Last Work Week

Our CSC assignment is now over and many of us are back home trying to adjust to timezones and the routine of our regular jobs.  But here is a recap of our last work week in Izmir.

Dr. Guden (the president of the university) arranged for us to take a tour of some of the university labs.  We had the privilege of seeing a materials test lab, a bio-technology lab, and the electron microscope lab.

On Tuesday, we had a 'high protocol' final meeting.  i.e. the press and heads of our client organizations were there.  DOT gave a short presentation about the CSC program and one rep from each team spoke about our experiences in Izmir.  And of course, there were lots of pictures taken.

Newspaper articles

Rosanna, Frank, Zoran, & Antonio

Wednesday was our final day to work from the hotel and polish our deliverables.  Here are teams 1 and 2 hard at work in our usual 'workroom' on the patio.

Thursday was our final day on the ITYE campus.  All 4 teams took the bus out to the campus and presented our full deliverable presentations to the 4 host organizations as well as a few misc students who showed up to listen.

Final drive to IYTE Campus

Final Presentations

On Friday, we flew back to Istanbul and met with Michel Charouk, the General Manager for IBM Turkey.

Then it was time for a final team dinner and good byes.  I'll post a few more pictures from our last dinner final night in Istanbul in another post.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Counting Down

It's our final week here and we are all starting to count down until we go home. The experience has been incredible but I'm ready to be home with family again.

Before we go, we all have our own personal checklist of items to do. Here are a few misc things we've been doing this week.

Final eating ...
La Cigale (at the French Institute) and Ristorante Pizzaria Venedik have been our two favorite places. So it's Pizzaria tonight and and final team dinner at La Cigale tomorrow night.

Monday night was a misadventure in food but I don't have any pictures to prove it :-) We had seen a Fish -n- Chips place down the street that we wanted to try at some point. So Monday night I wanted fish and chips. Zoran wanted to go back to a little 'home cooked' restaurant called Atakimi they had found a few days earlier and really liked. Subra was the tie breaker and voted Atakimi. It's a little mom & pop shop with a display case full of casserole dishes. Some hot, some cold, meat, rice, etc. Choose any 3 items and they put them on a plate, warm them up, and bring it to your table. But the lamb and rice that Zoran was hoping to find wasn't on the menu that night. And the food was served only partially warmed that night. And everything was just ... mediocre. (Zoran and Subra theorize it was because 'grandma' wasn't working that night.)
So we decided to proceed to Phase 2 and try the Fish -n- Chip shop. You should know that because Izmir is on the sea there is a lot of great sea food here. Which I hate. I'll admit it. Seafood and I do not agree with each other. Unless it's the most non-fishy fish available (i.e. cod), beer battered, deep fried, and served with loads of tartar sauce. You know, good ole London Fish and Chips. So I had high hopes when we walked into the Fish -n- Chip shop. The menu looked great even if the restaurant was a little kitschy with over-the-top sea shore decor. Even the proprietor greeted us by saying "Have you had fish and chips before?" "Yes", I replied, "but not in Turkey." So I ordered and we sat down to wait. When our order was ready, Subra picked it up from the counter and looked at me skeptically. Was it deep fried fish? Yes. Did it have a nice thick beer batter? No. A rather thin layer of flour stuck to the fish fillet (which still had skin on it as well). Was it a non-fishy fish? No. Was the tarter sauce enough to cover up the previous two sins? No. Looks like we're 0-2 tonight.
After eating the chips (plaid old french fries) we headed back to the hotel. The only saving grace was walking past the Swiss Cake Shop at Movenpic hotel. Mini Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake to the rescue!

Final cultural sharing ...
One of the best parts of our evenings here is when we gather on the patio at the hotel. It's nothing formal or organized. Just whoever wants to show up. Some people come and go. Some people come and stay. There's usually a bottle of wine or some beer to pass around. And we sit and talk about nothing. And everything. A mix of brainstorming about our CSC projects, complaining about work, talking about our families, sharing stories of our travels, discussing politics, and everything else.
Sunday evening we were sitting around watching the scores from the NFL games roll in. Frank is a big Dallas fan so we were watching the drive chart / play-by-play on NFL.com. And trying to explain American Football to Zoran from Australia. And in return, he was trying to convince us that American football players are pansy's and his rugby teams could crush them any time :-) So to settle the matter once and for all, we gathered Tuesday night in the basement conference room to watch a replay of the Denver - San Diego Monday night game. (I was unsuccessful in getting everyone up at 3:30am to watch it live).

After the football game, we watched some highlights of Australian rugby, and then switched to the 2nd half of the Turkey vs. Hungary soccer game. The Broncos won the game. Turkey did not. Sorry Seda! And I don't think we settled the (American) Football vs. Rugby vs. (Soccer) Football debate. But we had a lot of fun.

Final shopping ...
I have one last gift to buy but fortunately I can get it at the store just around the corner. Others have been walking all over Izmir to find the perfect gifts and souvenirs to bring home, especially buying Turkish Delight at the last minute so it's fresh when we get home. Yesterday we went in search of the 'American Bazaar'. We were walking down the street, talking amongst ourselves, not sure exactly where we were going, and a delightful old man called out "Where are you from?". We stopped to say U.S.A. and he said "I'm from New Jersey!". (I think he was Turkish but had lived in the States for a long time but I'm not exactly sure.) After chatting for a few minutes we asked if he knew where the American Bazaar was and he walked a few blocks with us to show us personally. We actually spotted him again later on the street and he called out "Hello friends!". You never know who you're going to meet!
The American Bazzar was a bit odd. It was basically just lots of American brand toiletries and liquor that you don't find in the regular grocery stores. And pipes. And tattoos. Odd.
We were also looking for baklava and Turkish Delight (not in the American Bazaar). We did not find any baklava (it's surprisingly hard to find in Izmir compared to Istanbul). We did find some Turkish Delight but not the flavor that Seda recommended so we'll go back out this afternoon for one final look.

We had a 'high protocol' meeting yesterday (i.e. dignitaries and press were there). Tomorrow we deliver our final presentations. I'll post tomorrow night with an update on our final work week.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Rewind ... Zagreb, Croatia

(Catching up on old blogs.  This one is from Friday, 21 Sept)

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I was in Croatia.  Here are a few final thoughts and pictures from our last day there.

We left Split way too early in the morning for a flight back to Istanbul.  The only flight available (or maybe the only one with a price low enough we were willing to pay) included a 7 hour layover in Zagreb.  Fortunately, even though Zagreb is the capital of Croatia the airport and town are relatively small and easy to get around during our layover.  We landed in Zagreb around 7:30am and took a bus from the airport to the main city bus terminal.

Our first stop was St. Mark's Church (Crkva sv. Marka) in the heart of old Zagreb.   The church was completed in the late 1400's and is famous for its roof tiles depicting the Zagreb coat of arms (white castle on red background) and the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia.  Although this is one of the top tourist destinations in Zagreb, it was pretty deserted at 8am.

Since it was fairly chilly out and nothing was really open yet, we stumbled into a wine bar that happened to be open and had free wi-fi.  (Why a wine bar was open at 8am I have no idea.)  But the gracious young gentleman working at the bar made us a ham & cheese panini and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast.

I should have mentioned that old Zagreb is at the top of a hill but is mostly just government buildings so we descended a large hill in order to find restaurants.  After breakfast we decided to go back up the hill to a museum.  Rather than climbing all the steps we paid a few kuna and rode up the hill in style in an old funicular!
(Definition: funicular: (of a railroad, esp. one on a mountainside) Operating by cable with ascending and descending cars counterbalanced)

Next up was the Museum of Broken Relationships.  It's a unique little museum that collects mementos and stories of love and heartbreak.

Next we wandered back down the steps into the newer Zagreb city center for shopping and lunch.  One mandatory stop for the geek in everyone is the Nicola Tesla statue :-)

After lunch we walked along Zagreb Park which looks a lot like the National Mall in Washington D.C. and back to the bus station and then a flight back to Istanbul.

Saturday & Sunday

This weekend was 'catch up' weekend.  Catch up on a little bit of CSC work, catch up on a little bit of IBM work, catch up on souvenir shopping, catch up on local Izmir sight seeing, and of course, catch up on sleep!

On Saturday, half of the group (not including me) attempted to go to Pamukkale but their car broke down on the highway.  I'm sure that will be a good story whenever someone gets around to blogging it :-)  Must have been a sign that we needed more work time!

I slept in and lounged about the room until about 11am when I ventured out to find a coffee shop.  Being too lazy to walk all the way to Starbucks I tried the local coffee shop at the Swissotel and found that they make a lovely hot chocolate.  Then back to the hotel to work on some of our CSC deliverables for a few hours.

By 2pm we (me, Frank, Subra, Zoran) decided to call it a day and went out sight seeing and shopping.  First stop was the Smyrna Agora.  It's an ancient market place (agora) that is being restored but has a long way to do.  We didn't pay the 5 TL to get in but did take a few pictures from the perimeter.

 
A side note: In the evening we were telling others about our adventure to the Agora and shopping in the bazaar and Subra jokingly said "So does agoraphobia mean fear of shopping?" (It's the fear of being in public.) So of course we had to look it up.  And the word agoraphobia does literally translate to 'fear of the marketplace'!

Next stop was the bazaar where Subra and Zoran needed to do some last minute souvenir shopping.  I had been to the west side of the bazaar before but this time we entered from the east and stumbled upon the food courts where we stopped for a beer.  Most of the streets in the bazaar are narrow and twisty so there is no motorized traffic allowed.  The shops hang tarps and other coverings between the buildings so most of the streets are covered and it feels a bit like you are indoors but with dappled sunlight and pleasant breezes blowing through.  After sitting and people watching for a while, we found the 'old' bazaar ... a bazaar within a bazaar.  This was a square brick building with vaulted ceilings and an open courtyard.  It was much like the bazaar in Istanbul but smaller.  Inside was souvenir paradise with jewelry, pottery, scarves, evil eyes, rugs, bags, and more.

The old bazaar with a mosque behind

Today has been another mix of work and laziness.  I slept until almost 11am and then ordered room service for lunch.  (P.S.  I haven't slept in like that since before Elly was born.  Elly is a great sleeper and has been known to sleep until 9am on some weekends but getting to stay in bed until 11 was wonderful!)  Then I headed downstairs to work with the team on consolidating our presentation for Monday.  Most of the team is now out exploring and shopping again but I've decided to stay here and catch up on my blogging.  I probably should go get a bit of IBM work done as well.  And we've got a team meeting in a few hours to review each others presentations.  Too much to do, too little time left in Turkey!

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Of fancy restaurants and stylish places

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had several evening events this week.  First was a dinner with our clients at Nobili Park restaurant on Monday night.   On Tuesday night I met a friend of a friend, Handan, who lives here in Izmir and she took me to a wonderful restaurant, La Cigale, at the French Institute of Turkey.  It was so good I took the team back there for lunch on Wednesday.  And Thursday night all 4 teams were treated to dinner by Dr. Mustafa, the president (rektor) of ITYE University.

Here is a picture of Handan and I at La Cigale.

I didn't bring my camera with me to the other events so I will now completely and unabashedly steal the rest of this blog post from Serina!

So after trudging through quaint villages and old historic cities, it turned out that this was a week for fine wining and dining. Perhaps it’s a good thing, so as to rejuvenate before our next expedition tomorrow to the ancient city of Hierapolis and the thermal springs of Pamukkale.

We started off on Monday, with a dinner at the Nobili Park Balçova which is located half way up a hill and of course there were extraordinary views of the city below and sea in a distance.


Food ranged from fried calamari, chicken tacos and cheese rolls to the traditional Turkish appetizers, a cheese platter, several salads, a perfectly made Chicken Schnitzel for the main course and we finally had to skip over the Tiramisu and chocolate mousse so as to try some of the renowned Turkish desserts.



Goes without saying, we didn't leave till we got out Turkish coffee. And it was served with a dark chocolate mousse.





Escaping from work on a Wednesday afternoon has never been more pleasurable for we discovered a hidden restaurant in a secret garden. In the back garden of the French institute of Izmir was La Cigale, a very contemporary style restaurant with a varied European food menu. Finally a Turkish menu card with some translation.... well, just my luck it had to be translated to French not English!

After a fab chicken pasta and lemonade, I ended that meal with a chocolate cheesecake.  Then I totally broke tradition and indulged in my first cappuccino since I'd arrived in Turkey.




Boğaziçi, was something extraordinary all together; not just another a seafood restaurant situated on a pier. On Thursday evening, we were seated on the first floor glass balcony of this very classy restaurant where you could see the city lights all along the coast and the lights on all of the ships anchored across the sea.

And then it was 4 hours of nonstop seafood, some traditional, some not, but everything delicious. To keep with tradition, we didn't just end our dinner with Turkish coffee but it was also time for some coffee cup fortune reading thanks to Kayahan and his skills.



Whether it was the ambiance of these places, the excellent views, the food or just the great company, each one of these outings were truly memorable.

Third week panic

Every team warned us but it still happened.  Third week panic.  The week where you finally know what you're doing and realize there is no way you can get it all done.  Especially when DOT sends you the final week calendar and asks for all final deliverables to be submitted by MONDAY so they have time for translation before we leave.  And a publicity / photo-op meeting with local governement and IBM execs on Tuesday.  And final presentations to all 4 clients on Thursday.  And flying back to Istanbul on Friday.

So of course the first task was re-negotiating due dates!  Does the client really need translation?  They all speak great English, we argued.  Success!  Final deliverables now due on Wednesday by noon.  But we still need a nearly-final draft ready to review with our clients on Monday so we can tweak it a little and submit the final version by Wednesday.  Needless to say, most of us worked at least part of this weekend.


Here's a bit of our final presentation:

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Community Service Day

In my post titled 'Work Hard, Play Hard (Part 1)', I mentioned that we were planning a Community Service day.  I also mentioned that we spent a lot of time planning the day and we'd probably get to less than half of what we had on the agenda.  So what actually happened on Community Service Day?   You guessed it...  'Turkey Time' kicked in and we only got to a small portion of our planned events.  But everyone had a great time so it was a huge success.

(P.S. See Time Warp for a definition of Turkey Time)

 Although you could say that the entire CSC experience is community service, each team is encourage to spend a half day working with a local non-profit organization.  While each CSC team is free to choose their service, it seems that most teams choose to work with local children and our team was no exception.  We all piled into the bus and headed to EÇEV (Ege Çağdaş Eğitim Vakfı).  EÇEV isn't a school per se but more like an enriched after-school environment.  Children attend regular school near by but then also attend some classes at EÇEV including English, Arts, Theater, and more.  Most of the children who attend are on scholarship and ongoing education is provided to their parents as well.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the teachers and administrators and given a tour of the school.  And of course, we had tea.

Photo credit to Serina

 Then the kids were brought into the auditorium and the headmaster gave an introduction about the school and its activities.  And finally we got to start on our agenda for the day.
First, we introduced ourselves by showing a power point slide about our country and made the students guess where we were from.  They were really smart and got most of the countries on the first try.  Even Vietnam, which we thought might be the most difficult, they got on the 3rd guess.  How well would you do?

Next we asked the kids to draw a picture about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  (Pilot, Doctor, Laywer, Teacher, Football/Soccer Player, Fashion Designer, Computer Engineer, and more).  Then they presented their drawings and we asked them what it would take to make their dreams come true.  (Hard work, school, perseverance, self confidence, etc.)

Next up was a team building game.  Students were grouped in circles of 8-10 and were asked to extend their left hand and grab hands with someone across the circle from them.  Then do the same with their right hand.  At this point they have formed an incredible human knot and we ask them to untangle themselves back into a circle.  Since they were all speaking in Turkish I have no idea what they were saying but after a lot of talking and a lot of laughing each of the groups successfully untangled themselves.  Here are some IBMers attempting to demonstrate!

Next up was the amazing Kazafumi-san.  He showed them a trick with a stick (I won't even try to describe it ... it involves twirling a stick around from one position to another) and showed them how to make oragami cranes.

We ended the day by teaching them how to Salsa dance and they taught us some traditional Turkish dance.  Sadly I do not have pictures of that activity!

Overall a long, hot day but the laughter made it all worth while.

(Answer: Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, New Zealand, USA, Vietnam.  Sorry: Mexico is missing from the slide deck.)

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Urla Winery

I know, I haven't updated the blog in a while.  We had a particularly busy week this week, both at work during the day and events in the evening.  But now it's Sunday afternoon and I have a few hours free to catch up.

Last week our client (IZTEK TechnoPark) arranged for a tour and wine tasting at the local Urla Winery.  So we knocked off work a little early and all went to the winery around 4:30.  While I did remember to take my camera, the memory card was still sitting in my laptop so all the pictures below are stolen from my teammates. :-)

Even though I personally don't like wine, the winery has a fascinating history.  The owner of some adjacent land was walking through the field and stumbled upon terraces and the remains of a 1,000 year old vineyard.  He had always been interested in plants and had imported dozens of exotic species for his own property so he thought "What the heck, let's revive the vineyard and start a winery!".  OK, maybe I paraphrased that a bit but he did have an interest in plants and he did revive the vineyard.  You can read more of the official story if you wish.

The grapes are grown locally and are fed through a machine that washes and dries the grapes.  Then into another machine that removes the grapes from the stems.  Then they are shaken down a conveyer belt where 4 workers watch for bad grapes or other particles and pick them out while the grapes proceed down the line.  From there, they are crushed and gravity fed into the holding tanks below.  After a few weeks of fermentation in large metal vats, the wine is moved to oak barrels and stored to age.

A few months ago they added 2 hotel rooms on site.  If you like wine, it would be a lovely place to stay for a few days.  You can even help with the wine making process while you stay there!

Goodbye Viv

A sad day today as one of our team members, Viv, had to go home early to attend to family.

Viv, I admire you for being willing to come on this assignment despite the uncertainty of your parents health.
And I admire you for being willing to go home early when your family truly needs you.

We will miss you.

Sara, Zoran, Viv, Bharat

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Ephesus

Today's adventure was to Ephesus ... the ancient city home to the Temple of Artemis (1 of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World), a grand amphitheater, one of the seven churches from the book of Revelation, the House of the Virgin Mary, and the burial site of the Apostle John.

First stop was the House of the Virgin Mary.  It is believed to be the house of Mary, Mother of Jesus, where she lived after Jesus' death.  Originally built in the 1st century and rebuilt in the 4th century, it was rediscovered in the 1800's based on a vision by a German nun.  The site has received several Apostolic Blessings, visits from several popes, and continues to be a catholic pilgrimage site.  There is also a spring of holy water and a wall on which to tie your wishes.

Next stop were the ruins of Ephesus which were actually quite impressive.  It doesn't seem like much when you first enter the site ... a few standing columns, lots of partial columns and other blocks littering the landscape.

But then you follow the ancient marble street and suddenly a small amphitheater comes into view.

Then down the hill and you see the remains of shops that once lined the portico (covered walkway).  And carved cornerstones indicating the location of the hospital and pharmacy.  And the Temple of Hadrian and the Library of Celsus.

And brothels, and bathrooms with terra cotta pipes and plumbing, and houses and beautiful tile mosaics.

And finally, the grand amphitheater that holds 24,000 spectators.

 Definitely worth a visit if you ever make it to Turkey!

Next stop was a carpet school / shop where they teach women the art of making Persian Rugs.  Every knot on the carpet is hand tied according to a pattern (similar to cross stitch) and large rugs can take over a year to produce.

I had no intention of buying anything but ... Zach, I found a rug for the entryway :-) 

They had one set of rugs that are 100% wool and 100% natural with no dyes at all.  The colors are simple shades of cream, tan, and brown according to the color of the sheep that donated it's wool.

And for anyone who is wondering, yes Persian Rugs are expensive, even here in Turkey.  A large silk hanging cost $20,000.  A 10' by 2 1/2' runner of wool / cotton was $2,300.  So my 2 1/2' x 3 1/2' rug was quite a bargain at $300!  This is what I bought. 

Then on to lunch and a little shopping in the 'cute' town of Şirince.  (Şirince means 'cute' in Turkish).

 And finally a beautiful sunset over the Agean Sea on the way back to Izmir.

Good night all.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8