In some ways, I am afraid that American holidays will slowly phase out of my experience. Tolga and I can celebrate the holiday - but it's not a Turkish holiday, and finding other Americans to celebrate in Turkey seems so contradictory. The point of holidays, in my mind, is family - and if there is no family, then friends that can create a type of family. So we celebrate the Turkish holidays with my Turkish family, and simply acknowledge the American holidays . . . I guess.
Holidays in Turkey come with flowers. You may think that America does too, but really . . . do we bring flowers to George Washington's grave on his birth or death day? They do for the father of the Turkish nation. We had a ceremony on November 10th and the kids wrote cards ("I miss you Ataturk") and put flowers on tributes to him (a monument, a plaque, a burning flame).
So, it's not a surprise at the amount of flowers I saw yesterday. This year, Thanksgiving fell on Turkey's Teacher Day - a doubly thankful day. The students come to school with lots of flowers. The classroom teachers get the most, then the main course teachers, but students still remember their smaller course teachers and I was showered with plenty of notes, flowers, and crafts. I don't know what age it changes, but kids at this age have a strong sense of justice (they want all their teachers to get flowers) and unfettered love.
I am thankful for the heart of a child.
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