During the summer of 2009, I went to Fethiye/Oludeniz (Turkey) for the first time in my life. Although I had heard a lot about Turkish culture, it was different when actually experiencing it. One of the first things I noticed is that the people there are more laid-back and less sensitive to time than are Americans. I was interning in Fethiye for 2 months at a private school called the American Cultural Association, where I was to teach English to students of all ages. The date/time of the classes were made up as the days went on, and there weren't any lesson plans; you just make them up as you go. The bosses and employees would order and have lunch together, and there was even a pool table so that students and employees can play together during breaks. It was definitely more of an unstructured workplace than any I had experienced in the U.S. thus far.
The Turks are also big on tea; they drink it anywhere between 2-5 times a day. It was a little hard for me to comprehend at first why people drank hot tea in 115-degree weather, but then I learned that it actually helps during the heat because it quenches your thirst. Also, people greeted one another with a kiss on each cheek instead of a handshake, even people they were just meeting for the first time. So imagine meeting your boss and one of your employees at the airport for the first time and getting greeted with a kiss on the cheek: definitely caught me by surprise!
That's all for now, hope you learned a little something!
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Wow that is very interesting. Sometimes we forget to appreciate how structured our culture is. Though we are a culture that is always on the move and we do many things at once, we do tend to stay really organized which helps out a lot. Also, I think it is very interesting that students and employees interact together during lunch. It definitely helps build stronger relationships and its great for networking!
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