...in Turkey.
For this story to make sense you've gotta know a couple things. First, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is the father of the modern secular Turkish state. In veneration of this man, every town has a road (or two, or three) named after him. His statue is EVERYWHERE. He's unavoidable.
Second, imagine 3-5 full days of meetings. Imagine those same meetings with simultaneous translation and everyone in head phones. Imagine listening to reports and dialogues totally devoid of metaphor, simile, irony, wordplay, humor or anything else that doesn't translate well. And imagine you are working with cultures who value LONG explanations and discussions and feel no need to make a decision. Ever.
So, duirng my trips to Turkey, I was generally desperate for amusement. And I think Ataturk's name is funny. Ataturk. It just begs for jokes. So, I'd amuse myself by mumbling "At a Turk!" under my breath when a Turk did/said something well. (There was also quite a lot of doodling, and quite a few rambling trips to and from the tea trolley.)
I just read that using Ataturk's name in vain is a criminal act in Turkey. I'm guilty. I hope America won't extradite me.
(***for clarification, the appearances of Mr. Know-It-All are NOT included in the description of humorless meetings.)
9 years ago
2 comments:
Your asteriks did relieve my heart greatly!!! I will tell Mr. KIA of your caveat. They just had two entire days of meetings planning meetings in Turkey for Sept. Is it a crime to force people into taking @t@trk's name in vain?
nancy
Oh! I forgot the pre-meetings meetings! Must be memory repression. Without my presence, there must have been fewer tears involved, which will have relieved everyone greatly. A certain "big brother" type emailed me on my birthday and bemoaned not having someone to roll his eyes at during those pre-meetings. Oh dear!
Despite all the whining and @t@tvrk-ing I am sad to not see everyone. Will Mr. Know-It-All make an appearance, or just his everyman alter ego?
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