For me, the past 2 months have
been filled with a work, work, and more work. At times it feels like it is
never ending (well, in reality, it really is never ending). The reason I have
no published a blog post in so long was because work is not exactly the most
exciting thing to talk about. But in the last couple of weeks I went on
vacation around the UK, started organizing Izmir's first club lacrosse team, and
tried out for Turkey's National Lacrosse team. I have also decided to start
reading classics that I was probably supposed to read in high school.
The Last time I wrote in my blog,
I talked about Turkey's National Lacrosse team tryouts. I am happy to say that
I did make the team! It was a blast playing lacrosse in Istanbul and meeting a
few of the guys that I will be playing with this summer at the World
Championships. It really was a great trip. Istanbul is a beautiful and
historical city that I can't wait to get back to explore some more. So for
those interested, The World Championships will take place in Denver, Colorado
from July 10 to July 19. I've been told that some of the games will be
televised! If Turkey happens to have a televised game, make sure to look for #1
out on the field. I will also take this time to mention that the team has set a
fundraising goal for each player to help support the team in our travels to
Denver. Each player has been given a fundraising goal of $2000. If you are
interested or if you know of a company that would be interested in helping Team
Turkey, please e-mail me at Tyler.Rinko@gmail.com or you can follow the link to donate!
http://www.turkeylacrosse.com/page/show/248341-donations
Since I am on the subject of
lacrosse, I will segue into Izmir's lacrosse program. While in Istanbul, I was
able to speak with the director of Turkey Lacrosse and talk about the best
strategy to start Izmir's lacrosse program. After speaking with him, I came
back to Izmir, motivated to get this program running. I knew that the team
would first need some kind of identity. A name. After speaking with many
Turkish citizens and those living in Izmir for advice, I finally came up with a
name, İzmir Savaşçıları Lakros Kulübü. Which translates into, Izmir Warriors
Lacrosse Club. I know that Turks are very proud of their culture, country, and heritage,
and thought this would be a fitting name for the team. We just had our first
practice and it was great. There were five of us altogether and we basically
just threw around and taught the guys who have never played before how to throw
and catch. Hopefully we will get a chance to put on some pads and run around a
little bit in a few weeks.
A few months ago I finished
reading A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones), I then decided to
start reading books that I probably should have read in high school. I went to
the local book store and bought The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and I
even borrowed Lord of the Flies from my school's library. I enjoyed 2 out of
the three so much that I started to think of other books I could read. While in
the UK, I found a great book store that had tons of classics. It also helped
that the book store had books in English, unlike the ones in Izmir for obvious
reasons. While in the book store I found three well known books that I thought
I would enjoy, Animal Farm, Oliver Twist, and A Tale of Two Cities. I know
Charles Dickens is not exactly an author we were supposed to read in school,
but during my junior year of high school, I decided to read Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens for my big book report. My sister read the same book for her
book report and I thought it would be easy. She is a lot smarter than I so I
thought I would use her notes and her paper to write mine. Little did I know at
the time that that book is very hard to read, especially for someone who did
not enjoy reading at the time. Additionally, I did not know that my sister did
not do very well on her report. So I am attempting to read Charles Dickens
again in hopes of understanding and enjoying his works. If anyone has any
suggestions of other classics you would recommend, please let me know.
Just last week, I returned to
Izmir from a winter break in the UK. At the beginning of the year, one of the
other teachers suggested a trip around the UK for winter break and I thought
that would be really cool since I have never been there before. After months of
planning, winter break rolled around. The entire trip was full of traveling,
sightseeing, and many twists and turns. The first twist and turn started at the
airport on day 1. When I got to the airport in Izmir to check my bags, I was
told that they didn't have my reservation. After a while of panicking, I
realized that when I booked my ticket, the transaction must have never gone
through. There was no e-mail confirmation nor did it show on my bank account. I
then went to the ticket office and bought the next trip to London. I waited
another 4 hours in Izmir for my flight to Cyprus, where I slept in the airport
for my morning flight to Istanbul, for my next flight to London. From this
point on, I knew this trip would not be a relaxing one. Lesson learned; always
double check your reservation! So I land in London, meet up with my friend and
head to our first living arrangements, twist and turn #2. My friend's
ex-boyfriend, who she keeps in touch with, has an aunt living in London. The
aunt had told us that she has a boyfriend whose place we could stay in while we
were in London and all we needed to do was go to her house and pick up the key
to his place. When we ring her door bell, she opens the door with a surprised
look on her face, as if she wasn't expecting us. Before we even come in, she
tells us that her boyfriend's place is unavailable and that we'll need to find
another place to stay, but in the meantime, we could come in and partake in the
family get-together she was currently hosting. While we were sitting down,
enjoying a glass of wine, the lady whose house we were at tells my friend that
we can stay at her place for the night, but we'll need to go look for other
living arrangements while in London. We were not happy. We quickly searched for
a place to stay that wasn't too expensive. Luckily, we did. Then we decided to
take some of the stress of by going to a pub and getting ourselves some food
and drink. The next morning, as we're hauling our way down her 4 flights of
stairs with our heavy luggage, she asks us where we are going and tells us that
she had offered us to stay here again for another night. We said politely said
no.
Once we arrived at the hotel we
had booked the night before, we headed to the center of the city. We took a
walking tour which was great. Our tour guide was very enthusiastic and
knowledgeable. Altogether, London was great. And it was nice to see some
diversity in the people there as well. We then headed to Bath, where we spent
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Bath was a very pretty city. It
wasn't too busy considering it was the holiday, which was kind of refreshing.
We had a chance to do a lot of walking, shopping, and visiting a bunch of pubs.
After Bath we took a train to Cardiff, Whales where we spent the night. In the
middle of the city is their massive castle. The entire castle and castle
grounds were very picturesque. We even stumbled through some wedding photos
that were taken there. Next, we flew up to Glasgow, Scotland. Here, we met up
with two other teachers we work with. While in Glasgow, we bought tickets for a
soccer match, Patrick Thistle vs. Motherwell. It was a great game with a lot of
scoring. 5-1 Motherwell! It was a great game to go to and a memorable one for
my first European soccer match. The next day we bought tickets for a tour
around the country side, the Highlands. This was probably one of my favorite
parts of the trip. The area was so beautiful. We stopped to see a few lakes, a
mansion that was converted into apartments, Highland cattle, and two castles.
Glasgow was a great city that I could see returning to again one day. For our
last destination we hopped on a bus to Edinburgh. We had heard a lot of great
things about Edinburgh, including that it has the biggest New Year’s party in
Europe. We arrived in Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve and quickly took a mid-day
nap so we could stay up all night. That night we headed to the street party
that we bought tickets to. The street was packed! They had music and videos
playing all night and although it was freezing cold, people we dancing and
having a blast. In the middle of the city sits Edinburgh Castle which is
located on a hill that you can see from anywhere in the city. When the clock hit
midnight, they had an amazing fireworks display on the hill where the castle
was. It was a really cool sight to see. The next day, I decided to walk over to
the castle to take a tour of it. For such an important and well known castle,
it was probably my least favorite out of the ones I saw. Not impressed. The
next day we took a walking tour of the city and learned all about its culture
and history. Edinburgh was another great city and one that I can see myself
returning to for New Years. At the end of our trip I was dead tired, but very
worth it. I saw a lot and learned a great deal about each country’s history.
Remember, if you are interested
in helping us meet our fundraising goal for the World Championships, please
visit the link above!
