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What happened when 'Our Jen' met the Turkish youngblood, Ibo?
Maybe you've already heard the old (and mean-spirited) French joke that, "It's not possible to tell the difference between a corpse and a British-girl making love"... But when I lived and worked in Britain back in my salad-days, it didn't take long for me to realize that a cool British exterior usually camouflaged a fiery hot sensuality. And, if you're worried that such sensuality is a thing of the past, consider the following story [figuratively translated from a recent Hürriyet Gazetesi human-interest article] that drifted north to us, up along the Aegean coastal road....
The 'Mature Bride' Debate in Didim, Turkey
The number of young Turkish men wishing to marry mature British woman is gradually increasing -- in this resort community of 8,500 British-owned homes (soon to be 10,000).
It's being said that the young men are entering these romantic relationships for materialistic reasons, but the mature British women don't seem to mind. They just cite the Thailand example.
In the Thai situation, mature British men married young Thai women. So (these mature British women say) why shouldn't mature British women marry young Turkish men in Didim? Which is just what Jennis Haurthon (sic) plans to do with Ibrahim Badak...and Jennis is 28 years older than the 22 year-old Ibrahim.
The upcoming marriage (because it's been so much in the news) has become a 'cause célèbre' -- with equal numbers of supporters and detractors in the local British and Turkish communities speaking for and against it. To people who speak against their marriage plans, Jen says, 'We are in love.'
Since we're not persuaded that 'just rewards' await any of us in the hereafter for our forbearance -- we say, Go for it Jen and Ibo!
[Click following to access a fully illustrated HTML version of Mature British Brides To Be.]
About the Author(s):
Jim and (co-author) Perihan Masters are a husband and wife team, living on the Aegean Coast of Turkey just 50 miles south of Izmir. Jim was born in Shanghai, China -- of American military parentage. Peri was born on the Black Sea coast of Turkey near Trabzon, of Turkish military parentage...Enticed by a Financial Times advertisement, Jim joined a NATO sponsored enterprise in Ankara in 1974 where he met the beautiful and brainy Perihan, a rising young Turkish banking executive. Settled now in the heart of what was once the ancient Ionian Empire -- the couple live an idyllic life by the sea.. writing, drawing and painting, teaching English, and providing computing service support to local businesses. They also sponsor the MSNBC award-winning Learning Practical Turkish Website which has built an enthusiastic international following of devoted Turkophiles and inquisitive language students of all ages.
