Well, here we are, after a rather uneventful but rather long flight, we are finally home! That last few days in Istanbul are still whirring around in my head. The wife an I visited the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar again, and later, on the last days, we went with the guys and took in the Maidens Tower and the Theodosian Walls. All quite impressive. As I reflect back, I keep thinking about the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. I recall looking at the worn stone floors of the bazaars and thinking to myself, "I wonder how many different feet have trodden this same pathways over the course of the centuries? Greek, Roman? Byzantine? Ottoman? Turk?" From the mighty to the meek, all in pursuit of the same thing: to barter with the merchants over their wares. Well, add to that list the intrepid band from Brother Rice! We too have now left our mark in the history of these places. Our footsteps have now blended with all those other countless footsteps that makes up the history of these Bazaars....
But now our travels are over, it is time to return home. It is time to put away the walking stick and pull out the slippers and rest our weary feet.
The adventure has ended.
posted: Ken Tolksdorf 8-1-11
IDEA and Doga Youth Forum 2011
(CC) BY-NC-ND IDEA Debate; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Monday, August 1, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Various Short Stories from Istanbul
Cab Drive to Galata Tower:
On the day of excursions (Thursday) we went to Taksim Square- a shopping area. After the hour long walk to the square (a trip in which we made friends with many, many stairs), we decided to go to Galata tower, an old tower that provide a panoramic view of Istanbul. We decided to catch a cab. Despite being numerous no smoking signs, the cab driver brings out a box of cigarettes and offers one to Alex (who declined). The cab driver decides to smoke the entire trip. He dropped us off at the beginning of a street which was still a five-minute walk to the tower itself. The 5-minute drive cost about 32 lira while was a ripoff as the drive back only cost us 7 lira. The view from the tower was great and many pictures were taken.
End of MTT Tournament:
None of our teams broke (but we still did better than in the 1st tournament). The standards were higher as there were no octo-finals, team had to break into quarterfinals. My team Per Aspera Ad Astra was 3-2 (in terms of wins) and 8-7 (in terms of judges who voted for us). The 5th round was closed and I do not know whether we won or lost.
Maiden's Tower:
Today we went to Maiden's Tower- famous for being in the James Bond film: The World is not Enough. It is not as large as the movie depicted and looks nothing like it on the inside. The tower is mainly a restaurant and has a panoramic view atop the tower. The boat we took to the tower was small and was rocked and tossed about by the Bosporus on the journey.
On the day of excursions (Thursday) we went to Taksim Square- a shopping area. After the hour long walk to the square (a trip in which we made friends with many, many stairs), we decided to go to Galata tower, an old tower that provide a panoramic view of Istanbul. We decided to catch a cab. Despite being numerous no smoking signs, the cab driver brings out a box of cigarettes and offers one to Alex (who declined). The cab driver decides to smoke the entire trip. He dropped us off at the beginning of a street which was still a five-minute walk to the tower itself. The 5-minute drive cost about 32 lira while was a ripoff as the drive back only cost us 7 lira. The view from the tower was great and many pictures were taken.
End of MTT Tournament:
None of our teams broke (but we still did better than in the 1st tournament). The standards were higher as there were no octo-finals, team had to break into quarterfinals. My team Per Aspera Ad Astra was 3-2 (in terms of wins) and 8-7 (in terms of judges who voted for us). The 5th round was closed and I do not know whether we won or lost.
Maiden's Tower:
Today we went to Maiden's Tower- famous for being in the James Bond film: The World is not Enough. It is not as large as the movie depicted and looks nothing like it on the inside. The tower is mainly a restaurant and has a panoramic view atop the tower. The boat we took to the tower was small and was rocked and tossed about by the Bosporus on the journey.
Final Reflections
Quick breakdown of today's activities. We visited Maiden's Tower, an ancient lighthouse and fortress dating from the 12th century and ate lunch at the tower. It offered excellent views of the European side of Istanbul, but featured a petite little ferry boat that transported guests to and from the tower. Given that the Bosporus was rougher than usual today, the boat heaved as the water tossed. Fortunately, no one got seasick. We then proceeded to the Theodosian Walls (the remnants of the city walls) via the T1 Tramway Line, and got some video footage of the ancient structure. The remaining day is now being dedicated to packing, and getting some rest before our transportation to the airport arrives at 2AM.
The trip has been an amazing experience, as we have had the opportunity to explore and interact with the unique East-West Ancient-Modern culture of Istanbul and its people, as well as learn something new about something old - debate. All of us learned a new debate format, as well as the approaches other countries and cultures take to debate, which is often very distinct and different than debate in the United States. If nothing else, the understanding and comparision of the different forms of debate can help to focus our attention to the real fundamentals of debate: awareness, education, and understanding. Often, we get caught up in the competition of debate and forget the reasons for having debate at the high school level in the first place. Indeed, that is why we have been so enthusiastic about supporting the Global Debates program - it encourages activism and real-life action outside of the classroom and beyond the debate itself, which I believe strikes at the very core of debate itself. To me, both competition and education is the motivating factor behind why we debate. Of course, everyone wants to compete and win, and that is no different in debate, but I do not see that fully describing a motivation to debate. One could participate in any given sport, compete, and possibly win, so why pursue an activity that demands a lot of dedication and intellectual work (not to mention overcoming the daunting task of standing up in front of judges to be critiqued on your work)? I believe the drive toward self-improvement and education on real-world issues and policy is a major motivating factor, even if it does not surface as regularily as the competitive drive. While no doubt the other debaters will have different takes on their personal motivation, I believe elements of those two drives will surface.
Pictures from today (Maiden's Tower):
Post: Alex
The trip has been an amazing experience, as we have had the opportunity to explore and interact with the unique East-West Ancient-Modern culture of Istanbul and its people, as well as learn something new about something old - debate. All of us learned a new debate format, as well as the approaches other countries and cultures take to debate, which is often very distinct and different than debate in the United States. If nothing else, the understanding and comparision of the different forms of debate can help to focus our attention to the real fundamentals of debate: awareness, education, and understanding. Often, we get caught up in the competition of debate and forget the reasons for having debate at the high school level in the first place. Indeed, that is why we have been so enthusiastic about supporting the Global Debates program - it encourages activism and real-life action outside of the classroom and beyond the debate itself, which I believe strikes at the very core of debate itself. To me, both competition and education is the motivating factor behind why we debate. Of course, everyone wants to compete and win, and that is no different in debate, but I do not see that fully describing a motivation to debate. One could participate in any given sport, compete, and possibly win, so why pursue an activity that demands a lot of dedication and intellectual work (not to mention overcoming the daunting task of standing up in front of judges to be critiqued on your work)? I believe the drive toward self-improvement and education on real-world issues and policy is a major motivating factor, even if it does not surface as regularily as the competitive drive. While no doubt the other debaters will have different takes on their personal motivation, I believe elements of those two drives will surface.
Pictures from today (Maiden's Tower):
Post: Alex
How to Read an Address in Istanbul, Turkey
On the last day of our adventure in Istanbul, I feel confident enough to explain the format of a street address here in Turkey.
Example:
GREENPARK HOTEL BOSTANCI
GREENPARK HOTEL BOSTANCI
Explanation: 1: Neighborhood; the Greenpark Hotel BOSTANCI is the in İçerenköy neighborhood of Istanbul; Mah. stands for, I believe, mahelle, meaning 'district;' sometimes this part of the address is abbreviated as 'Mh.' which could stand for muhit, meaning 'neighborhood.' 2: Street; this is the actual name of the street the hotel is located on, in this case Manolya Sanayi Sok. Translated, the street name is Magnolia Industrial Street ('Sok.' is the abbreviation of the word sokak, meaning 'street'). 3: Address Number; the hotel's numerical address number, in this case, 36. 4: District; the district of Istanbul that the hotel is located, also the district the neighborhood from point one is located. In this example, the district is Ataşehir, one of the 39 districts of Istanbul. 5: City, Country; fairly obvious: Istanbul, Turkey. Sometimes (Google Maps) a Turkish postal code may be listed before the city name, in the case of the hotel, it would then read 34752 Istanbul, Turkey. Post: Alex
Example:
GREENPARK HOTEL BOSTANCI
İçerenköy Mah. Manolya Sanayi Sok. No: 36 Ataşehir / İstanbul / Türkiye
Breakdown:GREENPARK HOTEL BOSTANCI
İçerenköy Mah. (1) Manolya Sanayi Sok. (2) No: 36 (3) Ataşehir (4) / İstanbul / Türkiye (5)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
July 30 - The Conclusion of the MTT Tournament
After a full day of debating (and judging!), we have just learned, that, unfortunately, none of the MTT teams that the Brother Rice debaters were assigned to broke to quarterfinals. The following are the overall team records, excluding the fifth round, which was a non-disclosure round:
John's MTT Team: 3-2 (picking up 10 ballots and dropping 5)
Nick's MTT Team: 3-2 (picking up 8 ballots and dropping 7)
Yuri's MTT Team: 3-2 (possibly picking up 8/9 ballots and dropping 7/6)
While the MTT tournament and the entire 2011 Youth Forum concludes tomorrow, we cannot, unfortunately, participate in the final day of the the Forum. The day's activities primarily take place in the Beykoz campus of the Doğa Schools (a very distant campus from the hotel and airport), and the Forum does not provide transportation back to the hotel until midnight, it is not going to be feasible to participate when our transportation for our 5:50AM flight out of Istanbul leaves at 2:00AM from the hotel. While I was honored to be selected as a quarterfinalist judge, unfortunately, the logistics of tomorrow conflicts with the Youth Forum schedule.
During the day, Mr. and Mrs. Tolksdorf visited Sultanahmet again: the Haghia Sopia, the outside of the Basilica Cistern, the Hippodrome, and the Obelisk of Theodosius.
After the day concluded, we travelled to Bağdat Caddesi to eat at the Sayar Restaurant, and enjoyed some delicious and filling Turkish food. The journey by cabs today was uneventful, other than the cab we had back from Bağdat was tricked out. Aside from custom rims, the steering wheel and gear shift lever had aftermarket wood paneling, the dashboard had a video-interface sound system, and along the I-pillar on the driver's side, was a carbon fiber set of three guages - RPMs, oil pressure, and water temperature, all of which glowed blue.
Pictures from today:
Rough order: Sultanahmet: Hippodrome/Obelisk of Theodosius (Egyptian Obelisk), Serpant ColumnGerman Fountain, Haghia Sophia and outside the Basilica Cistern
Post: Alex
John's MTT Team: 3-2 (picking up 10 ballots and dropping 5)
Nick's MTT Team: 3-2 (picking up 8 ballots and dropping 7)
Yuri's MTT Team: 3-2 (possibly picking up 8/9 ballots and dropping 7/6)
While the MTT tournament and the entire 2011 Youth Forum concludes tomorrow, we cannot, unfortunately, participate in the final day of the the Forum. The day's activities primarily take place in the Beykoz campus of the Doğa Schools (a very distant campus from the hotel and airport), and the Forum does not provide transportation back to the hotel until midnight, it is not going to be feasible to participate when our transportation for our 5:50AM flight out of Istanbul leaves at 2:00AM from the hotel. While I was honored to be selected as a quarterfinalist judge, unfortunately, the logistics of tomorrow conflicts with the Youth Forum schedule.
During the day, Mr. and Mrs. Tolksdorf visited Sultanahmet again: the Haghia Sopia, the outside of the Basilica Cistern, the Hippodrome, and the Obelisk of Theodosius.
After the day concluded, we travelled to Bağdat Caddesi to eat at the Sayar Restaurant, and enjoyed some delicious and filling Turkish food. The journey by cabs today was uneventful, other than the cab we had back from Bağdat was tricked out. Aside from custom rims, the steering wheel and gear shift lever had aftermarket wood paneling, the dashboard had a video-interface sound system, and along the I-pillar on the driver's side, was a carbon fiber set of three guages - RPMs, oil pressure, and water temperature, all of which glowed blue.
Pictures from today:
Rough order: Sultanahmet: Hippodrome/Obelisk of Theodosius (Egyptian Obelisk), Serpant ColumnGerman Fountain, Haghia Sophia and outside the Basilica Cistern
Post: Alex
Friday, July 29, 2011
July 29 - The First Day of the MTT Tournament
Today kicked off the 3-day long MTT Tournament, the conclusion to the educational part, and indeed the entire 2011 Youth Forum. Preliminary rounds continue tomorrow with one limited preparation round and two extended preparation rounds about the MTT topic. The Brother Rice debaters have all been reassigned to mixed teams with other debaters from around the world. We have heard the nationalities of the debaters that Yuri is with, and Nicholas has been teamed with a Ugandan and a Czech.
Overall, the teams have been varied degrees of success this first day, the day 1 standings are posted below:
John: 1-2 (picking up 4 ballots and dropping 5)
Nicholas: 2-1 (picking up 5 ballots and dropping 4)
Yuri: 2-1 (picking up 6 ballots and dropping 3)
Now, a couple of interesting, but unrelated notes:
This evening, we travelled once again to Bağdat Caddesi, with Mark, to grab some fast food. The guys went to Burger King, while Mr. and Mrs. Tolksdorf and I went to McDonalds. There is nothing new to speak about here, other I got an opportunity to practice a few words in Turkish at the counter, and the cherry (and apple) pies are actually different than in the United States. The pie crust is a deep-fried crispy, flaky shell with a taste similar to that of a churro. The filling is far richer in cherry taste and contains many more actual cherries than one would find in McDonalds pies you would find in the United States. On the way back, Mr. Tolksdorf and the guys actually got a cab driver that could speak good English, so on the way back, they chatted about the trip, where we were from, and the weather.
Cabs in Istanbul, as with most vehicles, have manual transmissions. This may be a small point, but it does represent some larger differences. With the immense traffic, small and winding roads, crowded avenues, and small parking spaces (spaces that are large take up too much room) necessitates smaller vehicles. Automatic transmissions make cars physically larger because the additional mechanical equipment required for a automatic transmission makes the transmission larger, and consequently, the car larger. The cars are therefore, also cheaper, require less maintenance, and get better fuel milage. All of these attributes are quite beneficial in Istanbul; but cars or cabs with manual transmissions in the US is generally uncommon. I suppose we have the luxury of using automatics and the wider roads and parking lots that can accomodate them.
Lastly, words I have learned in Turkish. While I am not actively studying Turkish, you would be surprised at how many words one picks up simply through immersion.
TURKISH WORDS LEARNED (Updated July 29, 30, 31)
Post: Alex
Overall, the teams have been varied degrees of success this first day, the day 1 standings are posted below:
John: 1-2 (picking up 4 ballots and dropping 5)
Nicholas: 2-1 (picking up 5 ballots and dropping 4)
Yuri: 2-1 (picking up 6 ballots and dropping 3)
Now, a couple of interesting, but unrelated notes:
This evening, we travelled once again to Bağdat Caddesi, with Mark, to grab some fast food. The guys went to Burger King, while Mr. and Mrs. Tolksdorf and I went to McDonalds. There is nothing new to speak about here, other I got an opportunity to practice a few words in Turkish at the counter, and the cherry (and apple) pies are actually different than in the United States. The pie crust is a deep-fried crispy, flaky shell with a taste similar to that of a churro. The filling is far richer in cherry taste and contains many more actual cherries than one would find in McDonalds pies you would find in the United States. On the way back, Mr. Tolksdorf and the guys actually got a cab driver that could speak good English, so on the way back, they chatted about the trip, where we were from, and the weather.
Cabs in Istanbul, as with most vehicles, have manual transmissions. This may be a small point, but it does represent some larger differences. With the immense traffic, small and winding roads, crowded avenues, and small parking spaces (spaces that are large take up too much room) necessitates smaller vehicles. Automatic transmissions make cars physically larger because the additional mechanical equipment required for a automatic transmission makes the transmission larger, and consequently, the car larger. The cars are therefore, also cheaper, require less maintenance, and get better fuel milage. All of these attributes are quite beneficial in Istanbul; but cars or cabs with manual transmissions in the US is generally uncommon. I suppose we have the luxury of using automatics and the wider roads and parking lots that can accomodate them.
Lastly, words I have learned in Turkish. While I am not actively studying Turkish, you would be surprised at how many words one picks up simply through immersion.
TURKISH WORDS LEARNED (Updated July 29, 30, 31)
Post: Alex
Thank.God.It's.Friday
Waking up under the Turkish sun this morning was a good way to start off the day, as I knew it was finally Friday. Why is Friday such a special day? Because it starts off the Mixed Team Tournaments in the IDEA Youth Forum. The Mixed Team Tournaments are rounds of debate where you are no longer paired up with your original school teams, but you are now partnered with different people from other countries. In my case, I am now partnered with a girl from Romania, and a girl from Lithuania. We've just completed our first round of the MTT and feel rather confident as to who won, of course - us.
Apart from the MTT, the other reason I am so glad it is Friday is because it is one day closer to the date of my return to Michigan: "Home, sweet home." Don't get me wrong, Turkey's great, but there's nothing like the feeling of home after being in an entirely different country for two weeks. On top of that, I've come down with a fever about a day or two ago, so I'm trying my best to re-cooperate from that as well.
Yuri Ramocan
Apart from the MTT, the other reason I am so glad it is Friday is because it is one day closer to the date of my return to Michigan: "Home, sweet home." Don't get me wrong, Turkey's great, but there's nothing like the feeling of home after being in an entirely different country for two weeks. On top of that, I've come down with a fever about a day or two ago, so I'm trying my best to re-cooperate from that as well.
Yuri Ramocan
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