Doggy Dilemma

An adorable stray was found on a rainy day by IGA's Mr. O when the puppy wandered onto the school grounds wet, cold, and hungry looking for a nice dry spot to rest.


The adorable, little, brown, fur ball was welcomed by a showering of love and affection. The puppy, Ginger, was the highlight of the day and most of the week. Children came from all over the school just to see, pet, and play with little Ginger. Ginger was fitting in just fine with the young children, but problems arose when she began to use the floor of the boys' locker room as her bathroom.

Many enjoyed Ginger's company at the school but there were those who opposed her presence. "Gifts" were found in the boys' locker room indicating that the cute puppy had been there. The smell was quite atrocious. Complaints were made about Ginger and many solutions were offered such as finding her a home or getting rid of her by leaving her on the street. One Korean student jokingly offered to eat the dog-a practice common in the Far East.

Fortunately, for the school, Ginger found a way to solve the problem of her presence.Ginger took the hint that school was tired of her and she decided to fix the problem by running away. The school decided that Ginger's fate was to be sold to a pet shop. From there she would find a family who loved her. Ironically Ginger must have sensed that a decision about the doggy dilemma had been made and wanting to fix it herself she ran away right after the perfect solution was made.

Car crash, one killed and one injured

A man soon to be drafted into the military died on Thursday when he lost control of his car on the rain-slickened Nato Yolu and crashed into a bus injuring one.

The victim, 19-year old Ozan Alparslan lost control of his 2005 Renault Broadway while driving drunk on the wrong side of the road and going 20 kph over the limit. It was about 11 p.m.

Sliding across the street, the car hit a IETT bus that was on its way to the Umraniye bus barn. The impact slung Alparlsan, the only one in the car, through the windshield of the car onto the wet pavement, killing him instantly.

The bus driver, Cem Bayir, was injured by the crash and was taken to the Medicana Hospital and treated for his broken arm. When interviewed, Bayir said, "I saw him coming and tried to avoid the accident by switching to the left lane. Unfortunately, the Renault driver also changed lanes and drove straight into me."

Sports Differences Abroad

After traveling and living in various countries, I have begun to notice a plethora of differences. All cultures are different but it is amazing and wonderful when you experience those differences yourself. The Turkish and American cultures vary in multiple ways. Their soccer patriotism, for example, is one difference. Here in Turkey I have found that they are EXTREMELY into soccer. They go crazy whenever there is a game. In my short time being here I have found that you can tell who has won the soccer game by never even watching it or asking the score. You just simply listen to your neighbors screaming and clapping with joy or booing and "oohing" with disappointment. You can also look across from your window to the neighboring building and see that practically everyone in that building is watching the game. After the game the fans of the winning team go out riding in their cars honking their horns and cheering. It is a noisy time and you usually end up hearing this procession all through the night. In the U.S., we are patriotic about baseball and football but not soccer like they are here in Turkey. It is just curious to see how different cultures favor different sports more and what they do to show how much they enjoy that sport.

Differences Abroad

After living multiple years of my life overseas, I have begun to notice a plethora of differences between America and its culture compared to the countries I have lived in. The cultures are obviously going to be different, but to see how they vary and contrast with one another is a tremendous wonder. One difference that I have noticed between Turkey and America is the kapijas (apartment-building caretakers) and their jobs. I have found that each kapija has different duties at different apartments but most of them coincide. He acts as the caretaker of the apartment building or apartment complex. He gets paid by the people who live in the apartments and he does multiple errands and jobs. He usually lives in the same apartment building. Now, in the States, we do not have a kapija. We may have caretakers in our apartment buildings but I have not heard or seen anyone in the States that do the jobs of a Turkish kapija. They make sure the building is kept clean and presentable. They come to get your garbage and at times, grocery lists. They bring fresh bread to your door. They are also, at times, in charge of bringing the bills for the apartment utilities. This is the first country that I have encountered a kapija. Even during my 9 and a half years of living in Russia I never heard of or saw someone who did everything a kapija does. Living in a small town in the U.S. and having a house, I could understand that there is no likelihood of seeing a kapija. . . unless of course I could have been counted as one. I took out the garbage, went grocery shopping (with my parents though), helped keep the house clean and I could have brought fresh bread to the door if that had meant getting a pay raise. This is just one of the many differences that I have noted.

Girl Remains a Mystery, Glass Slipper Only Clue Left

My news article telling the story of Cinderella:

Girl Remains a Mystery, Glass Slipper Only Clue Left

The Prince danced with a mysterious girl at his ball. The only clue she left him of her existence was a glass slipper. The grand Duke is undergoing a search for the girl.

At the ball, which the King threw in order for his son to find an eligible wife, the Prince danced until his feet were sore. He only found one eligible maiden, but sad to say, he never found out her name or anything of whereabouts. She rushed out of the palace at midnight as if a pack of wild dogs were after her. The Prince said, "I asked her to stay...she kept saying she had to go; then she ran off, leaving me very little hope of ever finding her." The girl did leave one clue to her identity: a glass slipper that must have come off during her flight to disappear.

The King is doing everything he can to help his love-sick son find his dream girl. "He just keeps telling me that she was the one. I can't stand to see him sitting around, looking like a love-sick puppy," said the King.

The police have stated that they have had hundreds of leads to the identity. All have proved to be false leads.

"We are beginning to tire of all these false leads...Practically all the young eligible woman of the kingdom are wanting to be the prince's dream girl," said the Chief Police.

Biased Article

ISTANBUL,(Turkey)-33 IGA community members, consisting of 28 students, attended a free college fair put on by the Council of International Schools at the Hilton Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey. The college fair was on September 26, 2008, between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. The students attended this college fair to learn more about universities, talk to college reps, spend time with friends going and returning from the fair, and apparently to collect some "goodies."

This college fair is held every fall at the Hilton Hotel. 63% of the students felt that it was a while worth experience. The majority, 80%, appreciated the pens and other "goodies" that were available for the taking. The fair seemed to have many highlights as many of the students stated, but there were some "downers," too. "I'm not sure if we'd do it again. The traffic was horrendous. In addition, it was so crowded, it was hard for students to spend any quality time with the college reps," said Mrs. Sanderlin, a teacher at IGA.

The fair was supposed to consist of some 70 schools from different countries around the world. Unfortunately, 5 or 6 failed to show up. Around 600-700 students attended the fair. Most of the students were from the Turkish high schools.

Unbiased Article

ISTANBUL, (Turkey)-33 IGA community members consisting of 28 students, attended a free college fair put on by the Council of International Schools at the Hilton Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey. The college fair was on September 26, 2008, between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. The students attended this college fair to learn more about the universities, talk to college reps and spend time with friends going and returning from the fair.

This college fair is held every fall at the Hilton Hotel. 63% of the students felt that it was a worthwhile experience; 80% of the students said that they appreciated the pens and other "goodies" that were available for the taking. "Hopefully this fair was used not only to supply us with many colorful pens, but to let us get just a glimpse of what could be," said Sarahbeth Flowers, one of the attending students.

The fair consisted of some 70 schools from different countries around the world. 600-700 students attended the fair. Most of the students were from Turkish high schools. It was advised that going earlier was better also, having questions and knowing something about the colleges in advance would help in the future. One teacher, Mrs. Sanderlin, said, “The experience was profitable because it encouraged our high school students to think about going to university.”