I am planning on accepting a teaching postion in Tarsus
Turkey for the school year. I would appreciate any
inforamtion anyone can provide on this area of Turkey.Are
there many Canadians? How are women treated?
Any tips or info on Mersin or Tarsus would be great. I will
be there for 10 months so suggestions on what to see in the
area would also be helpful.
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We lived in Adana for several years and are quite familiar
with Tarsus area. Tarsus was once the third largest city in
the Roman world. Now it is a large agricultural/light
industrial city. It is located in the very fertile coastal
plains of Cilicia in the Bible days. There are not a lot of
foreigners living in Tarsus itself, but there is a large
American presence at the Turkish Air Base in Adana, and a
large British contingent has been there for several years as
well. You can't get onto the base itself, but ther is a
shopping/restaurant area outside the base which is usually
hopping every night, and where everyone speaks English.
Mersin is really the crown jewel of the eastern southern
coast, but it is growing astronomically. Once a small port,
it is now one of the largest ports in Turkey. The area
between Tarsus and Mersin is getting more built up all the
time. The area between Mersin and Silifke (to the west) is
a popular beach holiday area and there are lots of
apartments built right on the seaside where the Turks go for
their summer holidays. Mersin has a modern European
supermarket (Migros) and a McDonalds (which may be good or
bad) and a large city center shopping area. It also has a
pleasant seaside park with tea gardens and promenades. The
entire area between Tarsus and Silifke is thick with Roman
ruins. Several important Roman towns were along the seaside
in this area. In fact, Cicero was governor of the area near
Kizkalesi which was called Corycos in Roman times. Have
much more that I can tell you as well as books to recommend
but would rather do it off line. If you like, e-mail me at
mikebartley@unicomp.net. Mike
Hello from a fellow Canadian!!! Hope you enjoy your stay in
Turkey. I myself have taught English in Cairo, Egypt, and
will return to teach there this year. I also want to visit
Turkey, but have heard that there is a lot red tape to go
through pertaining to obtaining a work visa. I do not hold
a teaching degree, but will be obtaining the Cambridge RSA
CELTA certificate by the end of June, 1999. I have heard
that many private language schools get around this by
listing their teachers as clerical staff or teacher aides on
the work permit information. I would be interested in
hearing of what qualifications you are going to Turkey with.
In addition, I would appreciate your sending me an e-mail
once you arrive in Turkey if you can recommend any language
institutes that hire teachers holding the Cambridge RSA
Certificate only.
Happy travels!!!
are turkeys!!
The Tarsus-Mersin-Adana area is the agro-industrial armpit of Turkey. Summers are very hot & humid and the beaches are polluted and crowded. There are much nicer cities further north or west you might want to consider.
In researching my travel in Turkey I came upon an article
about safety and american travelers. I found this exerpt
amusing: "When their security is in doubt, American
travelers are well adviced not to be too obviously American.
No baseball caps,no white sneakers, no T shirts with
American solgans. And if a stranger fomes up to you on the
street and asks your nationality, do what some experienced
American travelers do. Say you're Canadian. People think
that they like Canadians." Newsweek feb. '99