I’ve traveled to a handful of European countries, and in my experience, it’s usually not that hard to find English speakers there. You speak it tentatively at first, and you feel bad about it, but when you try speaking in the local language, your American accent prompts a sympathetic smile and an English response. After a few weeks here, I’m realizing that that’s not always the case in southern Turkey!
That’s not to say there are no English speakers, but it’s much less ubiquitous than in Europe, and too be honest, I think that’s good thing. It has encouraged me to try to understand at least basic, imporant phrases (hello, thank you, ice-cream please), and it has sparked dozens of Google Translate aided conversations with the Turkish students about the difference between our country and theirs. I’ve never been in a country where the shadow of US culture is less apparent, and it’s both slightly stressful and extremely exciting to be pushed out of my comfort zone and experience honest Turkish culture for what it is.
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