Current Mood:
Happy
It has been just over a month since I left for Turkey, and I have learned a lot. For one, I actually know something about air compressors, which is helpful in my line of work. I finally bought the aptly named “Teach Yourself Turkish” Book and CDs, so that I can start learning some of the language. In light of last weeks events, I have learned a lot about Turkish politics (if you are unfamiliar about what is happening in Turkey right now, read: Turkey, fear about religious lifestyle. Finally, I have been learning a lot about Turkish culture.
Tea it seems, is a very important part of the culture here (Check World Tea Consumption. Turkey was the 4th largest consumer of tea per capita in 1998). I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked to sit for tea by, well just about everyone. Shop keepers, hair dressers, people at the company… Even if I go to speak with Atila, our general manager, he asks me to sit down, and orders up two teas, so that we can have something hot to drink while we talk.
Tea is always on the menu, no matter where you go. It always arrives in smal funny shaped cups, with a spoon and two or three sugars. Upon arriving, the cup is often too hot to hold (I suppose that’s why the english put handles on their tea cups). Although it may seem silly not to have a handle, it actually is somewhat helpful. When tea is first poured, it is often too hot to drink and the cup, is therefore too hot to hold. You therefore won’t be able to drink the tea until it has cooled a bit, which is conviently about the time you will be able to hold the cup as well.
Tea acts as a medium to facilitate business. When sitting to discuss any kind of business, Tea, or sometimes coffee - in most cases, Nescafe - are always ordered. The time until you finish the tea is the perfect time to engage in casual conversation, and learn a bit about each other. Rather than cutting right to the chase, the Turks seem to like to take their time, and get to know the guy they will be doing business with. Business is of course, “just business,” but here, relationships seem to be a lot more important. Having tea together allows you to feel the other person out, see if you like the person, see if you trust them. It also works to build a bond, creating, over time, customer loyalty.
Now, my impression of this whole tea thing could be completely wrong. This is simply an observation I have had that I have not really looked into or asked about, so please, Turkish readers, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I am quite certain my perception of the importance of customer loyalty is correct. For me, I like to go to different places and all the time have different sceneary, and different foods. For Murat’s uncle Ahmet and Murat, they seem to always want to go to one of two places. According to Murat, Ahmet is going almost everyday to the same restaurant. He knows the other patrons there, and the restaurant owners know him and treat him well. He has his own list of appetizers that they prepare just for him when he comes in. And of course, he is always having Raki there. I asked Murat point blank about this and he confirmed what I had suspected about the importance of customer loyalty in this culture.
The thing that first drew me to hanging out with the Turks at CMU was value they place on friendship (and all relationships for that matter). They seems to have a small core group of friends that they are very close with. Like us, they have many aquantances and people they interact with, but most seem to have a solid core group. Amongst Americans, you see this too, but it’s not the same. American society is much more individualistic and therefore friend groups aren’t as tight knit as the friend groups here, in a more community/group minded society.
Tea plays directly into this. Murat and I stopped at a hair salon to ask for directions near where we live. The owner invited us in for tea. Was he interested in a nice conversation, trying to snag a new loyal customer, or just a hospitable guy. I think probably all three of those were true. From what I have seen Turks are extremely hospitable - many pride themselves on “Turkish hospitatility.” It seems that when interacting within any community - even with the backdrop of a huge city - your relationships are extremely important. To be sucessful here you must have loyal friends and you must return that loyalty. If you don’t develop these relationships, you may find you are over paying for a beer, getting ripped off on a haircut, or you are simply lost in the sea of people, confined perhaps to the ex-patriate community.
“It’s all about who you know, and not what you know.”
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