My Love; Istanbul

Dear All,

I believe you feel the same; it is difficult to realize how fast time passes... I started writing this blog to share my thoughts and feelings at a regular basis_I mean everyday_, but I notice that I rarely find time to write even to rest. I believe for my life quality, I should stay for a while without doing anything and I should wait for my spirit as many African tribe members do. :)

Last saturday after the organization of Microsoft Turkey's Innovative Teachers Forum, we started our preparations for the Worldwide Forum of Microsoft which will take place in Helsinki, Finland on 28th October.

Another upcoming event is the 10th ınternational convention on Students' Quality Control Circles which will be held in City Montessori School, Lucknow, Delhi (http://www.cmseducation.org/). We will go there as a team of 11 to share our quality efforts in Turkey and to get the flag of the next year's convention as the host country of that remarkable event.

Qomer ICT Seagulls Project is going to start its 5th year. Last year 93 national and international circles were in it. this year we hope more teams will participate in. In order to register, please write to us.

A European Union Project_2010 Istanbul European Cultural Capital City is going to start soon. Our project: Bigg-İstanbul will include Hungarian, German and Greek teams as well. ıt is related to the preservation of historical monuments through creating awareness among the school partners, municipalities, NGOs...

My course at the Educational faculty of Boğaziçi Üniversity started 2 weeks ago. I am aiming at training constructivist and quality projects-focused teacher trainees. This year I have had 74 students.

The Peace Education and Research Center of Boğaziçi University was founded. As one of the founders of the Center, I believe it will be very beneficial for the whole community to create a peaceful understanding.

My Village Institutions Project still goes on with the teacher trainees. On the 22nd of October, through a panel my new students will learn more about the philosophy of that Enlightenment Period's schools. Furthermore during the Book fair, those award winner students of mine will share their projects with the public.

With the first days of 2008, we will launch a new Benchmarking Study at Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul. The first seminar will be related to Hospitals and Healthcare. If you are interested in the topic, please call us.

I wish you a very fruitful week and I celebrate the Feast of Ramadan of my Muslim friends.

Hayal KÖKSAL