We began the fourth day of class by discussing different “house keeping items” and questions that have started to pop up as we get closer to the departure date. Things such as expected weather, money conversions, hotel rooming arrangements, and such were just a few of the many topics discussed. Unfortunately for us, the weather in Istanbul will be rainy for our first week making umbrellas and raincoats a must!
From here the class moved on to review the assigned readings and movie for the day, which focused on different aspects of the culture in Turkey. These articles examined how there is a new middle class emerging in Turkey in response to the economic growth, Western (mainly American) movies and television have impact Turkey which in extension have impacted the rest of the middle east, and the economic growth of Turkey is making it an international player. After spending the week learning about important events in Turkey’s history, switching gears to focus on the culture helped to complete our overall understanding of what we’ll find in Turkey.
One aspect of the culture in particular that we had a great time discussing was the changing pop culture, which has an interesting mix of American influence and anti-American influence. Soap operas that were popular in the U.S., such as Dallas, have started a mass wave of soap opera love in Turkey. These shows have slowly made topics once deemed “controversial” and “racy” more acceptable in discussion in every day life. What was particularly interesting is that these shows now receive wide audiences in the rest of the middle east. Sites that are used in the filming of these shows are now drawing in thousands of visitors every year from the middle east.
With one more day of class standing between our group and Turkey, I’m sure I can speak for the rest of us when I say that we are extremely excited! We’re almost there!
Until next time!