 SUNY Fredonia Department of Communication students and faculty enjoy a dinner in Istanbul. |
Turkey proved to be an exhilarating destination for seven aspiring SUNY Fredonia film students who participated in “Youth Filmmaking in Turkey,” a U.S. State Department project that brought together students from the U.S. and Turkey to share their films and experience new cultures.
These students, all Video Production majors, earned the chance to go on the excursion, which ran Jan. 2-8, through their participation in the SUNY Fredonia component of the State Department project that brought 18 Turkish students to campus last fall for two weeks to work on their films. Communication faculty members Dr. Ted Schwalbe and Nefin Dinç accompanied the students to Turkey.
Turkey quickly proved to be a dramatically different culture for the students, many of whom had never ventured outside of the United States. “The first time I saw a mosque, it hit me that we were someplace different,” said Megan Erbacher of Lockport, N.Y.
Kim Krenzer of Henrietta, N.Y., added, “Every day you would hear the call to prayer and it was very interesting to see how serious religion is.”
Despite the language barrier, student Anne Robbins of Buffalo remarked that “even when there was no one to translate, we were able to communicate.”
Despite the fact that they were new to international travel, Dr. Schwalbe was impressed by the way the students reacted to their new experiences. “They were a great group to travel with. They represented themselves and SUNY Fredonia in a way that made me very proud of them.”
The SUNY Fredonia contingent joined 60 of the 72 Turkish project students, representing six cities in Turkey, at their first destination — the nation’s capital of Ankara — to screen 18 project films in addition to their own. The screenings were preceded by a reception sponsored by the U.S. State Department and followed by a ceremony in which Deputy Chief of Mission Douglas Silliman presented the Turkish students with certificates of completion of the project. Their three days in Ankara also included a guided tour of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and a walk around the ancient Citadel area.
From there, the Fredonia and Turkish students drove to Konya, where they stayed with families of film students. They were accompanied by Cultural Affairs Officer Craig Dicker and Cultural Affairs Specialist Gozde Dogan during that leg of the visit.
The highlight of the trip for several students was time spent with Turkish families. “It was absolutely wonderful staying in their homes. I really enjoyed spending time with my host family and absorbing what they are accustomed to on a daily basis. Despite the language barrier, they were so over the top generous in regards to everything,” Robbins said. “I will always cherish that extraordinary experience.”
Kristen McDonald of Chittenango, N.Y., concurred. “I was really scared at first because I didn’t know what to expect. But my host family was so nice and hospitable that I felt right at home.”
Though they live half a world apart, students and their families from the U.S. and Turkey have much in common, as Jesse Kerns of Cleveland, N.Y., discovered. “The students from each city seemed to have many of the same interests that you would find with any American high school/college student. For example, during our home stay, the student that Jon Simmons and I were staying with rented a PlayStation game system and we played soccer into the late hours of the night.
“Jon and I later mused that we flew over 5,000 miles and spent a night doing exactly what we do with our friends at home,” Kerns said.
The stay in Konya also included a city-wide tour that included the Mevlana Museum and participation in a film screening staged at Selcuk University.
Another three days were devoted to sightseeing in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, where students visited the U.S. Consulate Office and also met with public affairs officers Karen Morrissey and Christina Tomlinson. For several students, time spent in this historic city was a highlight of the overseas experience.
“I was so fascinated with all of the old history, such as the Cistern Basilica,” said Kerns, who counted the Istanbul visit as his favorite part of the trip. “To see monuments created by humans from so long ago really gave me an impression of how young our country is and how short of a time that we have here.”
Fellow classmate McDonald readily concurred. “I loved how historical Istanbul was. The city walls, the aqueducts were thousands of years old. We don’t have that in the U.S.”
Simmons, of Constantia, N.Y., was equally impressed. “It was absolutely beautiful over there. Not saying that we don’t have beautiful locations in the United States, but Turkey just seemed different. While staying in Konya and Istanbul, there was this great sense of culture and history and life that I think is difficult to experience in the United States. Walking around Istanbul you feel as if art and history are all around you and it makes you realize that so much has happened before you.”
Another student, Alyssa Kline of Newark, N.Y., found the entire trip to be eye-opening. “There’s so much more out there for me to experience,” she said.
All students concurred that the trip was a positive experience that will last a long time. “I know my capabilities more,” Krenzer explained. “I know now I can go and experience another culture. That has helped me build confidence as a person,” Erbacher agreed. “My perspective is a lot wider as to what I can do and where I can do it. I caught the travel bug.”
For Simmons, the trip was not only his first outside of the U.S. — it was his first time on a plane.
“It was the first time I’ve truly been on my own. And even though I felt so small in the grand scheme of things, I felt this connection between the Turkish students and everyone we met that I didn’t expect. I think you quickly realize that even though you may have language and cultural barriers, when it comes down to it, no matter where you are, people are people. And it’s nice to know that people from completely different parts of the world can connect and greatly enjoy being around each other.”
