Germans Learn Turkish to Promote Understanding

Reverse Integration

Germans Learn Turkish to Promote Understanding

By Kate Katharina Ferguson in Berlin

For years, the focus of the integration debate in Germany has been on the assimilation of the Turkish migrant population into German society. But now some Germans are beginning to consider it their responsibility to integrate with their Turkish neighbors -- and are going to language schools to learn Turkish.  
Ergün Isik is writing on a chalk board in a little classroom in Berlin's southern district of Neukölln. It's a Friday evening in May and sunlight is streaming in through the window. His students have cups of tea and large yellow Turkish-German dictionaries on their desks.

Isik, who studied sociology at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, and later social science at Berlin's Humboldt University, opened the language school in 2011 to meet an increased demand from Germans wanting to learn Turkish. "When I first came to Germany I couldn't even find a partner to do a language exchange with," says Isik, laughing. "But in the last five years there's been a real rise in demand. Business is booming."


The integration of the Turkish migrant population, which stems from the "guest workers" that Germany began recruiting in the 1950s, has long been a hot topic in German public discussion. Today some 2.5 million people in Germany have Turkish roots, but Turkish migrants have been accused of being unwilling to fit into German culture, failing to learn the language and remaining isolated in their own communities. The reverse side of the relationship -- whether Germans make an effort to better understand the migrant population -- has been largely ignored. But now, some 60 years after the arrival of the first guest workers, Germans are showing a new interest in Turkish language and culture.
The students in the classroom in Neukölln, where there is a particularly high density of Turkish migrants, come from a variety of backgrounds. "I enrolled in the course because I have so many Turkish friends," Ulrich, a social worker with a ponytail, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. His classmate, Hendrikje, a secretary, is in the same situation. "I'm from around here so I know a lot of Turkish people," she says. "It's nice to be able to understand more and to know what's going on."

Another student, Constanze, is a teacher at Max Planck high school in Berlin, which organizes exchange programs with Turkish schools. "I wanted to learn enough of the language to get by," she says.


'Bridge to the Islamic World'
Olaf Zimmermann, managing director of the Arts Council of Germany, believes that the debate about the integration of guest workers is outdated. "That issue is a thing of the past. Historically, Germany and Turkey have a lot in common," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Turkey is the most important bridge we have to the Islamic world and we should have the courage to cross it."

For Zimmerman, culture and language are the most direct ways for Germans to connect with the Turkish migrant population. "Germans should learn Turkish," he says. "The very best way to lessen a divide is to learn about the culture of others, and that includes their language." He adds: "In my opinion, educators should have a basic knowledge of Turkish."

Isik, the teacher in Neukölln, also emphasises the role of culture in encouraging Germans to show a greater interest in their Turkish neighbors. He attributes a great deal of the rise in demand for his Turkish lessons to the award-winning 2004 film "Gegen Die Wand," or "Head On," a tragic love story about two Turkish-Germans. "It's about breaking down barriers," Isik says. "Many of my students who have been in Istanbul say that the culture there was not as they expected. They were surprised to see a vibrant night life and fashionable women."

The German Embassy in Turkey has embraced culture as a go-between too. In October of last year, the embassy opened a cultural academy on the grounds of its summer residence in Tarabya, Istanbul, where it provides space for German artists to work on projects related to their experience of Turkish culture.

Social Issue
Turkish-German relations may well be boosted through such measures. But further down the social ladder, barriers remain. "Well educated, left-wing people are more open already," says Isik. "We need to find things that appeal to less educated, working-class people too. We need to find a way into consumer culture."

When Isik first came to Germany, he worked in two low-skilled jobs -- one in a lamp factory and another in a postal sorting office, where he found he had more in common with his German colleagues than they imagined. "They thought of Turks primarily as kebab sellers. But in reality they probably had a lot in common with their Turkish counterparts. I always thought: 'Hey, they should go have a barbeque together, they would probably get along great."

For some, a lack of education presents a significant barrier on both sides of German-Turkish integration. According to Isik, the assumption that some Turks do not want to learn the language is "nonsense." After all, many Germans without higher education are intimidated by the prospect of learning a new language too, he says.

Isik's experience of two men in their sixties, one a German and one Turkish, illustrates the point. The Turk, having been in the country for many years, was desperate to learn German but confessed that he found it too difficult. Conventional language courses, which rely on knowledge of grammatical terminology, do not cater to people with low-level educations.

The German man, on the other hand, wanted to learn Turkish so that he could visit his friends in Alanya, a beach resort in the Mediterranean area of Turkey that is a popular retirement spot for German pensioners. Isik remembers his first encounter with the German man, whose education was also limited. "He came into my class and I was talking about the subject and object of a sentence. He just looked at me blankly. He had no idea what I was talking about. It was really sad. We need new methods."

Starting Young

Some schemes aimed at tackling the issue of Turkish-German divides within the educational system are already in place, though. The Robert Bosch Stiftung, a large non-profit private German foundation, facilitates exchanges between German and Turkish schools. "The children work on a project together," Robert Bosch Stiftung representative Natalie Ferber told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Often they stay in contact via Facebook or by text message after the exchange."


Some Berlin schools are also offering bilingual education. The Aziz Nesin primary school in Kreuzberg teaches pupils through both German and Turkish and aims to allow Turkish children to master German while continuing to nurture their native language. The Jens Nydahl school nearby, where the vast majority of students come from immigrant families, provides classes in both German and Turkish and also offers German courses for Turkish mothers. But such programs are sometimes the subject of criticism based on stereotypes. Last year, mass-circulation tabloidBild ran a story on the school in which it claimed that most of the families of the children were on welfare and that the school had stopped serving pork in its canteen out of respect for Muslim students.

For Isik, it is all about challenging the status quo. "When people realise you are an English speaker, they are immediately keen to use a few words," he says. "That's not the case with Turkish." His students, who laugh together at a joke their teacher has made in Turkish, are doing their best to change that.

SOURCE: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germans-try-integrating-with-turkish-migrant-population-a-835653.html

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com

What to know when you visit Turkey

Tourist season in Turkey is from April through the end of September. Since etiquette and customs vary from country to country, the season is ripe for culture clash.

Tammy from Tennessee wrote to me and asked the following: Dear Charlotte: My partner and I will be visiting Turkey for seven days in late May. I am so excited. The tour we are on includes both İstanbul and İzmir. I read your column regularly and have picked up a lot of cultural tips. Please give us a few tips to help us make the most of our time. I am looking forward to a most memorable trip. Thanks! Dear Tammy: So glad you enjoy the column! May is one of my favorite months in Turkey. It’s not too hot yet. Here are seven practical tips to help you during your visit: ATATÜRK: You will see statues of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk everywhere. You will soon recognize his face from these and the pictures on the walls of shops, workplaces, and government buildings. Atatürk is the founding father of the Republic of Turkey. Perhaps you have heard of the Gallipoli campaign from your reading about Turkey or from a world history class. He was the military leader who won a great victory in the Gallipoli campaign, and the politician who made Turkey into a secular democratic republic. You’ll never see cartoons of him, or hear a joke about him. Defamation of his person or character by any means is against the law. By the way, it is an offense to wear a garment made out of the Turkish flag. ISLAM: Perhaps you have come across this statement in your reading: “To be a Turk is to be a Muslim.” This is a statement that defines nationality and culture. The call to prayer is five times a day in Arabic. If you visit a mosque, women should cover their heads with a scarf, and both sexes need to be sure to take their shoes off before going in. Be sure and be careful not to wear any socks that have any holes! There are some funny incidents that have happened because of that. THE MILITARY: There are signs in Turkish warning people not to photograph any military establishment; if you ignore these, you may lose your camera. TURKS ARE INQUISITIVE: Often foreigners are surprised by some of the direct questions asked by Turks. They are not shy to ask you a personal question if they feel comfortable with you. Don’t feel like you need to answer every question a Turk asks you. If you think it is too personal a question, just learn the art of being vague or answer the question by asking another question. That is what they do. EATING OUT: There are plenty of safe places to eat, so don’t be afraid of getting ill. Just be careful to choose where you eat. The general rule is go where you see others eating. Turks love eating out, so you can easily find something to satisfy your taste buds. Options range from regional fish to kebabs, pastry shops and even sushi and Western fast food chains. If you don’t understand the menu, don’t be afraid to ask for samples. You may even be invited into the kitchen to choose and point. It is usual to leave a 10 percent tip in cash if you eat at a restaurant. DINNER: It is possible you may meet some Turkish people who want to treat you. The protocol of Turkish hospitality dictates that the host always pays for the meal. The Western concept of sharing a bill is completely alien. You certainly don’t ask for each person to have an itemized bill like you do in America. It is polite for you to try and offer to pay, but your Turkish host will never allow you to do so. FOLKLORE AND SUPERSTITION: You will see the “evil eye” charm hanging above the door or on the wall or dangling above the dashboard of a minibus. It is everywhere. Depending on economic and religious status, people can be quite superstitious. The evil eye is considered to be the main cause of many misfortunes and you will see everywhere the large blue and white bead used to protect against it. If you have blue eyes, don’t be surprised if people stare at you -- they are not so common here. Enjoy your visit! When Turks set out on a trip they wish each other a good trip by saying, “İyi yolculuklar!” (Have a good trip!) Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey” 2005. Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com

Learn Turkish or else

While trying to work out the qualities necessary for making a go of life as an expat in Turkey, I’ve already poured cold water on the idea that only those with omnivorous appetites are likely to succeed. Flexibility?

That would have topped my list of the requisite assets even if globalization might be making it less essential than it once was. So what do other expats think? In my straw poll the answer that came over loudest and clearest was “no matter how hard it is, you must get to grips with the Turkish language.” Bodrum resident and British author of the comic expat memoir “Perking the Pansies” Jack Scott was quite clear on the matter. “Learning the lingo, at least conversationally, will really help,” he said, a view echoed by Marc Guillet, a Dutch journalist who lives in İstanbul and runs the enjoy-istanbul.com website. “The absolute number one is, do your best to learn the language. Yes, it is difficult, but whatever your level, when you start to speak some Turkish all doors will be opened for you, because trying to speak Turkish shows Turkish people that you respect their culture and language.” The same reply came in from all over the country. Duke Dillard, the American author of the CaptivatingCappadocia.com blog, recently moved to Çavuşin in Cappadocia with his family after teaching in Ankara. “I have found that the more Turkish an expat knows, the better the experience. When we lived in Ankara finding English speakers was easy, but as we learned more Turkish our relationships deepened and our understanding of what was going on around us, the hidden cues, became more clear.” A long-time Selçuk resident also listed linguistic skills as essential: “The more and more easily one can understand and communicate, the easier and more fulfilling life is likely to be. Being on the outside of what’s going on is stressful. I don’t know how couples with discordant and low levels of [understanding of] each other’s languages ever survive.” Gazipaşa resident Estella Saville, who used to lead wildflower tours of the country, said the same thing: “Above all, learn the language. Turkish people are so kind and generous and will excuse all your foibles, but if you learn a little Turkish it will go a long way.” This won’t come as good news to the many expats for whom learning a new language is akin to taking up brain surgery, or for those who have moved to Turkey later in life when it’s hard to pick up a whole new vocabulary, but there couldn’t be such unanimity of opinion were it not the case that learning Turkish is crucial. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that not knowing the language is the single biggest obstacle to settling in, now that so many of the creature comforts of home are as readily available in Turkey as anywhere else. No one expects you to become word perfect, and most Turks are extremely forgiving of even the most comical linguistic blunders. But flip the situation over and imagine what it must be like for people living in your own home country without being able to speak the language. Just think how much they miss out on. Of course it’s just the same here.

CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com

Turkish food and good manners

In my piece, “What to know when you visit Turkey” (May 1, 2012), a number of comments were posted offering other points to cover...

Ahmet sent this comment in: “What about the traffic, transportation and especially cab drivers???? They have to be careful!!!! You can give some about Turkish food... Thanks.” Thanks Ahmet, and other Today's Zaman readers, for your comments. I must admit while I was in the US for the past month that I began to miss certain Turkish dishes. Many Americans asked me about Turkish food, and they wonder what it is like. I explained Turkish food varies some from region to region. Often Americans are not familiar with the rich cultural heritage of Turkey. They do not know that some specialties came from Mongol raiders riding across the plains: yogurt and sucuk, and that southeast Turkey has a more spicy diet. Towns are famous for various things: for example, Susurluk ayran, Bursa chestnut candy and peaches, Black Sea hazelnuts and hamsi, Antep pistachios, Afyon spicy sausage and Turkish delight etc., etc. The preparation of Turkish food is an art and can be time-consuming. Turks place much emphasis on the presentation of food. In case you are not familiar with the Turkish proverb, it goes like this: “First appeal to the eyes, then fill the stomach.” Westerners always ask me what kind of meat is available and how it is served. They are surprised to hear that lamb is the most popular meat, and that beef is so expensive. I explain beef is often grilled and that kebab (cubes of meat) is common. Chicken, especially prepared with walnuts, paprika and garlic, is popular. Fish is expensive but a key ingredient. Meat is prepared according to Islamic (halal) rules. Of course, pork, ham, bacon and other pig products are banned in a halal diet. Other dishes are rice, which is served sometimes with currants, pine nuts and other spices, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables are grown in Turkey. Garlic and olives are used widely, as with much of the cuisine of the Mediterranean region. One of the things I enjoy seeing in Turkey is the rows and rows of peppers, eggplant, etc. hung out to dry. Women at certain times of the year are busy making tomato paste, pickling vegetables and drying fruit. A favorite pastime of Turks is eating. Kiosks and buffets are at the roadside, itinerant sellers carry trays of pastries on their heads, or push carts or elaborate mobile kitchens displaying their wares; from sesame seeds to sweet corn, from simit (sesame-coated bread rings) to kokoreç (grilled sheep intestine), from fish sandwiches to meatballs, all are available on the street. A typical restaurant menu will contain the following courses for you to choose from: Meze (cold starter): Usually a tray with 10 or so varieties will be shown to you. Typical selections include stuffed vine leaves or peppers (dolma), cheese, vegetables such as eggplant or okra in olive oil, spicy tomato paste, eggplant and yogurt paste, chickpea paste (hummus), potato salad and cracked wheat in tomato and chili sauce (kısır). You may choose from the selection offered on the tray. Ara sıcak (hot starter): Here you can choose from such delights as a deep-fried cheese pastry roll (sigara börekği), deep-fried ball of rice, minced meat with nuts (icli köfte), calamari, fried mussels, etc. Don't forget that the waiters will normally also bring delicious hot, fresh bread. Salata (salad): Fresh fruit and vegetables are wonderful in Turkey. The two most common types of salads are a “shepherd's salad” of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and onions (çoban salatası) and a “seasonal salad” of lettuce, grated carrots or red cabbage, tomato and cucumber slices, sweet corn and green peppers. Çorba (soup): It is worth trying lentil soup (mercimek), yogurt and rice soup (yayla), tomato (domates), chicken (tavuk) or mushroom (mantar) soups. Tripe soup (işkembe) has a strong smell and is an acquired taste. For the main course, you can choose from meat and fish. If you have room, you can finish with tatlı (dessert): This is usually very sticky. While in Turkey, you must try sheets of filo pastry soaked in syrup and sprinkled with nuts (baklava), a similar dish made with shredded wheat (kadayıf), quince in syrup (ayva tatlısı) or pumpkin in syrup (kabak tatlısı) Alternatives to syrupy desserts are milk pudding (muhallebi) or rice pudding (sütlaç). Good manners can go a long way when wanting to make a positive impression. Etiquette can vary from place to place. It is good when you can dine in or dine out with graciousness. I'll give a few helpful tips for visitors to Turkey and for Turks visiting the United States in my next piece. SOURCE: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-280229--turkish-food-and-good-manners.html

"Yes, I Would Love another Cup of Tea: An American Woman's Letters to Turkey" by Katharine Branning

A great introduction to aspects of Turkish culture - including of course Turkish tea 'cay'

This talk was presented at the Rumi Forum



The Rumi Forum presented "Yes, I Would Love another Cup of Tea: An American Woman's Letters to Turkey" by Katharine Branning

About the Book:

Yes, I Would... comprises a series of imaginary letters written to Lady Mary Montagu, whose famous Embassy Letters were written in 1716-1718 during her stay in Turkey as the wife of the English ambassador. The author uses themes dear to Lady Mary, such as culture, art, religion, women and daily life, to reflect on those same topics as encountered during the author's past 30 years of travel in Turkey.

Bio:

Katharine Branning has degrees from the University of Paris, Sorbonne and the Ecole du Louvre, where she majored in Islamic arts, with a specialty in Islamic glass. A graduate of the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science, she has been a librarian at the French Institute of Architecture in Paris, France, at the French Embassy Cultural Services and the Alliance Française in New York City. For her work promoting the French language and culture through the creation of numerous libraries in both France and the United States, she has been awarded the Ordre national du Mérite from the President of France, one of the nation's highest honors.

She has studied the Turkish language and literature at the Institute of Langues Orientales in Paris and with Prof. Talat S. Halman at New York University. As an independent researcher and glass artist, she has conducted annual field work relative to architecture and decorative arts in Turkey every year since 1978.

She currently lives in New York, where she is Vice President of Education at the French Institute Alliance Française.

Learning Turkish the hotel way

In the depths of winter I trudged down to the Belediye building one Sunday to enquire about Turkish classes. The man in the office downstairs looked gloomy. “Is everything all right?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “Everyone has problems with their water. I’m so busy.” Minutes later and I was upstairs, hunkered down in the back row of the classroom like a naughty schoolgirl who’d forgotten to bring her notebook and hoped the teacher wouldn’t notice. These Turkish classes are one of Göreme’s most exciting new ventures. All of us know that to really get to grips with the country we need to learn the language but the trouble is that here in Cappadocia we’re hundreds of kilometers away from the language schools. Before settling here I went to a school in İstanbul to make a start with the grammar, but of course if you don’t live in İstanbul and have to stay in a hotel there that pushes the cost of studying beyond the means of most people. So most Cappadocian expats have had to make do with learning as they go along, which often means knowing lots of nouns but few verbs with which to join them up. Now the authorities have decided to help by providing a free class every week. You pay your money for a textbook from Ankara and away you go. Sadly, two hours of tuition a week is not really enough to make much headway and it was obvious to me that the absolute beginners were already struggling as the teacher introduced the present tense in its positive, negative and interrogative forms all in the one session. Back in İstanbul we had twenty hours of tuition a week and a whole week would have been dedicated to those three forms alone. The other inevitable problem is that having only one class means mixed-ability teaching, something that was very a la mode when I was training to be a teacher in the UK but that never seemed to work there either. So on the day that I sat in on the class, it was obvious that there were people there who were well on their way to fluency sitting alongside those who had still to master the alphabet. This is a problem with no very obvious solution in an area where there are not enough would-be students at the various different levels to justify splitting up the group. For myself, I suspected that coming to class might be good for revision but would soon become very frustrating. Instead I’m falling back on a novel way of expanding my vocabulary, albeit one that is unlikely to prove useful on my next visit to İstanbul. When the Hezen Hotel opened in Ortahisar I assumed that “Hezen” must be the surname of the owner but oh dear me, no! A “hezen,” it turns out, is one of the tree-trunk-style rafters that I have been staring up at in the ceiling of my own bedroom for the past 10 years without ever thinking what to call them. Now we have the new Gerdiş Evi hotel in Göreme. Gerdiş? Well, that is apparently the name given to the summer-houses which my neighbors used to use in the past when they wanted to stay overnight near their fields at harvest time. Pat Yale lives in a restored cave-house in Göreme in Cappadocia. SOURCE : http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=277176

Discovering İstanbul’s hidden treasures

Ifly journalist Mike Raanhuis notes that İstanbul is still not a very common destination and therefore has many hidden treasures to write about.

Much of any airplane trip is spent killing time in eager anticipation of arriving at your desired destination, sometimes by watching a movie, sometimes by simply flipping through an in-flight magazine.

These magazines usually feature articles on the airline's various destinations, accompanied by beautiful photography and lavish page design, making for a thoroughly enjoyable read. And every so often you gain new insights about a certain location, be it a city or an entire country, as the magazine takes you on a journey to discover the hidden treasures a travel reporter has uncovered for you to find once you touch down. Today's Zaman sat down with one such reporter, Dutch journalist Mike Raanhuis, who concluded such a treasure hunt in İstanbul on Thursday for Royal Dutch Airlines' (KLM) iFly Magazine. Who chooses the destinations Raanhuis will write about? Does he get to decide himself? “Not really,” he was quick to answer, “Although I did hand in a list at the beginning of this year.” “This time around, the decision to do a story on İstanbul was made by the editorial staff of iFly Magazine,” he said. When Raanhuis came to İstanbul once before, he did not have the opportunity to get a thorough idea of the city. “I was here for just 24 hours earlier this year, so I didn't get much of a chance to see the city. I did do a Bosporus tour, which was very impressive,” Raanhuis recalled. The prospect of returning to İstanbul was thus very exciting for the Dutch journalist, as his previous visit left him curious. “In my opinion İstanbul is not a very common destination yet, which means there is still a lot for people to discover here. More so than, say, in Paris, where it is very hard to find those hidden treasures that you look for when you do an article about a city,” he explained. So what makes an article? What is Raanhuis' mission when he sets out on behalf of iFly Magazine? According to Raanhuis, that mission is twofold, as he has to balance the requirements of iFly Magazine's format, which means the article should feature some of a city's cultural aspects as well as featuring a culinary component, while showcasing the modern face of the city, with trying to give readers his personal take. “I want to inspire the readers,” he explains, adding: “I want to be able to show readers something they haven't seen before, or a part of the city they would not have considered going to, had it not been for my article.” What then is his secret for inspiring his readers? In order to inspire, Raanhuis needs to be inspired himself. “That's why I try and talk to locals,” he tells us. “To get their advice on where to go, to have them guide me through their city. It has taken me to places where not many tourists have gone before, which ties in with one of the things iFly Magazine sets out to achieve, which is to surprise even the more seasoned travelers and visitors of a given city, in this case İstanbul.” What has Raanhuis been told to go and see by the İstanbul locals? A whole variety of things, as it turns out. It depended, however, on who he talked to. “The manager of my hotel recommended I go to Bebek and have breakfast there, after which I should just stroll along the shores of the Bosporus. Or to roam the streets of Galata, where, apparently, the best hamburgers in the city are served. Another person suggested I visit Moda and check out Bağdat Caddesi in Kadıköy,” he elaborated. But does Raanhuis solely take the advice of locals? “No, I also do research at home before leaving. You have to, of course, as it helps a lot to get a better understanding of where I will be going. Last night, for instance, I had dinner at a fabulous restaurant [Sunset Grill & Bar] that I had picked myself because of its view and the very good reviews of its dishes.” In trying to put together his schedule for İstanbul, Raanhuis encountered efficiency's greatest foe in İstanbul: traffic. “I did not expect İstanbul to be so big or the traffic so heavy,” he says, laughing. “But seriously, I did a lot of great things. I visited Moda, where I took some really nice photographs. Dinner was also amazing, as I said. I strolled through Cihangir, had tea there and walked over to Tünel, exploring all those little streets that snake through the neighborhood. I ended up on some roof terrace [Balkon İstanbul], which was recommended to me when I talked to some locals at a bar. Those are the things I look for, suggestions like that. The next morning I went to Sultanahmet to take some pictures at a hamam, which is very unusual and I was lucky to have been given permission to do so. It did mean, however, that I had to be there at six in the morning [sighs]. On the other hand, that meant I had time to visit the fish market in Kadıköy. The afternoon I spent at both the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.” We told Raanhuis that the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar aren't really what one would call hidden treasures. Doesn't that conflict with his earlier statements? “I have to balance the known and the unknown,” he explains. “That is why, for instance, I chose not to go to the Galata Tower or do another Bosporus tour. And whatever your opinion on Sultanahmet, tourists are bound to end up there anyway so I might as well try and find some of the lesser known sites there, too, or highlight elements of familiar sights such as the Grand Bazaar, and put them in a new perspective,” the journalist said. As Raanhuis made for his plane we asked him what, in his opinion, makes a city trip a successful one. “For me personally it would be when a city captures my imagination, when it gets under my skin. On a professional level I would say that my trip is a success if the article manages to surprise even our more seasoned travelers.” Mike Raanhuis is an independent journalist and photographer. He has written features for KLM's iFly Magazine, various lifestyle magazines and car magazines. On top of that he conducts interviews and does corporate photography. His work can be seen on his website, www.miketekstenbeeld.nl iFly Magazine is the largest digital magazine in the Netherlands, published by KLM and available in a multitude of languages. It is read by some 1.5 million KLM customers and strives to offer its readers a “unique and authentic view on the most special destinations, people, cultures, business opportunities and international lifestyle.”