Between the Eagle and the Bear: My academic publishing experience
This week my master’s thesis, “Between the Eagle and the Bear: Coverage of US-Russian Foreign Policy Disputes in Russian Ethnic Media in the United States”, was published as a monograph by VDM Verlag Dr. Müller. I tried to understand in my work how Russian Americans view US-Russian foreign policy disputes and whether they support one side more than the other. Read the rest of this entry »
I would like to wish a Merry Christmas to all my Catholic and Protestant friends and whoever else celebrates Christmas on December 25. I hope you have a lot of snow in the streets and a warm and joyful dinner with your loved ones.
No chance of snowing this Christmas in Izmir, unfortunately – the skies are gloomy and it looks like it may rain, but we’ll do our best for the dinner part. 
Happy holiday season!
While praising Turkish cuisine in general, many expats living in Turkey prefer to stay away from certain foods that may seem far too exotic. Kokorec [pronounced ko-ko-RETCH] is, unfortunately, one of them. My take on this is as follows: If you don’t like kokorec, perhaps you’ve just never had a good one.
Kokorec: The ingredients
Nearly every time I mention to someone in Turkey that I like kokorec, the locals follow up with the question: “Do you know what it’s made of?” Absolutely. Read the rest of this entry »
This was sent to me by my father-in-law this morning: What’s the difference between a Van Cat and an Izmir cat?
Van Cat (Van kedisi)
A typical Van Cat
Izmir cat (Izmir kedisi)
A typical Izmir cat: Like most residents of this city, Izmir cats are laid back and enjoy having a good time
In doing research on the history of International Women’s Day (March 8), I came across this sentence in Wikipedia:
In 1910 the first international women’s conference was held in Copenhagen (in the labour-movement building located at Jagtvej 69, which until recently housed Ungdomshuset) by the Second International and an ‘International Women’s Day’ was established, which was submitted by the important German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified.
Pop quiz: How many uses of the passive voice can you find in this sentence? Read the rest of this entry »
Sitting on the stairs under the gothic tower of Memorial Union, I was listening. Gasps of wind. They can distort the sound of my recording, I thought and shielded the microphone with the lap of my jacket. Would this help? Students chatting. Surely they will stop and listen when the bells start. It’s almost time.
That windy morning in April, I held a microphone in my hands to record 32 strokes that would resound in unison, coming from all campus bells at the University of **, to honor victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. *** newspaper editors asked me to get the audio to be published on the newspaper’s website as part of a story about the University’s solidarity with families of the victims and VTU colleagues. Read the rest of this entry »
Выпало столько снега, что впервые за последние 15 лет Миссурийский университет закрыли. Удивительно, но белые сугробы на улице стали целым событием для жителей маленького городка на Среднем западе США. Для нас же событием стало то, что на время снегопада жизнь в Америке (по крайней мере, в этой ее части) замерзает намертво. Вместо того, чтобы убрать снег пока он окончательно не примерз к асфальту, американцы сидят по домам и ждут, пока он сам не растает. Read the rest of this entry »
Whatever misgivings I might have about the media, life would be dull without journalists. They are great for chatting, drinking and proofreading your writing, and they manage to create funny situations, even if with themselves as the modern-day jester. The billboard above is an attempt at combining an Alabama TV advertisement with real-life Twitter updates. Oh, well. Read the rest of this entry »
Долгожданная поездка в Филадельфию началась с утренней суматохи в Чайнатауне Нью–Йорка. Голосистые женщины Востока толкались, перекрикивая друг друга на непонятной смеси английского и китайского, и пытались продать мне билет на один из трёх отправляющихся в разные города автобусов.
«У меня уже есть билет», – отмахивалась я, надеясь, что китаянки поймут мой (некитайский) английский. – «Где автобус на Филадельфию»?
«Там, дальше, дальше»! – перебивая друг друга, закричали они мне в ответ и уже набросились с билетами на следующего прохожего.
До отъезда оставалось 15 минут. Read the rest of this entry »
Even after you’ve passed your SATs and GREs, it’s a good idea to keep in form. One way you can do so is by referring to the tongue-in-cheek “100 Words” series by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries.
“100 Words All High School Graduates Should Know”, “100 Words to Make You Sound Smart”, “100 Words Almost Everyone Confuses and Misuses” – do you know all these words? If you think you do, take this challenge. Read the rest of this entry »
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