The other day I thought to myself that life has been so busy that I have not taken time to linger over the family photos. I guess it doesn't really matter now, because I will soon visit them in the States. It's revealing how the photos on our fridge can portray a personal journey of our life, special events and places and people in our lives.
Summer is a time to slow down a little and enjoy relationships more. For those of you who travel to your home country to vacation this summer, you know what I mean -- you'll be shown hundreds of photos, big moments and small ones, of your nieces and nephews, etc., all displayed in a kaleidoscope of changing scenes. Smiling and laughing with those you love.
Before you can enjoy your time with your family and friends back home you may have thousand of miles to fly, gifts to buy and pack!
I do for my journey.
When you go home you'll be continually asked by every person you meet, "What's Turkey like?" Have you thought about what you will answer? I need to give this some thought.
What is the image of Turkey that I want to describe to folks back home?
Turkey is a country of such contrasts! The nation faces challenges that Westerners can't really fully understand, unless you have lived here a while. Things are just not so black and white.
Last summer I explored with you in my column what Turks want to communicate to tourists. The type of souvenir gifts you offer in souvenir shops to your guests to buy speaks volumes. Why do souvenir shops carry all shapes and sizes of stuffed felt camels and postcards of donkeys?
I have seen many more Jeeps and Volvos than camels and donkeys! I would love to know when camels were common in İstanbul. May be down South you see the odd camel at seaside resorts, but how many centuries ago has it been since camels crossed Turkey? Yet these stuffed camels and donkey postcards are available in every shop.
In America tourist buy postcards of skyscrapers like the Marina Towers or the empire State Building or Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore. Why not take home some postcards of the skyscrapers at Maslak or Levent and the statues on Mount Nemrut near Adıyaman?
Another suggestion I may consider is taking back some sport baseball caps of Turkish soccer teams instead of the fez hat. Turkish youth wear these and probably youth back home would, too. I am sure they would enjoy the sport cap more than the souvenir cap known as the fez. The fez collection on display at the souvenir shop is far from the real thing. The souvenir version not a beautifully crafted, crimson felt masterpiece, but nine times out of 10, gaudy, mock-arabesque stripy material stuck on to a cardboard base.
Turkey needs to be promoted in a positive light and this item of headgear that is illegal for a Turk to wear is taken home as an item to poke fun at.
This reminds me of a hotel that I stayed at recently while attending a conference. The interior décor was modernistic but for the evening meal all staff -- male and female -- had to wear a fez as part of their uniform. It was quite confusing with the Buddha candles on the dinner tables and staff wearing the fez caps, especially the women!
I've expressed before my disgust of the list of countless more examples -- those slippers with the curled up toes. An Aladdin or Princess Yasemin costume for children ... or a belly-dancer's scanty get-up. Dolls of mustachioed men with baggy pants.
Westerners have already been influenced by certain films that have conjured up certain images of an arabesque illusion of the "Arabian Nights." They imagine Turkey as a place where women can't drive or be out in public, where the landscape is palm trees and desert. All of these are images that Turkey is trying to shed.
I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill. After all, it's all just a bit of fun, I hear you say. But often the sad thing is that these items are being taken abroad as an item of parody -- an old-fashioned camel or a funny hat to laugh at when back at the office or with your relatives.
Before I try to answer any questions about Turkey, the gifts I give project a certain image about Turkey. Maybe I'll just pick up some Turkish delight to give as gifts and encourage people to read C.S. Lewis' Narnia chronicles…
Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman ‘s readers.
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
