Well our 2nd day in Antalya included a visit to some waterfalls, a boat tour around the coastline of the city, a walking tour of the old city, lunch along the river, then a dinner. We eat a lot and have tea just about every time we meet someone - it seems to be a gesture of friendship used to start a conversation or any kind of transaction. One of the businessmen I sat next to for a dinner did confirm what I'd thought, and that is the relationship is just as important, if not slightly more important when doing business in Turkey.
You can see the effects of the world economic down-turn here but at least from those I've spoken too its not been as bad as in other places. Some of that is because they didn't have a lot of their economy wrapped up in the banking or housing industry. The unemployment rate was already high, but at least our guide believes that the number is overstated because some are working perhaps as individual contractors but not reporting the work for tax reasons. Energy costs are also high here - auto fuel is about 1.80 per liter (slightly more than a quarter of a gallon). There seems to be a large tax on everything here.
A few more conversations about the educational system today, and how working with students is changing along with the students. Perhaps more on that after tomorrow's visits in Konya (a five hour bus ride).
Interesting what you say about the importance of relationships. In China, that is known as Guanxi.
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