The Future

I'm leaving soon.
In nine days, I'll board a plane in Reno and in ten days, I'll get off a plane in Antalya, Turkey.
In a couple of weeks, I'll hopefully have my own apartment within walking distance of the Mediterranean Sea and in about three weeks, I'll go through some sort of teacher orientation and training.
In a little over a month, I'll start teaching English as a second language at Antalya International University while hopefully learning Turkish grammar and history, drinking Turkish coffee, baking Turkish cookies, and making Turkish friends. And, with luck, other nationalities of friends.
For the first time, I am doing this on my own, without Peace Corps, and I think I can already see some of the pluses and minuses.

Minuses:
Without a doubt, one of the minuses will be not getting the PC language training. As difficult as it was, I now realize what a blessing it was to receive 4 hours of intense language study 5 times a week. If I learned anything during grad school, it's that you need to be exposed as much as possible to a second language in order to really learn it.

Not living with a host family for 3 months. Living with a host family is completely awkward and I would never opt for it, but I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain why this was a benefit of the PC. You're exposed constantly to the language, culture, and habits of the people around you. Without the host-family requirement, it's going to be hard to force myself into those awkward cross-cultural experiences that PC practically forced down our throats (in a kind, loving sort of way).

Not having an immediate cohort of like-minded friends. There are new foreign teachers who are starting at the same time as I am, but I can't imagine that we'll go through the same bonding experiences that we did in the PC. Who knows, I could be wrong, though.

Not having everything taken care of for me. Only now do I realize how nice it was to have the PC apply for my visas and buy my plane tickets and pay for my health care and doctor visits. It's all up to me now (with the help of the kind Turkish friends I'll hopefully make).

Pluses:
Money! I know that's a lame plus, but dang it, I'm looking forward to making a semi-decent salary for once in my life.

Freedom. I chose Antalya. I chose the university I'll be working at (after being offered a job there and all that jazz, of course). I wasn't "assigned" there. I'll be able to pick out my apartment and if I don't like it, I can move without having to go through all the PC motions. On my days off, I can travel around the country, or outside of it, without having to notify anyone. I don't need to develop a secondary project or apply for a SPA grant or fill in another VRF form ever again.

It's a real job in a real university...not a job that felt, at times, fabricated for the sake of bringing a free foreigner into a business or school.


I don't know if the pluses outweigh the minuses, but it's time I try this on my own and I think I've had my fair share of the PC. I'm very excited to start this new chapter, but, as always, it's going to be so hard to leave again. It never gets any easier. Never.