A fantastıc Fish Restaurant Idea

We are on the way back to Istanbul now, and fly back to the UK tomorrow, but I thought I would let you know about a wonderful fish market where we aqte the other evening. Fethiye market has 2 sections: the first is just an ordinary fruit and veg market, the other section was the fish market, but since we were last there it has been transformed. The market stalls are still there, selling their fish, but all around there are now fish restaurants. The idea is you buy your own fish from the stalls, bring it to the restaurant and they do everything else for you. For 5 Turkish Lira (about 2 pounds) they clean and cook your fish however you want it and give you garlic bread, salad and a special sauce to put on the fish. You can also buy traditional Turkish starters, desserts, drink....And if you aren't sure what fish to choose the waiters will go and help you with your choice.

Do you know of any places with unusual ways of eating like this?

See you all on Monday

A Rainy Day In Turkey

Yes, it's raining again today. But what does that mean exactly? Well this morning was bright and sunny. We met up with some Turkish friends and had spinach pancakes for breakfast. It was so hot in the market that Battal was sweating!! Then we went back to their house (a beautiful 4-floor villa by the sea with a pool and a huge garden) and sat on the balcony. Then the rain started. But not like rain in Oxford. It was still lovely and warm and the rain just freshened the air. Now the sun is out again and we are about to have a barbecue. Lamb chops and chicken wings!! Life is pretty good even in the rain.
What are you all doing?

HI to Jackie from Oxford

How are you??
I hope you are having a good time in Turkey. It's really interesting to read about your holiday and what you doing there, especially the match. It’s very funny.
I’m not interesting in football so I can’t say what they should to do!!!!!.
I want to tell you a little bit about the filming on Saturday. It was really funny and interesting. We put on smart clothes. Because the teacher told us when she met us, whereas the other students put on normal clothes!!!!. I don’t know why she told us to do that perhaps because we are young.
When we got to the university press we were laughing all the time and, because we looked stupid. Anyway, the filming was good, funny and a little bit boring because we were doing it many times.
However, we were patient because we were looking forward the 50 pound!!!!!!!.
I hope you will enjoy the rest of your holiday and see you soon…

Hazem

Turkish Football

Hello everyone

I thought I would write about what's in the news in Turkey rather than what I'm doing. I'm sure it gets pretty boring reading about me sitting in the sun and doing nothing!!
On Saturday there was a lot of trouble at a Turkish football match. Fenerbahce, who had already won the league the week before, were away to Galatsaray, who were in third position with a chance of moving into second and going to the Champions League if they won the match. Should be a good match you think? me too. But right from the start the Galatasaray fans were throwing things onto the pitch. For example, as 1 Fenerbahce player was taking a corner, about 20-25 bottles of water were thrown straight at him. The pitch started to look like a battle ground. As the water ran out they started ripping out the seats and throwing them, and eventually somehow they were throwing fire bombs. The referee did eventually stop the match for 20 minutes but then started it again, and the trouble never really stopped. Fenerbahce won the match and Galatasaray lost their chance of Champions League football next season, but no decision has yet been made on the punishment.
What do you think? How should the club be punished and what can be done to stop this kind of hooliganism in football?

Back to School

Hi everyone! It sounds like Jackie's having a great time in Turkey- all that sun and socialising :> It's really good to see you all again. I had a really good holiday, the weather was perfect for me- their "winter" in South Africa is about 20 degrees centigrade and a bit wet and windy...but we had lots of sunshine too. I saw lots of animals and birds I'd never seen before and went horseriding which was fantastic- Western style like a cowgirl!

I'm doing Jackie's job for the next two weeks, so feel free to come and see me if you want to talk about anything, or just for a chat.

Have a good week everybody

Back Again

Hi there everyone

Here I am back online again. We are now on the south coast and enjoying the sunshine eventually. The day we arrived it was blowing an asolute gale and you couldnt walk down the street without something blowing in your eye. We had to put our sunglasses on and looked complete idiots!! Yesterday it was a bit overcast so we caught up with some old friends and just hung out but today it looks as if the clouds are blowing over so we are going to get some serious sunbathing and swimming done.
I understand that Gianluca Tariq and Hazem have become film stars for Oxford University Press. What did you have to do boys? Write and tell me about it.
See you all soon

Next Installment

Hi there everyone. I get online again and write to you all.
We have been in Istanbul for 3 days now and I have been all over the city seeing all my friends and Battal's relatives. I have had some good evenings with friends and tried all the food and drink I've been missing!! I visited a school in Istanbul yesterday that has just become a member of Quality English like us. Look for the notice in reception if you aren't sure what it is.
Tomorrow we fly down to the south coast and some real heat. Istanbul is hot but also very humid so I've been melting a little bit. We shall now have a good rest.

Looking forward to hearing all your news about everything.

from Jackie in Turkey

I have now arrived in Turkey and the weather is wonderful!! The plane landed on time in glorious sunshine and the heat hit us as we disembarked.
We were both really tired after travelling all night - an overnight bus to Luton airport and then 3 hours or so wait at the airport before we got on the plane - but after a shower we felt awake enough to go and visit Battal's sister Hatice, who has been undergoing treatment for throat cancer. Luckily she seems to be OK now, ıf still speaking very quietly, and it is really good to see her.
We travel down to the south coast on Saturday and are looking forward to some good lazing around on the beach and lots of swimming.
I´m hoping you will all keep in touch with me on the blog while I´m away from school. Tell me all about the film on Thursday adn where you go for artweeks and what Bernardo does on his last night!!!
Happy blogging all of you and see you in June.

Watch this space