Beautiful day

Atta boy!

Jackson lost his first tooth this week- not that you can see it in this picture because it's on the bottom and he was just so excited he only had one expression. His mouth wide open with pure joy! Billie was the one who pulled it out.

Today Jackson ran a race. A fun run to earn some cash for the Refugee population here. As soon as the whistle blew and the herd of kids took off- Jackson fell scraping up his elbows and knees. He bawled and we went straight to the first aid booth. Before any pain relief could be administered he bolted off the examination table and headed back into the race. The tough guy would totally ignore me (shocking..I know!) when I said he could sit down and rest...or just walk to the stations. He ran his heart out to earn stamps stopping at each station. Rewarded him with one of the most deserved ice creams ever after that race.
And yes, he did play his full soccer game right after the race. Then made me carry him from room to room around the house the rest of the afternoon. "Take me to the playroom, Mom. I can't walk and I want to set up my army." And he can read chapter books all of a sudden.

You know you're a homeschooler when...

Last night Billie spent the night camping out with her Brownie Girl Scout troop. It's her first night away from us (not with family). She is wholly excited. There's nothing shy about Billie; not with adults, not with kids, not with older kids, she's ALWAYS right in there talking and being IN it.
So, she checks off all the items on her campout list and packs her own bed roll. They sing songs and tell stories around the campfire, cook hot dogs and smores. They tell spooky stories with a flashlight after dark. They all fall asleep (I heard her tent went to bed 'early' around 11:30pm). They make breakfast and do crafts in the morning.
When we pick her up we ask her what her favorite part was.
"Um...my favorite part was when they told us the RULES!!!!"
???!
You know you're a homeschooler when she loves to hear a list of rules. I'm always like "oh, you can do it your own way. It's fine if you make your letters backwards. Art can be anything you want it to be...and so can math." Her favorite bit is the rules. good grief!

stroll down memory mountain

We spent the weekend in Cappadocia. All the folks here working at the Embassy (Turks and Americans) paid for small trees, then a few of us when to plant them (mostly Bill). Sloane and Cort could hardly carry the darn plants up the hillside so we put them to work as being a symbol of goodwill, cuteness and all that is right in the world. The hotel where the group was staying was booked...so we called ahead to reserve a room at some other place. When the bus pulled up it was a hotel Bill and I had been to before...on our honeymoon trip!!! We didn't actually sleep there because upon arrival we found tics in the bed and noticed more on the ceiling where they kept dropping from...so they kindly gave us our money back and we checked out soon after checking in. This time there were no tics anywhere and we were so giddy at finding this old spot that all was forgiven in an instant. We walked around the town- this time with 4 kids; repeatedly reminding everyone to stay on the sidewalk, which is hard to distinguish from the road, and enduring pleas for constant snacks.

We passed the 'old version of us' on the road all the time...backpacking hippie couples who haven't thought of the future beyond 2 months ahead. It was fun to see them and think of us, to visit our old favorite Kose Pension and find it still owned by the same kind-hearted people. We walked through our old campground where the puppies would come to visit every morning. Here we are- breastfeeding and homeschooling and knitting and being all professional-like (that's the Bill part) almost 10 years later.

God and Cake

These are a few of my FAVE or it ttttthhhhhhhhiinnnnnnnnngs.
we got our stuff and i've noticed my favorite thing is my music. i'm serious. i think music makes our days happy. seriously- i think everyone should put their very favorite songs on their ipod. and not just the 'eh...yeah...it's alright' songs that you hear on the radio- you must bring back the un sit still-able beats of good vibrations ! (Drug free- so put the crack UP!)
Really, how can you NOT grab your baby and rock out in your living room (which most certainly does involve air guitar on the couch) when songs like this (or showtunes) come on. Billie knows almost all the words to Girlfriend in a Coma by the Smiths and she loves Salt n'Pepa.
Also, I really love God too. Seriously. Our church here is so small and cute and our priest is so wonderful and even Bill likes hearing what he has to say each Sunday and the kids like it (well, almost) and I love having us all together on Sunday morning and just being still and appreciating how blessed all of us are. We as a family, we who have friends like you and we in the larger sense- we who get to see these amazing sunsets and we who get to spend our days choosing what to eat and watching our kids smile.
My favorite things in Turkey- the stop light turns yellow before it turns green because all the cars are in such a total frenzy to be as close to their destination as possible (every inch counts) that we need a warning before green. We're all sitting there and then it's like yellow...get ready...GO! Really! I think that's so funny. I am crazy in love with Turkey.
There! I wrote a blog not about the kids...look at me all with thoughts on other subjects and then download some Tatu.
who said you can't have your cake
and listen to it too?

the second frontier

Member when I used to be a 'good' blogger? ...those were the days. i keep putting off blogging or writing little blogs in my head about all the interesting things i see in Turkey- because i know you all want to hear about that. but when i actually sit down to write i just think about the kids. so, if you want to know about turkey- you'll just have to come see for yourself. one day our stuff will get here (maybe?!!!) and we'll have the whole place set up for you. For now, you'll have to hear more about the kids.
Turkey is another world , not only in geographical terms; we're in BIG KID world now and school kid world and in this world it's harsh. We're not in the Kansas of homeschoolers-who-avoid-labels-because-we-are-all-freaks world.
There have been so many new experiences. I cringed the first time the kids were in the line up for 'picking teams' for a kickball game in the yard. Billie standing there saying "pick me!" so enthusiastically...and just hoping someone would pick her NOT LAST. How do Mom's let go? She's seven and still never had Coke (cept for one time when my mom gave her some soda at chuck e cheese with the "it's orange" excuse).
The kids still see friends as something shared between them. How can someone play with Jackson and not play with Billie and vice versa? It would defy the laws of physics. So, they all play together...with an occasional girl pointing out in an accusing tone "You're a BOY!" and then continuing along with the game. Then the birthday party invitation comes and it's only to ONE kid...sigh.
The other day Jackson made a connection with a first grade boy over a pokemon discussion at the playground. The kid came over to our place to play. They were doing hot wheels, built a ramp out of cardboard (we make everything out of cardboard now...see our easter basket photos) I've realized that if our things never do get here...we can probably recreate our whole house if we have enough cardboard...I'm working on an Armoire for our gigantic TV at the moment.
Anyhoo- a kid came over...billie was...i don't know...off somewhere at a friend's house. So, it was just he and Jackson- the littles were sleeping I think. THEN, it's quiet for a while and I peek in on them and there Jackson is with his knitting needles in hand, sitting next to the normal kid and saying "Then you wrap the yarn around THIS way". That's right. He was showing the 7 year old boy how to knit! And what's wrong with that anyway? Why was I horrified?! Why is it that my first impulse is to grab a football and hurl it at Jackson's head to distract the kid and direct them towards more gender appropriate play? Yikes! But it was fine. The kid didn't run to the balcony and yell to all the kids downstairs 'Jackson Solley can knit!' or anything.
Who would have ever guessed that when Billie, Jackson and I sat down and learned to knit almost 2 years ago....who would have guessed that i would become obsessed and jackson would stick with it?! Jackson is that way about things- once he likes something he's really focused on it. Billie likes things for 2 weeks, max.
Sloane likes things she can break and also likes getting the disapproval face from Mom and Dad, and she likes causing Jackson grief too. She would never think of upsetting Billie. Lord knows you don't want to be at the receiving end of her wrath!
Cort is totally adorable, a major eater of anything which is not baby food, and a speed demon.
back to life.

It's like a fig...without the newton

This is my explanation as to what figs are. Yes, we get to eat FIGS- without the Newton!
And it's a good example of all the things we encounter in new lands that we aren't familiar with. In Japan we only had strawberries on special occaisions when a small box was $6 or less.and peaches were even more elusive at $7 for ONE! In the States we never had figs...(except once in a while I'd get 2 dates at Halal's and greedily keep them all to myself- the kids wouldn't touch something brown and shiny). I wonder if I could find all the marvels here with my own eyes- certainly, much of it is obvious in this country steeped with tradition and so much history...but then there are always the little things that kids find amazing. They're unabashedly curious and it's nice to get a glimpse of things from that point of view.
Normally, this would be the point when I'd reveiw the events of my past slacker weeks of non-blogging. But I'm just going to start fresh and say that we are having a wonderful time. Bill likes his job- he actually LIKES it! We like Turkey- we actually LOVE it. Billie has TONS of friends, Jackson has one friend, Sloane has two- I know lots of Moms and I have made TWO very lovely Turkish friends! Hooray!

here's us now

before turkey

made entirely from leaves, twigs and acorns

an art museum field trip

Cort's first food- oatmeal

actually about turkey

Now I'm writing - with inspiration because I've FINALLY made a couple Turkish friends! Honestly, before I was embarrassed to write anything about Turkey. I felt so "i SUCK!" everytime I went out and couldn't talk with the other playground Moms, just smiling and nodding and holding up fingers to show the number of months Cort is...with no car we haven't explored much...
But today I found the nicest lady, with a two year old who played with Sloane- and she speaks a little English. We chatted and I asked to exchange phone numbers right away- Yay! a friend for me! The kids have plenty but this new world of 'independence' i mentioned earlier has left me feeling like the stereotypical stuck-at-home-suburban housewife. Gone are the joys of our widespread homeschooling community where playdates for the kids mean tea, talk and cheetos for the Moms. sigh.
And I was so eager to have some Turkish girlfriends...and then so discouraged after every walk around the neighborhood and trip to the market with my pathetic lack of Turkish.
Turkey is so Turkish! That's the perfect way to describe it...which tells you nothing...i know. I haven't been to one spot where I might forget for a minute and think that I'm in the States. The streets have no lanes- people just edge in wherever they can and honk like they're in Chicago...but in a friendly way.
The sidewalks are all broken and busted...when there are sidewalks...the workmanship seems shoddy. Houses are few and far between compared with all the tall brightly colored apartment buildings- there are flags, carpets and bedspreads hung out from all the balconies and open windows on sunny days. The bright colors contrast over the muted brown which is the smog and hills all around. On our walks on the no-man's-land side of the street (off into the hills) there are a few ramshackle old homes...they look like they were pieced together with bits of rubble from construction sites; these are totally fascinating to me because I wonder who lives here? Who has built these houses- how do they get water? I think the city has urged everyone into these apartment buildings because it's easier to keep everything maintained that way and I wonder if these people are holding out...not taking the subsides offered? They have small chicken coops and clearly they are feeding the stray dogs and cats who hang around happily nearby. The oddest thing is that one of the shacks has a satellite dish?! They get TV in there?!!!
I smile at the old women hanging out their laundry as we walk past and consider bringing them some banana bread or something- trying to make friends. Would that look like a hand-out? How would that be received? Shall I offer them a job if they could teach me to cook dinner one night a week? Right now it's all ideas in my head because I don't have any pans for baking banana bread in (our shipment is sure to show up here the day before Billie's birthday party).
So, that's a little about Turkey. Still no camera (that was an old shot from the pictures folder on the laptop- from Meg's wedding) so you'll have to see the pictures in your head.

a month already?

have you ever seen a month go by so fast?! it's especially surprising that time has gone by so quickly when you factor in that we've barely left our house this whole time. I now know like seven Turkish words (we do a word a day as part of our lesson routine now). I perfected my skills at holding bowls in front of TWO kids at once when they're both ready to urp up the pizza they just begged me to make while they have a stomach bug. (Thank goodness Cort and Billie were well that day ...because I don't have FOUR hands). Here's the stomach bug we had "I feel sick...UUUUUUUUUURP.....Can I have some baklava?"
?????
I kept asking the kids to STOP EATING. A new nurse friend gave us a tip- "Sip on a sugared drink...just a sip every 5 minutes."
Being all with the healthiness....there's no kool-aid in the house...we only have 100% juice. So, I make some sugar water tea. But Jackson...ever weary of trying a new food, 'doesn't like the taste'. He stays sick for 3 days and moans and whines and doesn't want to try sugar water. He watches Billie head out with friends, go to the park, Brownies, dance and sing while he lays motionless on the couch all day long.
Which brings us to my next subject...Billie going out. Rapid road to independence since we moved here. When the kids were little tiny tots I really wanted to keep them safe and protected for 5 years, that was my goal. Now we're on the edge of Billie's 7th birthday and they have had a pretty great life thus far. You know Bill and I keep them pretty close to heart but now I'm feeling so good about the little people that they are and the smart, responsible choices that they (well, Billie at least) make we spend a lot of time together. Having no friends and no life gave us a little time to get back to focus on our family time and I have been truly enjoying the kids so much lately.
As we're in an apartment building we can't just run out in the backyard with the door open and be near by. Billie's friends will come to the door, ask if she can go out, she'll get on her coat and shoes, go down the elevator, play at one of the nearby playgrounds (I can see her from the balconies) and then come back up when she's done. This is MAJOR. It's a super safe place with kids all over, Turkish and American but this is a big step for Billie and I'm just bursting with pride at how she's handling it.
It's really wonderful because at 7, when Bill and I were kids, we were able to bike around, meet up with friends and that's something I felt sad my kids would not be able to have...neighborhood independence. Now they have it. Sometimes Jackson is allowed to go with Billie and her friends but I don't think he's quiet ready for supervising himself yet. He's 5, doing 2nd grade work AND he thought it would be a good idea to stick a chopstick into the USB hub on our computer this morning.

Movin' on Up

So, we made it. Pneumonia is out and ginormous apartment is IN! Very wild couple of weeks there.
We're in our new home (for the next two years) and it's really grand. We are starting to meet people; there's been less walking around outside and more jumping on the beds to Rocknoceros music. It's not city block downtown out here in the burbs but there's a lot of lame (cool if you're 18 months) playgrounds all around the building. I am pretending the second level of our apartment doesn't exist and we're all occupied trying to keep track of eachother in the five bedrooms and rest of the house down here.
I don't have anything against big houses- I know lots of people love them...I just love cozy little places where I can keep an ear on my kids at all times.
There were 3 blogs worth of interesting details all in one night of our first Brownie event. As we arrived at the traditional Turkish rug shop- with GOR-ge-OUS rugs hanging all over the place (i mean, really....jaw dropping....drooling fantastic, musty, hand-woven by hill people rugs) girls started in on the squealing and smiling greetings of friends and Billie (who had been bursting with joy 3 minutes before we arrived) started to cry just a little. You could just feel her crumble at the memory of her old girl scout troop- all the friends, the comfort of the places she knew, being the star of the show, super fun troop leader moms....they were all left behind somewhere far away and this was NOT going to be the meeting she was picturing it to be. We hugged for a bit and then sat down to be served apple tea and turkish cakes (i too, find it hard to cry when there's cake to be had). She took a seat at one of the tables, another girl happened to sit next to her. I sat apart to give her some space and see what would happen (most of the girls flocked to Cort and his six month old in a sling cuteness) so I thought that might give her a chance to talk to someone on her own. I heard her strike up a conversation and soon the girls were whispering all sorts of things and giggling like the apple tea had been spiked.
It turned out there was no alcohol but there WERE hookers at the party. After an art contest in which each girl submits her work of art, with carefully messy lettering and suns with smiley faces; pictures the girls have clearly poured themselves into, lined up in a row so that each girl can place a ticket on the picture she votes best to determine a winner (YIKES!!!!! I'm still cringing at the horror of it!!- There were awards even!!! For first, second and third place!!! Can you imagine?! Being LESS than third place...change subjects before crying...). Then learning about Turkish wedding traditions from the shop owner and staff. We were all lead in a dance! We're tapping our feet and clicking wooden finger spoons and everyone pales in comparison to this tall, hair past her bottom, hourglass woman in high heels. She can shake it. She's a belly dancer- I'm not just saying that she really IS a belly dancer. And from the topless photo on her business card I think she may provide some extra services...but i really have no reason to say that. She was super nice and I would totally hire her for the next baby shower i have to plan.
Billie was in a circle ring with several other girls- all bouncing in glee and having the best night ever.
So far we love Turkey and it is really more interesting than anywhere- I mean how often are there women of the night at girl scout events?!!
The equivalent of this joyful night for myself was a morning at the local farmers market. Talk about beautiful produce. Whooo boy! We didn't even have a meat with dinner last night (and for those of you who know Bill- you know that's saying A LOT about the veggies here!)
Come visit. For real!
pictures- i'll post them one day when we can get them to the computer. our shipment is stuck in america so we'll have no sign of our things for another month...maybe then you can see what i'm talking about.

How the brioche stitch saved my life

Sometimes things are just so awful that all you can do is laugh...or crumble to the floor and break down in tears. Good news: not asthma...Billie was just regular old sick, then Bill got it....then Jackson...yesterday Sloane was feverish and ill all day...now it's my turn. Cort is well but as often as he's sucking on all of our fingers, I'm not sure how long that will last. Billie has recovered. Jackson only hurled once today. Sloane is still pretty sick and I am writing this with no make-up, un showered with a towel wrapped around my throat neckbrace style to keep the warm and cool sensations from my Vicks Vapor rub going just a little longer. Bill is the sickest I've ever seen him and he's been to work long hours every day- learning the ropes with pale blue skin and sweaty chills. I think I'm over jet lag and I'm only sleeping in because of the hours I spend awake in the middle of the night holding cool washclothes on various foreheads, re-filling the humidifiers and administering tylenol. So, what can one do when you can't sleep because you want to stay awake and make sure everyone is breathing? The Brioche Stitch! I had no idea what this was...but the good 'ol internet brought me to it and I've spent 48 hours trying to figure it out and finally just gotten the correct equation for a pattern to make a scarf I saw that looks squishy and cute.
As for Turkey- it's wonderful whenever we leave the house. We've found playgrounds and markets and we run outside everytime we hear the bread man calling. He walks around with fresh bread balanced on a board on his head - bread rings like pretzels kind of with sesame seeds toasted on it.
And we saw our apartment...did I say it was 6 bedrooms? My mistake. It's actually not six....there are seven bedrooms. It's still not been painted and cleaned so we're not moving in this week but we saw the layout and if I was freaked out before...now I'm just paralyzed with fear. Hide and seek takes on a whole new dimension in our two story penthouse apartment.
Other good things about Turkey are the women are so fashionable and stylish- it's fun to people watch. All the men melt and gush over the cuteness of the kids and we get lots of approving looks as opposed to the fear and shock on peoples faces when we walk into an American restaurant. It's a very warm place. When we drove to our apartment we got a little glimpse of the suburbs beyond the city. We can't see much from here because it's smog all around. The view from our apartment is of snow covered barren hills. Like where the sidewalk ends or something...our street just dead ends and the only thing beyond it is the empty hills. Bustling city on one side...uncharted land on the other. Time for bedtime stories so I'll sign off.

Merhaba

So, the thing with jet lag is like, if you're one person maybe you can just walk around to stay awake. But if you're six people...well, you might have to sit down to read a story and then once you're on the couch..well, it's all over. And if you actually do fall asleep at some point during the night when you should be sleeping it is almost certain that then will be the moment that someone comes into your room to gently ask "Mom, can I have some pasta?" or..."Why was that night so short?" or...your two year old will have to use the bathroom. (Ahhh...zippered jammies and tall toilets...why do you make life so hard on me?!!!! (Yes, I am still mourning the graduation from diapers)).
Anyhow we're here and we love it!
We flew first class which was fun. I'm not cool enough to pretend I'm not impressed by luxury. Especially because of the looks on everyone else's faces. When you're in the waiting area...and everyone is having a starbucks three pages into their bestseller with their boarding passes and sitting quietly. Then there's this family with kids. Four of them! And they have noisy toys and they're blowing bubbles and Oh-my-lord is that woman breastfeeding an infant while blowing bubbles and balancing a granola bar on her knee? yeah. That's us. And you can see what everyone is thinking. I really hope I'm not sitting next to them. And I'm sure there are those amoung them thinking "That's why I sit in first class". But guess what. That's right. Six seats in first class- baby!
Not likely to be hearing much from me about Turkey (or any other subject of interest) for a while because first class ROCKS MY WORLD. There's even leg room! I slept!! We ALL slept! The food was good! It's another world!
In other news, Turkey is fun, we are happy, people here are very nice, Bill likes his job, we should move into our new house in a few weeks, they have coke and nutella and everything here so we should be fine for the next two years.
And we have internet now so I might write about something else after I blog about first class 3 more times. Must go study my Turkish now; no one speaks English and I need to figure out how to tell people about our flight...in first class!
Start making plans to come visit us now. We have six bedrooms, which is frightening to me- but i'll save that for another blog.

Scott Baio has no redeeming qualities

Why is this the worst move ever? What were we doing last time we moved that made it so easy? I looked back to see and it was this.
I'm all chillen with some kids on a nice warm day while BILL is at home with the movers. This time Bill is working full time and I'm home, sorting, erranding, putting yet ANOTHER dvd on the laptop for the kids to watch while we sit at the dinner blanket (in place of a dinner table...we have a blanket on the floor) and eat PB & J (yes, I know we already had that for dinner last night).
Here's what it's like: the movers are there and I'm trying to point to things that don't go in the big shipment because they will go express with Cort in a sling and then I peek in on the kids because I hear Billie and Jackson competing for Sloane's attention and as soon as she see me, Sloane says "Mom! Drink! Snack! Pee Pee bathroom!" She knows she has to get in all her requests at once because I'll disappear again in 2 minutes and she is under strict instructions NOT TO LEAVE this room. Do not open the door, and be quiet until the movers are gone...Mommy will play with you in 2 weeks!
Now we're at the hotel and there is a TV- with reception and cable and everything!!! After not seeing one TV show for 18 months the kids are fascinated by commercials. Billie wants BRATZ dolls and Jackson wants anything spiderman and Sloane keeps saying "Watch THIS video Mom." as I flick through the millions of(49) channels wondering what is happening on the 48 channels I haven't had on for the last 8 seconds.
Shows are so awful that I stay up late watching them just to be sure they exist. Did you know that Scott Baio is married to an annoying pregnant girl? and who would have known what a whiny loser he is if you'd never thought of him beyond Charles in Charge? Then there's celebrity Rehab where people are ACTUAL drug addicts. I do miss sleep but who can sleep when there's all this entertainment right in the room with them.
I am so grateful for these idiot boxes when I have to make calls and pack boxes and the kids are bickering...there's enough TVs in our suite so that they can each have their own program on in separate rooms!!! Slightly disturbing that I would need that, yes.
here's some random laptop pictures from last time we were moving...i like the one of billie doing yoga with me when we were moving in.
look how little Sloane was!!! Cort is like that now...except he has NO skills at sitting up. He's good at spinning 360s on his belly on the floor like a breakdancer .

Guilt blog post

Cort with his first (in both senses) cousin, Rosalind- isn't she a sweetie? Cort's like "How come I hafta wear clothes?!"

Here is a random sampling of pictures in place of all the things i MEANT to blog about but didn't get around to...excuses for the lameness of the Christmas letter: I'm bad at keeping in touch and there are several cherished friends who probably don't feel very cherished and we are ONLY in Christmas letter contact so I feel I really MUST not let that tenuous line of contact close...so, the Christmas letter HAS to get done. But...I can't wait for inspiration and can't fit all the lovely things we do every year onto one page...so, I just sit down and write about nothing. Sorry.
Also planned to write about Christmas but didn't get to it: It was fun. Lots of people were here. I began to lose my mind at age 31.
THEN i was going to write about Sloane getting lost. The moment my heart ACTUALLY stopped beating as I ran up and down the street in front of our house screaming and crying like one of those crazy people you see in the movies calling "Sloane!" because I had looked away for 3 minutes as we were all playing (with friends over) in the backyard and she found a little gap between the fence. I couldn't think in my state of panic and was only considering the two exits for people who are over 3 ft tall, which are on the SIDES of the house. ACK! A neighbor spotted her in his yard and returned her home directly but talk about the most frightening 12 minutes of my life. woah. just a little something to keep me in perspective about how un-important moving all my crap is. After that day my brain was TOTALLY BLOWN at age 31 and has yet to be found.
AND i was going to write about all my crap: how I was just feeling good about getting down to only having the things we love/need around us. But now I realize that I am still suffering from affluenza and have more crap than ever. What the heck was i thinking buying MORE books?! uh...i'm insane.
So, there's some mini-blogs and here's some pictures.
This is a guilt post because i sent out a mass email with our new address and plan to be out of touch with everyone for ages and i felt bad to include a link to an old/boring posting now you have a new/boring posting to read!

the joy of friends

a high school reunion of the only people that count- my homegirls for the last 17 years.

the chicken dance is a popular activity at our house

chemistry set for christmas and lollipops f

shopping

25 minutes, 25 dollars, and 49 books- that's what I call shopping. Mostly I'm not so into shopping. I like shopping online. I know what I want, look for that specifically and buy it; no SALE distractions, no impulse purchases....it works.
I did manage to avoid the mall this whole holiday season (only 2 trips this whole year) haven't been to Target in months but I do still shop. Once a month there's a library sale- books are 10 and 25 cents. Here's what it looks like when I come home. I have to stock up because it seems unlikely that there is a library as great as ours anywhere else in the world (especially in a place where English is not the primary language!).