Thursday, December 23, 2010

An unscheduled leave of scheduled absence

So, I've been gone a little while.  I've thought about you all often, and faithfully read your delightful blogs, but I've been woodshedding (in the musical sense, not the punditry-prone sense).

You see, I've got a lot to do.  As astute readers will remember, back in July (when I last posted, with nary a mention of my unceremonious absence) I was sitting on the register, working everything else out.  Well I'm still on the register, but events are progressing nonetheless.

For one, I successfully defended my written belief that Anti-Americanism in Turkey can be ameliorated through sound foreign policy attuned to cultural variables.  In other words, I wrote a thesis and got my masters degree.  My family came out to watch me stumble around in a robe with wizard sleeves and a good time was had by all.


Unlike me, these losers have to wear their tassels on the right.

 More importantly, however, Mrs. Valdysses has secured a lucrative position that allows me the freedom to commit myself full-time to mastery (read: barest proficiency) of the Turkish language.  As most of you know, I'm sure, Turkish is a "Critical Need" language for the US State Department.  Should I demonstrate that I can converse in Turkish at a level 2 (of 5) in a telephone interview, State will allow me to exchange a promise to serve in Turkey at least twice in my career for .4 extra points on my OA score.  According to my calculations (and my conversations with the lovely Tamale Walton) those points would serve as a kind of blue fairy, transforming me from an unemployable toy into a real boy.  All that I need to do is build on the language I learned in the year I spent living in Turkey.  Easy, right?

Alas, rich as Colorado is with microbreweries, ski resorts, silver lodes, terrible seasons of "The Real World" and North Face sales outlets, it is not a bustling hub of Turkish expatriation and scholarship.  Formal classes are out of the question, and private tutelage is near impossible to pin down (my first tutor was wonderful, but she called me one day and explained that she was going to be moving to San Francisco, so we would not have a lesson that week). 

Luckily, as always, the internet saved the day.  That story is for another day, however, so stay tuned.

2 comments:

hannah said...

Any interest in sharing that thesis with a dip in Turkey? I'd love to take a look at it... ;-) Congratulations on graduation - looking forward to seeing you out here soon!

Bfiles said...

glad to see you're back, and congrats on the recent family accomplishments!

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