TOLERANCE - JOURNAL ENTRY 1

One of the most important qualifications that each person should have is tolerance .  Most of the problems that we face today result from the lack of tolerance to each other. Despite this, we can solve these problems . To illustrate , when someone steals your money,  instead of getting annoyed and shouting at him/her , you may look for the reasons behind this situation . It might seem difficult  to do, but you may find many reasons lying behind this like illness , poverty or having problems with family. Although most people know that everyone should be tolerant , they have difficulties in realizing tolerance in their lives. What would you do if someone swear to you , even when there is no conflict between you?  Swearing to him/her back will  – of course - not be a solution to that. Moreover , it may cause more troubles like a fight. Hence,  you should at first try to keep your patience and  to look for a solution  to this. That’s why it is easy to do a favor to somebody who has done a favor to you. Although it is hard, doing a favor to someone who has done a bad behavior to you is a better solution. Also,  this solution has a lot of advantages not only to you but also to the country we live in. To exemplify, when you show your tolerance to the people, they can easily get how to show their tolerance to other people. This situation may last forever when you think in an optimistic way. Besides,  the fact that you show your tolerance will make people have very good opinions about you. So,  you will have a lot of friends who love you so much especially because of your good behaviors. This means that you will have “real”  friends and their number will increase day by day. In spite of these advantages, there are still many people who think that they should not keep silent when they come across a bad behavior. For them, they are defending themselves ,  yet this is not a defend according to me. For me , this is just a selfishness because they only think about themselves , not about the problems the others face.  All in all , we should be tolerant to everyone and we should show our tolerance both for ourselves and for this world.

REVISED JOURNALS

Journal Entry 2 –Being a METU Student (REVISED)

 

From my viewpoint, being a Metu student makes people imaginative ,creative and critical owing to the fact that it has its own education system which is different from the classic Turkish education system. For example ,there are always questions around the class like 'Why,What is the reason behind it?' during the lessons.Therefore,this pushes the students into thinking and inquiring about any subject all the time and I think that it makes us "real people”.

In addition to this, life in Metu has some harships such as different kinds of assignments.Even though it might look an awful thing at first,it is really advantageous because students all around the world need to be improved and this happens only by such assignments as drama, presentations or activities like "DJ of the week".

Besides,there are lots of students coming from different cities and countries and each of them has his/her own lifestyle. That’s because all the students respect to each other although it is really hard especially in today's world. So, it is one more thing that makes us 'real' people. All in all, Metu helps its students discover their abilities and improve themselves both individually and socially.

 

MY IDEAL UNIVERSITY (REVISED)

 

   Today, although there are lots of universities all around the world ,for me, most of them aren't able to educate their students well enough  to find good solutions to the problems that they face.We can easily see this by watching TV,surfing on the internet or just looking around us because there are many people having graduated from different kinds of universities but they're not even able to know what's going on around them or they don't even try to find good ways to improve the countries yhat they live in. I think that this is a very big problem which can be solved by educating people "truly". Also, this will be possible with "real" universities. For me, Metu is one of these universities because it not only educates its students of their departments but also helps them look at their lives from different perspectives and makes them understand what real life is.As a result of this,those who have graduated from such universities like Metu become aware of the facts.Finally, a good university should educate mentally and emotionally mature generations. That means providing good solutions both to its country and to the world.

 

comments on my friends' journals

I've commented on:

http://gokdemirsddkanur.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-set-3.html?showComment=1358701179807#c3876437565329286500

 

http://gulcindudukcu.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-set-2_16.html?showComment=1358701285055#c4711302827989557560

 

http://demetgumuss.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-entry-3-fashion_15.html?showComment=1358701834200#c729078149202214198

 

http://mgogceoglu.blogspot.com/2012/11/journal-entry-4.html?showComment=1358702044015#c7242249978810755191

 

 

BOOKS-SET 3

THE REFLECTION OF MANKIND- BOOKS

At first it may seem a very ordinary subject but according to me, reading books is the mainstain of our lives. I cannot think any person who lives without books because in order for us to improve ourselves, see the real life and notice different perspectives, we should at first try reading books. As we read, we will learn much more and we will want to read more. I name this condition as “taste of books” because for me ,the taste of reading books is so sweety. When we taste this, we will want to “eat” them J

 

 

In this video, the books are having fun. That is the symbol of the aliveness of the books. According to me, books are just like humanbeings,each of whom has an opinion. Also, each of them are different from each other just like mankind. Besides, as video shows, they’re dancing. So , they try to have fun like us . Hence, these things show us that books are the summary of humanrace J

VIOLIN-SET 2

VIOLIN-MY BEST DREAM EVER

It is one of my dreams to play violin but I’ve never had the chance to learn it. But when I hear a voice belonging to violin,I become really happy and I feel as if I’m playing it. So I wanted to take the subject of ‘violin’ to express my feelings about it. Also, the shape of it and the style of playing it are very effective for me. When I see someone playing a violin I would always want to be that person. I think that It’s a privilege to know how to play it. That’s because It a  big challenge to learn and play it perfectly.

 

 

In this video , the girl tries to teach how to play a violin and she starts from the styles of sitting and holding the violin. That really affected me because in order to play it perfectly, one needs to stay perfectly from the beginning. So,one cannot stay the way s/he would like if s/he wants to play it flawlessly. That reflected me how the violin shapes people J

TUKISH TEA-SET 1

TURKISH TEA

I’m a tea addict. Tea is the centre of my life. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is to boil some water in order to have a cup of tea. That’s because I don’t feel relaxed until I get my one cup of tea. I may even get annoyed when I don’t drink it a day. But I don’t think that I’m the only person who acts in this way. Also,the researches show that 96% of Turkish people drink tea everyday just like me. Besides, this is not restricted with Turkih people only because the researches also show that tea is the most consumed drink after water. So,the results show that I’m not alone J Additionally,tea is very beneficial for health. If we drink it before an exam or when we get tired,it stimulates the brain and makes you feel more energetic and alert. Despite the controversies over the harmful effects of tea,I advise everyone to drink it because ,for me, there are lots of drinks that are really harmful. But a number of people drink such liquid. Hence,we should at first argue on those drinks. All in all, as the researches show,tea is consumed in large quantities and this situation should go on according to me.

In this video,Katharina Branning –the author of the book “yes,I would love a glass of tea”- talks about a subject about which I didn’y mention in my first subject. She shares her opinions about Turkis tea and the realitonship between Turkish culture and tea. She relates the bright colour of Turkish tea and the brightness of Turk’s faces. Also, the colour of our tea is refers to our flag’s colour for her.

When I first watched this video, I got really happy because It’s so great to see a foreign person describing our cultures and traditions in such a good way. So, I was really affected from watching this video. And I still smile when I watch this great comments on our country and people. Hence, I suggest everyone to see this and have a look at it.

FOOD ADVERTISEMENT

STUFFED VINE LEAVES WITH OLIVE OIL

Fırst of all, It is a famous dish in Turkey. Especially our mothers make them really well. They are best when rolled very thin but it takes a lot of practice so it is seen as talent if you can make them thin. Hence, our mothers are really talented. It's generally served cold with lemons, there is also hot version of this dish which does not include olive oil that is served in normal days, but this version is generally made in but not limited to holidays such as bayrams.

Ingredients

·         500g vine leaves (or cabbage leaves): as thin as possible

·         1 kilo onions

·         1.5 cups rice

·         1 water glass olive oil

·         3 cups boiling water

·         1 tablespoon pimento

·         2-3 lumps of sugar

·         1 lemon

·         A pinch of salt

·         Chopped mint leaves (optional)

·         A pinch of black pepper

     Instructions

1

Carefully remove the grape leaves from their jars and place them in a large mixing bowl. Fill the bowl with hot water and drain. Repeat this step two more times and leave the leaves to soak in the final batch of water.

2

Place the hamburger, rice, diced onion, dill, salt, pepper and diced tomatoes in the large mixing bowl and blend them well.

3

Remove a grape leaf from the bowl and place it on the counter with the underside facing up. Place a small spoonful of the meat mixture into the center of the leaf and form it into a log shape. Fold the bottom and top of the leaf inward over the meat, as though folding a burrito. Roll tightly from the side to form a cigar-like shape. Repeat this step with all the remaining meat.

4

Place the remaining grape leaves on the bottom of the saute pan and stack the uncooked sarma into the pan up to three layers high. Place the heavy dinner plate on top of the sarma face down and fill the pan with water until the water is coming over the plate's edges.

5

Place the pan on the stove at medium-high heat and cover. Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for one hour. Carefully remove the plate using tongs, stack the sarma on a serving platter and serve with fresh yogurt.

ENJOY YOUR MEAL :)

YASEMİN EROĞLU 

ESRA ELDEM