Teasing out Turkish Tendencies

We've collected and discussed the many cultural traits that we've observed among the Turks. Here are a few:

1. Turks love children.
They absolutely dote on children, their own & others'. We constantly see adults (men too) cooing, hugging, & kissing children. Their affection is heartwarming, and we wish that we possessed this kind of open love for children in the states as well. Kids everywhere are happy, content, & fulfilled. Robby commented yesterday, 'Wow, adulthood must be a big disappointment when these kids grow up.' Strangers do not hesitate to pat the head of someone else's kid. Why don't we have these habits in the U.S.? Is it parents' perpetual fear of abductions & kidnappings? Why are we afraid to engage with strangers' children? Are we afraid of being perceived as deviants?

We've also noticed that adults don't spoil their kids; parents don't fawn over crying babies. Moreover, many families have more than 2 children, so I figure that parents cannot afford to cater to every child's minor needs.

2. Turks blink both eyes as a sign of affirmation.
We noticed this custom as soon as we arrived in Istanbul. As a friendly sign of confirmatıon, Turks will blink both eyes. We like it, it's cute. We'd like to adopt this habit in our own daily interactions. Robby tried it once, but he talked through the blinking & that didn't work. They don't talk through the blinking; it's more like a pause.

3. There are stray dogs & cats everywhere. Mostly cats.
Robby and I have found great pleasure in feeding our leftovers to stray cats. Yesterday, after being scammed over our dinner, Robby carried out our grilled fish head & fed a stray cat. Unsuspectingly, the cat's fleas migrated to my legs, & I was bit 4 times. But, still, we felt satisfied to help a hungry feline.

Many Turks ignore the stray animals, which are generally stoic towards people. But they are very friendly with one another. For example, we saw three large dogs in Kaş's town square playing with one another as a group of kids played soccer next to them. In Cyprus, there was a family of cats (a mother & 5 medium-sized kittens) that hung around our resort. Robby & I first fed strays here. Robby was especially worried about the runt who was constantly bullied by his siblings.

He has concluded that children & animals are pretty happy in Turkey.

4. Aggressive Turkish salespeople often mistake me for Japanese.
'Konichawa!' I hear this everywhere in Istanbul's Grand Bazzar. I don't know how to respond. Sure, I have seen only a handful of Chinese tourists in Turkey, and the only tourists in Istanbul are Japanese. All I can say was, 'Çine', which means Chinese in Turkish. All the same, I find it pretty annoying. I want to say, 'Merhaba?! Çine!' which means, 'Hello?! Chinese!' which also means that I'd have to shake my chin side to side - an American reaction they wouldn't understand.

5. Salespeople can be pushy & irksome.
This is a definite turn off for us. Whenever we walk by a bazaar, someone undoubtedly asks, 'Where are you from?' When we show we lack interest & continue walking, he will say, 'Wait, just one more thing I want to ask you...'
At first we would politely engage the salespeople in conversation, but after we realized that they were hawking their wares, we would try to cut off the dialogue in a friendly way. This is a cultural practice we're simply not accustomed to. Robby is convinced that Turkish people don't like this method as well.