An American Life in Istanbul

Current Mood: Confused

You may remember a post from way back in March where, I talked about some of the clear differences between Murat and myself. If not click here to catch up.

I am reminded of this entry because of my recent interaction with Oytun, the consultant we are paying to take care of our stock database and to create a website template with a user friendly content management system (don’t worry about what that is).

Since I am the most skilled person when it comes to Internet stuff, Murat appointed me in charge of the website. He said I can do whatever I want with it, just take care of it. To check how serious he was, I asked if I could fire Oytun and find someone else. He said yes. So I took this to mean that he didn’t want to hear about it, just that in a couple weeks, he wanted a functional high quality website. Before taking on this responsibility, I made him sit down and together we clearly defined what the goals of the website were, and each group that the website is meant to serve. This way I could have an idea of what he wants.

I have been going back and fourth with Oytun constantly since we met on Friday, bombarding him with questions and commands about things to change. In the email he sent me today, I was reminded of my earlier blog entry. At the bottom of a long list of things I wanted him to do, which I prioritized for him, he had the following response to my last request:

“Me: Sixth I don’t want to see any turkish anywhere in the content management system.
Oytun: You are too aggressive for someone working in a Turkish speaking country, anyway I will translate them as I encounter.”

I am not sure if he meant this to be critical or as a joke, but I took it as a compliment. This is certainly not the first comment I have received like this. After a series of emails back and fourth with Ant (one of Izzy’s friends), he commented

“I guess you were out before 9 months ? :p”

He means that I am always in such a hurry that I must not have waited 9 months to be born and had come out early. There was also Baris’ comment:

“You are the most American guy I have ever met.”

This one I was insulted by at first. I have a bit of euro-envy and I try to associate myself with European culture, so I was shocked when he said this. Then I realized it was because of my approach to work that he said this, and that it was kind of a compliment.

As I have commented on in other posts in this blog, and in my blog while in the Marshal Islands, I find that the American approach, or at least the approach I have always been witness to, is a very proactive one. This may be because I studied engineering, but I believe it is always better to take initiative and solve problems before to occur, to plan things out well in advance, to create opportunities for effective communication between colleagues, ect. I have in my mind a model for how a business should be run, and the culture of the people I would want working in that business (If I ever do have my own business, I have a running list in my mind of friends I have met that I would hire).

The Turkish method here is very different. I don’t want to comment too much here on Turkish culture because I do not have the experience to distinguish between what is Turkish work culture and what is my company’s work culture. My work experience at the company is frustrating from at times. It does not opperate in the same as the states and the differences bother me.

This entry isn’t meant to talk about Turkish culture so much, but to point out how Turkish culture is interpreting me. If you look back at my “Fear in the Fearless” entry, you can read about how I see myself as good at making a positive impression on people. It appears however, that this is becoming less and less true. I have had four people now tell me that at first they thought I didn’t like them, that I was giving off hostile energy. I am not aware of doing this, which leads to one of two conclusions: I am not myself lately (possible), or I am missing some key cultural cues (equally possible). How to figure out which of these two it is, I am not sure. I can only try and learn more about the culture, learn more about myself and ask my friends for feedback. These comments from Oytun, Ant and Baris illustrate that I am distinctly different and that it is more obvious than I had previously thought. Perhaps Oytun and Ant were turned off to me when they saw this. Ant studied at Penn State, so he is familiar with my kind of attitude, but I don’t think that Oytun has studied or worked outside of Turkey. I wonder what he really thinks? Perhaps he sees this characteristic in me, understands it, and offers his words as a warning. “Conrad, you will go crazy if you try to function this way within a Turkish run company,” is what he means to say.

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