Dear fellow bush-crafters, I thought I'd write to let you know about my recent month in Turkey. I'll do it in parts as I can bore on about it. This is about how it all came about, and the value of being ready to try the seemingly impossible.
Ages ago some lovely person posted a link on this forum to a project that was supporting people to spend a month in Turkey learning a traditional craft. I hummed and ha'd but basically didn't apply. I thought I wouldn't get in, I thought I was under qualified, I thought I was too old, I thought I was too unfit, in general I thought I was just the sort of person who didn't do this kind of thing. I was feeling a bit under confident, a bit down, a bit too migraine-ridden and a bit too flumpy (technical term there).
So I just carried on as normal through the spring and summer, doing bushcraft things, chilling out, camping, working. Getting ready to go back to college in September, sorting books, finding accommodation, everyday stuff.
Come the end of August, a couple of weeks before my new 2 year full time course in Cheshire was due to begin, a call from the college told me they had under-recruited and the course wouldn't run. I was gutted.
Then, a little whispering voice said 'maybe you could go to Turkey instead!' No. Not me, surely not. Then I thought about the blog post I wrote on here a while ago about failure and the difference between how the US views failure culturally and how the UK does.
A week later and I had got my application in, got my references in and been awarded a place as someone had just dropped out!
Weeeeeeeee. I was going to Turkey. Do I need a visa or injections for that? (Yes and no)
The following two weeks were spent on a dig in Northamptonshire so I didn't have time to worry or overthink it. I was just going to Turkey to learn a new craft or three!
Going to Turkey. For a month. Without my husband. With four total strangers. A month! In the inland Aegean region. I don't speak Turkish. I speak a tiny bit of Arabic and bits of French and Ancient Greek. A month.
Aaaarrrccggghhhhhh!
Tune in next time for the trip itself report...
Ages ago some lovely person posted a link on this forum to a project that was supporting people to spend a month in Turkey learning a traditional craft. I hummed and ha'd but basically didn't apply. I thought I wouldn't get in, I thought I was under qualified, I thought I was too old, I thought I was too unfit, in general I thought I was just the sort of person who didn't do this kind of thing. I was feeling a bit under confident, a bit down, a bit too migraine-ridden and a bit too flumpy (technical term there).
So I just carried on as normal through the spring and summer, doing bushcraft things, chilling out, camping, working. Getting ready to go back to college in September, sorting books, finding accommodation, everyday stuff.
Come the end of August, a couple of weeks before my new 2 year full time course in Cheshire was due to begin, a call from the college told me they had under-recruited and the course wouldn't run. I was gutted.
Then, a little whispering voice said 'maybe you could go to Turkey instead!' No. Not me, surely not. Then I thought about the blog post I wrote on here a while ago about failure and the difference between how the US views failure culturally and how the UK does.
A week later and I had got my application in, got my references in and been awarded a place as someone had just dropped out!
Weeeeeeeee. I was going to Turkey. Do I need a visa or injections for that? (Yes and no)
The following two weeks were spent on a dig in Northamptonshire so I didn't have time to worry or overthink it. I was just going to Turkey to learn a new craft or three!
Going to Turkey. For a month. Without my husband. With four total strangers. A month! In the inland Aegean region. I don't speak Turkish. I speak a tiny bit of Arabic and bits of French and Ancient Greek. A month.
Aaaarrrccggghhhhhh!
Tune in next time for the trip itself report...
