Reflection Task 2a

Today I want to mention about homesickness mostly experienced by junior university students. I've chosen this topic since I feel this emotion from time to time, even though I intentionally came to Ankara. 

Most students who deliberately or reluctantly go far away from their hometowns to study in another city feel free and cheery at first. However, as time goes by, they somehow go through this feeling and some manage to get over it whereas others cannot. To get over homesickness, both university administration and students have to take some actions.

In METU, we are in a really different world and have lots of facilities in our campus; nonetheless, the situation is not the same everywhere. To help students get rid of homesickness, universities should make use of those facilities, at least some of them, as well –such as sports hall, swimming pool, various student clubs, a medical centre, a big market place like that of METU’s Çarşı and so on.

At this point, students feeling homesick have some responsibilities too. They should not keep this matter to themselves; instead, they should consult an expert. They had better not isolate themselves from the environment, but they should participate in social events, go for a walk with friends and talk to them in order to get some relief. Additionally, they should never ever give up studying and learning due to this feeling, which will most probably spoil their four years and perhaps their lives, but should balance their social and educational lives.

A Poem from the Perspective of Burger King (gram: used to/would)

I used to contain lots of glucose and salt
I would have them when I ruled the world
Now in the morning I am healthy,
unlike the way I used to be.
I used to be the king of the baddie
Listen as the crowd would eat me hungrily.
Now only that I've got is a bit of calory.
One minute I am now more healthy,
next I'll get healthier and much more healthy.
I discovered that my kingdom had always been 
too fatty.

Reflection Task 1b

I bet not most of you have ever heard of Michael Groom. However, he is really a successful man who works for a great holding in Europe. He was born in the US and grew up there as well. When he was only a nine-month-baby, he could speak and understand most of the things that were said. He began to read at the age of four through the help of his mother. He could solve a sixth grade mathematical problem when he was in the third grade. He learned every aspect of Arabic and Russian languages in two years, when he graduated from junior high school. As he grew up, he got more interested in drawing and painting. Upon graduating from his high school, he was admitted to Harvard University’s Department of Architecture. Within these years, he learned Japanese and German, which are mostly sought for a qualified employee in the business world. Then he went to various countries of Europe and got a Master’s Degree of Science and Doctor of Philosophy on architecture and economy. Now he’s been working for a great holding which is in Europe, Vienna. He has the signature of most projects made in Turkey, as well. Three times a week, he’s lecturing at Vienna University. Whatever challenges he had to encounter, he never gave up and always worked. Though only thirty three years old, he is a professor well-known throughout the world of his scope. I hope his life journey will set an example for the youth.

A Retarded Foolish Story

Once upon a time, there were some luscious and yummy cookies in a kid's room. They contained a lot of sugar; however, what mostly made them delicious was their cinnamon and ginger. 
Those cookies were on an argument about which one would get eaten first. They all wanted to be eaten first so that they would be understood by the other cookies to be very luscious, but they also wanted not to be eaten in order not to die, though. That was a dilemma for all of them.
One spoke: "This fatty one should die before! How lucky you are to have a lot of calories to enable our Master to play more!"
"You, there, are very sweet, dear. What an opportunity of you to taste so good! You are just for a child's taste." said the other one.
Another said that the most gingery should get eaten so that the kid would not get sick easily.
And the quarrel went on...

Till the kid came into the room with a cup of coffee.
He had a large mouth as well as a huge stomach.
Before the cookies couldn't say anything, he devoured all of them in a while.
Afterwards drank his coffee in a great relish and sat in front of his computer.

Reflection Task 1a

Hello and welcome to my special world.

I'm Uğur, 30, from Istanbul. I'm lecturing at Boğaziçi University on Linguistics. I graduated from Middle East Technical University Foreign Language Education Department nine years ago. I have an MA's degree on Linguistics and have been to Austria for my PhD. This was six years ago. I bettered my German there. 

Learning new things, reading books and playing the violin are one part of my hobbies. I'm keen on learning new languages; now I'm learning French and Dutch instantaneously, new alphabets -I can read Cyrillic, Greek, Armenian and Arabic alphabets besides Latin, and now learning Kokturk alphabet-.

I'm into Classical Turkish Music. Since I was eleven I've played the violin but I have to practice much more since I cannot have enough time to do that due to my busy schedule. I also listen to oldies, especially in French, and some modern ones.

I mostly read academical writings in accordance with my job, but I also enjoy reading fiction -I read Harry Potter Series and A Series of Unfortunate Events countless times-. 

At least twice a week I go jogging or swimming. I cannot say I’m an athletic person, yet I’m not ever-sitting as well.

That was a little bit about me; it’d be a pleasure to get to know you. I cannot say I’m someone unique, but hope to meet you someday.

A Different Version of "Imagine"

Imagine there's no ailment
It's impossible 'ven if you strive
No germs below us
Above us only health
Imagine all the people
Living with no sneeze

Imagine there's no virus
It isn't possible to realize
Nothing to scare or escape
And no medicine too
Imagine all the people
Living life in bliss

You may say I'm an obsessive
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll recover
And the world will be germless

Imagine no snoring
It'd be wonderful
No need for pills or masks
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Living without noise

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you won't get sick
And the world will be inhabitable

A Microbiotic Diet (Rewriting)

A macrobiotic diet is based on the concept of yin and yang in Eastern philosophy and the natural balance. For example, there is no meat in a macrobiotic diet. A small number of theeth in our mouth are used for chewing meat compared to the other kinds of teeth. Macrobiotics believe that we are not designed to have meat or sugar in our diet. Brown rice, which requieres a lot of chewing, is the primary food in the macrobiotic diet. When whe chew the rice, natural sugar is produced in the mouth; so we don't need any sugar from other sources. Of course, vegetables are along with brown rice because they are such a rich source of vitamins and other essential nutrients.