A Turkish Delight
Katherine joined HOST UK in 2009 and has hosted 96 students from an impressive 39 different countries. She has also been our Regional Organiser for the South Coast counties since 2011. Katherine recently received an invitation to visit a student she had hosted over ten years ago. She told us more about this wonderful experience.
“Following the death of my husband Alex earlier this year, a student from Turkey who had stayed with us in 2012 very kindly said they would like me to visit them for a holiday. Ali was studying for his PhD in English Language at Southampton University. Alex and I had attended the wedding of Ali and Munevver in Turkey in 2013. It was lovely to be seeing them again and getting to know his two young children.
I travelled to Antalya at the beginning of September and spent the night with Ali’s sister, Gonul, before traveling by coach to their home in Burdur, about 2 hours north. From Antalya we climbed into the hills and the area became very dry with little vegetation. Burdur is on the shore of a large lake which is polluted and has a great fall in the water level because of this. Ali is now a Professor of English at the university so he and the children were still on holiday. He has been teaching the children English at home and so we were all able to converse with no language problems!
Burdur is very different to the busy tourist city of Antalya and I enjoyed being somewhere off the tourist route. It was also interesting to discover that Burdur is one of the oldest settlements in the world, dating back to 7000 BC. From the hills around the city there are some lovely views and I was taken to Isparta (City of Roses) with a large waterfall nearby. Isparta has rose bushes lining the streets and I noticed the lamp posts were entwined with red metal roses up to the lights at the top! Products made here with roses include soap, jam, Turkish Delight, candles and cosmetics.
We all enjoy hosting our international students, but what a delight it is when they give us an invitation to stay with them.
Staying with a family meant that we did not go out until the afternoon when it was cooler and it was easier to cope with the heat. After the miserable summer in England, it was wonderful to have a week of sun and warmth!
My last night was spent back in Antalya with Gonul, and I was taken for a fish meal where you chose the fish that you would like to be cooked for you. This with salad was delicious!
Afterwards Gonul took me to a beach to enjoy the sea and sea air. This was 10pm! We went for a paddle in the sea, but as I turned to walk onto the beach I was caught by a small wave and fell in the sea. I was soaked to my hairline and all I could say was “My camera. My watch” as my straw handbag was also in the water. My watch is fine, but my camera is ruined. All too soon my relaxing week came to an end but with an invitation to return next year. When I got home, I was very pleased to find that the camera’s memory card was unaffected, and I still had my precious photographs!”
