VISITING TRABZON, THE BLACK SEA REGION OF TURKEYE PART 1

Heavy snows throughout Istanbul, the capital of Turkeye distracted air travelling; the flights to and from Istanbul Airport (IST) on the European Side of the said city and Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) on the Asia side were either postponed or cancelled and not a few had been severely delayed. Passengers, mostly Turks, and non-Turks including myself who were supposedly to travel from Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany bound for Istanbul were stranded and needed to wait for more than 12 hours because the 1.30 am flight was rescheduled to take off at 12.05 pm. Anyway, this hiccup was part and parcel of travelling, and for travellers, you would expect this kind of thing would happen on your journeys. If one or two hours’ delay seemed obvious but half-day postponement would be unbearable if you were not mentally prepared for the long waiting period. While Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish no-fill airline, the same version of Air Asia in Malaysia provided food coupons for every passenger, in reality, such compensation did little to ease one uneasiness and difficulties. Travelers should come to terms with unpredictable things that warrant their preparation and patience, after all this kind of weather was beyond our control.

Due to climate change as a result of excessive usage of greenhouse gases exacerbated by the continuous release of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for many decades, winter will be much cooler and summer will be much hotter. Heavy snowfall in Turkey in the winter unlike before showed global warming was alarming but as passengers needed to travel for various reasons, they would not be deterred due to any obstacles including this one. My second visit to Turkey after the first one many years ago was for a visiting professor at the Kradenic Technique University in Trabzon, the largest university in the Black Sea region.   

While waiting for the flight, I observed some passengers sleeping on the floor, and others sitting on chairs, benches and doing whatever they could do to kill the time including chatting. With hand phones on their palms, they scrolled through and browsed social media platforms, viewing the screens of news and stories. A few recharged their hand phones at the available wall sockets. Compensating the delay, the airline gave each passenger two free food vouchers twice, altogether worth €50. We rushed to the kiosks and grabbed available foods on the shelves and drinks from the fridges. It would not be long to clear and empty the shelves. In Malay proverb, we called it 'durian runtuh' for the vendors. Due to the long delay, I tried to sleep but was unable to do so and when the time for the first prayer came, I found a suitable place at a corner on the upper floor to recite my prayer, an obligation for a Muslim. At this moment, information boards overhanging below the ceiling were very important, frequently we looked at them and prayed our flight number and time for flying would appear on the screen. Once the ground crews made an announcement, calling passengers to queue, everybody could not wait, with boarding passes and passports in their hands. Soon we managed to get on board. What a relief! After a half-day delay, all passengers could not wait to fly to Istanbul.

When on the board, I had a first-hand experience with the passengers, mostly Turks who either worked or visited their relatives in Germany and now it was time to go home. Approximately, there were 5 million Turks residing in Germany and Cologne is the second largest city Turks reside after Berlin, which is home up to 100 thousand Turks no wonder there is a direct flight to Istanbul. I felt already in Turkeye once I stepped my feet at the Cologne Bonn Airport. The ground staff, males and females of the said airline were mostly Turks and they spoke Turkish with passengers. Unlike Malaysians, Turkish passengers talked to stewards and stewardesses with less formality, talking like to their friends. The flight was full due to a long Christmas Holiday for European countries and Turks who resided in Germany took the advantage to go home and visit their families. Before an aircraft took off, on several occasions, debates or seemingly fierce arguments happened between female and male passengers; it began with two persons with different points and then followed by others who joined the altercation. Due to my poor Turkish hardly I understood what they were talking about. But what I noticed, even though they shouted and raised voices against one another but that did not go beyond that. Later they could talk nicely as if nothing had happened. Flying with Turks in their airline is seemingly like flying with your whole family or people of a whole village. It was rather informal. Once our flight safely touched down at the runway at the Sabiha Gokcen Airport, everybody, simultaneously, clapped their hands. Happily, safely arrived home! Though it was about sunset, through the window I saw the airport buildings and its surrounding areas including the hills which were blanketed in snow except for a few of the runways in operation. Snowfall kept falling from the Turkish sky. A happy return home for Turks and me it was indeed a very cold welcome in Istanbul.

The airport was packed with a sea of passengers who could not fly due to the bad weather. My flight to Trabzon was also cancelled. First, I thought of joining the crowd, staying at the airport and waiting for the next flight which I did not know when, exhausted and wanting to relax and recuperate after a tired journey, I changed my mind. I went to the first floor to find a taxi to take me to a hotel. Approaching a counter that offered both services, I was told the price of both services. Once agreed and paid, the taxi drove me to the hotel. Because of the proximity to the airport, I arrived within 20 minutes, if no snow I would arrive earlier than that. It was getting dark, walking paths on the left and the right of roads covered by snow. Arriving at the front of the hotel, I found a few cars in the parking lot, covered by thick snow on their roofs, boots and bonnets. Upon checking in and putting my luggage in the room, I ventured outside, walking on thick snow in the vicinity, once I had enough I went back to sleep; sleeping soundly like a baby due to tiredness and sleepless nights in Cologne. 

I woke by the sound of the alarm, and looked through the window, magically, seeing everything was thickly blanked in snow. You would see overwhelming whiteness, nothing but whiteness, enveloping the surroundings. Thick snow covered the walkway and asphalt ground, could easily bury your shoes when you stepped on, and simultaneously produced a unique krk sound which could be hardly explained unless you experience and feel it on your own. Leafless trees turned white, and snow concealed their branches and trunks, seemingly, like magical trees in a fairy tale story. Cars that parked along the roadside were buried with snow, if you have one you would not easily recognise which one is yours. Since it is not permissible to drive a car with heavy snow on its roof, one needs to clear it first, and once it happens when one clears it and finds it was another person's car! ‘What a pity’. 

As for us who reside in a tropical country, experiencing this is one in a lifetime. As for me, as a stranded passenger, the unscheduled overnight in Istanbul was indeed a very lucky one. My first snow experience was a long time ago, in the winter of 1996 in the UK, where at that time of snow, my friends and I were in the classroom, we were having a lecture, and through the window, we saw snowfall. A few of us, grinning from ear to ear, whispering to one another, Salji, Salji. Could no longer concentrate on the lesson, one by one stood and walked out of the classroom. Our lecturer was smiling, and carried on with his lecture, perhaps in his mind it was the first snow experience for some. Soon we were in the open space, on the grass in the courtyard of the main building, like a kid who got the first toy; playing with snow, it was a magical thing, like tiny cotton, falling from the sky, unlike rain that get us wet, snow gently covered our clothes and we gently removed them with our hands, what an exciting moment, usually we watched this action on television, but this time it was real. The indelible experience that stays for the rest of our lives. On that day I went twice to the university from my hostel which was located about two kilometres away, smiling and walking along the way. I was mesmerised; all blanketed by snow, roofs of the hostels, cars, and branches of trees. But the best scenery was in the next morning; seeing white views, especially when snow covered the ground around our hostel, in its pure sense as it yet disturbed by people; none of the human feet trample on it. But snow comes occasionally in the Southern part of England when it comes, it is not as thick as in Northern Scotland like what we experienced on our trip to Lock Ness. Turkeye is a popular destination for Malaysians when they want to experience snow. No wonder you see many flock to this country during our school holidays which is commensurate with the winter season there. What an opportunity!

Checking out and leaving the hotel at dawn, the tall and lanky, bald young Turkish man wearing a blue navy hotel uniform drove to me the airport, he was a friendly and talkative guy. He knew a few Indonesian phrases that he had learned from his Indonesian girlfriend and was happy to utter the words and brushed up the Indonesian language when he found Malaysians share the same language and one of his favourite sentences was "jaga diri mu". He liked eating "nasi goreng" at Indonesian restaurants in Istanbul although he complained the food was too spicy and extremely hot for Turkish. Once we arrived at the bus station at the airport, the snowfall was continuously falling from the grey sky. I saw tiny - delicate flakes, falling, drifting and flying in the wind and covering my clothes, bags, my face and other parts of my body. The snow kept continuously dropping, I covered my head with a hoodie and walked to the entrance of the airport.

At the departure hall of the Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), I found the morning flight to Trabzon and other airports were cancelled. Realising I could catch another flight to the same destination from the Istanbul Airport (IST), I rushed back to the bus station and waited for a bus to take me there. When I saw the bus destination sign airport, I asked the driver if the bus went to the said airport, he nodded, and together with a few passengers, we went on board the plane. To my dismay, I found the bus went to another destination and the airport sign meant the Sabiha Gokcen Airport, not Istanbul Airport. At one of the bus stops, I got off, together with a long blonde hair, a middle-aged guy from France who carried a saxophone on its case on his back. We went to the nearby bus station, searching for a bus to the airport, but because we did not have bus cards the driver asked us to get off the bus, he refused when the French guy wanted to pay cash. I parted with him soon and from our brief encounter, I knew him as a rather street musician who travelled from one country to another. 

Extreme snowfall caused traffic chaos, the loud sound of ambulance and police sirens could be heard from a distance and getting a taxi in a chaotic situation was not easy, a few taxis stopped but when I mentioned Istanbul International Airport (IST) the drivers promptly said “no” and drove away. Walking in the snow, on the wet road with bags was never easy, luckily a thick moustache taxi’s driver, a carbon copies of Tom Selleck, a popular Hollywood actor in the 1990s was a rescuer, agreed to take me to the airport which quite far from the nondescript place he picked me up. While our conversation was quite limited as he had a poor command of English and my Turkish language was also poor, we managed to exchange some basic English words related to families and our countries. Due to the closure of the road and traffic congestion to the airport, he tried other roads as alternatives, and when we just above to arrive at the airport we were caught in a traffic jam, bumper to bumper crawl, I saw a few cars stranded on the roadside. Talking on the phone with his friends to get the latest information, he told me that all flights were cancelled due to heavy snowfall that lashed Istanbul which is situated in Marmara Region. We bypassed the airport and he drove me somewhere to the taxi station. It was not the station where the taxis waiting for customers but rather a place for drivers to have a rest. Paid food and drinks were available for them. The driver introduced me to his friends and I had a breakfast of hard-tick brown crust bread, I dipped a slice of it in white soup and drank a small cup of piping hot Turkish cay to warm my body. After a few hours, the guy asked for an excuse and left the station for an errand and he asked someone to take me to the airport to catch a flight to Trabzon when the airline service resumed. 

In the late afternoon when we got the information that flights recommenced, a clean shave young taxi driver drove me to the Sabiha Gokchen airport. Two valuable things that I learned from the flight delay due to heavy snowfall that lashed Istanbul. First, it was rather a norm than an exception, the airport closed due to snowfall. In this regard, Turks were not panicking as they came to terms with this phenomenon. Every time this happened, they knew what they could expect. What they needed to do was to wait or to approach a ticket counter and reschedule their flights. Second, once runways were cleared from snow and weather permitted, flight can resume. No need to wait for the snow to end, after all, during winter nobody knows when snowfall will stop. The delay that I encountered was due to extreme weather which was rather than an exception for me but for Turks, it was a norm. Actually, I made a wrong decision to catch another flight at the Istanbul International Airport, but I learned a valuable lesson by doing so.

While the flight took 1 hour 45 minutes from Istanbul to Trabzon, we arrived in the very early morning due to heavy plane traffic. It was the last flight. Since I did not have a local SIM card, I could not talk to Dr. Adnan Ozyilmaz, inform him about my arrival. I managed to contact him in the morning when I had breakfast at the taxi station and during our text conversation I told him that I already arrived in Turkeye and encountered a problem with flying to Trabzon. Unlike in Malaysia, restaurants in the airport did not provide free Wi-Fi to their customers. Although Istanbul Airport provided free Wi-Fi for two hours, I could not access it. I approached a guy at the arrival section of the airport and asked him to call Dr. Adnan, he was happy to help and talked to Adnan about my arrival. I thankful to him, said chok tesekkular in Turkish. One thing I admire about Turks is their sincere hearts and willingness to help other people in trouble. I can say that, actually that was not the first Turkish hospitality I experienced. Soon Dr. Adnan came to fetch me and dropped me at the university hotel – Koru Sitesi in Karadeniz Technical University (KTU). A big brown dog was sleeping, lying on the floor at the doorway and when I entered inside nobody was there. After all, it was half past two in the morning. Later a young male staff with a sleepy face appeared and handed me the key as my stay was previously booked and he was expected my arrival, but not in the early morning hour. Before leaving Dr. Adnan said, “See you in the morning to meet the dean”. Dr. Adnan Ozyilmaz, a deputy dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Science, the one I communicated to facilitate my two-week visiting professor at the said university.

The next day, in the morning as promised Dr. Adnan came to fetch me and we went to the faculty to meet the dean, Professor Dr. Ugur Kaya who was expected of my visit. He sat behind the wooden polish table, near the window was a red and white Turkish flag. His secretary served us cake and cay in small cups, thin-small slender cups in the middle with no handle, he and Dr. Adnan preferred tea without sugar, as for me one cube of sugar was enough. In our conversation, he mentioned, that unlike the old generation, a new generation of Turkeye prefers tea without sugar. Ugu Kaya was relatively younger than me, in his late 40s, Roman nose separated by his glittering eyes, and average height, and wore a tie and dark suit and polished brown shoes. He looked older than his age because of his bald head. His specialization was in finance, proudly showed one of his books on the said subject in Turkish language. Before leaving his room, we exchanged gifts and snapped photos. 

Karadeniz Technical University with almost 40,000 students who come from various parts of Turkeye is one of the biggest and oldest universities in the country. It was established in 1955 and its development and growth have developed leap and bound ever since. Apart from business and economics and engineering based faculties it also has both medical and dentistry faculties. Both faculties nested on the top of the hill, overlooking the Black Sea. On my way to the campus on our arrival day in the very early morning when we were just about to enter the main entrance I was told by Dr. Adnan that the name Karadeniz means Black Sea. This campus perches on the hill overseeing the said ocean. When you see below, you see the sea seemingly above buildings. The best view I had was from the top floor of the faculty's building on a sunny day when the view was very clear. My room was on the 5th. Floor, on the top floor of the building. The dean's office or Dekanlik was on the first floor. Every morning I walked to the faculty which is situated about 2km from the university's hotel. It was common for students and staff working on campus. In a cold winter, walking was not a problem, no sweat, and my face was gently slapped with cold fresh wings from the nearby sea. Occasionally, I came across, stray dogs; rather than threatening, they were tame animals, that looked pretty healthy with tags on their ears, neither they barked nor bite. As students and staff, they were also residents on the campus. On the higher branches of trees, I saw birds, bigger in size compared with seemingly similar-looking birds at our place. Though the winter season was cold enough with gloomy and rainy days and most trees were leafless since the end of autumn, some flowers are stubborn enough to bloom to show their beauty. They came in different colours, shapes, and sizes but odourless; I did not notice any smell waft in the air like tropical flowers in our place.   

If you visit this campus during spring I believe you will see more flowers in full bloom, but I had to do with what we got and captured the beauty of what came across on the walking path. Along the stretch of a pathway, a row of roses was pruning to anticipate the coming spring. Those who walked every day on the same path would notice which and when trees bear flowers and when they were in full bloom and when they fade, but some did not bother, walking very fast to arrive at their destinations in cold temperatures as their minds were preoccupied with heavy stuff to prepare for the final examination. During this winter when the sun was nowhere to be seen the sky was outcast with thick grey clouds and rains were an everyday event, the beauty of flowers would bring a cheerful mood, it was like the icing on the cake. I was happy to walk to the faculty. As for students many of them rode buses to attend lectures on the campus, many buses were available for students, including 15 15-seat vans or in Turkeye it is known as dolmus, this kind of transportation carried students inside and outside the campus. I learned that the name dolmus is derived from Turkish word for "seemingly stuffed", and about how the vehicles were often filled to the brim. Just outside the campus via the main gate is a big mall, named Forum Trabzon Shopping Mall where students and citizens of Trabzon alike are happy to shop and bring families to eat together. Trabzon Airport is also within walking distance from the campus, it can be accessed from different gates, but with luggage, better to go to the Airport by taxi. Judging from its reputation, courses offered, facilities for faculties including student accommodation as well as shopping conveniences, KTU is second to none. No wonder it is the preferred institution for those who want to pursue higher education in Turkeye.

Like Malaysia, football is the number one favourite sport in Turkeye. Playing friendly match with the staff of the faculty and their colleagues on the cool evening at the sports complex of KTU was a great experience for me. Playing football was an opportunity to network with the staff of KTU. During the game, we celebrated every goal we scored and felt sad when the opposite team did the same. Win or loss sometimes was secondary, it was the love of the game and for network. I met the registrar of the university and other administrative staff. Here, Turkish uniquely celebrated the end of match - by eating sweet honey-soaked baklava. So everybody went home with a tummy full of sweetness. With two goals that I scored, albeit a few goals I missed, I felt extremely happy. Although Professor Dr. Ugur Kaya did not play with us, he was the one who found the right size of shoes for me, as I usually wear size 5, actually not easy for him to find, instead of one, he showed two pairs of the shoes and asked me to try and pick the one that fixed me best.

Unlike in our country, the elevator here is relatively smaller which can occupy only 3 to 4 persons per ride. If we have someone big inside, one is enough. Of course, elevator capacity to lift or carry passengers is based on the maximum load allowed. At the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, two elevators are available for our use. Each staff is provided with a key; somewhat a magnet detector like a thin round battery for our watch. You would not use the elevator if you did not have it. Once you get inside an elevator what you need to do is to press it on the key panel and when the green light is on you then need to press the key on what floor you want to go. One of them is just in front of my room, every time someone uses it I heard the monotonous noisy sound of the door opening and closing, as well as its movement. Elevators here were also used to share information. A day before our presentation I saw my picture with the information about my presentation. So everyone who used the elevator would notice the coming event at the faculty. Apart from the key for my room I also had a key for WC.

As for lecturers everywhere in the world, the same rules apply. We are expected to teach and supervise students, engage in research and pen articles or books for publication as well as contribute to our society with our knowledge and skills. Since reading is a must for lecturers, no wonder their rooms or their dens are usually full of books, theses, copies of journal papers, and tonnes of students’ assignments to name but a few. Perhaps for young lecturers the reverse is convincingly true as most of said things are now done online. As for students, it is common to visit their lecturers' rooms when they want to see them for whatever reasons. Even as lecturers, we are happy to visit our friends' rooms as we can exchange ideas and know better about their fields or their areas of interest. One of the few faculty members that I had the opportunity to acquaint was Professor Dr. Adem Kalca, his specialisation in underground economy. He did PhD in the said area when he was relatively young, in his late 20s. When I entered his room for the first time I was awed and beyond belief. Anything and everything inside; a lot of books of course neatly arranged on the racks, old television and radio, cluttered tables full of paraphernalia that he bought overseas during his sojourns including fridge magnets and key chains, old earthenware of various sizes and shapes on the floor. He is also a collector of traditional headgear from various countries mostly near Turkeys. A poor little canary bird in the cage, looked restless when I spent my time in the room. Jumping here and there. He even got several gunny sacks of dried tea leaves which he sold to his colleagues. Smiling, he said "I earn some money by selling this stuff", what an entrepreneurial guy he is! He practiced what he preached - the underground economy or informal economy.

It is a must for male Muslims to perform congregation Friday prayer in the early afternoon. It was my first experience praying on the campus. I took ablution at the faculty, holding prayer mats Professor Ugur Kaya and I walked to the mosque which nested on the top of the hill. The sound of the Azan, the call for prayer echoed when we arrived at the tall minaret of the big dome mosque. In Turkeye, all mosques design more or less the same. Since the inside of the mosque was already occupied, we chose our space and prayed outside the mosque. It was a cold Friday afternoon even though the sun shone brightly above our heads. After the prayer, Prof. Kaya introduced me to both the rector and the deputy rector of KTU and after a brief encounter with a welcome greeting and exchanging cards we parted.

As a visiting professor at KTU, one of my tasks was to deliver a speech for staff and postgraduate students of the faculty. I chose the topic related to entrepreneurship education; focusing on how an innovative programme could impart knowledge and develop entrepreneurial skills amongst youths. This title was deliberately chosen as youths play a crucial role in where a country is heading in the future. Obviously, developed countries have more per capita number of entrepreneurs amongst their citizens. Both Malaysia and Turkey are categorised as middle-income country; while the latter is further categorised as upper middle-income country. In the seminar, several reasons why youths should be exposed to and imposed on knowledge and skills of entrepreneurship were highlighted. Including the 2u2i entrepreneurship programme to get students out of the four walls of the classroom and get them to learn from the fields. They spent two years outside the campus where one year doing apprenticeships with entrepreneurs in related businesses they wanted to be and another one year running a start-up. Arming with entrepreneurship knowledge and skills before, they are more confident to kick business on their own. Of course, they incessantly get guidance and help from their mentors.

Every passing day I had breakfast and lunch in a few canteens or cafes around the campus, by and large prices of foods and drinks here are more or less equal with our campuses back home. When it comes to food, for students three criteria should be fulfilled: fresh, cheap and filling. As for breakfast, I ordered cay and two donuts which cost 4.50 Lira about RM1.5 and at noon I chose Tavuk, priced 18 Lira, roughly RM6. It is an excellent meal, alone it is hard for me to consume in one go, so no need for me to rush. I usually had dinner at the cafe just downstairs of the university's hotel. The food price here was a little bit pricey, the same cay cost threefold, 4.5 Lira and for a hamburger where size relatively bigger and the meat relatively thicker priced at 40 Lira. Of course what students spend on food largely depends on what types of foods, where and how many times they consume, on average a day roughly 50 Lira, about RM17 a day which is affordable for many. From my observation students preferred to study in canteen and cafe while waiting for their exams. With free roaming Wi-Fi service on campus, they browsed as well as read their notes. Actually, students in campus are the same across the world, the same is running true for lecturers. 

"You can have any colour as long as it's black" is a famous Henry Ford quote from when he produced Model T more than a century ago. The same is true for Turkish television where you can watch any programme as long as it's in the Turkish language. Ranging from documentaries, cooking, drama, and carpentry to news all in its language. Hence, you have no chance whatsoever to listen to other languages. While it is not unsurprising it has produced its programmes, CNN has its Turkish version. For those who love nature and wild adventures, Bear Grylls's programmes were dubbed into the Turkish language to accommodate viewers in the country. Unlike our country where we can easily choose any programmes in whatever language we prefer, here is a different story altogether. There are pros and cons of this practice. On the one hand, it shows Turks are proud enough of their language. When there is no option, it encourages foreigners to learn and use its language as quickly as possible since they are bombarded 24/7. On the other hand, it also has its drawback; discouraging Turks from acquiring other languages especially English which is a lingua franca. In general, many of them can't speak English. On our way to the Mosque, we met a final-year student from Africa who is studying engineering. He said the first year was very tough and challenging for him as he yet familiar with Turkish language, after 5 years he could talk and write in the said confidently. But he said his acquisition the said language at the expense of English and French since he rarely used both languages.