgot to take my camera to school to take pictures of that morning's ceremony. Just a short time after Republic Day, Turkey annually commemorates the death of Atatürk, which took place on 10 November, 1938. (This travel blog post gives a brief overview on Atatürk for more info.)

10 November is much less appropriate for amateur picture taking; it's more like a funeral, so I grabbed these pics from the school's Facebook page. Even though the holiday fell on a Saturday, all students and faculty were required to be at the school gym by 8:30am for a ceremony. Students first filed solemnly by a stage with a bust of Atatürk, guarded by two high schoolers with mock flames.

Many students brought flowers to lay on the stage and there were funeral wreaths around as well. Here are the 3rd graders posing with their flowers in front of a larger bust of Atatürk in the school's foyer.

Then everyone formed lines with their classes and stood at attention. There were speeches, a Powerpoint of Atatürk's life and honors, poems read by students, and we joined the entire nation in a moment of silence at exactly 9:05am, the moment of Atatürk's death.  All students and faculty (except K and 1st grade) stood at attention for the entire ceremony, which lasted about an hour.

I would say most Americans can't fathom dressing up and then loading kids onto school buses in the pouring rain for an early Saturday morning ceremony that will only last an hour, and then everyone goes home. But everyone does it with pride and contentment. This ceremony was much more silent and solemn than other holidays. 

Much of Ankara's population braved the pouring rain to visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum where Atatürk is buried.There was an official ceremony there at the same time as ours.

Below is what it would look like on a sunnier day.

There were similar ceremonies all over the country. At the 9:05 moment of silence, sirens wail, people park their cars, and most everyone stands at attention. This picture got my attention via Twitter. It shows a man getting a shoeshine at 9:04. The captain is "A photograph that explains many things."

It is difficult to describe to people the love and devotion that Türks have for Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He is, in a word, everywhere.

Halloween Party at Elias' School

(Joni) Although Halloween isn't celebrated in Turkey, Elias' school teaches American holidays. So they'll celebrate Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Columbus Day, etc., and they've also been learning about Halloween - things like pumpkins, ghosts, bats, and saying "Boo!" Next week is a huge Muslim holiday, and Elias' school will be closed all week, so they chose to celebrate Halloween a little early with a party on Friday. The parents were invited to come see the kiddos dressed in costume and having a little presentation. It was fun! Each class had their own party, so this is just Elias' Pre-K class.

First the kids paraded out and showed off their costumes (Elias borrowed a Thomas costume from some friends.), and then their teacher, Ms. Janet (an American), made a little introduction.

Ms. Janet is the one in green. The other lady in the witch hat is Ms. Olga, the school psychologist and phonics teacher. Elias really likes both of these ladies! Elias is seated on the far right.

Then each child came up to the microphone and introduced themselves in English by saying "Hello, my name is ____. I am __ years old." Only a couple of the kids actually seemed to know what they were saying. My child is the only native English speaker in the class - I think the rest are Turkish - and he didn't speak clearly into the microphone either!

Standing on the far left is Ms. Ebru, the school principal/owner. Also notice the father in front using his iPad as a camera. I laughed at the number of smartphones and tablets being used as cameras there! I was the dinosaur using a real camera!

Then they sang a few songs in English, some about Halloween and some just kids' songs. Below you'll hear parts of a song about feelings - I make a happy face, I make a grumpy face, etc. - and Farmer in the Dell. Elias doesn't like to sing along, but he obviously enjoyed watching his friends' performance! Some of them were quite enthusiastic! You can hear the parents laughing. :)

School Halloween party from Joni Tapp on Vimeo.

Then there was a big spread of snacks and treats, which was enjoyed by all.

Elias loved the marshmallow pops on a stick! He also loved wearing the Thomas costume - he didn't want to take it off to go home! (But I insisted - no way I'm taking him on public transportation wearing that costume.)

And they sent each child home with a great bag of Halloween-themed crafts they had made at school and lots of candy.

Counter-clockwise from top: Monster bag, bat, and jack-o-lantern crafts made at school; Hershey bar ghost from Ms. Janet & Ms. Olga; Pumpkin cookie on a stick; Pumpkin bag of candy from Ms. Ebru; Fruit by the Foot

Fun!

Turkish Preschool

Today was Elias' last day at Turkish Preschool. The Fall Semester begins next week, and we have decided to send him to an English-speaking preschool instead. We feel like his social and English language development will do better in a place where he understands the language. However, we are so grateful for the opportunity to send him to the Turkish Preschool last year! The ladies there were so kind and patient with him, and he absolutely loved going there. He got to take all kinds of field trips to fun places we've not been. We wouldn't hesitate for a minute to recommend this school to any other expats considering sending their children there. So in honor of his last day, I thought I'd post some pictures from the school's end-of-year celebration that happened in June but I never got around to posting pictures on here.

Elias' 4-year-old class. He is on the far right standing with the teacher's assistant. The head teacher for his class is standing on the opposite side.

They sang a song with pom pom choreography!

His class singing a song while dressed in duck costume! Elias only went in the mornings, so he wasn't there for music class in the afternoons, and so he didn't participate in this part of the presentation. We enjoyed it anyway, though!

Caillou Concert / Ankara Shopping Fest

(Justin) This month, Ankara is attempting to set a Guinness record for retail sales (um, how would this be measured and verified?...yeah, the Guinness talk is purely just for promotion). So, every day there are large sales, free concerts, and much hype and traffic. I think it's great. Turkish Caillou has become a regular show in our household in the last month, so we were excited when AnkaMall held a free Caillou & Friends concert in its parking lot last Saturday as part of the promotion.  Joni was home sick but I was determined to brave the crowds to take Elias. The news video below shows the massive throng of families there, we're in the crowd somewhere.(The headline reads "Caillou Rocks Ankara.")


When you heavily promote a free concert in a central location of a city of 5 million, you'll get plenty of people to show up.  Note all the dads struggling to keep their kids on their shoulders for long periods of time. (Elias is off the charts in terms of height/weight, so I was very sore the next day.) Elias LOVED it when Caillou finally came on stage and eagerly sang along to the English songs. The band also sang some Turkish folk/children's songs that apparently every Turk child knows as the kids got really into it.

There was also an amusement park set up in the parking lot complete with roller coaster and log flume water slide. Elias became so fascinated with watching the log ride which was behind the stage that we eventually abandoned the show to watch it. Elias entertained passers-by squealing at every splash of the water. He still talks excitedly about "the water slide at Caillou!" Elias was a trooper, it was about an hour journey both ways on packed public transport but he did a great job.

You can follow the Ankara Shopping fest on Twitter (@shoppingfest).

A Proper Fit

(Justin) This week I visited Friends of Kardelen, a care ministry to Turkish families, particularly those with disabilities or other special needs. The director is Norita Erickson, wife of Kifas' owner Ken Erickson. Some children were there with some severe challenges-- spina bifida, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, etc. They were in wheelchairs that were not helping their bodies develop properly.  Another organization had donated some money to buy chairs for needy kids and I was there with Ken and an American physical therapist to examine the children, get their sizes, and see if a Kifas chair could work better for them. 

(This is a stock photo, not taken at the event described in this post.)

The Xplore Mobility chairs that Kifas is working on producing here are designed specifically for these types of kids. They position the child so that their body functions better, so that they can move and relax, and are adjustable as they grow larger. 

It was heartbreaking to see kids who had certain aggravated handicaps due to ignorance or lack of proper treatment. Groups like Friends of Kardelen work to educate parents about therapy and early intervention.  It was encouraging to see that Kifas' products can help the children and encourage their parents. We hope to do more events like this in the future. 

Check out Norita Erickson's blog here for more on her 30 years of work in Turkey.  Are you a physical therapist who might like to for a short-term trip to help work with these types of children?  If so, please contact us.