Noreen Conklin's Weblog

Getting Started

noreenconklin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:15:37 +0000

Gary is always looking out for me which is how come I am actually sitting here writing on a blog with my name on it. He has been telling me for years that I should be writing a little something each day. A writer is someone who writes, so even if it is just a blog I can be a writer. So here it is Gary, entry # 1 of Noreen Conklin”s blog. Thank you.

Fire at Block Valve Station #30

noreenconklin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:50:48 +0000

We are back to pumping at full capacity after a fire blew out one of the block valve stations just west of Erzincan.

Baku control center says that we are at 6,700 m3/hr which is equivalent to one million barrels per day. If oil is at $120/bbl than the group bringing the oil down the line from the Caspian Sea is knocking down a cool $120 million daily, big money by any standard. What blew out the vlave staition? Is it any coincidence that Russia just happened to invade South Ossetia at the same time? The conduit runs just south of the Ossetian / Georgia border and there were rumors that the Russkis had actually bombed the pipeline.

Also theres been a lot of PKK activity of late in the area. Which is it…. the Russkis, the PKK or just bad luck? No one really knows.

Uskudar American Academy

noreenconklin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:50:41 +0000

History of U.A.A.

THE FIRST YEARS

Üsküdar American Academy was originally founded in 1876 in Bahçecik by The American Board. Governance was later transferred to the Health and Education Foundation – SEV.

The site in Baglarbaşı was originally the American College for Girls. ACG vacated the Baglarbaşı site in 1914 and moved to Arnavutköy leaving the Baglarbaşı campus empty from 1914-1921 except for the years 1914-15 when the buildings of our school were used as an orphanage by the Americans and the years 1915-1918 when the Turkish army used the school as a barracks.

When Üsküdar American Academy for Girls was looking for a new location in Istanbul, it moved to the present site in Baglarbaşı in the early 1920’s. With its new site and in the spirit of the new Turkish republic, the school became dedicated to quality education for girls.

One of the original Turkish principals of our school, Semiha Malatyalıoğlu, shared some of her memories of the earlier years of Üsküdar American Academy, which you can find further down on this page. She graduated from this school in 1928 and served as the Turkish vice principal for 37 years.

Her primary impressions about the school revealed the closeness of students and faculty at Üsküdar American Academy.

AMERICAN ACADEMY IN 1925

In 1925, the education at the school was being done in the basement of Barton Hall and in Bowker Hall. The Round House was in the same place as it is today. There was a wooden black building in the place of Emir Konak.

There was originally a stable on the site where Kinney Cottage stands today. The school’s need for milk was met by the cows that lived in the stable. The stable was later demolished and the Practice House (Kinney Cottage) was built as a homemaking skills practicing center for the seniors.

The building was named Kinney Cottage in memory of Mary Kinney who was the principal of the school when it moved from Adapazarı. The old organ in the auditorium was given by Robert College to be used in the frequent choral programs.

AMERICAN ACADEMY IN 1950

A recent discovery of a “time capsule” at Çalıdere Cottage contained some objects placed there by the builder of the house Dorothy Blatter, an art teacher and author that worked at the school from 1931 to 1961.

She had the house built in the fall of 1950 and apparently placed her time capsule behind a small corner stone in the wall of the house on December 21, 1950. The property upon which the house was built remains a part of the ÜAA campus today. In 1996 construction of the newest faculty housing was completed on the same land that Dorothy acquired.

SEMİHA HANIM’S MEMORIES OF AMERICAN ACADEMY

Of course, the school in its first years was very different from the school today. Half of the student body, for example, could occupy the old Study Hall.

The total number of students in the kindergarten, primary, and junior high school classes was only 242. There were 3 Muslim Turkish students among the Christian students in the lycee classes. As one of these students, Semiha Malatyalıoğlu talked about being a Turkish Muslim and not being able to share the celebration of her religious holidays with her classmates or of her friends not whole heartedly sharing her enthusiasm for the new Turkish nationalism that was filling the air. These were awkward days in the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic. After the Lausanne treaty and the resulting new Education Law, like other foreign schools, the kindergarten and the primary sections of our school were closed and the school continued with the junior high school under the Turkish Ministry of Education.

Education after the 9th grade was divided into 3 sections as “Collegiate”, “Commercial”, and “Home Economics”. The “Collegiate” section prepared girls for university education. The “Commercial” section prepared them for a trade and “Home Economics” section prepared girls to be a housewife.

Old commencements were adorned with written essays. Some essays were read in addition to music concerts and songs by the school choir. After 1926, the staff of the school started to change. American teachers were added to the faculty. Besides this, the biggest change was that the Turkish cultural lessons were added to the education curriculum. These lessons were now taught by Turkish teachers.

With the mobilization for education that was begun in the early years of the new Turkish Republic the foreign schools attracted the attention of Muslim Turkish students. The number of Turkish students increased dramatically. The extracurricular activities in the school increased. The traditional May Day was a celebration day that all students looked forward to with the May pole dance and other special activities. Students were also active participants in Turkish national celebrations. As the years passed the school gradually changed adapting to the changes within Turkey.

MS. MARTIN AND MS. MORGAN

Jessie Martin is a very important part of ÜAA’s history. The restoration of Barton Hall in 1946, and the construction of Huntington Hall and Martin Hall in 1955 were all accomplished during the time when ÜAA was directed by Ms. Martin. To honor Jesse Martin one of the new buildings was named Martin Hall.

Helen L Morgan was the director of ÜAA from 1956-1977. Like Ms. Martin, Ms. Morgan also worked hard to make ÜAA one of the best schools in Turkey. To add to the one lab that was present, the physics lab, Helen Morgan was responsible for the cistern being turned into a chemistry lab while Fred Shepard was responsible for the hamam being turned into a biology lab. The newest building at ÜAA with modern science laboratories and a computer center was named Morgan Hall in Helen L. Morgan’s honor.

ÜAA 120 YEARS LATER

Üsküdar American Academy experienced a radical change in 1990 when it admitted boys for the first time into the Orta Prep class. With this change, “Üsküdar American Academy for Girls” became part of history and became known as “Üsküdar American Academy”. With the help of USAID grants, the Sabancı Foundation, supportive parents, and the Health and Education Foundation (SEV) physical changes have also continued with the building of a gymnasium, the restoration of Bowker and Barton Halls, and the construction of Morgan Hall, our science, math and computer building.

Üsküdar American Academy continues to pursue “excellence in education” in a time of rapid change within the Turkish culture.

Today the school, like the affiliated American schools in Izmir and Tarsus as well as the American Hospital in Gaziantep, is under the governance of the Health and Education Foundation, which carries full responsibility and authority for operating the school. The school properties are also owned by SEV, while the American Board retains the operating permits.

With the passing of the 8-year basic education law, Üsküdar American Academy, like all foreign schools, gradually phased out the middle school, added a prep section for the lycee and now maintains only a lycee program. To fill in the void left by the closing of the Orta schools, SEV has opened an elementary school that goes through the eighth grade, offering quality English instruction to supplement the Turkish curriculum. It is hoped that the tradition begun so many years ago will continue for many years to come through SEV elementary schools and Üsküdar American Academy.

The Road to Liechtenstein

noreenconklin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:00:03 +0000

Tiny Liechtenstein.

The map to the right shows that the tiny country of Liechten Stein lies tucked away in the Alps at the very spot where three countries nestle together. Ever know anybody who has actually been there?

Well, if you don’t that is about to change because in late September or early October I will be travelling there to see if the country does, indeed, exist. Postcard anyone?

It will be Oktoberfest in the region. There are two ways to think about the fact that Oktoberfest will be in Bavaria at precisely the time that our R&R from Uskudar Amerikan Akademy occurs.

First, Bad Idea. All the hotels are chock-a-block full so it will be very hard to find a room. We are working on that now. Also, even if you are lucky enough to find a room, you can sure bet that the price will be five times higher than what it should be. One will pay thru the Nose to experience Lederhose. Restaurants will be jammed, the Hofbrauhaus bursting with beer and the lager-louts loaded. And the Brits?

Secondly, Good Idea. In fact, a great idea. What better time to see the Alps than in Oktober with all of the leaves changing colors, the harvest just in, the air crisp clean and cool? And those tall liters of lager carried by frauliens looking they’ve been lifted off the labels of the Saint Pauli girl bottles? if you like bratwurst, Wiesswurst, wieners or frankfurters where better than Munich, the Oktoberfest and the myriad of vendors to get your fill? And besides, if you don’t like Munich there’s always the easy train to Innsbruck or Salzburg or anywhere in Ostereich. There’s also Liechtenstein. Can anybody even spell the word? Where do all the “I”s and “E”s go? Is it “Liech” or “Leich” ?

I think what we’ll do is this…… fly to Munich, experience the hustle and the bustle and then flee the scene. The train to Innsbruck is a mere two hours of travel away. Check out Innsbruck and environs. From there we can hop aboard another train heading west thru the Alps toward Liechtenstein. Leaving Liech we can return to Munich for a last day of weiners and wurst and not be the worst for it. Sounds like a plan.

It Keeps on Rolling

noreenconklin — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:44:33 +0000

It Keeps on Rolling Along. Sept 1, 2008

I woke up this morning to the prayer-call in the usual manner. First I hear a distant tap-tapping as the Imam checks his microphone followed by a shallow cough. And then the mournful wailing….. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. But today it was a bit different, there was the quoting of Suras from the Koran as today is the first day of Ramazan, the month of cleansing, of fasting. We will see how the Turks, generous and forgiving, handle their voluntary starvation.

Hurricane Gustav is only hours away now from blasting it’s full frenzied force into the Louisiana shoreline, the Republicans have cancelled their 1st day of convention frolic, Sarah Palin nude fotos have popped up on the web and the Russians have declared a new doctrine of interventionist policy in their “border states.” Denizens of the middle east will go into “patient mode”, relating both to God and family while the Americans gear up to electing their next President. I’m hoping that the Alaskan governess gets elected as I want to see more of her in high-heels, bobbed hair and beauty pageant postures.

An Early Morning’s Speech

noreenconklin — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:56:00 +0000

He’s Rolling Now 29 August 2008

Merhabalar,

I set the alarm clock for 03:30 last night so that I could experience the Obaman phenomenon first hand. This was not as difficult as it sounds as I am suffering from a severe case of jet lag and am doing little to solve the problem. I sleep when I feel like it and suffer the consequences accordingly.

Being the expat, time-zone skewed, TV challenged, I tend to read the recent day’s news from my Yahoo account on the day after. I don’t get the chance to comprehend what everybody else sees in Obama Barack. So it was that I set the alarm clock for the wee hours of the morning to hear his widely anticipated acceptance speech. It was well worth the effort. His oratory skills were indeed outstanding. The circus antics inside the stadium had the masses mewing. Fine job, it was.

Noreen Gets Her Blog

noreenconklin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:02:36 +0000

After First Coffee 28 August 2008

Merhaba Arkadashlar,

My name is Noreen and today I started my Blog Life. What’s a Blog Life? The answer to this question is not clear to me at this moment but rather… a nebulous possibilty that some say will consume my life. I doubt that.

But it just may prove to be an outlet to all the tedious and tiresome hours spent at my cruel desk while I wait for the bells to ring? and the beginning of my next English class.

Bells to Ring? This is a metaphor. Literally it means that the 9 synchronized bells indicating the beginning of 45 minutes of basic English instruction are all a’clanging. Demanding.
But on another level it means ringing the bells of inspiration for me write a meaningful blurb on this here blog now that I’ve started it all a’rolling.