>That's interesting Metin, but sad. I actually heard another Turkish gentleman make a similar statement. I thought at the time it was just one man's opinion. He told me that in Turkey, no matter how hard you work, you will never get ahead. All you end up doing is sacrificing time with your family to no end. He planned on staying in the U.S. until he had enough money to take care of his entire family and retire in Turkey. He always planned on returning home one day though.

That's the typical gastarbeiter story - they (um, we) all plan to return home once, preferably in a Mercedes or a beemer, build a house, and be everyone's envy. Most never come back, once their kids get married to indigenous population and their grandchildren don't speak their language.

Don't look at me - we already had a house before we ventured into this, I don't give a damn about big cars, and the plan is to half-return... i.e. live half a year there half here when I retire.