The End

As I write this I am sitting in Florida but I have been receiving so many phone calls that it amazes me how many people noticed that I hadn't written in a month. Well, there is a reason for that. My tim in Turkey came to a premature end.

I tried not to sound too negative in my blog but the teaching situation was really bad and had no prospects of getting better. Living so far away from downtown meant I wasn't having the "urban experience" that I wanted either. Plus, the way the vacations ran, I wasn't going to get to see much outside of Istanbul either. So, I just decided that life is too short to be that unhappy and that I am in a position in my life now that I don't have to do that. So, I gave my notice at the end of October.

I was a little surprised that they chose, without warning, to exercise their contractual right to recoup some of their losses so it turned out that I didn't get paid for the previous month. This unpleasantness meant that there would be no leisurely traveling on the way home so I got a flight with Frequent Flyer Miles and came home for the holidays.

I have meanwhile secured a position in Fujian Province (across the strait from Taiwan) in China in a university so I will be going back to Asia in January. I am planning a new blog: kareninfujian2008.blogspot.com for anyone interested.

Happy Holidays all!