Turkey Lacrosse and Other Things

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!