Hello! I am Zeynep the volunteer from Turkiye. In this text I will talk about the billboard projects I prepared for the school. In my first board, I wanted to give general information about Turkey. So, I talked about the geographical location of Turkey and important cultural heritage places that must be seen in the 7 regions of Turkey. In my board design, I placed a map of Turkey in the center and added photos from these regions around it. I also added small post-it notes with short information about each region. On the left corner of the board, I created an information box so that students could see who prepared the board while reading. In this corner, my mascot, a teacher animation character, explained why I was there and what students could find on the board.
Keeping the information from my first board, I also wanted to include a special corner about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk because 10 November is an important day for Turkish people to remember the founder of the Republic of Turkey. In this part, students learned who he was, the reforms he made, and they also saw Anıtkabir in Ankara, where his tomb is located.
Another board topic was the unique tastes of Turkish cuisine. Students saw the names and photos of foods and what we eat in three different meals. I divided the board into three parts: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and talked about traditional food and drinks. Soup has a very special place in Turkish cuisine, and since we have hundreds of different soups, I created a special section for soups. Breakfast culture is very important for us, and in Turkey, there are many “serpme kahvaltı” places. Serpme kahvaltı is a traditional Turkish breakfast where many small dishes like cheese, olives, tomatoes, eggs, honey, and jam are served together and shared at the table. I added visuals and breakfast snacks to the board.
Another board topic was skiing, which is very popular in Slovenia during winter. I showed where people can go skiing in Turkey. Especially the eastern region of Turkey is very popular for skiing. I gave general information about ski resorts and mentioned three main regions where skiers usually go: Erciyes (Kayseri), Uludağ (Bursa), and Palandöken (Erzurum). Students learned about these popular tourist ski resorts.
Since figurative language is very common in Turkish, we use many idioms and proverbs. For this reason, in another week, I selected 7 commonly used ones: nazar değmesin, tuzu kuru ,ne ekersen onu biçersin, alın yazısı, sakla samanı gelir zamanı, kılı kırk yarmak, maydanoz olmak. These idioms and proverbs are very common in our daily life. Sometimes, when we want to explain a situation, the best way is to use expressions passed down from our ancestors. That is why I think we should keep these expressions alive.
The aim of my board projects was to attract the attention of students and teachers with visuals and texts about Turkish culture and heritage. At the same time, I wanted to give more information about the cultural and natural beauties of Turkey and take them on an enjoyable journey during their break time.
Written by:
Zeynep Çinibulak,
ESC volunteer of OŠ Okrogar and MC ZOS
