This blog has been temporarily delayed due to an incident involving lost luggage, rain, getting lost in an unfamiliar city, not having my reading glasses, being an idiot, losing the address of my hotel, unspecified, embarrassing medical issues, and general dweebiness on the part of Ken Wade.

Everything is back on track, however, and I hope you will continue to follow the adventures of Clueless in Wonderland.

OK, Istanbul is a fabulous city with enough excitement, adventure, history, wonder, and variety to occupy the mind and body of any reasonably sentient human being for a lifetime. When you are tired of Istanbul, you are tired of life, to misquote Dr. Johnson.

Therefore, it has become time for me to hop on a long-distance coach and spend some time getting to know Turkey's third largest city and second largest port, Izmir (Smyrna)

Previously, I spoke briefly about the seven hour bus/ferry ride to Izmir, the gem of the Aegean and the very kind young woman who allowed me to interview her at length, but today I want to say a few words about Efe Aydal, an aspiring journalist, teacher, martial arts expert, full-time video blogger and astronomer.

I was introduced to Efe Aydal by my daughter, Visi, who teaches Kindergarten in Japan. Apparently, this Internet thing allows people to connect with other folks anywhere in the world!

What a fascinating concept.

Efe is a recent graduate Ege University (University of the Aegean) who has served his time in the Turkish military. Because of quotas applied to his academic major (Astronomy), Efe is not allowed to apply for a teaching credential and he doesn't want to be a salesman.

He devotes much of his time to a video blog in which he furiously takes on injustice, hatred, stupid people, the government, international relations, martial arts, anime, tourists

The good news is that he had free time to introduce me to his friend, Murat Özdemir, who is on his way to being a medical doctor and whose father is an Alevi. The Alevi are a branch of Islam practiced almost entirely by Turks. Many fundamentalists do not consider Alevi to be "real" Moslems, so they have some interesting viewpoints on the rights of minorities in Turkey.

Efe and "The Doctor" met me at the Bornova metro stop in a north east suburb of Izmir where Ege University is located. They showed me the gem of the student quarter; the new Ikea.

In this shiny, modern super-store I could see Turks of all social levels deciding which aspects of 21st century life they would add to their homes and apartments. By the way, the strange looking faux-Swedish names that IKEA uses to brand all the goods don't look strange at all to a Turkish speaker.

The highlight of our conversation about secularism and religion took place in the high-tech cafeteria. Delighted by the great desserts, exotic foods and unlimited free refils on coffee and soft drinks, Efe and Murat opened a window into the lives of young, intellectual, Western-oriented citizens of the Republic.

I believe the progressive attitudes of Efe and Murat represent the future for Turkey. They don't necessarily want to BE Westerners, but they appreciate the technological and social benefits of Western society and they are not afraid to embrace the best of the West.

The next day, Efe took me to the Izmir International Fairgrounds, gave me a extensive tour of his University including a great stroll through the student quarter of Burnova and then we rode the train and ferry from one end of Izmir to the other.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, STUDENTS! Champlain student Daniel Dickerson is a highly trained professional.

I'm sorry that I missed visiting many museums and archeological sites, but I loved the "ground-level" view of how people live day to day in an emerging and important, secular Moslem nation.

The International Fairgrounds in the middle of Izmir is host to dozens of world class conferences and trade events. The immaculate grounds are dotted with museums, meeting halls, striking sculpture, fountains, people having picnics and, of course, an amusement park.

Guess what my favorite part might be?

The young people I met in this vast country give me a very good feeling about the future of this pivotal, crossroad nation.

Turkey is a country to be watched. The Ministry of Trade expresses the optimistic view that Turkey will be the 7th or 8th largest world economy within the next 40 years. Turkey has untapped mineral and energy resources, a hard-working, ambitious population, tremendous national pride and, in my opinion the most important asset of all - WATER.

Efe and Murat and Kadriye are aware of their culture, history and responsibilities to the world, but they are not trapped by tradition or by ideologies which stress differences and divisions between people.

Stand up for your beliefs, your freedoms and your role in shaping a peaceful 21st century, Turkey.

America's rooting for you.

Well, at least I am. [g]

Ken