We held an online meeting with Team 10 on Zoom at 6:00 p.m. Beijing Time (1:00 p.m. Turkish Time) on November 8th.
What preparations did we make for this meeting?
Burcu connected with members of our group on WeChat using the contact information provided in our briefing document. She also thoughtfully created a dedicated WeChat group to streamline communication between both parties. Additionally, she inquired about our availability for an online meeting—intended to review the briefing document and enable a brief introductory check-in. As we had classes scheduled on Thursday and Friday, we coordinated via email, WeChat, and Instagram to finalize the meeting details, confirming an online session for Saturday afternoon.
During the meeting, we greeted each other warmly, raised questions regarding both parties’ briefing documents, and the most interesting part was that Burcu and Nisa showed us Lahmacun—a traditional Turkish delicacy. Since I didn’t get a screenshot of it, I found a picture of Lahmacun online instead.
Does it look a bit like pizza? I thought so at first too, but it isn’t. Filiz explained that Lahmacun has a distinct flavor from pizza. Unlike pizza, which is topped with a variety of ingredients such as mushrooms, olives, and sausages, Lahmacun consists of minced meat mixed with chili peppers, tomato sauce, and onions, all spread over a thin piece of bread. It is then wrapped with fresh tomatoes, onions, and parsley and eaten as a roll—and it sounds absolutely delicious
Regarding the questions about our design project, due to our limited English proficiency, we had a brief discussion about the missing information that each party needs in our respective briefing documents, and decided to supplement this information on the blog.
We were truly delighted to connect with Team 10 through this opportunity—their warmth and enthusiasm were tangible, even across the screen. It was also a wonderful surprise to learn about Turkish cuisine, which added such a lovely touch to our conversation. Though we hail from different corners of the world, there’s something truly special about building connections in this way; it feels like a small but precious bridge between our cultures.
That said, we do feel a gentle regret that our limited English kept us from diving deeper into more conversations—there was so much we wanted to share and ask. Even so, we’re eager to keep nurturing this connection through our design projects moving forward. Meeting all of you has been such a joy, and we hope every day brings you the same brightness and energy you brought to our video call. Wishing you lots of happiness in your days ahead, and we’re already looking forward to our next chance to connect.
The above content is provided by Team 1.
Burcu has consistently taken the initiative to connect with us—she is the pivotal bridge that enabled our team to build ties with Team 10, and her boundless enthusiasm is truly inspiring. Filiz always responds to us with such warmth; she maintains communication via email, and has also shared countless thoughtful suggestions to help us polish our briefing documents to a higher standard. Nisa, meanwhile, never fails to reply to my messages promptly and often interacts with me on Instagram too. Every time they smile, it’s such a lovely sight—and I sincerely hope they keep this bright, joyful spirit always.
much love!!!!!! we are glad to meet you!
It is lovely to follow your communication and observe how smoothly the collaboration is developing.
we are glad that we met! We really enjoyed our firts meeting, and really sorry we couldnt stay longer due to our project. we submitted one of our main project, so currently i’d say we are not that swamped. When both parties are available lets meet again this time longer for sure!!! Please dont feel discouraged by languae barries, we also have it! through time, our sincerity, communication, and how to perceive each other we will be better!!!!
Take really care until next time!
Looking forward to our next meeting！
Also I’m glad you are interested in lahmacun :DD next time we’ll try to introduce more Turkish cuisine as well!
Hey Xiaqing, your words are super sweet, and honestly, we’re so glad to have connected with you! It’s awesome how you always take the initiative to reach out; we really appreciate that.
We’re sorry we were out dealing with another project submission during the Zoom call. We really wish we could have chatted longer and shared more stuff! Good news is, we finally submitted it, so we can now dedicate much more time here and expect to speed up quickly! Thanks for your understanding.
And seriously, don’t worry about the language thing—just like Burcu said, we all have it, and there are tons of ways to connect! We were really happy that you found our shared stuff interesting.
I’m super excited about what we’ll be sharing this semester. Also, we’d absolutely love it if you could share cool things from your own culture with us!
Looking forward to our next meeting！
I’m truly pleased I had the opportunity to meet you. It was especially nice that we could connect via video , even if it was online, rather than just communicating in writing. I also want to thank you for our collaboration and communication so far.
Looking forward to our next meeting！