Turkish exchange student reflects on time in Millbrook

MILLBROOK — Tan Oguz, 18, arrived in Millbrook on Aug. 21 for a year’s stay under the sponsorship of the International Rotary, District 7210. Oguz was enjoying winter vacation from Millbrook High School when The Millerton News interviewed him about his experience so far.

In addition to learning English, his biggest adjustment is the lack of public transportation in Millbrook — no trains, no subways, no buses — which makes it difficult to get around, especially without a United States driver’s license. He said he also misses Turkish food and friendship with other Muslims.

Asked about his fellow high school students in Millbrook, Oguz said, “In some ways they are very similar. There are some who are serious about school and going to college, and others who just aren’t interested in academics.†Like Americans, he said, Turkish students love sports. Oguz played soccer in the fall and hopes to play on the Millbrook tennis team in the spring.

Compared to Turkish students, Oguz finds American students apolitical. “They don’t like politics,†he said.

Oguz’s favorite course, and the most difficult for him, is U.S. history, especially the Civil War. He’s also taking geometry, English, art and physical education. Comparing his Turkish high school curriculum to Millbrook’s, he has discovered that in Turkey secondary school math is taught at a college level. He feels that Turkish students are much more conservative in their dress and hairstyles and observed that girls streaking their hair with bright colors is something you would never see in Turkey.

And what about American customs and culture? Oguz spent his first Christmas in Millbrook. Even though television and movies had given him an idea of what to expect, he pronounced the holiday “magnificent.†And, like most teenagers, he loves fast food.

Oguz said he feels that American families with separated and divorced parents are a problem compared to the traditional nuclear family structure of Turkey.

So far he has found other students and teachers “neutral,†and not very informed about Turkey. Early in the school year, one high school teacher asked him, “ You are Arab, right?†Oguz is diplomatically educating people, giving presentations at school and planning a slide show on Turkey for the Rotary at its Jan. 20 luncheon meeting.

Once a month 13 area exchange students sponsored by the Rotary get together and explore the region. They have been to West Point, seen the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall and visited Philadelphia. Another time, David Greenwood, Millbrook’s historian, took them on an architectural tour of New York City. Oguz marveled at the size of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. After graduation the group will join other Rotary exchange students for a three-week bus trip circling the United States from Chicago to the Dakota Badlands to Yellowstone and Yosemite, and even Florida, before ending in Washington, D.C.

When Oguz returns to Turkey he will study international relations at the highly regarded Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, where all degree programs are taught in English. Similar to the United States, applicants take a highly competitive standardized test in order to qualify for admittance, but tuition and fees are only $500 a year.

Oguz is from Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city and a major port on the Aegean Sea. Despite the fact that he is an only child, his parents, who together run an outdoor advertising business, encouraged him to take the opportunity to spend a year in the United States. Although he claims he doesn’t miss them, he communicates regularly with his family through Skype and e-mail, facilitated by a Turkish keyboard he brought with him.

Oguz is now living with the Dux family, after spending the fall with the Howlands, and the Rotary is looking for another host family for the spring. The purpose of living in different households is to give foreign exchange students a broad exposure to American life — with different families, styles, customs and neighborhoods. Families who live in the Millbrook School District who would like to learn more about hosting a foreign student are urged to contact Judy Bondus at info@millbrookrotary.org.

Area students between the ages of 15 and 18 who are interested in spending a year abroad as an exchange student should contact Judy Bondus, the Rotary local youth exchange officer, at info@millbrookrotary.org. The Rotary sponsors students who would be good representatives of their community who are also flexible and adventurous. For more information about the programs, Bondus recommends Googling “rotary youth exchange†on the Internet.