Saturday, March 30, 2013

"I am Listening to Istanbul"

"I am Listening to Istanbul"
by Orhan Veli Kanik
I had a young Turkish teenage friend who was supposed to be learning English from me, but he was just as much the teacher, as he delighted in bringing me weekly linguistic treasure from his culture. We fell into the habit of each bringing each other one masterpiece from our native language every week. Of course, while his authors were Turkish, I had to read his offerings in English.

If you want to deepen your love of your own culture and language, try to narrow down your favorite creations to one masterpiece a week. It's hard! I shared Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" and my young friend said "If -- playing on the title -- If -- you believe there are men like that, you'll be single forever!" I had to laugh.

Then I shared another favorite: Teddy Roosevelt's "In the Arena." He liked that one. And yet another wonderful poem to share was "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost because my friend felt such delight when he instantly understood the metaphor at the end. "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley with its famous last two lines, and "Ozymandias" with its sly message against pride were hits. It was especially fun for me to pull out as many inspiring masculine poems as I could find and still I hadn't even yet cracked open the poetry books of Robert Service or shared Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire." 

One masterpiece he shared with me from Turkish culture was the poem by Orhan Veli Kanik, "I am listening to Istanbul." My young friend read it to me in English. Now I think I know enough of the original language, I am going to try and learn it in Turkish. Maybe there are other poems I should try. Is there a more beautiful context for learning language?

"I have come to love English." my student said at the end of our time together. We ran out of weeks before I ran out of masterpieces.

The time we get to share with someone is so short, whomever it may be. I am so grateful for that experience.

Whom are you sharing with that brings you joy? Be grateful to share this moment. Appreciate it with enthusiasm, even if only to yourself.

8 comments:

BacktoBodrum said...

Students like this make it all worthwhile.

Karen said...

So true!

Maddie said...

I really loved your post! I love poetry and you brought back that passion of mine. I would like to be your student too. You bring the best out of people!

Karen said...

Thank you, Maddie. What a wonderful thing to say. If I bring out the best in people, it is because their best is so easy to see and enjoy.

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled upon your post from 6/21/11 where you gave me and my old blog, Tischlers in Prague, a shout out. It sure was a pleasant surprise more than four and a half years after leaving Prague. Thanks much!
By the way, I love Istanbul and Turkey. Turkey is probably my favorite country after the US. Hope you are enjoying yourself. Have a raki for me. All the best. AL

Karen said...

Hello Al, lovely to hear from you. You had a huge influence on me at a very important time in my life - right before I took the plunge to become an expat. I enjoyed following you and your family's adventures in Prague very much. I hope you are all well. Thanks for commenting, I appreciate having the chance to tell you how much your blog mattered to me!

Maddie said...

Thank you to you for reminding me of the beautiful things in life...like poetry and sharing experiences!

Karen said...

Maddie, thank you for this magnificent post you wrote in response to mine! It leaves me a bit speechless; I am so touched by your response. I'll post yours here so everyone can enjoy it: http://maddiesvine.com/istanbul-in-a-poem/

 
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