Day of Rest

I was having dreadful dreams this morning and just as I woke with the relief of having been out of the dream I felt the soreness in my throat hurting me and that's how my day started.

Went to company doctor at work, she looked at my throat and sent me home. She said it was bad, and gave me some antibiotics. So I finished off some urgent work that needed to be done, took all the rest of the translations to do at home and came home. Had a sleep and rest. But I was uneasy as in the corner of my mind I knew I had to go to the banks for some issues pending for some time which I never had the time to deal with.

I felt like OK, so I went off to HSBC Bank first. Here's the thing: They are the "World's Local Bank" right? Well, that's what they say. I have a problem with that. You go to a branch and they don't let you do any transaction unless you had opened your account in that specific branch. In other words, within a city, within Istanbul you can only do certain transactions ie. creating a standing order, or time deposit account, in one specific branch and not the others. I think it's stupidly inconvenient. And I also know a friend who can not transfer money from his UK account to the Turkish account. Yes, they're the world's local bank. I'm not a banking expert, but I can tell it's not very convenient on the user side.

Anyway with the help of a bit of luck, a friendly security personnel (yes, not the bank staff) told me that I can use their fax and write a petition to the original branch. That's what I did, and they called me back to confirm my transaction, a nice lady on the phone this time and it was all done.

Came back home in peace and now I can rest more for another day tomorrow...

Music & Lyrics

The song "Way Back to Love" from the Music & Lyrcis movie just got stuck in my head, I couldn't get it out so I had to find it. So I finally downloaded it. Allthough it sound a bit like one of these educational songs to teach English, it very catchy; I have already listened to it 50 times today, and transfered it to my mobile phone. (yess my new phone finally arrived thank God). Here's a verse from the lyrics that I like:

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again I guess
I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation...

http://musicandlyrics.warnerbros.com/

Sister Back

Weekend did me good, had a good time, a bit like in the old times, with surprises, and later saw my friends, said goodbye and welcome, as my sister, Nur came to visit me from Ankara. I took her out to shopping first and then there was this technology fair that she wanted to go, so we went there, then I took her to my favourite relaxation place, the Koza Cafe in Maçka(http://misstranslator.blogspot.com/2007/04/saturday-sunny-day.html)

and we played Backgammon. I hadn't played for a long time, so wasn't claiming anything but my sister claimed she was good and she played online, but who beated her? Me. :) Then we went to my DVD guy and got the film Music and Lyrics (Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore). She got really bored through the end, but I was enjoying it :)

So I had a good weekend. Then the week started as if the weekend never happened (it allways seems to be like that). Monday blues today.. Another busy day is coming up for tomorrow, meetings have already been scheduled in the morning and afternoon, presentations, documents and so on... So need to get ready!

Where's My Jetpack

I remember talking to a friend about the Year 2000 and predictions that people made about the future like ...we’ll be flying around with jetpacks on our backs and eating pills instead of food etc..

Well, I came across a book called "Where's My Jetpack?" and it's about all those things that were meant to happen in the future but still haven’t such as jetpacks, pills for food, a colony on the moon, x-ray glasses, streets with moving walk ways, servant robots…

We were supposed to live in fully automated, atomic-powered, germ-free Utopia and the government was supposed to give everyone a Jetpack! So where's mine?

You can find a review of the book in the following link (http://www.amazon.com/Wheres-My-Jetpack-Amazing-Science/dp/1596911360/)

What's going on

Have been feeling tired for the last couple of days without a reason other than work. And I've had people telling me the reasons why I was that way. You know when people say "Oh I know why you're tired, it's because you've had too many crips last night, you crossed your left leg over your right leg and deep inside you feel sorry that you didn't go for that thing that you wanted..." and so and forth. You know it, dont you?

And why do we sometimes treat the loved ones worse than we treat anybody else? Have you ever treated a loved one in a way that you wouldn't do to a stranger? I guess all of us have. Do we take them for granted? Hmm...

So there have been a couple of things bubling up in my mind to put in the blog, but could not really make a connection in between them to make sense for other people who read it. So I just don't put them. My thoughts are so scattered at the moment.

So may be I will go to a Mind Mapping course again on Saturday to tidy up and formulate my thoughts, get them all mapped out, and sort them out in a map, an example of which you can see here: http://misstranslator.blogspot.com/2007/03/family.html.

For now, back to my world.

Secular Meetings 2 (Cumhuriyet Yürüyüşü)

The Secular Meetings that started in Ankara, and continued in Istanbul, İzmir and Çanakkale are now carried on in Samsun, where Atatürk stepped ashore on 19th of May 1919 to save the nation. 19th of May has a significance in Turkish history and is a national holiday celebrated as a Youth and Sports Day. Today, in this historically significant place, people have gathered to celebrate the Republic and convey their message for the election coming up.

After seeing the crowd gathered in Cumhuriyet Square, broadcasted live on tv, I just spoke to my friends in Samsun and my mom, and they will join them soon... As for me, having had joined the previous one in Istanbul, I will go out for shopping today...

Rain, Cats and People

Hey, rain lovers! I have news for you. I kept my promise and went out and got drenched in the pouring warm summer rain last night! And I was happy. So there..

Then got into this small cafe playing slow Spanish music and people watching the rain outside. There was this fat old cat, which later I learned from the owner that she was 14 years old, I think it is times 5 or times 6 to humans, as a friend told me. It approached to me, this cat, looked at me for some time, I didn't move my eyes from it, and as if it knew I wasn't feeling so well at that particular moment, it jumped on the seat and sat next to me. May be it just wanted my jacket to lie down on, but I got friendly with it, stroking its head, playing with it and at one point it didn't like what I did.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. In this case you can't teach an old cat new tricks, just like we have our own habits, oddities, weirdnesses and people will continue to do what they do even though you tell them many times not to do certain things, mention certain things, or change a particular gesture or attitude. They will not change. Even if they stop doing that thing they may still think from inside how silly it is... In this case we have to accept them as they are or decide to have nothing to do with them..

Simple Things

Someone once said that the secret of happiness is having someone to love, something to do and something to look forward to. I guess there's some truth in this, although it doesn't mean you have to have an adoring spouse or partner, a high-ranking job and a world cruise coming up to enjoy life.

The 'someone to love' could be a friend, family or pet, and the 'something to do' and 'something to look forward to' could be just about anything you enjoy.

Even though these are all in place, you may still feel down for all sorts of other reasons. May be being influenced by something that someone you value has said, a disbelief or an unpleasant comment against you. So our mood can be affected by anything.

It's up to us to find a way to cope with it or walk away from it. It is still our life. And we have to live it to the fullest...

Trainings

At the weekend I attended a "Coaching" course given by a colleague and friend of mine, Phillip Holt (http://nlpnow.com/), translating the course, on the other side of Istanbul, the Asian side, and I really enjoyed it. I had done Coaching before with other trainers but this time I learned other stuff and refreshed my knowledge as well. As everybody knows, I love trainings, I love attending them and giving them, being a trainer myself, I like interacting with people in a training environment. Having worked with many trainers including Phillip Holt, Sue Knight, Lily Cohen, Linda Wells, Jill Lawday, Dharma Gaynes and others I have gained an extensive knowledge and skills and I guess this helped me a lot in my translations. I'd like to thank all of these people, especially Phillip who has been an influence to me in my work and personal life; and Sue Knight who has been an excellent role model, helping me sort out issues with her guidance...(http://www.sueknight.co.uk/) Hope to see her back in Turkey this summer. And ofcourse Lily, who has been a great company and a fantastic tour guide taking me to the best corners of Israel, making me the finest vanilla tea :) Hope to be back in Israel.. I can not thank them enough..

Friday Evening

Out with friends again like it should be on every Friday evening, this time not to have a late night-out but to have a nice meal & catch up. There is a nice restaurant in Istiklal Street, Istanbul, going down Galata High School, on the top floor of Goethe Istitude. The place is called Litera (see http://www.literarestaurant.com/). A roof restaurant looking over the sea of Marmara. My friend got me to try something new without telling me what it was. It tastes exactly like chicken but it turned out to be the leg of a crab. It tasted good, but still I'm not a sea food person, allthough coming from Black Sea region, never been a sea food fan. I still enjoy eating fried mussels and stuffed mussels with beer once in a while, but that's it..

But having a red wine made my day as a nice beginning to a weekend...

Female Talents

Some of the followers of the blog asked me to write more frequently, as they enjoy reading the blog first thing in the morning at work, or when they come home in the evening drinking their coffee.. Well my response to that was first of all I want my entries (my writings) to have their time and be read. So I want them so stay on. Secondly, I need inspiration to write. They said I can get inspiration from anything. Well, that's true, I've just got inspiration from my big toe!

And there are others that want their name to be mentioned.. They sure will be :) but i cant guarantee they will be mentioned in the way that they want! For the simple reason, as with all females, and especially being an interpreter, I have an excellent talent for twisting words. So I may get out of any situation being right in the end! So beware..

Rain

Rain At Last

After a couple a humid days with tempratures above normal climate levels, it finally rained. The good thing about rain is being at home when it happens, having had a lovely meal, sitting in front of telly with a laptop on your lap, listening to the sound of rain, and drinking your tea. This is also the type of rain that you would like to be showered with as it is warm and mild unlike the type of rain in winter when the cold gets to your bones and wind makes the rain even sharper. Thanks to nature, summer is coming and let all our rains be summer rains...

Bosphorus, Day & Night

Yesterday we went for a nice evening out with the IT Service Management team, in Yıldız Hisar, looking over the second bridge (Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge), with a fantastic view. Wasn't very willing in the beginning to go as we had previously gone to a meal with other teams which I enjoyed but then people turned out to be drunk and getting crazy. This time was a nicer time where we went to the venue during daylight hours having a chance to see the Bosphorus by daytime, and later enjoying the night view. Lots of dancing and laughter, we enjoyed ourselves, having red wine, watching a colleague do capoeira, getting everyone worship a big baloon, it's been quite a night...

Ladybird Cakes

Went back to Barcelona again, this time to have a Lasagna and a lemonade. Sat downstairs watching people passing by the main passenger way. And these are the ladybird cakes, that are, another translator friend of mine, Engin's favourite... So cute.

Barcelona

I was in Barcelona the other day. Well, the Barcelona Cafe in Taxim, Istanbul, a nice restaurant-cafe where we go occasionally to have a nice meal. My favourite is Tortellini Alla Panna.
It is a nice place as there are not many places left that consistently maintain the quality of their food....