Guest guest Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 Sounds good Butch but what are the wages for your average jobs? Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 Ya, know, Butch, there is nothing like living in a new country for broadening your horizons (literally and figuratively). I lived in Japan for a little while. Funny thing, you start out just in awe with all the new, different stuff. Then it moves to irritation " why can't they do_______, like we do? " (ironically enough, for me, this was also the time when I was the most frustrated with the language) and then comes acceptance, and then affinity. Now I'm at the point that either place I live I have a longing to live in the other place. LOL Right now I " m craving some ramen from the ma and pop ramen shop in a train station, hot, slurpy and, oh, so good. Karen J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 Butch, It sounds like you've found a way to have the best of both worlds. I have to applaud you for that. More power to ya. MAKE A HAPPY MEMORY EVERY DAY: Evelyn Alternasense Skin Design Products www.alternasense.com - butch owen Thursday, June 05, 2003 5:21 PM OT: Living the High?? Life HeyThere are many more positives and negatives to living here .. same as I find when I go back to the USA. I think I have to live in both. ;-p Y'all keep smiling. ;-p Butch http://www.AV-AT.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 Hey Karen, I did a lot of snipping and changed the direction of the thread. Fact is, it has nothing to do with the original ceptin for the springboard I climbed up on when you mentioned maids .. got me to thinking which is something I usually don't find time for. > > Avoid ALL chemicals for a few days .. ALL. I know .. you gotta > > clean the house, etc. There are things the smart ladies on thi > > list can probably recommend that are safe. > > Ya.... a maid. LOL That is the only thing I know to recommend. > Karen J Its a great recommendation .. but not so practical in the USA now I'm afraid. Having gotten used to servants is one of the four reasons I remain in Turkey. I don't want to clean and crap when I can have a maid for $175 a month plus her busfare .. and she considers herself overpaid and underworked because I work my people according to the labor laws. That is 45 hours a week .. the average Turk boss squeezes 60-65 hours out of their folks and dares them to quit. I also pay social security but the average Turk boss avoids it .. and dares the employee to quit. I can get a haircut, a shave, shoulder massage and manicure for roughly four bucks here .. barbers won't shave men in the USA now and a haircut alone costs $10 and up .. plus they use electric clippers. These folks take their time .. scissors and such. Taxis are so cheap .. and parking is so rare .. that I never use my car unless I am going out of town. So no concern about having a couple of beers and driving. In half the areas of Ankara and damn near all the areas in Istanbul pedestrians walk in the street and dodge the cars .. cause the cars are parked on the sidewalk. ;-p Red lights mean slow down and see if there is a cop in the vicinity .. that is, unless your father is a big shot. Then it means do whatever the hell you want cause you know he is gonna get you out of it. We have traffic and pedestrian discipline in the US. I know some of you might disagree but if you come here for a week you will not disagree when you return to the USA. ;-) Here I get service when I WANT IT .. not when the service provider wants to give it. Competition in the food business in the America resulted in fast food prices going down in the last ten years. Too many folks into service here means you get what you want when you want it and at a unbelieveably low price. Here, when you go to a restaurant and they don't have what you want on the menu .. the chef will send a boy out to the market to get it so he can cook it up for you. The waiters will hover over you like you are the only customer they've had this year .. all they want is a dollar or maybe if they're lucky .. a $2 tip after they provide grand service and with a smile. In the USA, if you can get the attention of the surly waiter you might get served. And when you are ready to leave, if you don't overtip the smartass s/he is likely to insult you on the way out. Here .. I'm treated as a honorable retired army officer by all who know I am, and as an Uncle, Father, Big Brother, etc., by those younger than I am. In the USA I'm just one more over-the-hill ex-friggin GI who like most average folsk in the USA gets no respect but a healthy dose of crap from most of the other folks they run into on a daily basis. Here .. one can go to a bar or pub for years and never see a fight or even an arguement .. but try that for a week in the average American bar or pub. Turks are kinder and more formal than Americans .. and they are less sincere than Americans too. That's sorta what happens when formal behavior or politically correct behavior is the order of the day. Here I can't get a BLT or ham and cheese at the local restaurant .. but I can get a full meal for $3 or so or a lay out fit for a sultan at a five start restaurant with drinks included for $20 a head. Can't go to Shoney's buffet lunch but I can order ala carte from most any place and they will deliver. Can't watch forty-eleven channels of relatively fine TV (which most Americans take for granted) but I can go to the opera or real theatre for $4 or $5 or so. Can't go out in the back yard and have a bar-be-que cause everybody in the city cept'in for the REALLY RICH don't have a yard .. we live in a friggin apartment. But we almost always have a nice view cause Ankara is built on hills .. like Rome. Here, I can always count on friends to be there when I need them .. and even when I don't need them. :-( I can always count on them demanding the same in return for their friendship. That's an unfortunate part of life here .. you make friends and its like you are committed to their welfare and they will take advantage of that. You don't say NO to a friend .. even when you'd really like to choke them for asking favors that you really don't want to get into. The higher the position of the friend, the more they will expect in return. I think American mentality in this regard is light years ahead of the rest of the world. Maybe our sincerity that causes us to appear to be disrespectful to others. ;-) There are many more positives and negatives to living here .. same as I find when I go back to the USA. I think I have to live in both. ;-p All said and done .. there are upsides and downsides to living in any place. I've not mentioned the other t3 reasons .. though two of them are fantastic bread baked three times daily .. and ice-cold Efes Beer. ;-p Turkish wimmens who are beautiful (no shortage of them) generally have money cause they marry well. They are spoiled by their husbands and soon become very vain. American wimmens who are married to Turkish men here do a much better job of keeping their husbands in check cause they are less inclined to allow themselves to be bought off with baubles. Y'all come on over and you can have a nice beach house on the Med for $20,000 .. a maid or two for peanuts .. a chauffer/butler for $250 a month and a five star face lift and tummy tuck for around $2,000 more. Y'all keep smiling. ;-p Butch http://www.AV-AT.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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