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Cultural exchange -- Turkish student adjusts to small-town American life
Coming from a country a little larger than Texas but with almost 70 million people, Rotary exchange student Ozgun Ozguven of Turkey had a few adjustments to make while staying in McCook this year.
"It feels so ... empty," she tried to explain. "I am used to so much more people."
A couple of more million people, in fact. Growing up in Izmir, a coastal city of 2 million by the Aegean Sea, McCook was quite a change for the 17-year old.
"Everybody knows everybody here," she said. "But everybody is so nice."
Staying with Phil and Diane Lyons, Ozguven has lived in an apartment most of her life and was not accustomed to the rural atmosphere of McCook, along with "all the houses."
Indoor pets were another new concept she has since learned to adjust to, courtesy of the family cat that insists on sleeping with her.
With only two teens chosen from Turkey for the Rotary exchange program, Ozguven had to pass a rigorous test and show good grades as well as a school reference, she said. She first stayed with Carl and Jan Philo in September, then lived with Cloyd and Linda Clark before coming to the Lyons household in March, just in time to encounter her first Nebraska blizzard.
Although she said she enjoyed learning how to make snow angels, which she had never heard of before, the newness of the snow quickly wore off.
"Living with snow is not fun," said Ozguven, who is used to a more Mediterranean climate of rainy winters and hot summers.
Other differences she has noticed was the lack of international news coverage.
"In Turkey, we get news quick, all the time," she said, snapping her fingers. She cited an instance last Fall, when an airplane crashed near a Nebraska football stadium and her parents heard about it before she did.
"They called and told me, don't go to any football games," she laughed.
When she returns to Turkey, Ozguven will attend the Economy University of Izmir and study economics.
While the universities are free and funded by the government, the choice of where students will go is determined by the results of a 3-hour examination, which she has already taken.
"180 questions in 180 minutes," is how she described it. She studied for a year beforehand with a tutor, twice a week, in addition to doing her regular homework.
Males in Turkey also must attend an Army course, she said, the duration of which is determined by the highest level of schooling they complete.
Students take school more seriously in her home country than they do here, she said, with not much time for sports or extra curricular activities.
"Football, it's crazy here," she commented, and recalled how surprised she was to see fifth grade boys practicing at the track.
Still, while attending McCook Senior High this year, she was able to try out for a sport for the first time, throwing the discus and shotput.
Ozguven has adjusted well to the American way of life, host mother Diane Lyons said, as well as to her family.
"She has the perfect personality: outgoing and friendly and not demanding," she said, although she admitted a few changes have been made in their eating habits since Ozguven's arrival.
"It's been awhile since I had bacon," she said, as Ozguven is a practicing Muslim and does not eat pork. Fish and fresh fruits and vegetables have also become a regular part of their meals, which sits well with her husband but not for daughter Julia.
"Mom and I get to go out to eat when Ozgun and Dad have fish," explained Julia, who still prefers her pop and french fries. Despite their differences in food preferences, Julia and Ozguven have become close, with both girls graduating as seniors this year and both crowned as royalty at Color Day. Ozguven gives her shopping tips, Julia said, and "isn't afraid to tell me if something doesn't look good on me."
Also, as the master of a Web site that offers Turkish television shows and films to Turkey expatriates, she spends time each day updating her site and has been designated the family computer tech in the Lyons household.
Because she is able to talk with family and friends every day via the Internet, Ozguven said she hasn't really missed her parents and two younger sisters back home, where her father owns two lumber businesses.
She does miss other things, though.
"It is so boring here," she said, with typical American teenage angst. "I miss going dancing." In Turkey, she said she and her friends often frequent the various non-alcoholic teen discos.
Before Ozguven returns to Turkey July 25, she will go on a tour of the United States with other Rotary exchange students beginning June 13, and come back to McCook by July 10.
In the meantime, she has found another pastime to fill up hours - walking the family dog.
"You have to do something here," she said.