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January 31, 2005
Monday Blues
Well yesterday and today I had the blues (that's what Jennifer calls them)...I didn't even leave my apartment yesterday because I was feeling so tired and kind of depressed. I think it was due to the weather. It was cold and rainy (OK, not as cold as Rochester, I know :-) But I was really cranky. I talked to Jennifer and she hadn't left her apartment either. She was having a blue day on Sunday too. We met today, and decided we wouldn't do that to each other again. Next time, we'll call each other and get out of our apartments together :-) I felt better after seeing her. Today, work just seemed to drag. But I made some good progress on the latest project I was given, so that made me happier. Also, I had a ham and cheese hot pocket for dinner, so that made me even HAPPIER!
I had a call from Chrissy, and then I called Granny and Papa back. I had a really nice conversation with them! They were so excited about the pictures that I posted, and we talked about the trip, and Seymen's family. Then we discussed me moving to a foregin country to teach english (yes that's my latest plan hehehehe of the week ;-) and they were very supportive. Which made me even happier. I called Seymen like 10 times tonight...I think he might cut me off of the phone because I kept calling...but you know how that goes...I kept thinking of things, and questions 10 minutes after we'd hung up.
So, I think I made some more decisions about my life here in Texas. Originally, I had been thinking about trying to move back to Rochester in June. I had just decided to keep considering my options and wait for a sign to tell me what to do...(Because I definitly do believe in signs, and that's what worked for me with this move to Austin...I just held out and waited for a sign, and by July 4th, I had my sign!) So anyway, I think I may have gotten my sign this week, and I've decided (as of now) that I'm changing my "goal" to stay here in Austin until November. I can now focus on moving somewhere else by The 3rd week in November. (I have to stay until then because my mom is coming to Austin for a Social Work conference, and how silly would it be that I move away right before she comes!) Anyway, I know it sounds silly, and trust me, that is not the sign that I'm talking about. I have received another sign, but I can't divuldge that information yet. (Don't you just LOVE secrets??!?!?)
Anyway, Seymen and I tried to talk about our travel plans for the next 3-4 months. I decided that I need to stay in Austin for a month at least, without travelling so I can attend my Turkish classes (I feel guilty for not going since before Christmas). Seymen decided that he'll come to visit me during President's day weekend because it's a long weekend...and he hasn't been to Austin since Thanksgiving. In March, I have to go to Seattle to meet my new neice or nephew, and in April for Seymen's birthday, I'll go home to Rochester. I asked him if he wanted another suprise party, but he declined. I think were both a little surprise partied out ;-) So I'm trying to come up with a good plan for his 25th birthday. This is HUGE :-) He's going to be a quarter of a century OLD! How exciting! :-) So I've decided that THIS year, it's going to have to be a BIG BASH!!! BIG CELEBRATION!!!
Anyway...I am motivated and while I was writing, I just came up with a good idea for Seymen's b-day...so now I have to research stuff on the web. Goodnight!
Posted by beth at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2005
Turkey Pictures
I made an online photo album of Turkey pictures! Here's the link:
Enjoy!!! (I'm off to bed. I'm totally exhausted)
Goodnight!
Posted by beth at 12:53 AM | Comments (1)
January 28, 2005
Turkiye'de Tatilim
Hi! I'm at home! I worked a little late tonight, so I had to ditch Jennifer and Li-Wei for dinner. They were supposed to come over and eat. But we are going to try again for tomorrow night. So...anyway, I'm getting back into my normal Austin routine. I started salsa class again on Wednesday, I went to girls night out on Tuesday, last night I grocery shopped, cooked and slept. Tonight I worked on my Turkish homework...I had to write a paper for my teacher on my trip to Turkey. Here it is. This will show you how bad at Turkish I am. I haven't learned the past tense yet, so I had to write it in the present tense. I also translated it by paragraph (because I'm sending it to Seymen to be corrected, so he needed to know what I was trying to say)... OK well here goes:
Ben Türkye giddiyorum. Ben Seymen'in anne, baba, ve köpek EFE raslayorum. Biz yeşil türbe ve yeşil mosque Bursa'da giddiyoruz. Biz Ulüdağ giddiyoruz. Biz Ulüdağ'da hemen hemen öliyoruz. Biz köpekler göriyoruz. Ben Bursa'da dolma, İskander kebap, cantık pide, ve cigara doreği yiyorum. Ben ayran ve çok çay içiyorum. Ben ayran istemiyorum. Biz aliş veriş merkezi ve Metro'de aliş veriş yapiyoruz. Biz Bursa Müze'de giddiyoruz. Biz bayrama kutlayoruz. Ben Seymen'in kuzen, halalar ve amca göriyorum. Biz Hala Mufara ev'de yiyoruz.
I go to Turkey. I meet Seymen's mother, father and dog EFE. We go to the green tomb and the green mosque in Bursa. We go to the Uludag Mountain. We almost die on the Uludag Mountain. We see dogs. In Bursa, I eat Dolma, iskander kebap, cantik pide, and cigara doregi. I drink ayran and lots of tea. I do not like ayran. We go shopping at the mall and metro. We go to the Bursa Museum. We celebrate ramadan. I see Seymen's cousin, aunts and uncle. We eat at Aunt Mufara's house.
Biz cumartesi İstanbul'ya giddiyoruz. Biz Bebek Otel'de uyuyoruz. Ben bosphorus göriyoruz. Biz haya sofia, grand baazar, ve Blue Mosque gitmiyoruz (kapali idi). Biz Sultanahmet'de ahmet koftesi yiyoruz. Ben ahmet koftesi çok istiyorum. Biz hava alanı giddiyoruz. Ben çok mutluyum. Ben Türkye oturmak istiyorum. Ben Seymen'in Anne ve Baba görmek istiyorum. Ben Türkye çalişmak istiyorum.
We go to Istanbul on Saturday. We sleep at the Bebek Hotel. I see the bosphorus. We do not go to the haya sofia, grand baazar, and Blue Mosque. (it is closed) We eat ahmet koftesi at the Sultanahmet. I like ahmet koftesi very much. We go to the airport. I am very sad. I want to live in Turkey. I want to see Seyme's mother and father. I want to work in Turkey.
Anyway, I have to get going. Jennifer is going to stop by with a movie for me to watch, so I don't have to leave my apartment :-) I'm going to curl up on the couch with a glass of wine, and watch the movie. Maybe break for some Blue Bonnet -- Homemade Vanilla with Strawberries -- Ice cream, at some point. Unfortunately, Seymen is going to sleep soon because he pulled an almost all nighter at work again...so I can't really talk to him. He is really tired. Poor guy.
Anyway...this weekend we're going to make our travel plans for the next month or two. Now, Seymen has more incentive to come visit me in Austin because one of our college friends (Merrick) from RIT, (Who was Seymen's partner in classes, and also did their senior project together) we just found out that he lives in San Antonio! So Seymen will come to visit and see him too :-)
OK! Goodnight all! I hope you have as good as a weekend as I'm planning on having. (Watch a movie, eat ice cream, sleep, sleep in, watch TV, Turkish class, dinner with Jennifer and Li-Wei, eat ice cream, sleep, wake up and move to the couch to watch TV and sleep, and maybe...eventually...unpack my bag from Turkey :-))
Posted by beth at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2005
Back in Texas
Hi...I'm back in Texas! I arrived at home at 12 midnight on Monday night. Yesterday I made my appearance at work and afterwards went home to find out that Jennifer and Li-Wei had returned from their cruise. I saw Jennifer for a few minutes and headed out for girls night with some other friends. By 9:30PM I was beat so I went home and went to bed...and now it's 7:21 AM and I'm still beat, but back at work. Tonight, Jennifer and Li-Wei are coming over for dinner and then we're having picture night :-) So they can see my Turkey pictures :-))) I'm kind of bummed today. I want to be either at home in Rochester or still in Turkey...
but the good thing about being in Austin is that yesterday it was 80 degrees and today the high is 76. I'm loving that ;-)
Posted by beth at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2005
Made it to Rochester!
Hi! We're back in the States!! :-)
We arrived yesterday evening into JFK at 5:00pm! Our plane was late taking off from Istanbul, and then we had to circle NYC for an hour and a half before we could land. I guess there was alot of snow while we were gone!
The flights wern't that bad...It was just so hard to say goodbye to Seymen's parents. They came in and met us at the airport in Istanbul. We sat and had tea with them and talked until it was time to go. Unfortunately, in Istanbul, they don't like to update the flight status very often. So when we went through security and passport control it said our plane was ontime...but when we got to the other side, it said that our plane was delayed 45 mins. We could still see his parents waving at us, but there was nothing we could do since we already when through passport control. It was just soooo sad. I was totally trying really hard to not cry outright. Everytime I thought about his parents saying goodbye to Seymen, or even looked at him, I just started to tear up. He looked so sad and depressed that he had to say goodbye. It's the worst ever to say goodbye I think. Anyway, we decided either way, it'll be hard for one of us. Either him in the US away from his family, or me in Turkey away from mine. But I told him, I'd be 100% willing to move to Turkey if he wants too ;-) I even found a cute little flat online, right on the Bosphorous in Istanbul for $550,000 US dollars. Unfortunately, Seymen explained that they don't have mortgages (can't spell that) in Turkey, so basically you just buy everything out-right. (Which stinks because I certainly can't afford to by any type of property other than maybe a 10-speed bicycle)
So...getting off track. When we landed in NYC, I turned on my cell phone and listed to messages while we were taxi-ing. Seymen waited and turned his on while we were waiting to get out of the plane. He got yelled at, because we can't use our cell phones unitl after customs. But then...Seymen's dad calls MY cell phone...so I'm talking to him but then I get yelled at...so I basically had to hang up on his dad. But he's so cute. He stayed up all night tracking our flights home. And he told me that when I flew into Turkey, he was tracking my flight the whole way :-) I love him! How nice is he! :-)
Anyway, at JFK they have this new handy dandy train, called the air-train...Basically, it's a monorail that takes you to each terminal. Much easier that trying to go outside and fight taxi lines and passenger pickup for breathing room. So anyway...yeah, that was broken last night. So we went out the catch the buses that drive around. Unfortunately, every bus that passed, none were going to terminal 9 (which is american airlines). So we go outside, freezing our BUTTS off, try to find the bus...Get sent all over the place. Can't find a bus to take us. Go back in warm up...Try to talk to Turkish Airlines to help us...No luck there. Back outside to find the buses again. Actually stepped off the curb this time, to a bus, but nope...he didn't go to terminal 9. OK...back inside. Back outside. Seymen offering taxi drivers tons of money just to drive us to terminal 9. Nope. They would do it. Back inside. This time Turkish airlines downstairs is closed. Drag the bags back upstairs. Seymen speaks turkish to the flight people--for about 30-40 minutes. Still no luck. Back outside. FINALLY! A BUS! And they go to terminal 9! OK so we're on the bus now. An hour later we arrive at terminal 9! Go Figure! ;-)
The funny part is, it was basically useless for us to go to Ame. Airlines. While I was standing in line to talk to an agent, I was waiting on the phone too. I ended up getting through there faster than the line, and was able to beg and plead for a flight from Rochester to Austin (Today) instead of having to find myself a hotel in NYC all alone! But the lady took pity on me...I think because I told her that I missed the original flight because i was late on an international flight from ISTANBUL -- Hi! Long WAY!!! LONG PLANE RIDE!! But once she realized why, she was so nice and stuff. Anyway, basically the phone conversation ended with my telling her I loved her and her supervisor. Meanwhile, Seymen was on the phone with Jet Blue buying a ticket for me on the JFK to ROC flight that was leaving at 1AM. That all squared away, we headed back outside for another bus expierence. We were actually in luck though. There was one bus waiting outside...SO me with my rollysuitcase, bag of gifts from Turkey, Seymen's suit back, my bookbag, and purse, running through inces of snow trying to the catch the bus. Yes. That was a pretty site ;-) But we made it!!! And then it only took us 1 hour to get from terminal 9 to terminal 6!
Once there, it was just a wait-fest. There were people everywhere. JetBlue (which I think is pretty awesome because most airlines are just like too bad buddy your SOL) had a cute little cafe set up where they were giving away free soda, juice, coffee, tea, blankets, cots, blue chips, biscotti etc. It was pretty nice I thought. ANyway...we waited there from 11pm until 2:45 when our plan finally took off. WE arrived in Rochester at 3:45 and made it home by 5:30AM because we had to wait an hour and a half for a cab. Seymen called his dad when we got to Rochester, and it was 11AM in turkey. Go figure.
Anyway. I'm sure you wanted to know the entire saga...but I needed to kill time. Seymen doesn't want me to show up at work too early but I'm bored stiff and not really wanting to be all alone since I'll be doing that in Austin for a day or two until Jennifer and Li-Wei get home. (OK that sounds sad I know...but I really miss them!) Anyway...I'm going to get moving. Put my bags in the car, and all the presents. The best part about being home today is that I can see my family! and give them their presents. Mom and Chris are meeting me at the airport after they both get out of work...so I'll definitly see them.
Awwww...I want to go back to Turkey...not Austin!!! (by the way did I mention that it was the best trip of my life? I didn't? Oh well it was :-)))
Posted by beth at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2005
Last Communication from Turkey
Hi...We're in Istanbul now. Seymen and I are so sad. First of all, we miss his parents. They couldn't come with us to Istanbul tonight because they didn't want to leave EFE alone overnight...Sooo Seymen and I had to take the ferry today and his parents will drive here tomorrow. Last night we went out to buy tickets for the ferry today, and kept deciding to go later and later, so finally his parents said that we HAD to go today and they picked the time for us, and Seymen's dad went and got our ferry tickets for us this morning. I think at one point last night, we pushed it to 7pm. But instead we were on the 1:30 ferry to Istanbul.
We are staying in one of the nicest hotels on the Bosphorous. It's beautiful. We have two picture windows and a little porch over looking the Bosphorous. It's amazing...And the shower is the coolest thing ever. It has a spout from the ceiling directly above you, four sprayers that shoot out at you from the wall all at different heights so your entire body gets sprayed, and a hand held thing. It's the best shower I've ever taken.
When we arrived, we took a taksi (that's how they spell it) to the Otel Bebeck...then another taksi to the Grand Bazaar, but it was closed due to the holidays...so we did some shopping at the little vendors, and then walked to the Higha-Sofia (I have no idea how to spell that) and saw the Blue Mosque from a little distance away, and the Topkapi Palace...but they were all closed so we could only take pictures from the outside. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and sat out on our porch, then dinner at the hotel.
Right now I'm so stuffed. I have definitly gained so much weight on this trip. I have tried so many different foods here. I had a kiwi for the first time in my life, and really like it! And I tried and started liking the yogort too. There's too many things to name. You'll have to see my scrapbook when I'm done because basically all my pictures are of us eating food, or drinking tea. Oh yeah, I'm addicted to tea now too. I have at least 5 cups a day.
Anyway...I'm so sad right now. I almost cried when we said goodbye to his parents (and we are seeing them tomorrow morning at 10AM), and then again at dinner. Seymen seems so sad, and he doesn't want to leave. I can see how hard it is for him to leave and it just makes me want to cry. His parents were so happy yesterday when we decided not to take the first ferry so we could spend time with them...I almost cried for that too. And last night was packing night. Seymen's mom was packing his suitcase, and his dad was running around grabbing things for us to take. They gave us everything. I have their spare pillow cases, we have coffee, his mom was going to give me two towels but they wouldn't fit in my bag. She came into my room and goes: "So..the towels don't fit. What can we do?" (And she sat there thinking about how to make it work)...And they didn't have time to get us sheets and pillowcases (which is why I have their spare one) so they are going to send them....Meanwhile, Seymen was trying to do last minute fixes to their computers. It was just so sweet. His dog was getting nervouse for the past two days too. I think he knew that we were leaving. He would get so worried when we left the house and so excited when we came back. Poor guy...Seymen hugged and kissed him like five times on the way out the door. That almost made me cry too...
OK...I have to go now. I'm getting too sad...I'll write when I am back in the US :-((((( Unless I can convince Seymen by tomorrow that we should just stay here!!! ;-)
Posted by beth at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
Last Day/Night in Bursa
I can't believe it, but my trip to Turkey is almost over. It was definitly too short. Tomorrow late morning, Seymen and I are going back to Istanbul for the night. Seymen's parents will meet us at the airport on Sunday to say goodbye one last time before we leave. Seymen said that it is just safer for us to stay in Istanbul the night before our flight just in case something happened with the traffic...so we are leaving tomorrow. :-((
Last night we had the dinner with Seymen's family. It was pretty fun (considering I didn't speak Turkish, and most of his family doesn't speak English) and it was really neat to meet more of Seymen's family. I met three of his cousins, his two aunts, and one uncle. The funny thing is, that on both sides of his family (both mother and father) everyone has boys. There are no girls on either side. It's pretty funny :-)Anyway, it was a really nice dinner, and his one cousin (I liked him the best) tried to speak english to me, which I thought was really nice. Here is a picture of his entire family at dinner.
So, now it's 11:30AM, and I'm all awake and showered. Seymen is still sleeping, so I'm sitting on the computer...wasting time until he wakes up. Today, he's supposed to go to both of his Aunts houses for lunch.
Other than that, I don't really have that much news over here. I talked to my mom and my sister last night, which was nice...Well I'm to the point of crying because I'm so bored...so I am going to go find EFE to accidentially let him in Seymen's room to wake him up >:-D hehehehe.
Posted by beth at 04:19 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2005
Ramadan in Bursa
So today is the first day of the ramadan holiday. All week everyone has been preparing for the sacrificing of the lamb, and the big holiday feast. The Downtown (or City Center as Seymen's dad refers to is) is crowded with lots of people. Supposedly, during this holiday, little children (or even big children...like the size and age of Seymen) can expect to receive little gifts. If you kiss the hand of an elder. Seymen's mom was telling me, that when she was younger every year on ramadan, she would get a new silk scarf from her grandmother...Seymen I think is supposedly receiving money. And Seymen's dad told us that he is planning to give money to his two cousins.
Anyway, we were supposed to meet all of them for lunch today, but they decided to change it to dinner because Seymen and I were having a hard time waking up for lunch time...hehehe :-) So now we're going to dinner.
Posted by beth at 07:10 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
EFE Knows ME!!!
So tonight during dinner, Seymen's dad was talking to EFE, saying: "Nerede Beth?" (Where's Beth?) and at the same time his mom was saying: "Go find Seymen" And EFE was standing there, staring at all of us, and suddenly, he walked past Seymen's dad and right to me!!!! HE KNOWS MW :-) I'm so happy.
Right now, EFE is biting seymen because Seymen is trying to sit on EFE's chair in my bedroom.
Tomorrow, Seymen has to go again and stand in line to re-do the paperwork we did today because they spelled his name wrong. His parents want us to do the Bursa touristy things...so tomorrow morning, his dad is going to wake me up at 7AM and take me to some tourist attractions while Seymen is getting his paperwork done.
Posted by beth at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)
Great Times
Hi Everyone!!! Well, so far I'm having a great time in Bursa with Seymen and his family. We have been very busy during the days, and kind of bored at night. But we are renting alot of DVDs from the near by store everynight to keep busy. During the day yesterday, Seymen drove me up the Mountain --the Uludag Mountain, overlooking the city of Bursa. Unfortunately, we had tire slipping incident in the snow, so we turned around went back to the city. But it was still a beautiful drive.
Today was a less touristy day, because we had to go to these places to do paperwork for Seymen. Supposedly, they now have citizen numbers here (similar to social security nubmers in the US) so he needed to go get one. Basically, that took all day waiting in lines. We finished a little after 4pm.
Anyway...that was fun...So...I think I'm going to go now because Seymen's parents just came home from shopping. Byeee
Posted by beth at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2005
I LOVE BURSA
Seymen's parents gave us a list of places that we have to go, and a book etc. So we went out site seeing, first and foremoost, to the Green Mosque, and the Green Tomb. They were so neat. There were a few people praying, so we waited until they were done and then we could take pictures. Oh yeah, and Seymen's mom gave me a scarf to wear, inside the Mosque, but Seymen and I had a little trouble putting it on (it was raining outside the whole time too) so in the pictures, it looks funny. It was flopping over my face the whole time, and the women in the mosque were looking at me kind of funny.
But it was so neat to see, and so beautiful. I really enjoyed seeing the city. Yesterday when we arrived it was too dark for me to see much, and today although it was raining and foggy, it is still very beautiful. Seymen took me to the Silk Bazaar, and downtown marketplace. They have so many things to buy! But Seymen's dad told us at dinner tonight to just get prices, don't buy anything yet, and then they will tell us if it's a good price.
Anyway...It was a fun day. We had this food, I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it was DELICIOUS. And I tried Ayran...The yogurt drink. I didn't like it so much, but Seymen drank two of them while we sat there :-) He said tomorrow I have to try: Tussu --I think it's called that --but it's Pickel Juice...
Tomorrow we are going to do more site seeing, and maybe see the University, where his parents work. Then try the Iskender Kabap. This is the AUTHENTIC stuff. The ORIGINAL. It should be better than in Akteniz --on Ridge Road in Irondequiot! ;-) Oh yeah, and in the marketplace I saw what the lamb is really suppposed to look like when it's shaved off (how thin it is)...I'm going to take a picture tomorrow.
So...anyway...I have really enjoyed getting to know Seymen parents. They are both soo nice, and so interested in hearing about Rochester, and Seymen's "life" there, and Texas, and everything. (Although, I almost got in trouble with Seymen because he said that I sat in the kitchen with his parents too long talking :-)
My roommate here is Seymen's dog EFE. He is sooooo cute!!!! He has the hugest head!! And he only drinks moving water, so when he's thirsty, we have to turn the shower head on for him because he won't drink the still water in his bowl. His bed is a chair in my bedroom. This morning at 6:00AM, the call for prayer woke me, up and Efe and I laid around listening to it. (Basically, everywhere when it's time to pray there is someone calling for prayer over a loud speaker that can be heard by the whole city. It's actually pretty neat. I'm kind of obsessed with it, and Seymen doesn't know why I keep talking about it. but I think it's pretty cool)
Anyway, currently EFE is sleeping on his chair. Seymen's in the other room. We are both really pretty bored. We did our nightly walk to the Movie store, and then watched Seinfeld with his parents...ate some Chocolate. His dad pulled out Seymen's diplomas from Middle school, high school, and college to show me :-) And then Seymen and I had tea...oh yeah, and a bet for each other to see who could fit the entire clementine in their mouth. Seymen won. I agreed to pay him 10 million lira. (That's about $6).
Oh yeah, and I'm getting a chance to praactice my Turkish! So far, in public, I have said Hello and Thank you. But in the car, when it's just me and Seymen, I ask him: "Bende Nefret idiyormusun?" <-- That means do you hate me? :-) He says no, and then I go ahead and read all the signs outloud to him to practice my pronuciation. :-) But EFE is the one that I get to practice on the most! Because he doesn't understand English. So I can tell him to sit, lay, come here, good dog, I love you...It's fun! :-) Even though he doesn't listen to me. And he kind of cocks his head to one side when I talk...but I think that's because I don't have the Turkish accent.
Ohh...one last story, and then I'm going to bug seymen and then go to sleep...So we were out at the market shopping around, and we had to go to the bathroom...So we walked to the bathrooms, and Seymen gave me money to pay for mine, and he went into his side...so I go in, and I look around...and all I see are the A-la-Turk toilets. Well what are those you wonder? Basically, they are just a hole in the ground, with a special spot for your feet. Yes...No A-la-Frank toilets. So anyway...I held it until we came back to his apartment :-))) I wanted to take a picture of it, but Seymen thought it might not be such a good idea :-) hehehehe...
OK...I'm going. Tomorrow night is a big night. I'm so excited. Seymen's dad said that he would show me Seymen's baby pictures :-)))) HEHEHEHE!!!!! (Seymen rolled his eyes and walked out of the room when his dad said that ;-))
Posted by beth at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)
Arrıved ın Turkey
Hı everyone! I arrıved ın turkey all safe and sound. Seymen met me outside customs in the airport, with no problems. My flight was delayed 1.5 hours so it worked out perfect. I didin't have to wait for Seymen, he had to wait for me.
Anyway, just a quick hello! We spent yesterday afternoon in Istanbul and came to his parents in time for dinner. Afterwards, we took a walk to the movie store, and then came home and I fell asleep. This morning *Actually afternoon, because it was 12:30 when I got up} <== by the way I'm using a turkish keyboard, so I don't know where all the punctuation is...
Posted by beth at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005
I'm much better now
OK...I'm much better now. I went to Jennifer's and had a quick ice cream dessert and then came back home to watch this movie that she gave me last week. (Wicker Park) I really wanted to watch it, and she wanted to talk to me about it, so I ran home and watched it and then called her so we could talk about it ;-) It was SOOOOOOOO good! The girl in the movie was psychoooo! Anyway...it was a great movie and we just had our talk.
Now I'm so exhausted. I think I am going to take a shower tonight and go to bed...Jennifer is driving me to the airport at 5:20AM tomorrow. I think at this point I'm too tired to be nervouse. But don't worry...there's all day tomorrow. Here's the plan. Fly from Austin to Dallas. Dallas to NYC. Arrive @ 1pm, leave NYC @ 5:45 (17:45 --Hopefully I did the math right). Arrive in Istanbul 9:45AM Saturday Turkey time (2:00AM Saturday morning Rochester time). Meet seymen sometime (I don't know when he's going to get to Istanbul because there's fog or something and the ferry is running really slow...So he might be late. Let's say 11AM his time, I meet him. Then drive from Istanbul to Bursa. Probably I'll get there around 2PM Turkey time. and the MOMENT OF TRUTH will arrive :-) Will Seymen's parents LIKE ME?!?!?!?! :-)))) *dramatic music*
OK...I'm going. But I'll leave you with one good thought, to hold you over until I can write again. I FINALLY get to wear my Green Puffy Coat for winter!!! (It's going to be 40s and 50s in Bursa). It's been in the 70 and 80s here in Texas, so I've only been able to wear it one day to work. They call me "Puffy" or "PPG" (power puff girl) because of that day, since I was so excited to wear it. I made everyone hug me, so they could see how soft it is :-)
OK! Bon-Voyage! Wish me LUCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!
Posted by beth at 11:45 PM | Comments (0)
All Packed
HI! I'm all packed. I"m totally freaking out...so I can't really write that much I don't think. But I came home from work and spent all evening packing. Now I'm going to Jennifer and Li-Wei's for ice cream.
I'm totally freaking. It's OK. But oh my god. OK...so Saturday at 5PM Rochester time, I'm supposed to call my dad. Then Tuesday at 5PM Rochester time, I'm supposed to call Chrissy and my mom. I'm totally flipping out. It's no good to be alone. I have to leave...but before I do...here's a picture of my family visiting in Texas. (And Jennifer and Li-Wei...because they are family now. Jennifer asked my mom, "Since I'm so cute, you can adopt me too right?" Well my mom loved that...so she insisted that she adopt Jennifer and Li-Wei :-)
By the way, last night I went to San Antonio and saw Carrie for dinner! It was so fun! We ate on the riverwalk and talked and then I drove home. It was so good to see her, and hear all about LMNK and stuff. She was so excited to see me before the trip (since I was so obsessed with it when I worked with her)...
Anyway, I'd write more but I have to go now. I may write more later tonight. WISH ME LUCK! Hope that Seymen's parents like me!!!! AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm so nervouseeeeeeeeeeeee! I can't believe I'll be in TURKEY TOMORROWWWWWWWWW
Posted by beth at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2005
News from Seymen
Hi! It was a really bad day work today. I broke my almost six month streak of not crying at work...but luckly I made it out to the parking garage before I teared up...but I think everythings OK. I'm just fustrated with myself...but I feel much better about it now. My friends at work were really nice about it, and Jennifer and I talked and she made me feel better :-) And then we talked about it dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, and Mom, and I feel even better now...and Jennifer and Li-Wei are on their way right now to dessert...
Right now I'm on tri-tasking. I'm writing in my blog, writing to Carrie on Yahoo IM, and talking to my step-sister Leslie on the phone about a new monitor. I have to stop multi-tasking now...I'll be right back.
OK I'm back...Anyway, the whole point of this posting was to tell ya'll about Seymen! I heard from him via my cell phone yesterday and today, and then tonight while we were eating dinner Seymen wrote to me to tell me about the hotel in Turkey that we'll stay in when we go to Istanbul for the day. Here is the original hotel that I was requesting:
The Ciragan Palace
but his mom recommended this hotel, which is supposed to have an even better view and is closer to the "stuff to do" in Istanbul!
The Bebek (It means Baby in english)
Anyway I'm so excited! I can't wait to go!!! But I have to go because Jennifer and Li-Wei just arrived for dessert.
Posted by beth at 08:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2005
I miss Seymen
That's all I really have to say right now. I just miss him. I want to be in Turkey now. This waiting is killing me :-) Do you think it would be bad if I called him right now? It's only 1:11AM his time ;-) Just joking :-)) I know I'm being a baby, but it's weird to not be able to call him any time I want. I'm spoiled. OK. I'm going to go lay on the couch and wait for everyone to re-energize, or me to de-energize.
Posted by beth at 06:10 PM | Comments (0)
Missed Calls from Turkey
Seymen called me 4 times today!!! :-) On the 4th call, I finally answered my cell phone and was able to talk to him. His dad had just dropped him off at the shopping center so he could buy some clothes. Supposedly, he and his dad had gone out shopping early. I also found out this morning, that he forgot to pack and bring his parent's presents, so Ryan had to bring them to work to give to Maki, and Maki fed-exed them to me this morning :-) I was so worried that Seymen would give his parents the presents before I got there, but I don't have to worry about that now ;-)
Anyway, I miss him. I can't wait to go!!!! I could hear the traffic and a police siren in the background...It sounded so busy and EXCITING!! I CAN"T WAIT!!
This is just such an exciting week! Jennifer is meeting with my mom and grandparents today to come meet me for lunch. And I e-mailed with Carrie, and she's in San Antonio so I'm going to drive down Wednesday night for dinner and to see her. Agghhh!! And I'm leaving for Turkey on FRIDAY! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
OK...I gotta go.
Bye
Posted by beth at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
Pictures of San Antonio
Here's an album of pictures from San Antonio:
Posted by beth at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2005
Coming in Last
Hi! I'm back from San Antonio with my family! It was a GREAT weekend! The Riverwalk was AWESOME! Absolutly beautiful, and definitly much better than I expected. I loved it! And I loved my new cousins: Gary, Brian, Amy, and Gary's best friend Ramon. They were all really nice! and so excited to see family. Anyway, we ran around like CRAZY doing typical Carol Brownstein-Evans toursim. I was completely beat. My mom and my 80 year old grandfather were running around San Anton. drinking margaritas and talking to everyone. Grandma and I had to go back to hotel for a little but of a nap yesterday afternoon for 2 hours. This morning we woke up and continued at a neck breaking pace, seeing everything. But it was so interesting, and beautiful. From now on, if anyone comes to visit me in Austin, I'm going to bring them directly to San Antonio. There's much more touristy things to do. Austin seems so dull in comparison.
Anyway, the good news is that it only took an 1 hour from San Anton. to reach the Austin city limits. Definitly do-able on Wednesday night if I want to go down and meet up with Carrie (from LMNK...She's coming in for the week for a meeting on the Wireless Project --My last project before I left LMNK). Anyway. I guess maybe I was hauling it a little bit too much...but going 83 MPH was GREAT :-) And we got back so fast! I can't wait to go back. I really loved it there.
So, now I'm waiting for Grandpa's baked potatoe to cook in the microwave. I think my microwave is not very powerful. It's taking like 10 minuets. THen I can put my soup in....Grandpa's already at the table eating by himself. My mom's on the cell with Steph, and grandma is making his potatoe. We (grandpa and me) found and tested out the gas grills outside my apt. tonight. They work great.
I gotta go. It's time to eat dinner. Byee
Posted by beth at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2005
Why you should read directions
Well I got a new DVD burner last night. It worked out even better for me, because they finally had the Plextor brand burners in stock (I picked up the last one!) and they were on sale, so Seymen had $10 refunded back to his card!! Unfortunatly, I freaked out when I came home and it still didn't work. It didn't even show up as a device. I was thinking...Great. It's my laptop or the cable, not the DVD burner that's broken. I called Seymen and was telling him about the problem...We tried a few things, unplugged everything etc. It still wasn't working. So finally he said: Did you read the instructions?!!? I of course hadn't ;-) hehehe...so I went through the box and looked...and what did I find? Oh yes. A switch on the back of the burner that can be set for USB 2.0 or Firewire. It was set to USB (I'm using Firewire)...Great... :-) It works now...and yet another lesson...You should read the directions...No matter how excited you are...because then you'll just be disappointed anyway :-)
Anyway, I received a phone call from my other cousin in Houston (Brian's brother) and it turns out that he's going to go to San Antonio tonight and meet up with us tomorrow too!! How fun!
So...I'm a little sad...Seymen's currently on his flight to NYC. I can't believe he's leaving today! It's unreal! Last night he was so stressed, trying to pack and everything! We were on the phone and all I could hear in the background was rustling and stuff from him packing :-) He started freaking about the suitcases because all he was going to bring was his duffle bag, but I think I freaked him out because I told him I was bringing two bags -- one rolly suitcase and a duffle...I still don't know what he chose because by the time he called me back I was half asleep. But don't worry...He has 5 hours to kill at JFK before his flight to Turkey. He should arrive in Turkey at 5AM rochester time...4AM Texas time tomorrow.
Last night at the grocery store I bought a ton of food for my grandparents and mom...and then I made a huge pot of cabbage soup for dinner. I also bought travel containers for shampoo and conditioner...and special face soap cloths for the trip (instead of bringing the liquid one that will probably spill all over my stuff. <--that's some smart thinking huh!?! :-) I'm so excited to show Seymen...He doesn't know about it yet :-)
So i'm dying of boredom today, with not that much work to do, and I just want to go home. I'm leaving at 1:30 and going to the airport to get my fam. (my aunt and cousin had to cancel their tickets because they are both sick :-( ). Anyway...I'm gonna go...watch the clock on my computer...to watch it take 10 years to move to 1:30...
Byeeeeeeeee
Posted by beth at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2005
New Chinese Name
Last night Jennifer was falling asleep and remembered that there was a better spelling for my name in the chinese characters. Here it is.
Posted by beth at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)
Broken
Every electronic thing I own and charish is broken. OK well that's an exaggeration because my laptop is working. But I broke my DVD burner. For some reason it's not being recogonized. And my cell phone is broken. It won't charge. But it's all good. I have the warrenty for the Burner :-) so I can go get a new one tomorrow...Yipppeee.
Tonight has been a very productive night. I cleaned my kitchen and bathroom...Like scrubbed them down. Last night I reorganized and cleaned my closet, so now I have tons of space :-) I have mentally packed all my shirts/sweaters for TUrkey, and I have finish all my laundry. I'm in good shape. TOmorrow after work is Errand night. I'm going to get my eyebrows done (because that's really important ;-) and then Best Buy for the new burner. Then picking up Jennifer and getting an Inside and outside car wash, then Tracy's to pick up a crib...then to HEB to do grocery shopping for the family. I think that should be it. HOpefully we can get it all done in time. Yipppeee!! Then friday is a half day for me because I'll have my 40+ hours and I have to go get my aunt and cousin!! And my MOM will be here at 3:01!!! I'm so excited. It's perfect timing because I'll be sad to not be able to talk to Seymen for the weekend since he'll be flying and out of the COUNTRY!!!!! :-))))
Anyway, I'm tired now. and Seymen is on the phone. He's typing something on his computer and I'm typing on mine and we're not talking. Just spending quality time together...LIke when we lived together :-) awww..ok bye
Posted by beth at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
Family Reunion!
Yeayyy! I just received an e-mail from my cousin in Houston, and he and his wife Amy are going to meet us in San Antonio for the night! :-)) How exciting! It's going to be a busy weekend!
Here's the countdown:
3 days until Seymen leaves for Turkey
3 days until my mom, grandparents, aunt, cousin come
4 days until I meet my cousin from Houston
9 days until I leave for turkey.
Posted by beth at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2005
Here's mine and Seymen's chinese name
BopsB: I drew you our chinese names
Seymen At Work: i like my name
BopsB: I know
Seymen At Work: it looks really sophisticated
BopsB: I'm jelous of yours
BopsB: I told Jennifer it wasn't fair;-)
Seymen At Work: yours is more like the caveman drawings
Seymen At Work: LOL
BopsB: Yours looks classy...HEYYYYY:-(:-(:-(
BopsB: That's so mean!;-)
Seymen At Work: awww
Seymen At Work: i am sorry
BopsB: it's ok I guess
BopsB: :-(
Seymen At Work: awww i am sorry
BopsB: I think I'm gonna steal yours
BopsB: no one will know
BopsB: except chinese people
Seymen At Work: come on now
BopsB: :-)
Seymen At Work: you can't do that
BopsB: Watch me 8-)
Posted by beth at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
Red Bull
Hi!!!!! I had such a GREAT night tonight!!! Actually, I had a great day! I thought I'd be really bored at work becuase I wasn't really focused on a major project, but it turned out that I had a ton to do...AND...I got in at 7AM, planning on just leaving earlier to miss traffic, but then ended up staying until almost 6. Which was AWESOME because on Friday I have to take a 1/2 day to pick up my aunt and baby cousin...Anyway, I went to Jennifer's and had dinner as usual, we talked and then I went home. I talked to my grandparents and got a grocery list of "must haves" for then they arrive. Nothing too complicated. Just Rye bread with no seeds, ham, breakfast foods such as muffins or toast, lots of fruit, Salmon for dinner, broccoli, salad, and milk :-) But they promised to take me to Costco or Sams on sunday when we get back, so only the basic staples. Anyway, as we were discussing whether my grandpa should bring long underware and his wool hat and scarf (because I guess it's a cold 70 degrees here compared to Florida's 80 degress ;-), I had a beep from ERIN!!!! I wrapped up the long johns conversation (told Grandpa to forgoe the long underware, and I'd promise to turn on the heat if necessary ;-) I called MY ERIN BACK :-)
THe subject, RED BULL, is a special tribute to her due to our conversation about her New Years eve :-) I won't repeat it because I'm feeling really full from dinner, and I might make myself sick ;-) But needless to say, I think she had a great time :-) hehehe...
ANYWAY...the GOOD NEWS IS!!!! We talked and we are planning a trip for her and Kevo to come to Texas to visit! Maybe in March! And I'll take some time off of work. She'll be on break from school (she just went back to school to get her MASTER's) and Kevo will be just returning from a big training event business trip. Anyway...they are going to check flights and see if they can come and VISIT MEEEE :-)))) I'm so excited! Another fun event to look forward to and keep me happy :-)))
Also, during our conversation we were discussing my upcoming trip to turkey and my turkish lessons...It reminded me, that I just started Chinese lessons with Jennifer. So I taught Erin how to say hello in Chinese. I even learned how to write my name, Jennifer's name, Li-Wei's name, and Seymen's name in chinese characters....and I'm pretty good because I took my handwritten chinese character to Li-Wei (of his name) and asked him to tell me what it said, and he could read that it said his name!!! Yipppee!
Anyway...Erin and I had to switch to Japanese because we both knew it better (thanks to Maki ;-) but here's a little of what I learned today:
Hello --- Nee How <--- This is the word that I taught erin
How are you --- Nee How
Thank You --- Shee Shit
Your Welcome --- Bu shit
I am hungry --- Wa uh la
Are you hungry? -- Ne uh la muh?
I love you --- Wa eye nee
Do you love me? -- Ne eye waa muh?
So anyway, Erin and I talked so much and laughed so much that my throat hurts and I'm not sure I can talk to Seymen. I think that maybe I'll just IM him because he's still at work, and I'm in the typing mood.
OK...so I'm going to go write to him and send Keffer's an e-mail because Erin gave me his e-mail address :-) and I haven't talked to him in FOREVER!! Since her wedding at least!!! And I MISS MY KEFFERS!! And I miss my ERIN and KEVO...I love you guys :0) (Because I know that your going to read this ;-)
Posted by beth at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
Happy New Year!!
I just realized that I haven't made ANY blog entries in 2005 yet!!! I apologize! I've been so busy since Friday! After we left work (early relase and 12 NOON!! Yipppee!) I had to run a million errands to be ready to take off for Houston at 3. I ended up just following Li-Wei and Jennifer so I could come home on Saturday morning. It was a nice drive, pretty simple. Li-Wei's cousin's live right off 290 so it was really easy to find. We ended up sleeping at his aunt and uncle's house. His cousin Katherine and her husband (I cannot for the life of me write or say his name...and I tried to practice!) took us to Joey and Maria's Italian Wedding - Comedy Show. It was halirious. After the show they had a special New Years celebration with champagne, and free $10 game cards so we could go into the game section and PLAY!!! :-) It was a great night. We were out until 2AM, and collected 1300 tickets!!!!! :-)
I drove home Saturday afternoon at 2, after a nice lunch at an AUTHENTIC chinese resturant, in the "Chinatown" of Houston. (This is not your normal run of the mill Chinese resturant. They ordered everything in Chinese, and had some different selections on the menu. Or as Li-Wei's 12 year old cousin Bonnie, puts it: They have WEIRD stuff on the menu ;-) But it was a great trip. I was exhausted when I got home, so I took it easy...watched TV and worked on Seymen's parents scrapbook.
Sunday morning, I decided to be productive...So I woke up, showered and went shopping for next weekend's guests. I even planned ahead for work the next day, and bought gas and grocerys on my way home (It's been about 2 weeks since I stepped foot in the grocery store hehehe). Anyway...I went home and made myself homemade cesar salad for lunch and dinner. Then watched Law and Order Marathon and finished Seymen's parent's scrapbook by 12:15AM! I was soooooooooo tired! But I think it came out pretty cute. Everyone at (because yes, i have showed it to everyone I work with) thought it was cute. My boss Kristina wants me to help her do her's after her honeymoon trip (to Europe)...
Anyway...That's all I've got. There's 4 days until Seymen leaves for Turkey and 11 until I leave. I can't believe it's for real. I'm really starting to freak out. I had a freakout session with both my sisters yesterday.
Posted by beth at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)