It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education...Albert Einstein

Today was a great day for a field trip!  While I remember field trips being some of the best days of my school years, I have a sneaking suspicion that our field trip to two local elementary schools may also be a memorable day for the Turkish students as well!  Before the students realized we'd arrived, we could see that the halls and bulletin boards where decorated similar to what we see in the US.


 The innocence and the curiosity of a child never gets old...

As we'd expected, we were quickly recognized as foreign visitors.  The initial entry into the school was quite calm and we were able to quickly proceed to the school president’s office.  After a brief discussion and partaking in tea and fruits, we began our tour of the school.  You could see curiosity growing in the hallways as the group surrounding us started to grow larger and larger as we walked down the hall.  If the school officials wouldn't have known better, the reaction could have possibly been mistaken as the Jonas Brothers entering the building!  :)  The children were eager to shake our hands and proudly practice some English greetings with our group.  A number of times throughout the day, people on the CSC team were asked to provide autographs.

This could quite easily have been classified as a mob invasion!  While we often receive royal treatment in Turkey, I can’t help but wonder if today’s feeling was anything like what Princess Diana would experience in working with the children…although probably on an even larger scale.  

As we were walking through the playground at the state school, I decided to start passing out a stack of stickers I had brought along.  HELP!!!!  I wish the attracted attention would have been due to significant contributions rather than for a couple of silly stickers but for that moment, I could see…NOTHING MORE THAN HANDS ACTUALLY!  It was quite an experience!  A couple of times I had to push on through the crowd to break away as they were grabbing at my bag and anything I had in my hands.  As I broke away, I could see all the “little guys” trailing the mob as well.  The little guys still have my heart so I had to quickly identify them and tuck the stickers in their little hands to ensure they weren’t robbed of my small token of admiration.

  

A smile is truly worth a thousand words...

 

All children in Turkey start learning English in Kindergarten.  While they grow to be very good at English grammar, and understanding spoken English we were told they aren’t as comfortable in speaking the language due to the lack of practice.  I could see the joy in their faces in being able to greet us in English however, a universal smile can say so much more!  

The kids are dressed  in honor of Republic day of Turkey.

  

We may be seen as super human in the eyes of these children but humbly I know we are one in the same simply having different life experiences.  While IBM ties this CSC team together, among us we are the simplest things:  pilots, belly dancers, movie stars, rednecks, gypsies, football players, and so many more!   :)

It's all in how you frame it...

Yesterday my kids called me via Skype.  They must have known that I'd been thinking of them a lot!  :)  They were so fun to talk with and it was a great pleasure for me to hear them excitedly talking about the details of every picture that I'd recently posted to facebook.  I'm always amazed at how much they learn every day but I'm most amazed by how much they understand and their logical thinking in problem solving and drawing conclusions!

  

One picture in particular was of some team members dancing at our Turkish Evening in Cappadocia.  The kids asked me if I was also dancing.  I admitted that yes, I'd danced a little but I really wasn't a good dancer!  After a few more comments back and forth, Christopher says, "Mom, were you embarrassed?"  I really had to laugh as he'd clearly drawn his own conclusion from the discussion and perhaps I'm a little taken back that he could be somewhat right!  :)

During our first weekend in Malatya, we spent a day in Derende and another at Nemrut Mountain.  While the distance in km, wasn't that far, the path to get there was a challenge...we couldn't go over it, we couldn't go under it, we had to go through it...through the mountains on winding, hilly, dusty country roads.  The joy ride was too much for me to handle so I burried my head and slept to avoid the oncoming car sickness.

Turkey is full of beautifully created rock formations.  These scenes were in Derende.  I'm amazed by nature's artistry as well as the craftsmanship of people so many years ago.

We went on about a 2 km hike along a riverway, the scenery was beautiful and the path somewhat adventurous.  Below you can see the trails running along the sides of the river...we didn't follow the path seen but suspect some people do to explore there.  To get to the other side, it seems to be this narrow beam crossing the river.

Our trip to Derende was with the main intent of river rafting.  While some people are technically skilled in rafting, I will declare that the technical skills we apply in working for IBM are no way related to the technical skills required for rafting!  :)  My boat was filled with water and laughter.  I believe we hit every rock, ran into every wall, and clipped every hanging branch along the way.  While we were often on the bottom of the boat in an attempt to be saved from branches launching us over board, the second boat's captain wasn't so lucky...the captain of all people was cast overboard.  Might I add, this was not white water rafting...it was minor rapids that proved to be a challenge for us even on the smallest scale.  None the less,  upon completion, there were media again waiting to debrief the team on their experience.  It was probably highly entertaining but hopefully they didn't travel far expecting to see a spectacular ride!!!  :)

The surrounding pictures are of our visit to Nemrut Mountain.  This trip was again through tough trails but interesting to get to see.  The artistry was amazing considering there were no modern day  craftsman tools available during this time.  It is best to visit this sight at sun up or sun down.  We planned for a sun down visit with the hopes of catching a beautiful sun set.  Unfortunately, there were clouds blocking the full view of that afternoon's sun set.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nemrut

 

While I haven't seen camels in abundance in Turkey, this has been my first opporutnity to see one outside the zoo.  It's interesting to find that even a rock is naturally shaped as a camel.  For 10 Turkish Lira, we climbed upon the hump of an annoyed camel.  The ride was quite entertaining but not at all comfortable.  I'm thinking I understand why Mary rode a donkey to Bethlaham rather than a camel!  :)

Following week one, the team started seeking more economical means of travel through the city.  Thanks to Julie's exploration over the 1st weekend, we were given a boost of confidence to "give it a go"...  While some of our Turkish friends display great hesitation in hopping on the "mini buses", we've found them to be quite convenient and very cheap.  While the bus drivers usually don't know English, they do understand the name of the mall and our hotel...what more do we need them to understand...it's all working out perfectly!

Here are the links to some of my photo albums in Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=237975&id=711422678&l=809436a43f

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=239634&id=711422678&l=d4f1fdc2f9

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=241974&id=711422678&l=e6f90e6e6f

While things in Turkey may not always go as we expect, we can still enjoy the experience to it's fullest if we remember that it's all in how we frame it!

The heat is on...

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...yikes, time has gotten away from me....I am pressured by teammates to put the latest experiences into the blog, where shall I start...

We've now completed week two and are well into week three of our four week assignment in Turkey.  BIG YIKES!!!!  Yesterday was a busy day for the Textile Group.  We made an early morning flight to Istanbul...(quiet please, refrain from bursting into song, "Istanbul not Constantinople") to meet with our primary stakeholder Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters' Association (iTKiB).  This was a long awaited meeting as our goal was to meet with our stakeholders in week one.  Not bad might I say that according to our calculated Turkish time, a meeting in the third week is quite punctual!  :)

 

...ha, have you been singing?  If not, I bet you will be now...

As we've experienced many times during this trip, we again yesterday were hosted as VIP IBM representatives.  Much to our team's admiration, we were greeted at the iTKiB office by a caravan of media vehicles outside and entered the building to find cameras strategically placed to catch the much anticipated arrival!  What an honor!   Perhaps having Hollywood movie legend Bruce Lee (Charlie) present was influential in getting the much sought publicity for our team?!  What ever it takes, we will do!  :)

We met for a little over 3 hours with a number of iTKiB representatives as well as a Cisco representative to discuss our project objectives and ensure that we all agreed on the direction that our team is going.  We had a great discussion and I believe we "shocked" them all by the wealth of industry knowledge we have acquired over the last two weeks and the assessment of the application that Cisco has developed for industry collaboration.  We definitely felt a commitment from our stakeholders and can also see that they have high expectations for composing highly influential strategic recommendations within the next 1 1/2 weeks!  That's one TALL order!

While many members of the larger CSC team have been complaining of their hotel rooms being too warm, mine has remained comfortable...until yesterday that is.  The temperature in Istanbul was cooler than Malatya yet Pallavi and I had a continual sweat going all day long.  As I wondered how bad I was starting to smell, I started to sweat more...that is kind of a vicious cycle!  The airplane ride home was extremely warm and upon returning to my hotel room, the heat seemed to be extremely high.  Is this coincidence that with only 1 1/2 weeks left on our assignment, we can really feel the added heat!?  While I have previously admitted that I feel my best work is done under pressure, I'm begging for someone to please turn down the thermostat!!!

WARNING:  While not all content within this blog is factual, it remains critical that one keep a light heart and make the most of every situation...you choose what is real or not...please remember to always ENJOY!

It's simply another mystery meal...

This past weekend, we took a trip through the countryside to Nemrut Mountain.  There's an incredible amount of history in this region.   Nemrut Mountain is a 7,001 ft high mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues is erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the first century BCE.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nemrut

 

To keep in the spirit of the history of Greek mythology, I purchased a souvineer of Hestia.  In the simplest of terms, she is the Goddess of Health and Hearth.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hestia

What did Hestia cook to eat?  How did she cook it?  Was it influential in the development of today's Turkish dishes?  Despite the fact that most restraunt menus are in Turkish and I have no knowledge of what I'm ordering, the food has all been quite tasty!  Every meal is a mystery but much to my delight!  There is a large variety of fruits and vegetables  grown in Turkey.  Every meal is the perfect mixture of produce, herbs and spices that create a taste like no other.  Please don't tell the travel clinic I've been sneaking bites of the fresh produce...so far, it's been SO good!!!  Each meal is a delicately created master piece from the local chefs...beautiful, in abundance and DELICIOUS!

                             

Afiyet olsun!

Things that make you go "hmmm"...

I've been collecting a number of mini "moments" waiting for the major event to come to bring it all together in a blog...so far it hasn't happened.  I fear losing some of the thoughts so will compile a somewhat random list of thoughts that one may ponder...

Am I truly a redneck?  My Brazilian friend asked if living in Minnesota made me a redneck!!???  WHAT?  I quickly asked "do you think I look like a redneck"?  After quite a bit of joking around the question, we came to an agree that a redneck would not have sought an assignment in Turkey, instead they would be in the woods hunting turkeys!!!!  :)  This again is an example of the freedom to learn about our IBM colleges in a non-threatening environment...next time he asks me though, I may threaten him! 

We had coffee/tea with the Governorate last Friday at an excellent coffee shop named Mado.  I would compare this event to having coffee with Governor Pawlenty.  I actually could never imagine me getting that opportunity so find it interesting that the work we are doing in Malatya is worthy of the Governorate's companionship.  The Governorate travels with security guards...they strategically positioned themselves in the coffee shop near the door in clear sight of the Governorate.  Someone had an eye on him at all times...it only took the raising of a finger to have someone at his service.  Wow, just an interesting experience to be a part of.

The Turkish love tea!  How much tea can you drink in a day!?  Yesterday we had a number of meetings with textile enterprises...today I was begging for a reduced number of meetings to recalibrate the chemical balance in my body.  Every meeting you have, you must drink tea...even if you decline a cup of tea, magically, there will be a cup of tea placed in front of you...you can not avoid it.  From 1pm to 7pm yesterday, I drank 3 cups of tea, 1 nescafe, 1 Turkish tea, 2 cups of water and via second hand, smoked approximately 8 cigarettes!  YIKES...I stopped drinking caffeine 8 years ago...this is overload!

The Turkish people are so hospitable...becareful what you say or do!!!  The hospitality of the Firat agency and the people we have met thus far in our journey could not be more genuine and accomodating.  Being a highly independent person, I'm realizing that I may need to control the comments or questions that I ask.  Most of the CSC team is very inquisitive but through this, we find ourselves being gifted from the Turkish people.  If you ask about something or possibly even look at something, they will buy it for you so you can try it!  It is not permissable for a woman to pay for a man so I AM OUT OF LUCK in repaying them for their generosity...that doesn't set well with me!  This I see as a challenge, I must overcome!  :)

Just around the riverbend...in Darende!  We went rafting this past weekend in Darende...it was a long journey through the winding mountain roads but a great opportunity to see the remote Turkish countrysides.  Through translation, we went through the guidelines for rafting.  We had for words that we needed to remember for our paddle...the guide would give the commands in Turkish to direct right, left, forward and backward....  In the heat of the moment as our raft is spinning out of control, our guide has lost all hope that we'll understand his Turkish guidance.  He quickly picked up on our English discussion and declares "everyone forward" to accomodate us in English...and periodically would throw in an "Oh my God" with a clever Turkish accent!  Laughing hysterically, of course we couldn't keep the raft under control!

Choose your seat well!   Many of us from the CSC team clearly stand out in Turkey.  Tonight 3 of us took the public bus to the city center to take a look around.  People are always interesting in understanding who we are and where we're from.  It is truly an experience to be an individual of many words yet not have the ability to communicate with anyone around you!  We are in our own Turkish world, there would be so much more enjoyment if we could FULLY engage with the Turkish people.  Being a minority is quite unusual for me...perhaps selecting a seat on the bus that faces backwards while everyone else faces forward wasn't the best choice.  Again, ALL eyes are on the Canadian and native Americans that just boarded the bus!  Is it polite to stare!?  :)

Over and over again, we are reminded to "go with the flow" as time for many parts of the world are fluid and schedules always change.  I like fluid time cause for me, I struggle with being somewhere at a certain time...always have, I probably always will.  We've had a number of meetings in Turkey and I don't think we've been on time to one of them!  Let me clarify that our tardiness is not due to me...it's the matrix of possible circumstances that "could" and ultimately do hinder our promptness.  Oddly enough though, the city bus is scheduled to arrive at 10pm...at 10:01, we are pulling out of the station...hmmm...there is timeliness buried within...this I must remember!  :)

With this, I will close for the night.  While this experience isn't what I would have expected, I can truly say that it has been an incredible journey!  There is always a friend among us, we need to be able to make the connections...

çay lütfen!  :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_tea
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/l%C3%BCtfen

It's in their jeans...

On Friday my team toured a textile company that manufactures Çalık Denim. 

     http://www.calikdenim.com/

 

Çalık Denim adresses larger customer mass with a rich product range from denim fabric, threads to gabardine fabrics. The Company who follows world fashion trends closely has an substantial competitive advantage in terms of variety and balance of its product range.

Çalık Denim has a production capacity of 110,000 tons with its cadre, combed cotton, threads and ply facilities in Malatya and Turkmenistan. 50% of the its capacity is marketing to domestic market and 50% to the countries of European Unity. Çalık Denim who is a known establishment all over the world started up manufacturing gabardine fabric in the installation that was put into circuit in 2004 after having observing the rapid increasing of ganardine fabric in the world. With the entity of manufacturing gabardine the Company has been strengtening its competitive force in the world market of world.

Çalık Denim is working with the topliner brands in textile field. Some customers in customer portfolio in 2008 are as follow: Diesel Replay, GAP, Benetton, Lee, Wrangler, Mexx, H&M, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, G-Star, Tommy Hilfiger, Salsa, River Island, Marks&Spencer, Jack&Jones, Zara and Bershka.

After speaking with corporate representatives (shown center in above picture), they gave us a tour through part of the plant.



This is the raw material cotton that they purchase from locations such as India and China.

The cotton goes through a filtering system which removes impurities.

 

 

<><><>The cleaned cotton is pressed into a thin sheet.  The thin sheet of cotton  is coming off the maching (fan shaped in pict) and the forming the strand at front of machine.  This strand is the consistency of a cotton ball. The cotton strands are methodically placed into the canisters shown below.

<><><>In the picture above, you can see the thick cotton strands at top of machine being wound into tighter strands at bottom.  They tighter strands are then wound on bobbins as shown below.

In this picture you can see the large bobbins from the previsous picture.  You can also see fine lines of string below the blue devices.  This machine is joining the two to create a tread that is used for weaving the jeans.  The combined thread is shown above the blue devices.  Large bobbins of this thread as shown below are eventually dyed for the blue jean coloring.  This same thread may also be spun onto smaller bobbins and used as the white weaving thread in blue jean material.

The picture above shows thousands of spools being held which are strung to the machine below for tread bundling.  Below you can see all the individual threads coming together in the right hand part of the picture and then being wound onto the roll at the end.

Below is the roll of thread which will be for the jean colors.

  

<><><>This is weaving of the blue and white together to make denim.  The blue threads are running vertically above the blue line.  The white tread is weaved through and the blue line (mechanical device) moves up and down to tighten the weave.  The finished denim is at the bottom (this would be a view of the inside of your jeans).

This is a finished roll of denim.  From here it goes through quality control and a process to add additional character to the demin.  The character could be stretch, textures, etc.

This was a really interesting tour...not only looking at the process of demin production but also the engineering of the machinery that magically makes the cotton come to life!

It's all gone down the toilet...

Work progresses considerably slower than what I'm used to.  While it is progressing, there is plenty of time to share family pictures with each other and with our new Firat friends.  Everyone has a such interesting cultural stories to share.  The connection that a team of 14 people can build in the matter of 5 days together is quite amazing.  While I've known them via phone for 2 months prior to leaving, the in person relationship and communication has grown immensely in such a short period of time.  This environment creates comfort in asking cultural questions that one may not generally get to ask in the day to day business relationships.  Not only are we learning about the culture of Turkey, we are also learning the culture of all the other CSC members.  Look at the beauty within the following pictures from a traditional arranged marriage in India (Pallavi) and the traditional 100 day photographs of a child from China (Charlie's son).  Pallavi and Charlie are my team mates working on the textile project.

Being the person that I am, I tend to solve a problem when I see one.  Being a problem solver in Turkey adds an additional problem.  :)  To whom shall I report that there has been water dripping from the ceiling at Firat in the woman's bathroom for the last two days?  To whom do I report that there is no toilet paper in the woman's bathroom on both the 2nd and 3rd floor?  Day 3 problem solving when the 2nd floor bathroom ran out of toilet paper was to start using the 3rd floor bathroom.  Day 5 problem of 3rd floor bathroom running out of toilet paper sent me rechecking the 2nd floor and searching for a 4th floor bathroom with no success.  THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE PROBLEM! 

There are few women working in Firat but daily I see a middle aged woman cleaning various locations in the buildings along with a young woman who is circling the offices serving tea.  Mind you I didn't report the 2nd floor bathroom out of toilet paper because I assumed the lady cleaning them would recognize and replace it.  Today, I declared all the readily available paper had been flushed down the toilet and I needed to go!  :)  On a mission to solve the problem, I find the "cleaning lady" and declare with hand gestures pointing to the bathroom and say PAPER, slowly.  She looks at me puzzled and starts rattling a sentence that I didn't have a prayer in understanding.  Both done speaking, we look at each other...I smiling, she then starts to laugh and gives me a kind pat on the back.  She then speaks more, I speak GONE, she speaks more and gestures while leading to the bathroom.  Yes, I "think" she understood my slowly spoken words!?  As she confidently reaches the bathroom stall she is completely astounded that there was none there and you could clearly see that she now knew exactly what I was talking about!  Simplicity has some complexities!  :)

I made a connection with her today...all centered around a roll of toilet paper!  All of the Turkish people we have met have been incredibly genuine, I am ever greatful that despite my short comings in trying to survive in their country, they are accepting of me and go to great lengths to ensure my comfort...how could I ever have feared this unknown!?