For the 21st time, TJC is offering students and tourists the opportunity to travel to a country on the other side of the world during Spring Break 2009.
The trip will be to Western Turkey from March 6-15 and is open to everyone.
“We have people of all ages,” Dr. Manoucher Khosrowshahi, otherwise known as “Dr.K,” a TJC government instructor and project director of the trip, said. “We have a 14 and a 16-year-old who are traveling with us. This year, the oldest [participant] is like, 75.”
Students have a chance to learn outside the classroom about different cultures and visit historical sites.
“It’s a cool place to go,” Clayton Tuhanogw, a Political Science major at TJC and a Turkey exchange student, said. “Different, very different. So if people want to experience something different, they should go.”
Some of the services included in the land portion of the package are: round-trip transportation from Tyler to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, transportation by a private bus with a driver throughout the tour, hotel and airport transfers in Turkey, accommodations in twin-bedded rooms with private bathrooms, all baggage handling for check-ins and check-outs in hotels and in airports, two meals a day- including continental breakfast, an English speaking tour guide and admissions fees to the sites. Airfare is not included.
“There will be a bus waiting for us in Turkey when we get to the airport to take us to the hotel. So once we’re in the hotel, we are going to have our own private bus to take us to our sites,” Dr. K. said.
According to Dr. K. in his seminar about the trip travelers see modern and tradition, new and old, European and Asian, urban and rural, all at the same time in Turkey. Participants will be traveling to a country that is rich in art, culture, history and archaeological sites.
“It’s a very old country. There’s a lot of history there,” Marc Reimers, a Science and Nursing major and a scholarship recipient, said.
Travelers going on the Western Turkey trip will have a chance to visit Istanbul, Termessos, Hierapolis, Assos, Bosphorus, Canakkale, Dardanells, Ephesus, the Mediterranean Sea, Troy and other tourist sites.
“I’m looking forward to everything about the trip, because of Dr. K. The way that he has so meticulously planned every detail of this trip, I mean, it’s an excellent trip,” Timothy Smith II, a Mathematics major at TJC and a scholarship recipient, said. “One of the main things that I’m looking forward to doing is seeing the ruins of Troy.”
By participating in the Spring Break trip to western Turkey, students have an opportunity to receive three hours of course credit for GOV-2389 at TJC or UNIV-4369 at UT-Tyler.
The trip to Turkey costs $1,385 for the land portion plus airfare. Students will receive a $150 reduction from the original price, bringing their cost down to $1,235 plus airfare. TJC students had the opportunity to apply for partial scholarships, provided by the Student Service Fee Advisory Committee at TJC, for the trip. Participants over the age of 70 and children under the age of 18 will receive a $100 discount from the original price. Participants can compare prices and order their plane tickets online or they may contact Dr. K. to get a travel agent’s contact number.
“If the travel agent gives them a better price, they can buy the ticket from the travel agent,” Dr. K. said.
There has been a waiting list for students who have recently decided to go. If there are enough students on the waiting list, then there will be a second bus available. Availability is based on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“I’m graduating this semester and this is like an exclamation point to the end of my time at TJC,” Smith II said.
People who are interested may contact Dr. K. by phone at 903-510-2279 or by email at mkho@tjc.edu.
