Köpek ödevimi yedi...

Do you think if I say it in Turkish she'll forego the fact that I don't have a dog who could have eaten my homework?

When I first moved here, everyone expected me to speak Turkish because I look the part and am half the part. But the (in part, self-imposed) pressure was too much so I just stopped trying for a while because it was easier to be the complete foreigner than be a let down. I would say, "I'm moving to Sweden where I will clearly look like a foreigner"... until I realized how cold it gets there!

So this past year I've been making my linguistic way back, and lately challenging myself to embrace the imperfection that is my Turkish and just let go. After a two hour dinner with cousins where whatever was "lost in translation" was gained in good faith (and time together planning their trip to New York!), I feel like I have a good excuse to have not done my homework - I was busy doing the extra credit!

Sorry, hocam!