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08 July 2010

Comments

matty

I used the bridge as the operative metaphor in a powerpoint for a couple job interviews recently . I worked, even without the apple tea. I'm glad I didn't go with something like "the world is flat".

Account Deleted

And #1 would be sooo easy to vary too:

High heels and hijab! (Sometimes on the same gal)
Mosques and McDonalds!
Prada and prayer beads!
Muslims and metalheads!
Efes and ezan!

Can we make a drinking game out of this one?

Ayper Senem

The most common Istanbul (and Turkey) cliche is people who live there several years and pretend to be an expert of the city/country without being able to learn even the language and of course without reading a book in Turkish!..

molly

What a wonderful post! This made me laugh a lot. I would submit, as well, the need to relate at least one of the stories trotted out by tour guides, like about the altin/alti minarets on the Blue Mosque or whatever. Is it true? Who cares! So exotic.

Ayper Senem

As a Turk who has lived the major part of his half a century life in Istanbul, I have never met a friend, colleague or relative who buys Apple Tea to drink at home. I think Apple Tea is meant for foreign tourists as a "must" of Turkey; I congratulate my fellow businessmen for being this creative...

Anika

We have an artist residency in Karakoy, and we have a black list of project subjects we will not accept: headscarves, bridges between east and west, romantic photographs of workers in their shops, transvestites on Tarlabaşı, and a couple more. . . (even though these are the things which bring in the EU money!)

uh

How about "caustic commentary from Constantinople"?

Account Deleted

Apple tea seems to be a distant relative of the old "Oralet" (some people still call it that), which was basically hot tang. The old motto on their commercials was, "Oralet, elbet!" It's amazing how the apple tea has caught on. Actually it, and the equally dubious "kuşburnu" variety are sometimes offered in the kiraathanes and drunk by people who don't want a 40th glass of black tea that's sat since morning. The kiwi version is absolutely frightening. But my favorite ever variety/brand was "Lemon Lezzo." A special tonic sure to pep up the fatigued lesbians in your life!

Molly McAnailly Burke

One that burns my butt is the way the Economist keeps referring to AKP as 'mildly Islamic'. Fer crissake, there's a bloody cultural war going on there, has been since the 90s at least. Mildly? Why is it eveyone I know who still lives in Istanbul disagrees with this entirely?

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