Wow... I can't believe its been 4 months in Istanbul. If someone told me a year ago that I would be studying abroad in Turkey I would have just laughed and thought they were crazy! It's been a fun ride with some bumpy parts along the way, but that's life! I've got two more tests on Tuesday and Wednesday before my flight on Friday. I had my first final on Thursday afternoon and it was much easier than I expected. It was two essay questions and two short answers that were much open ended and objective than I expected. My professor wrote on the top that she wanted the essay to be mostly our opinion. A welcome break from merely writing every fact that I've learned over the semester! I had another test on Friday night that I studied all day for. I arrived at the room for the exam and our professor informed us that it was going to be an open book/note essay test due Sunday at 5 pm. I was pretty upset at first because I had just spent the entire day studying for the class and wanted it done with, but I really shouldn't complain to having an additional two days or to being able to use my notes and readings. Below you'll find my list of things that I want to do in Boston next year. It's just what I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm open to suggestions!
1. Visit the Museum of Science (I think I've been talking about visiting since Freshman year, but haven't actually gone... it's a must)
2. Take in a game at Fenway (Preferably a playoff game, but we'll see what happens the rest of the season... If they make the playoffs I'll spend the money to get a ticket!)
3. Tour the Sam Adams Brewery (I'm not that big of a drinker, but Sam Adams Summer Ale is quite good... Plus, who can turn down a free tour and free sampling of various beers)
4. New England Holocaust Museum
5. Attend a Boston Pops Concert
6. Outdoor concert at the Boston Commons
7. Boston Auto Show (Didn't even know they had one in Boston... Remind me to check this again in September to find out the date!)
8. Visit the North End
9. Beantown Jazz Festival
10. Attend a few Celtics games
Well that's just a few for now, but I'm sure I'll think of more. Might have to get a tripadvisor book for Boston! Not sure if I'll post again while in Istanbul, but I can't wait to see everyone at home. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed what I had to say!
See you soon,
Brett
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Hello Again,
School is winding down. Can't believe I'm going to be home in two weeks. I'm excited to return, but I'm really starting to feel as if Istanbul and the university are my second home. I guess that's a good thing! It's been a long four months, but it's been worth it. I've been busy the past few days getting papers written. I've got 2 down and 1 to go. So far I've written two 8 page book reports and now I have to write a 10 page research paper on the evolution of the EU response to terrorism since the 2004 Madrid Bombings and the 2005 London Bombings. I'm hoping to have it written by Saturday so that Sunday I can go to Princes Island. After that's done, I've got 4 finals and then its SUMMER!! The University has been quite "alive" the past few days. This weekend is International Sports Fest. It's kind of like the olympics for college. There's teams from all over the world (Russia, Croatia, Denmark, UK, Germany, Russia to name a few) at the University to compete in lots of different sports. Last night, there was an opening ceremony held at the stadium next to my dorm. The opening ceremony was much the same as the olympics with all the teams entering onto the track with their flags, their were fireworks, and the singing of the Turkish national anthem. It was really cool! The only downside is that I can't play basketball over the weekend because the courts are being used for games.
Over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about my experiences from the trip and I wanted to write about what I've learned from coming to Turkey. I think the most common question I get is why did I want to come to Turkey? I've always given the generic answer: I'm studying the Middle East and I wanted to go somewhere different, but I don't think that's really why I came. I think I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of going to a country where I didn't know the language, didn't know a single person, and a long ways from home. Deciding to come to Turkey was a spontaneous decision. I remember sitting in my room, going through my emails and saw one from the study abroad office. On a whim, I contacted the office and made an appointment to talk about the trip to Turkey. I think I was drawn to the program because it represented such a gigantic challenge and it was completely out of comfort zone. Since arriving, I've learned that I shouldn't be afraid to try something new. I can accomplish anything if I have the right mindset and the dedication to get it done.
In Boston, I haven't taken advantage of seeing the city. I've remained confined to the parameters of the BU campus and I can't really say that I know Boston. Leaving my dorm room and hopping on the T to explore the city was never something I did, but its what I want to do next year. Being in Istanbul, I was forced to figure everything out on my own from the food, to the transportation system, to the language barrier. Therefore, I could say that I have pretty good excuse for not seeing the city. Let me tell you, its scary trying to see a city when you have no idea where you're going and everyone looks at you strangely, and you don't speak the language. In Istanbul, I've had plenty of excuses for not leaving my dorm and seeing the sights, but after the first couple weeks here I had to make a decision not to let that stop me, and I didn't. I'm proud of myself for figuring out a strange and foreign city on my own. When I get home, seeing Boston should be a breeze and if I fail to see the city the blame falls on me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that being in Istanbul has taught me that its okay to be scared of new surroundings, but if I don't take advantage of everything around me, I'll regret it in the future.
I've learned that life is just one big adventure. Someday, when I have kids I want to be able to tell them that they should take advantage of every opportunity, but when I do say that I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to stop being cautious and start taking risks. Some opportunities only come around once in life and I don't want to have regrets about something I did not do. I think my family would definitely describe me as cheap. I hardly ever spend my money. I rationalize not purchasing something or doing a social activity because I might need the money in the future. But what's in the future that can't be done today? For 22 years, I've lived with the goals of saving my money for the big purchases I'll have to make post college like a car, house, etc. As a friend told me on the trip, money can be replaced through hard work, but opportunities might not come twice. When I get home, I want to start living more in the moment and stop thinking about 5 years from now. It's okay to be thrifty and savvy, but its a problem if I'm cheap.
I think going abroad was the best decision I could have made. I don't think I can give an exact reason as to why I wanted to come. When I made the decision to come, I needed to escape from Boston and the US. I was becoming too comfortable with who I was, and being Istanbul has helped me grow as an individual. I've gained a new perspective on not just the world, but myself as well. I think I'll come home a different person with a new perspective on living. One willing to embrace all opportunities that come my way and willing to try new things.
I've still got a couple more blog entries left to write on my plans for Boston and the things I most miss from home, but I wanted to thank everyone for reading my blog. I've loved reading the comments and receiving the emails.
Talk later... Brett
School is winding down. Can't believe I'm going to be home in two weeks. I'm excited to return, but I'm really starting to feel as if Istanbul and the university are my second home. I guess that's a good thing! It's been a long four months, but it's been worth it. I've been busy the past few days getting papers written. I've got 2 down and 1 to go. So far I've written two 8 page book reports and now I have to write a 10 page research paper on the evolution of the EU response to terrorism since the 2004 Madrid Bombings and the 2005 London Bombings. I'm hoping to have it written by Saturday so that Sunday I can go to Princes Island. After that's done, I've got 4 finals and then its SUMMER!! The University has been quite "alive" the past few days. This weekend is International Sports Fest. It's kind of like the olympics for college. There's teams from all over the world (Russia, Croatia, Denmark, UK, Germany, Russia to name a few) at the University to compete in lots of different sports. Last night, there was an opening ceremony held at the stadium next to my dorm. The opening ceremony was much the same as the olympics with all the teams entering onto the track with their flags, their were fireworks, and the singing of the Turkish national anthem. It was really cool! The only downside is that I can't play basketball over the weekend because the courts are being used for games.
Over the past few days, I've been thinking a lot about my experiences from the trip and I wanted to write about what I've learned from coming to Turkey. I think the most common question I get is why did I want to come to Turkey? I've always given the generic answer: I'm studying the Middle East and I wanted to go somewhere different, but I don't think that's really why I came. I think I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of going to a country where I didn't know the language, didn't know a single person, and a long ways from home. Deciding to come to Turkey was a spontaneous decision. I remember sitting in my room, going through my emails and saw one from the study abroad office. On a whim, I contacted the office and made an appointment to talk about the trip to Turkey. I think I was drawn to the program because it represented such a gigantic challenge and it was completely out of comfort zone. Since arriving, I've learned that I shouldn't be afraid to try something new. I can accomplish anything if I have the right mindset and the dedication to get it done.
In Boston, I haven't taken advantage of seeing the city. I've remained confined to the parameters of the BU campus and I can't really say that I know Boston. Leaving my dorm room and hopping on the T to explore the city was never something I did, but its what I want to do next year. Being in Istanbul, I was forced to figure everything out on my own from the food, to the transportation system, to the language barrier. Therefore, I could say that I have pretty good excuse for not seeing the city. Let me tell you, its scary trying to see a city when you have no idea where you're going and everyone looks at you strangely, and you don't speak the language. In Istanbul, I've had plenty of excuses for not leaving my dorm and seeing the sights, but after the first couple weeks here I had to make a decision not to let that stop me, and I didn't. I'm proud of myself for figuring out a strange and foreign city on my own. When I get home, seeing Boston should be a breeze and if I fail to see the city the blame falls on me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that being in Istanbul has taught me that its okay to be scared of new surroundings, but if I don't take advantage of everything around me, I'll regret it in the future.
I've learned that life is just one big adventure. Someday, when I have kids I want to be able to tell them that they should take advantage of every opportunity, but when I do say that I don't want to be a hypocrite. I want to stop being cautious and start taking risks. Some opportunities only come around once in life and I don't want to have regrets about something I did not do. I think my family would definitely describe me as cheap. I hardly ever spend my money. I rationalize not purchasing something or doing a social activity because I might need the money in the future. But what's in the future that can't be done today? For 22 years, I've lived with the goals of saving my money for the big purchases I'll have to make post college like a car, house, etc. As a friend told me on the trip, money can be replaced through hard work, but opportunities might not come twice. When I get home, I want to start living more in the moment and stop thinking about 5 years from now. It's okay to be thrifty and savvy, but its a problem if I'm cheap.
I think going abroad was the best decision I could have made. I don't think I can give an exact reason as to why I wanted to come. When I made the decision to come, I needed to escape from Boston and the US. I was becoming too comfortable with who I was, and being Istanbul has helped me grow as an individual. I've gained a new perspective on not just the world, but myself as well. I think I'll come home a different person with a new perspective on living. One willing to embrace all opportunities that come my way and willing to try new things.
I've still got a couple more blog entries left to write on my plans for Boston and the things I most miss from home, but I wanted to thank everyone for reading my blog. I've loved reading the comments and receiving the emails.
Talk later... Brett
Monday, May 17, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Can't believe I only have a little over two weeks left here. I've had fun, but I'm ready for home. Classes end on May 27th and then I have four finals before leaving for Boston on the 4th. Between now and then, I have two papers to finish (basically done with both) and a 10 page essay that I need to begin. The 10 page research paper should be pretty interesting. I'm writing about the evolution of the EU's response to terrorism since the Madrid and London bombings in 2004. I'm writing it for what I thought would be my favorite class: European Foreign and Security Policy. Unfortunately, the class has only touched briefly on security issues and instead has focused almost entirely on economics. My professor, who I have since found out is trained as an economist, attempts to tie all the issues to security, but only in the vaguest possible sense. Besides for the paper, I have a birthday party to attend tomorrow night and a holiday on Wednesday. This weekend I want to go to Princes Island for the day (check out the wikipedia page for more info) and back to the Sirkeci Konak hotel for tea with the staff. However, I may save the trip to the hotel for my last day in the city.
On Saturday I went with three other people to the Istanbul equivalent of Embassy Row in D.C. Located in historic Taksim, many of the embassies are located along Istiklal Caddesi. Unfortunately, the US embassy is not located on the street, but I was able to see the British Consulate, the Netherlands Consulate, the Russian Consulate, the Australian Consulate, the Swedish Consulate, and the French Embassy. The buildings housing the embassies are really grand and beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and I was afraid of rain so I decided not to bring my camera. Plus, its nice to just walk around without always stopping to take photos! We walked for maybe three miles and had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Now that the weather is nice all the restaurants are offering seating outside. I'm definitely glad I was in Istanbul during the Spring because it has been beautiful. Since the end of April its only rained once or twice and its been in the 70s everyday... my kind of weather!
Alright that's all for now. If I make it to Princes Island I'll definitely write about that, but with exams coming up and papers to write I may not write too many more posts. However, I've got a few ideas for my last couple posts. So stay tuned for posts about what I learned about myself while abroad, what I missed most/what I did not miss most about the States while being away, and my plans to explore Boston as much as possible next year. Can't believe that I'm graduating in less than a year... Yikes!!!
Talk soon... Love, Brett
Can't believe I only have a little over two weeks left here. I've had fun, but I'm ready for home. Classes end on May 27th and then I have four finals before leaving for Boston on the 4th. Between now and then, I have two papers to finish (basically done with both) and a 10 page essay that I need to begin. The 10 page research paper should be pretty interesting. I'm writing about the evolution of the EU's response to terrorism since the Madrid and London bombings in 2004. I'm writing it for what I thought would be my favorite class: European Foreign and Security Policy. Unfortunately, the class has only touched briefly on security issues and instead has focused almost entirely on economics. My professor, who I have since found out is trained as an economist, attempts to tie all the issues to security, but only in the vaguest possible sense. Besides for the paper, I have a birthday party to attend tomorrow night and a holiday on Wednesday. This weekend I want to go to Princes Island for the day (check out the wikipedia page for more info) and back to the Sirkeci Konak hotel for tea with the staff. However, I may save the trip to the hotel for my last day in the city.
On Saturday I went with three other people to the Istanbul equivalent of Embassy Row in D.C. Located in historic Taksim, many of the embassies are located along Istiklal Caddesi. Unfortunately, the US embassy is not located on the street, but I was able to see the British Consulate, the Netherlands Consulate, the Russian Consulate, the Australian Consulate, the Swedish Consulate, and the French Embassy. The buildings housing the embassies are really grand and beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and I was afraid of rain so I decided not to bring my camera. Plus, its nice to just walk around without always stopping to take photos! We walked for maybe three miles and had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Now that the weather is nice all the restaurants are offering seating outside. I'm definitely glad I was in Istanbul during the Spring because it has been beautiful. Since the end of April its only rained once or twice and its been in the 70s everyday... my kind of weather!
Alright that's all for now. If I make it to Princes Island I'll definitely write about that, but with exams coming up and papers to write I may not write too many more posts. However, I've got a few ideas for my last couple posts. So stay tuned for posts about what I learned about myself while abroad, what I missed most/what I did not miss most about the States while being away, and my plans to explore Boston as much as possible next year. Can't believe that I'm graduating in less than a year... Yikes!!!
Talk soon... Love, Brett
Thursday, May 6, 2010
More Adventures!
Thanks to an email from Mom I have finally remembered what we did on Thursday! After talking to another guest at the hotel, she recommended that we get an early start to the day to avoid hawkers and shop owners on the street. It seemed that everywhere we go shop owners would be standing outside their stores yelling at us and trying to encourage use to go in inside and spend our money. Bailey, the typical New Yorker, was able to ignore their pleas; however, Mom and I were more apt to engage in conversation. Regardless, Thursday started with another delicious breakfast at the hotel and then a return to the Grand Bazaar. As this was our second visit, I was under the impression that the Bazaar would be a quick visit for Mom and Bailey to go back to the same scarf store from Tuesday to search for a few more. However, the minutes slowly ticked by and when they were finally ready to leave it had been an hour. Let's hope everyone likes their scarves!
After the Grand Bazaar we walked through the cobble stones streets towards the water where the Spice market is located. The spice market is a long hallway full of small shops/stands selling dried fruits, teas, herbs, spices, and many different varieties of nuts. The best part was that many shops offered small samples of their different foods. Every shop seemed to sell the same thing. All I could think about was how the shopkeepers would be so much better off if they created one giant store than individual ones selling identical products. However, that would completely ruin the image of the Spice Bazaar and would make it more like a Sam's Club or supermarket.
In the afternoon, we went to Topkapi Palace to visit the Harem. The Harem was home to the Sultan's mother, the concubines, the wives of the sultan, his family, and their servants. Located within the private apartments of the sultan, the Harem once contained over 400 rooms; however, our tour of the harem consisted of about 20. Unfortunately, its hard to describe the Harem so that someone who hadn't been there could understand, but suffice it to say the architecture, the design, and the overall concept of the building was quite amazing to see and imagine. Check out pictures on google and shutterfly to get a better understanding of what it looks like.
At 5, Mom and Bailey participated in a complimentary wine tasting at the hotel while I jogged away on the treadmill! Somehow, we had managed to skip lunch, and by the time the wine tasting ended at 6:30 I was ravenous. While Mom and I went to eat dinner at a "traditional" Turkish restaurant Bailey stayed at the hotel to prepare for her "date." I don't want to spoil Bailey's story and undoubtedly I won't accurately state the details, but I'll give a brief run down. On the flight from JFK to Istanbul, one of the Turkish flight attendants, Adem, took quite the liking to Bailey. It also just so happened that his best friend worked at the hotel we were staying at. Not knowing who his friend was, several nights earlier Bailey asked our waiter at the hotel if he knew Adem... turns out Adem was one of his best friends! Ten minutes later the waiter, Engin, reappeared holding the phone out to Bailey. After hearing Bailey's story, Engin had called his friend and told him what was happening! Long story short, Adem asked to see Bailey and they set a date for Thursday night.
After a quick dinner of lamb kebabs with rice and vegetables, Mom and I returned to the hotel to meet Adem before they left. We spent about 30 minutes talking with him. He was extremely nice, but very nervous. He kept playing with his hands, laughing nervously, and squeezing my shoulders. Bailey and Adem left for dinner by the water around 8:30. After a few games of backgammon Mom and I went to bed. Not until Friday morning did I learn that Bailey had been out till past midnight! Turns out Adem is not her knight in shining armor! Oh, and even more weird of a coincidence is that he also happened to be their flight attendant on the way home! Some might call this fate....
Needless to say, Bailey and Mom were both very tired Friday morning, but we still went to the archaeology museum. I think of all the places I've been in Istanbul this is my favorite museum. Unfortunately, to see everything you'd have to spend at least a day at the museum. The museum itself was endless; stretching through many hallways and floors. I thought it was never going to end. We ended up spending about 3 hours at the museum and only saw half of it. In the afternoon, Bailey and Mom went for a Turkish bath while hung out reading my new books and using the treadmill. I had been skeptical of doing a Turkish bath because the concept of it freaks me out a little, but I'm going to do it before I leave. Who knows if I'll ever be back, so I might as well do it once! After the bath, we met back in the lobby for cooking lessons. There were about 12 of us participating in the cooking lesson and we were led into the kitchen and given chefs hats and aprons. Each of us was given a cutting board and knife. I wish I could remember what we made, but I don't! I think Mom has the recipe. We made a traditional appetizer and main course. It was a lot of fun because we were all actively involved. The chef, who spoke very little English, would show us what to do and then we "attempted" to do the same. Afterwards, we were led back to the dining room and given a complimentary meal of what we had made. Unfortunately, using the treadmill had suppressed my appetite and I was not hungry until after the meal ended. With the dinner complete, I walked to a small food stand by the water and ordered a döner sandwich. Doner is the term for the rotating roasting meet found outside of many cafes and small restaurants. Traditionally, the meat is lamb, but I chose to have chicken. The meat is suspended vertically and is cut off horizontally. Next, the meat is placed between fresh bread (pita roll or french bread) and topped with lettuce, tomato, and spices. Its delicious and the meat is very tender and juicy. I topped the meal off with an chocolate and vanilla ice cream bar that was quite tasty!
That pretty much completes the week. It was awesome, and I am really glad that Mom and Bailey were able to visit. It gives me the extra push needed to make it through the last four weeks. I'm really enjoying my time here, but I'm definitely looking forward to coming home.
That's all for now. Hope everything is well at home!
Love,
Brett
After the Grand Bazaar we walked through the cobble stones streets towards the water where the Spice market is located. The spice market is a long hallway full of small shops/stands selling dried fruits, teas, herbs, spices, and many different varieties of nuts. The best part was that many shops offered small samples of their different foods. Every shop seemed to sell the same thing. All I could think about was how the shopkeepers would be so much better off if they created one giant store than individual ones selling identical products. However, that would completely ruin the image of the Spice Bazaar and would make it more like a Sam's Club or supermarket.
In the afternoon, we went to Topkapi Palace to visit the Harem. The Harem was home to the Sultan's mother, the concubines, the wives of the sultan, his family, and their servants. Located within the private apartments of the sultan, the Harem once contained over 400 rooms; however, our tour of the harem consisted of about 20. Unfortunately, its hard to describe the Harem so that someone who hadn't been there could understand, but suffice it to say the architecture, the design, and the overall concept of the building was quite amazing to see and imagine. Check out pictures on google and shutterfly to get a better understanding of what it looks like.
At 5, Mom and Bailey participated in a complimentary wine tasting at the hotel while I jogged away on the treadmill! Somehow, we had managed to skip lunch, and by the time the wine tasting ended at 6:30 I was ravenous. While Mom and I went to eat dinner at a "traditional" Turkish restaurant Bailey stayed at the hotel to prepare for her "date." I don't want to spoil Bailey's story and undoubtedly I won't accurately state the details, but I'll give a brief run down. On the flight from JFK to Istanbul, one of the Turkish flight attendants, Adem, took quite the liking to Bailey. It also just so happened that his best friend worked at the hotel we were staying at. Not knowing who his friend was, several nights earlier Bailey asked our waiter at the hotel if he knew Adem... turns out Adem was one of his best friends! Ten minutes later the waiter, Engin, reappeared holding the phone out to Bailey. After hearing Bailey's story, Engin had called his friend and told him what was happening! Long story short, Adem asked to see Bailey and they set a date for Thursday night.
After a quick dinner of lamb kebabs with rice and vegetables, Mom and I returned to the hotel to meet Adem before they left. We spent about 30 minutes talking with him. He was extremely nice, but very nervous. He kept playing with his hands, laughing nervously, and squeezing my shoulders. Bailey and Adem left for dinner by the water around 8:30. After a few games of backgammon Mom and I went to bed. Not until Friday morning did I learn that Bailey had been out till past midnight! Turns out Adem is not her knight in shining armor! Oh, and even more weird of a coincidence is that he also happened to be their flight attendant on the way home! Some might call this fate....
Needless to say, Bailey and Mom were both very tired Friday morning, but we still went to the archaeology museum. I think of all the places I've been in Istanbul this is my favorite museum. Unfortunately, to see everything you'd have to spend at least a day at the museum. The museum itself was endless; stretching through many hallways and floors. I thought it was never going to end. We ended up spending about 3 hours at the museum and only saw half of it. In the afternoon, Bailey and Mom went for a Turkish bath while hung out reading my new books and using the treadmill. I had been skeptical of doing a Turkish bath because the concept of it freaks me out a little, but I'm going to do it before I leave. Who knows if I'll ever be back, so I might as well do it once! After the bath, we met back in the lobby for cooking lessons. There were about 12 of us participating in the cooking lesson and we were led into the kitchen and given chefs hats and aprons. Each of us was given a cutting board and knife. I wish I could remember what we made, but I don't! I think Mom has the recipe. We made a traditional appetizer and main course. It was a lot of fun because we were all actively involved. The chef, who spoke very little English, would show us what to do and then we "attempted" to do the same. Afterwards, we were led back to the dining room and given a complimentary meal of what we had made. Unfortunately, using the treadmill had suppressed my appetite and I was not hungry until after the meal ended. With the dinner complete, I walked to a small food stand by the water and ordered a döner sandwich. Doner is the term for the rotating roasting meet found outside of many cafes and small restaurants. Traditionally, the meat is lamb, but I chose to have chicken. The meat is suspended vertically and is cut off horizontally. Next, the meat is placed between fresh bread (pita roll or french bread) and topped with lettuce, tomato, and spices. Its delicious and the meat is very tender and juicy. I topped the meal off with an chocolate and vanilla ice cream bar that was quite tasty!
That pretty much completes the week. It was awesome, and I am really glad that Mom and Bailey were able to visit. It gives me the extra push needed to make it through the last four weeks. I'm really enjoying my time here, but I'm definitely looking forward to coming home.
That's all for now. Hope everything is well at home!
Love,
Brett
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Vacation Continued
We began wednesday bright and early by opening a few of my birthday gifts. It was nice to be able to open a few gifts. I loved getting three new books, a couple magazines, and a variety of snack foods from Bailey! Since we didn't make it to the University on Tuesday we went today. To get to the school, we took the tram and a bus. In all, the trip took about an hour which gives you a good idea of how far away I am from the heart of the city. We got off the bus a few stops early so that Mom and Bailey could see the main street, Nispetiye Caddessi, that I am on. After a brief stop at the superdorm which both Mom and Bailey described as being cold and uninviting we walked the fifteen minutes to the campus. Luckily, we had beautiful weather and we were able to get some really nice photos of the campus with the flowers blooming and the bosphorus in the background. Speaking of which, new photos are up on shutterfly. From the university, we walked down the hill to Bebek, the wealthy neighborhood near the school along the water. I wish that you could all see the hills in Istanbul. You have to be in great shape to even think about walking up (or down) one. We went to the "Happily Ever After" cafe for lunch where Mom and my meals added together did not equal the cost of Bailey's fish that was served whole on the plate. I think she had about four bites of it! After lunch, we worked our way back to the hotel via the bus and the tram.
Unbeknownst to me the hotel had a birthday surprise of its for me. While sitting in the lobby checking my email the lights dimmed and about 8 staff members came out singing happy birthday and carrying a cake. To top it off, I was given a wrapped president containing a really nice tea cup and saucer set. I think everyone sitting in the lobby was glad it was my birthday as they got a piece of cake too! After dinner, Mom and Bailey surprised me in the room with hostess cupcakes for the three of us! They were quite tasty.
I was going to write about Thursday as well, but I'm completely forgetting what we did so I'll have to wait till tomorrow to do that. Instead, I'll go back and finish some reading for class. Now that there's only a few weeks left in the semester I have a lot of papers and projects do.
I'll write more tomorrow,
Brett
Unbeknownst to me the hotel had a birthday surprise of its for me. While sitting in the lobby checking my email the lights dimmed and about 8 staff members came out singing happy birthday and carrying a cake. To top it off, I was given a wrapped president containing a really nice tea cup and saucer set. I think everyone sitting in the lobby was glad it was my birthday as they got a piece of cake too! After dinner, Mom and Bailey surprised me in the room with hostess cupcakes for the three of us! They were quite tasty.
I was going to write about Thursday as well, but I'm completely forgetting what we did so I'll have to wait till tomorrow to do that. Instead, I'll go back and finish some reading for class. Now that there's only a few weeks left in the semester I have a lot of papers and projects do.
I'll write more tomorrow,
Brett
Monday, May 3, 2010
Spring Break with Bailey and Mom
Hey Guys,
Sorry for the delay in writing, but I've been busy catching up on work in preparation for this week. Unless I'm feeling super ambitious I probably won't write about each day that Mom and Bailey were here in this post, but I will soon.
So on Sunday I went to the hotel, the Sirkeci Konak, to meet Mom and Bailey. I really had no idea how long it would take me to get there/where the hotel was so I left with lots of time to spare. Getting to the hotel was easy and required only a bus, tram, and a 5 minute walk. I arrived at the hotel around 11 and read the newspaper in the lobby (first newspaper I've read in 3 months!). It seemed that every few minutes I would look up to the front door opening in hopes that Mom and Bailey were arriving. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity one of the guys at the front desk lit up in a huge smile and started waving frantically at me to come to the front door... there they were! Looking a little tired, we settled in to the hotel and went out for a walk in the nearby Gulhane Park. The park is absolutely beautiful and runs parallel to the Bosphorus. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the worst place for people with allergies. It was literally raining pollen. I could have walked for a couple hours, but I had to keep reminding myself that Bailey and Mom had just come off a 10 hour flight. After about an hour, we headed back to the hotel where Mom took a nap and Bailey went for a swim. I embarked on a mission to the gym to determine if I had lost any endurance since I arrived... I have not! As a nice perk, the hotel offered a free dinner at any of their five restaurants. We went to Imbat, a restaurant on the top floor of a nearby hotel. The view was spectacular and the food was quite tasty.
Monday was a beautiful day in the low 60s. After enjoying a splendid breakfast buffet of both traditional turkish cuisine like olives, cheese, cucumbers, etc. and american cuisine such as danishes and cereal we set out for a 6 hour bosphorus boat cruise. It was a little chilly on the water, but the views more than made up for the cold. Mom and Bailey were able to get a glimpse of my university for the water. We took the ferry to Anadolu Kavağı on the Asian side of Istanbul. Anadolu Kavağı is a traditional fishing village situated on the banks of the river. After hiking up to an old fortress where we were able to see the Black Sea we walked through the village and had lunch. Unfortunately for Bailey, a stray and very unfriendly cat kept following her wherever she went hoping to get the crumbs from her meal. Next, we took the ferry back towards our hotel about three stops before getting off to take the bus back towards the hotel. Personally, the Bosphorus tour was the highlight of the week as it was really cool to see the city from the water. You can't really picture how large it is until you see just how spread out everything is along the water.
We were planning to head to the university on Tuesday; however, I mistakenly led us in the wrong direction from the hotel. By the time, I realized the mistake we decided to postpone the university to Wednesday and visit the tourist sites in the area. First, we went to the Grand Bazaar. I can't even begin to adequately describe the Bazaar, but it seemed to be a never ending maze and sea of people. Every few steps another shop owner would yell at you in English to come to their store. As Mom and Bailey shopped for scarves, I listened intently to the various shop owners speaking a multitude of languages like French, Spanish, English, Turkish, and Chinese. I think the shopkeepers must pick up the basics of each language so that they can talk to all their customers. It was really fascinating to watch and listen to. We also visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Basilica Cisterns (underground water chambers). That evening we participated in backgammon lessons taught by a few of the staff at the hotel. Backgammon is much more of a strategic game than I anticipated and I can't wait to play when I get home. Whereas what took us about 20 minutes to play a game took two of the staff members about 5 minutes. Luckily, they were quite patient with us and always willing to answer our questions. Although, I do think they found our initial ineptitude and curiosity quite amusing.
I'll write more about our adventures tomorrow.
Love,
Brett
Sorry for the delay in writing, but I've been busy catching up on work in preparation for this week. Unless I'm feeling super ambitious I probably won't write about each day that Mom and Bailey were here in this post, but I will soon.
So on Sunday I went to the hotel, the Sirkeci Konak, to meet Mom and Bailey. I really had no idea how long it would take me to get there/where the hotel was so I left with lots of time to spare. Getting to the hotel was easy and required only a bus, tram, and a 5 minute walk. I arrived at the hotel around 11 and read the newspaper in the lobby (first newspaper I've read in 3 months!). It seemed that every few minutes I would look up to the front door opening in hopes that Mom and Bailey were arriving. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity one of the guys at the front desk lit up in a huge smile and started waving frantically at me to come to the front door... there they were! Looking a little tired, we settled in to the hotel and went out for a walk in the nearby Gulhane Park. The park is absolutely beautiful and runs parallel to the Bosphorus. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the worst place for people with allergies. It was literally raining pollen. I could have walked for a couple hours, but I had to keep reminding myself that Bailey and Mom had just come off a 10 hour flight. After about an hour, we headed back to the hotel where Mom took a nap and Bailey went for a swim. I embarked on a mission to the gym to determine if I had lost any endurance since I arrived... I have not! As a nice perk, the hotel offered a free dinner at any of their five restaurants. We went to Imbat, a restaurant on the top floor of a nearby hotel. The view was spectacular and the food was quite tasty.
Monday was a beautiful day in the low 60s. After enjoying a splendid breakfast buffet of both traditional turkish cuisine like olives, cheese, cucumbers, etc. and american cuisine such as danishes and cereal we set out for a 6 hour bosphorus boat cruise. It was a little chilly on the water, but the views more than made up for the cold. Mom and Bailey were able to get a glimpse of my university for the water. We took the ferry to Anadolu Kavağı on the Asian side of Istanbul. Anadolu Kavağı is a traditional fishing village situated on the banks of the river. After hiking up to an old fortress where we were able to see the Black Sea we walked through the village and had lunch. Unfortunately for Bailey, a stray and very unfriendly cat kept following her wherever she went hoping to get the crumbs from her meal. Next, we took the ferry back towards our hotel about three stops before getting off to take the bus back towards the hotel. Personally, the Bosphorus tour was the highlight of the week as it was really cool to see the city from the water. You can't really picture how large it is until you see just how spread out everything is along the water.
We were planning to head to the university on Tuesday; however, I mistakenly led us in the wrong direction from the hotel. By the time, I realized the mistake we decided to postpone the university to Wednesday and visit the tourist sites in the area. First, we went to the Grand Bazaar. I can't even begin to adequately describe the Bazaar, but it seemed to be a never ending maze and sea of people. Every few steps another shop owner would yell at you in English to come to their store. As Mom and Bailey shopped for scarves, I listened intently to the various shop owners speaking a multitude of languages like French, Spanish, English, Turkish, and Chinese. I think the shopkeepers must pick up the basics of each language so that they can talk to all their customers. It was really fascinating to watch and listen to. We also visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Basilica Cisterns (underground water chambers). That evening we participated in backgammon lessons taught by a few of the staff at the hotel. Backgammon is much more of a strategic game than I anticipated and I can't wait to play when I get home. Whereas what took us about 20 minutes to play a game took two of the staff members about 5 minutes. Luckily, they were quite patient with us and always willing to answer our questions. Although, I do think they found our initial ineptitude and curiosity quite amusing.
I'll write more about our adventures tomorrow.
Love,
Brett
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Mom and Bailey Arrive in Istanbul
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that Bailey and mom are safely in Istanbul. They arrived at the hotel around 12 and spent the day in a sleep deprived state! The hotel is really nice and the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. We didn't do to much today, but we walked around the neighborhood and had a nice dinner on the rooftop of a local hotel. The view was awesome! We're planning to visit my campus and Bebek tomorrow morning/afternoon before our Turkish cooking lesson at 5.
Talk later,
Brett
Just wanted to let you all know that Bailey and mom are safely in Istanbul. They arrived at the hotel around 12 and spent the day in a sleep deprived state! The hotel is really nice and the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. We didn't do to much today, but we walked around the neighborhood and had a nice dinner on the rooftop of a local hotel. The view was awesome! We're planning to visit my campus and Bebek tomorrow morning/afternoon before our Turkish cooking lesson at 5.
Talk later,
Brett
Monday, April 12, 2010
Exams and More!
Hi All,
Hope everyone is doing well. I think Springtime in Istanbul has finally arrived. Not only are the flowers blooming, but my nose is running and my eyes are bloodshot! Gotta love allergies. Springtime here has been beautiful, everything that I already thought was spectacular is so much better in the warm and most importantly, dry weather. Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay. Although, as I scan the weather reports its forecasting rain tomorrow.
Anyway, I've been fairly busy with school related activities. Last week I had three mid terms and I have another one this coming Friday. I'm also trying to get ahead in writing the three papers I have due on the last day of classes in May. I don't want to have to think about work while Mom and Bailey are here! I'm one of the few exchange students who really has to focus on grades and classes. For most, the grades they receive here will never appear on their transcripts, but mine do.
On Friday night I ventured out with a few friends to Reina, one of the "hippest" and most popular night clubs in Istanbul. While I had been to a few so-called clubs in the city this was definitely the real thing. The club is located on the European side with a terrific view of the Bosphorus Bridge. I can't adequately describe the club, but it was HUGE. Multiple levels with several restaurants and bars all rolled into a giant club. I had to look it up online to get more information, but it can hold about 2500 people. Clubs aren't really my thing, but this was a surprisingly really fun time. Needless to say, I got back very late and had a leisurely Saturday. I think the biggest thing I miss from my daily routine here is the gym. In Glastonbury or in Boston, the one constant of my day was always going to the gym. I don't know why, but I love going. I love having that one or two hours of my day where I can be in my own world. There's a gym at the university, but I've only been a few times. It's relatively small (but then again every gym is small compared to BU) and it is INCREDIBLY hot in the room. You also have to pay every time so I haven't gone too much. Instead, I've been taking long walks everyday. Luckily, I've been able to keep up my endurance by walking up the massive hills from Bebek to the University. Taking these walks keeps me sane!
On Sunday, I was invited to go on a Bosphorus boat tour which is something I've wanted to do since I arrived, but the opportunity keeps eluding me. Yesterday, I could not go because I had to be in my room in the afternoon to register for classes at BU for the fall. I'll have to hold off for a couple weeks and do the boat tour when Bailey and Mom are here.
So I know I've talked a fair amount about the stray cats and dogs around, but I have a couple interesting stories about both. I've adopted one of the dogs on campus and have named him Buster. Buster is a mix and I'm thinking he's part black lab and bernese mountain dog. I really have no idea though. I'll try to get a picture of him up soon. Unfortunately, about 300 pictures on my camera were accidentally deleted. For the first couple weeks of classes, Buster would greet students at the gate leading to the university. Eagerly awaiting students dropping their crumbs, Buster would patiently sit. At first, I ignored the dogs as I wasn't sure how healthy they are. I've since been assured that they are fine (Let's hope so!). Even still, I limit my interaction with Buster to a few back rubs and his daily treat: a sesame bagel type thing (shaped like a bagel/pretzel and sold on the streets for about 60 cents) that I buy on my walk to class. Some might say that I'm probably harming him, but after seeing what these dogs eat, they can stomach anything.
As for my cat story, I was taking a walk after registration yesterday and came across a woman on one of the streets leading from campus down to the water. She was speaking frantically to me in Turkish and of course I had no idea what she was saying. Luckily, she quickly switched to flawless English and told me to look inside the sewer grates along the side of the road. Sure enough, in one of them was a small black and white cat. I have no idea how the cat managed to get inside the grates as there was no hole and most of the grates were bolted closed. I was able to pry loose one of the grates about 20 feet farther down the street and we coaxed the cat out. The cat seemed really frightened, but happy to not be trapped! I think that counted as my good deed for the day!
That's all for now. Talk soon.
Love,
Brett
Hope everyone is doing well. I think Springtime in Istanbul has finally arrived. Not only are the flowers blooming, but my nose is running and my eyes are bloodshot! Gotta love allergies. Springtime here has been beautiful, everything that I already thought was spectacular is so much better in the warm and most importantly, dry weather. Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay. Although, as I scan the weather reports its forecasting rain tomorrow.
Anyway, I've been fairly busy with school related activities. Last week I had three mid terms and I have another one this coming Friday. I'm also trying to get ahead in writing the three papers I have due on the last day of classes in May. I don't want to have to think about work while Mom and Bailey are here! I'm one of the few exchange students who really has to focus on grades and classes. For most, the grades they receive here will never appear on their transcripts, but mine do.
On Friday night I ventured out with a few friends to Reina, one of the "hippest" and most popular night clubs in Istanbul. While I had been to a few so-called clubs in the city this was definitely the real thing. The club is located on the European side with a terrific view of the Bosphorus Bridge. I can't adequately describe the club, but it was HUGE. Multiple levels with several restaurants and bars all rolled into a giant club. I had to look it up online to get more information, but it can hold about 2500 people. Clubs aren't really my thing, but this was a surprisingly really fun time. Needless to say, I got back very late and had a leisurely Saturday. I think the biggest thing I miss from my daily routine here is the gym. In Glastonbury or in Boston, the one constant of my day was always going to the gym. I don't know why, but I love going. I love having that one or two hours of my day where I can be in my own world. There's a gym at the university, but I've only been a few times. It's relatively small (but then again every gym is small compared to BU) and it is INCREDIBLY hot in the room. You also have to pay every time so I haven't gone too much. Instead, I've been taking long walks everyday. Luckily, I've been able to keep up my endurance by walking up the massive hills from Bebek to the University. Taking these walks keeps me sane!
On Sunday, I was invited to go on a Bosphorus boat tour which is something I've wanted to do since I arrived, but the opportunity keeps eluding me. Yesterday, I could not go because I had to be in my room in the afternoon to register for classes at BU for the fall. I'll have to hold off for a couple weeks and do the boat tour when Bailey and Mom are here.
So I know I've talked a fair amount about the stray cats and dogs around, but I have a couple interesting stories about both. I've adopted one of the dogs on campus and have named him Buster. Buster is a mix and I'm thinking he's part black lab and bernese mountain dog. I really have no idea though. I'll try to get a picture of him up soon. Unfortunately, about 300 pictures on my camera were accidentally deleted. For the first couple weeks of classes, Buster would greet students at the gate leading to the university. Eagerly awaiting students dropping their crumbs, Buster would patiently sit. At first, I ignored the dogs as I wasn't sure how healthy they are. I've since been assured that they are fine (Let's hope so!). Even still, I limit my interaction with Buster to a few back rubs and his daily treat: a sesame bagel type thing (shaped like a bagel/pretzel and sold on the streets for about 60 cents) that I buy on my walk to class. Some might say that I'm probably harming him, but after seeing what these dogs eat, they can stomach anything.
As for my cat story, I was taking a walk after registration yesterday and came across a woman on one of the streets leading from campus down to the water. She was speaking frantically to me in Turkish and of course I had no idea what she was saying. Luckily, she quickly switched to flawless English and told me to look inside the sewer grates along the side of the road. Sure enough, in one of them was a small black and white cat. I have no idea how the cat managed to get inside the grates as there was no hole and most of the grates were bolted closed. I was able to pry loose one of the grates about 20 feet farther down the street and we coaxed the cat out. The cat seemed really frightened, but happy to not be trapped! I think that counted as my good deed for the day!
That's all for now. Talk soon.
Love,
Brett
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Metro Card and ID
I think Spring is finally here! The past two days I have left my room for class wearing only jeans and a polo shirt. Unfortunately, it rained today on my way back from class so I was a little wet, but it was warm and that's a good thing! Tomorrow is supposed to be around 70 so maybe I'll break out my shorts. Not much has been happening here, but I figured I'd write about getting my metro card and finally receiving my ID card after being at the University for 8 weeks.
Public transportation in the city is really cheap. Taking the bus, ferry, tram, or subway costs a flat fee of 1.50TL the equivalent of a dollar in the states. Comparatively, I pay $1.70 every time I take public transportation in Boston and that's including the .30$ savings I receive for using a charlie card. As a student, I'm entitled to a student transportation card that makes riding public transportation practically free! I'm not positive, but I think I'm paying somewhere between fifty and seventy cents now that I have a student akbil (Akbil is pictured above. It's like a debit card that deducts money every time you take public transportation... Some buses won't let you on if you don't have the Akbil so its pretty important to get). Unfortunately, I had to wait until receiving paperwork from the school verifying that I was a student before getting the discount. I've had the paper for a few weeks, but for some reason I just hadn't gone to get the card. I think part of it was that transportation was so cheap I figured I didn't need to bother to get one. Furthermore, getting to the public transportation office to apply for the cards requires a bus ride through endless amounts of traffic, a 15 minute walk, and a 5 minute train ride. Excuses aside, I woke up Monday determine to get the card not only to save money, but also as a memento of the trip. Unfortunately, the weather Monday was terrible: cold, rainy, and windy. Nonetheless, I still decided to go and embarked on what turned into a 4.5 hour trip. First, I had to take a bus from the university to Taksim. The distance is not far, but the traffic in Istanbul is horrendous. What could have been a 20-30 minute drive in CT turned into roughly an hour bus ride. From Taksim, I had to walk about 20 minutes to the funicular train stop for a quick 2 minute ride to Karakoy another neighborhood of Istanbul where the transportation office is located. Once there, getting the card was really easy. I had to pay 5 lira for the card and then I put 20 lira worth of money on the card. When I finally arrived back in my room I was freezing cold and wet, but feeling pretty satisfied with myself. Perhaps having this student akbil will make me look less like a foreigner when I get on buses. Now instead of fumbling for change I can simply show my card and get on. I have a feeling that I'm still going to be recognized by everyone has an American!
This morning I walked into class and overheard a couple Americans talking about how they had just gotten their ID cards from the University. Ever since orientation, all we have heard is how crucial the ID cards are. ID cards are required to eat in certain dining halls, to print, to access the library, access the campus at night, and much more. At first, we were told the IDs would arrive by the end of February, then we were told the first week of March (by now we didn't believe any of these deadlines), and I had managed to mostly forget about the IDs until today. In the end, the IDs will probably serve little purpose while in Istanbul, but I'll be happy to keep the ID as a memento of the trip. The IDs are much cooler than my Boston University ID. See the pictures in the post for a visual explanation of why.
Not much else is going on here. I was going to go away this weekend to Bodrum which is located in the Aegean region of Turkey. Its supposed to be beautiful, warm, and its right on the water. Unfortunately, I decided that I have too much work to go. I have 3 midterms next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. I also want to get started on an essay so that when Mom and Bailey are here I don't have to do any work! Unlike the majority of the exchange students, my grades that I receive in Turkey transfer to BU and factor into my GPA. This means that I actually have to study and do well in my classes. For most of the Americans, they simply need to pass the classes as their grades won't show up on their transcripts. Nonetheless, I plan to do some sightseeing on Saturday (not sure where yet), work on my paper Sunday, and study for my tests on Monday.
Hope everyone enjoys the beautiful Spring weather this weekend. Happy Easter!
Love,
Brett
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A long awaited post on a trip to 4 churches/mosques and my disdain for smokers
Hi Everyone,
Sorry for the delay in writing, but I've been catching up on reading (I have midterms in about 10 days...uh oh) and not much has been happening here. The weather has been playing tricks on us. Monday and Tuesday were absolutely beautiful (I'm talking borderline shorts weather), but Wednesday was cold and dreary and today was a mix of everything. Everyone keeps telling me that spring is beautiful in Istanbul, but I'm sick of waiting!
Classes have been going well. One thing I've noticed since being here is that attendance is TERRIBLE. Today, there were only 6 students in a class of 18. Not to mention that 2 of the 6 students showed up between 15 and 30 minutes late for a 50 minute class. If this was Boston, the student would have been either ridiculed mercilessly by the professor for having the nerve to show up to class halfway through and/or be told to leave. Here, being late is not only acceptable its expected. I guess all the absences explains the pop quizzes that one professor gives out almost every class. Starting April 6, I have 4 midterms in a week. Another exchange student recommended that a good spot to do reading/work was at the starbucks down the street. The internet is terrible at the dorm. Sometimes it doesn't work for 5 or 6 hours. My plan is to go on Saturday afternoon to the starbucks get a hot chocolate and do the readings.
A couple Saturdays ago I participated in a trip to four churches sponsored by a student organization at the university that plans activities for exchange students to participate in. We visited the Kariye (Chora) Church, Faith Mosque, Şehzadebaşı Mosque, and Ayasofya (Hagia Sofia) Museum. The trip consisted of about 15 American and Erasmus students, three or four Turkish students, and a tour guide in the University's history doctorate program. As opposed to Kapadokya this trip was much better as it was smaller and the guide was genuinely interested in telling us the history behind each of the churches and mosques that we visited. The architecture and craftsmanship of all these historical sites is amazing. They are some of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen. Check out shutterfly for some pictures of the churches. I'll add comments identifying what picture is what church over the next few days.
Being in Turkey has heightened my already high distaste for cigarette smoke. Since arriving, I've used my inhaler on a weekly basis; something that I have never needed to do. I don't know why, but everyone in Turkey smokes. It must have something to do with the lack of education being given to the public on the hazards of smoking. In the states, the horrors of smoking are ingrained in you from a young age. Everywhere you look there are anti-cigarette campaigns. Not to mention the hefty taxes associated with smoking or the banning of smoking in restaurants. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of males over the age of 15 consider themselves smokers in Turkey. This is compared to the 15-20% of the same population in the US (US # seems a little high if you ask me). According to a 2008 BBC article, 1 in 5 deaths in turkey are related to tobacco. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization lists Turkey as the world’s seventh largest producer of cigarettes, and the eighth largest market for consumption. I feel like I'm living in one large never-ending ashtray. Beginning in 2009, a smoking ban was instituted outlawing smoking in bars, cafes, and a few other places. However, the implementation of the plan is lacking as the fines are little and there are just too many smokers to police.
Alright, hope all is well with everyone at home. Talk soon.
Love,
Brett
Sorry for the delay in writing, but I've been catching up on reading (I have midterms in about 10 days...uh oh) and not much has been happening here. The weather has been playing tricks on us. Monday and Tuesday were absolutely beautiful (I'm talking borderline shorts weather), but Wednesday was cold and dreary and today was a mix of everything. Everyone keeps telling me that spring is beautiful in Istanbul, but I'm sick of waiting!
Classes have been going well. One thing I've noticed since being here is that attendance is TERRIBLE. Today, there were only 6 students in a class of 18. Not to mention that 2 of the 6 students showed up between 15 and 30 minutes late for a 50 minute class. If this was Boston, the student would have been either ridiculed mercilessly by the professor for having the nerve to show up to class halfway through and/or be told to leave. Here, being late is not only acceptable its expected. I guess all the absences explains the pop quizzes that one professor gives out almost every class. Starting April 6, I have 4 midterms in a week. Another exchange student recommended that a good spot to do reading/work was at the starbucks down the street. The internet is terrible at the dorm. Sometimes it doesn't work for 5 or 6 hours. My plan is to go on Saturday afternoon to the starbucks get a hot chocolate and do the readings.
A couple Saturdays ago I participated in a trip to four churches sponsored by a student organization at the university that plans activities for exchange students to participate in. We visited the Kariye (Chora) Church, Faith Mosque, Şehzadebaşı Mosque, and Ayasofya (Hagia Sofia) Museum. The trip consisted of about 15 American and Erasmus students, three or four Turkish students, and a tour guide in the University's history doctorate program. As opposed to Kapadokya this trip was much better as it was smaller and the guide was genuinely interested in telling us the history behind each of the churches and mosques that we visited. The architecture and craftsmanship of all these historical sites is amazing. They are some of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen. Check out shutterfly for some pictures of the churches. I'll add comments identifying what picture is what church over the next few days.
Being in Turkey has heightened my already high distaste for cigarette smoke. Since arriving, I've used my inhaler on a weekly basis; something that I have never needed to do. I don't know why, but everyone in Turkey smokes. It must have something to do with the lack of education being given to the public on the hazards of smoking. In the states, the horrors of smoking are ingrained in you from a young age. Everywhere you look there are anti-cigarette campaigns. Not to mention the hefty taxes associated with smoking or the banning of smoking in restaurants. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of males over the age of 15 consider themselves smokers in Turkey. This is compared to the 15-20% of the same population in the US (US # seems a little high if you ask me). According to a 2008 BBC article, 1 in 5 deaths in turkey are related to tobacco. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization lists Turkey as the world’s seventh largest producer of cigarettes, and the eighth largest market for consumption. I feel like I'm living in one large never-ending ashtray. Beginning in 2009, a smoking ban was instituted outlawing smoking in bars, cafes, and a few other places. However, the implementation of the plan is lacking as the fines are little and there are just too many smokers to police.
Alright, hope all is well with everyone at home. Talk soon.
Love,
Brett
Monday, March 15, 2010
Food!!
Hi Guys,
I thought I would take a break from writing about what I've been doing everyday and instead talk about the different food that I've tried. I can't remember everything, but I'll try to touch all the good stuff!
I haven't had the chance to have a real traditional Turkish breakfast, but I'm hoping that changes soon. My roommate and I are hopefully going to find time to go one morning to have breakfast together. With that said, the Turks are really big on yogurt. Yogurt is used in everything: sauces, dips, soups, breakfast, etc. Just about anything you can think of. I wasn't a big fan of the yogurt because its very dense and heavy, but then someone suggested putting jam in the yogurt to add some flavor and that did the trick!
Food is a big deal here and its taken very seriously. When you go out to eat at a nice restaurant the service is a little slower than the states because you're supposed to enjoy your meal and take your time in eating. I'm still working on eating slower. For lunch, if you don't go to a sit down restaurant, there are a lot of food stands and cafes that sell doner, which is like a sandwich, often filled with meat, spices, cheese, and veggies. It's a little bit like a panini, but much more juicy and flavorful. Its really cool to walk past these cafes because in the windows or right outside the stores you can see the meat being marinated or cut. At least you know its fresh! One of my favorite lunch meals so far has been Kofte kebab, which is lamb meatballs and fresh spices that are grilled on a steak and served like that or served on fresh bread. Speaking of which, bread is given to you everywhere. Its even more common than receiving bread at a restaurant in the states. There's a great bakery that makes fresh bread right now near campus and I've gone there twice to get fresh rolls for sandwiches.
I think the most adventurous meal I've tried has been fried lamb liver. I'm glad I tried, but I don't think I'll be having it again soon. Fresh veggies and fruits are abundant. Every meal is accompanied by at least some form of both. Its nice to see fresh fruit listed as a desert at some restaurants. You forget how good sliced apple and orange can be as a sweet after a meal.
There are tons of different ways to prepare kebabs in Turkey. One of my favorites is Adana kebab which is generally minced lamb with red pepper flakes, peppers, and salt mixed in. Generally we think of a kebab as being served on the skewer, but in Turkey after the meat has cooked the kebab is removed from the stick and placed on bread pieces (think pita) with a salad and maybe some rice. Rice is served with almost anything and is always cooked perfectly. I never knew I loved rice as much as I did until I started having it here.
A couple days ago, I tried Iskender kebab which is one of the most famous foods in Turkey. The lamb or beef is cut really thin and sauteed with butter and yogurt before being placed on pieces of flat bread. Its incredibly rich, but tasty. It wasn't one of my favorite meals because of how rich it was, but it was pretty good.
Now for everyone's favorite foods: sweets! Turkey is well-known for their deserts especially baklava. For those who don't know baklava is a dough-based pastry that's been rolled in nuts and layered with honey or a sugar sauce. It's INCREDIBLY sweet, but really tasty. I'm not a big fan of really sweet or rich deserts so I can't say that I would want to eat it very often, but baklava is quite tasty and worth the calories! Another famous desert is turkish delight which are small pastries that have a really soft and almost jelly-like center. Like baklava they are really sweet, but pretty good. I should have mentioned this when I was talking about breakfasts, but I forgot... there's a place called abba's waffles that I have yet to try, but plan to soon. Located along the water, this little shop makes the waffles in front of you and then you can pick what you want it topped with. You can have it dipped in chocolate, nuts, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, literally anything you can think of. Its kinda of like walking into an ice cream store and picking all the different toppings that you want in your dish.
Alright well that's enough for now. I'm going to go do some reading for class tomorrow. Hope the rain stops soon!
Love... Brett
I thought I would take a break from writing about what I've been doing everyday and instead talk about the different food that I've tried. I can't remember everything, but I'll try to touch all the good stuff!
I haven't had the chance to have a real traditional Turkish breakfast, but I'm hoping that changes soon. My roommate and I are hopefully going to find time to go one morning to have breakfast together. With that said, the Turks are really big on yogurt. Yogurt is used in everything: sauces, dips, soups, breakfast, etc. Just about anything you can think of. I wasn't a big fan of the yogurt because its very dense and heavy, but then someone suggested putting jam in the yogurt to add some flavor and that did the trick!
Food is a big deal here and its taken very seriously. When you go out to eat at a nice restaurant the service is a little slower than the states because you're supposed to enjoy your meal and take your time in eating. I'm still working on eating slower. For lunch, if you don't go to a sit down restaurant, there are a lot of food stands and cafes that sell doner, which is like a sandwich, often filled with meat, spices, cheese, and veggies. It's a little bit like a panini, but much more juicy and flavorful. Its really cool to walk past these cafes because in the windows or right outside the stores you can see the meat being marinated or cut. At least you know its fresh! One of my favorite lunch meals so far has been Kofte kebab, which is lamb meatballs and fresh spices that are grilled on a steak and served like that or served on fresh bread. Speaking of which, bread is given to you everywhere. Its even more common than receiving bread at a restaurant in the states. There's a great bakery that makes fresh bread right now near campus and I've gone there twice to get fresh rolls for sandwiches.
I think the most adventurous meal I've tried has been fried lamb liver. I'm glad I tried, but I don't think I'll be having it again soon. Fresh veggies and fruits are abundant. Every meal is accompanied by at least some form of both. Its nice to see fresh fruit listed as a desert at some restaurants. You forget how good sliced apple and orange can be as a sweet after a meal.
There are tons of different ways to prepare kebabs in Turkey. One of my favorites is Adana kebab which is generally minced lamb with red pepper flakes, peppers, and salt mixed in. Generally we think of a kebab as being served on the skewer, but in Turkey after the meat has cooked the kebab is removed from the stick and placed on bread pieces (think pita) with a salad and maybe some rice. Rice is served with almost anything and is always cooked perfectly. I never knew I loved rice as much as I did until I started having it here.
A couple days ago, I tried Iskender kebab which is one of the most famous foods in Turkey. The lamb or beef is cut really thin and sauteed with butter and yogurt before being placed on pieces of flat bread. Its incredibly rich, but tasty. It wasn't one of my favorite meals because of how rich it was, but it was pretty good.
Now for everyone's favorite foods: sweets! Turkey is well-known for their deserts especially baklava. For those who don't know baklava is a dough-based pastry that's been rolled in nuts and layered with honey or a sugar sauce. It's INCREDIBLY sweet, but really tasty. I'm not a big fan of really sweet or rich deserts so I can't say that I would want to eat it very often, but baklava is quite tasty and worth the calories! Another famous desert is turkish delight which are small pastries that have a really soft and almost jelly-like center. Like baklava they are really sweet, but pretty good. I should have mentioned this when I was talking about breakfasts, but I forgot... there's a place called abba's waffles that I have yet to try, but plan to soon. Located along the water, this little shop makes the waffles in front of you and then you can pick what you want it topped with. You can have it dipped in chocolate, nuts, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, literally anything you can think of. Its kinda of like walking into an ice cream store and picking all the different toppings that you want in your dish.
Alright well that's enough for now. I'm going to go do some reading for class tomorrow. Hope the rain stops soon!
Love... Brett
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Trip to Kapadokya
Hi Everyone,
Hope all is well in the States. I've been following the weather in CT, MA, and the like and it appears that spring is in the air. The weather here has been awful. Its rained everyday and pretty much all day since last Wednesday or Thursday. The worst part is that according to my Turkish classmates and the weather channel the rain is not going away soon. Everyone keeps telling me that Spring here is absolutely beautiful, but its still about 3 weeks away.
Also wanted to say that I've been having a lot of fun reading the comments. Even if I don't have a chance to respond I always love getting little snippets of news from home. So please keep commenting and I'll try to respond!
Over the weekend (Late thursday night till Late Sunday night) I was in Kapadokya or Cappadokia, Turkey (I'm not sure which is the "right" way to write it, but I've seen it both ways). The trip was planned by a couple graduates of the University and there lack of event planning was evident. From the start, the trip lacked order and structure. Not once, did the leaders introduce themselves or really give us a gameplan for what we were doing. The trip was made up of about 60 exchange students. It was awesome to meet and hang out with kids that I had yet to meet, and others that I had seen in classes, but hadn't had a chance to socialize with. We left from the dorm around 11pm on Thursday for the start of a 12 hour bus ride. I think the bus ride can be summarized quite simply as: brutal. After what seemed like an eternity we finally arrived at our hotel around 10am Friday. After dropping our stuff off we got back on the buses (Theme of the weekend = bus rides) to begin a day of sight seeing. Unfortunately, the weather was lousy; it was cold, rainy, and dreary. However, the region is still absolutely beautiful. I have new pictures up on shutterfly so check them out and you'll be able to get a glimpse of how pretty the region is. Friday morning we visited several historical sites of the region and had a lunch at a restaurant that catered to large tour groups. It was buffet style and had some really good Turkish food and desserts. After lunch we visited a pottery factory where we watched as one of the workers showed us how they create the pottery pieces that you can see in the pictures. Next, we went and hiked/walked around the fairy chimneys (large rock-like formations, similar to something seen in Arizona... check them out on wikipedia to get a better idea of what they are). Unfortunately, we were supposed to go and watch the sunset, but the weather was not cooperative and instead we went to a wine tasting. The wine-tasting was interesting as we only had the opportunity to taste two wines and then they tried to persuade us to purchase from their winery. It was interesting, but I'm still not entirely sure what the point was. I'm going to have to do some research to see if the region is known for their wine. After a buffet dinner at the hotel, we went to yet another tour bus haven for turkish cultural night. Basically a night of drinking, dancing, and belly dancing. It was fun, and cool to get a glimpse at the culture of Turkey. We finally made it to sleep at about 1 in the morning. I was beat, as I got very little sleep on the bus (lack of sleep also became a theme of the weekend).
On Saturday, we finally had a tour guide who accompanied us during the day and was able to tell us about the history of the sights we were visiting. Unfortunately, with a group as large as ours it was difficult to inform us of everything. It would have been nice to have learned more about the history of the region. Saturday was a little bit of better weather as it did not rain and the sun peeked through at times. In the morning, we visited the underground cities in the region. If I remember correctly, its believed that there are 36 cities below ground that are more than likely all connected together. Under normal circumstances, the people in this region would live in cave-like dwellings in the rocks, but when under attack they would live in cities deep underground for up to 6 months. Everything they needed would be underground and they would have no need to emerge until the invaders had been defeated or vacated the area. In the afternoon, we went to the Zelve Open Air Museum where we were able to go inside the cave dwellings where people once lived. After a buffet dinner at the hotel, we had a free night in the city center. The majority of us went to a large restaurant/bar where we were able to hang out, talk, and play backgammon (I'm not very good yet, but backgammon is very popular in Turkey).
We left the region Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Istanbul around 11:45pm. It was a long long trip, but overall it was a lot of fun. I'm going to start adding comments to some of the photos so you'll know what you're are looking at, but it might take a few days before its done.
Hope everyone is well... talk to you soon.
Love,
Brett
Hope all is well in the States. I've been following the weather in CT, MA, and the like and it appears that spring is in the air. The weather here has been awful. Its rained everyday and pretty much all day since last Wednesday or Thursday. The worst part is that according to my Turkish classmates and the weather channel the rain is not going away soon. Everyone keeps telling me that Spring here is absolutely beautiful, but its still about 3 weeks away.
Also wanted to say that I've been having a lot of fun reading the comments. Even if I don't have a chance to respond I always love getting little snippets of news from home. So please keep commenting and I'll try to respond!
Over the weekend (Late thursday night till Late Sunday night) I was in Kapadokya or Cappadokia, Turkey (I'm not sure which is the "right" way to write it, but I've seen it both ways). The trip was planned by a couple graduates of the University and there lack of event planning was evident. From the start, the trip lacked order and structure. Not once, did the leaders introduce themselves or really give us a gameplan for what we were doing. The trip was made up of about 60 exchange students. It was awesome to meet and hang out with kids that I had yet to meet, and others that I had seen in classes, but hadn't had a chance to socialize with. We left from the dorm around 11pm on Thursday for the start of a 12 hour bus ride. I think the bus ride can be summarized quite simply as: brutal. After what seemed like an eternity we finally arrived at our hotel around 10am Friday. After dropping our stuff off we got back on the buses (Theme of the weekend = bus rides) to begin a day of sight seeing. Unfortunately, the weather was lousy; it was cold, rainy, and dreary. However, the region is still absolutely beautiful. I have new pictures up on shutterfly so check them out and you'll be able to get a glimpse of how pretty the region is. Friday morning we visited several historical sites of the region and had a lunch at a restaurant that catered to large tour groups. It was buffet style and had some really good Turkish food and desserts. After lunch we visited a pottery factory where we watched as one of the workers showed us how they create the pottery pieces that you can see in the pictures. Next, we went and hiked/walked around the fairy chimneys (large rock-like formations, similar to something seen in Arizona... check them out on wikipedia to get a better idea of what they are). Unfortunately, we were supposed to go and watch the sunset, but the weather was not cooperative and instead we went to a wine tasting. The wine-tasting was interesting as we only had the opportunity to taste two wines and then they tried to persuade us to purchase from their winery. It was interesting, but I'm still not entirely sure what the point was. I'm going to have to do some research to see if the region is known for their wine. After a buffet dinner at the hotel, we went to yet another tour bus haven for turkish cultural night. Basically a night of drinking, dancing, and belly dancing. It was fun, and cool to get a glimpse at the culture of Turkey. We finally made it to sleep at about 1 in the morning. I was beat, as I got very little sleep on the bus (lack of sleep also became a theme of the weekend).
On Saturday, we finally had a tour guide who accompanied us during the day and was able to tell us about the history of the sights we were visiting. Unfortunately, with a group as large as ours it was difficult to inform us of everything. It would have been nice to have learned more about the history of the region. Saturday was a little bit of better weather as it did not rain and the sun peeked through at times. In the morning, we visited the underground cities in the region. If I remember correctly, its believed that there are 36 cities below ground that are more than likely all connected together. Under normal circumstances, the people in this region would live in cave-like dwellings in the rocks, but when under attack they would live in cities deep underground for up to 6 months. Everything they needed would be underground and they would have no need to emerge until the invaders had been defeated or vacated the area. In the afternoon, we went to the Zelve Open Air Museum where we were able to go inside the cave dwellings where people once lived. After a buffet dinner at the hotel, we had a free night in the city center. The majority of us went to a large restaurant/bar where we were able to hang out, talk, and play backgammon (I'm not very good yet, but backgammon is very popular in Turkey).
We left the region Sunday afternoon and arrived back in Istanbul around 11:45pm. It was a long long trip, but overall it was a lot of fun. I'm going to start adding comments to some of the photos so you'll know what you're are looking at, but it might take a few days before its done.
Hope everyone is well... talk to you soon.
Love,
Brett
Monday, March 1, 2010
First Week of Classes!
Hi Everyone,
I had my first full week of classes last week and they were all interesting (for the most part). The classes are a good mix of Turkish students, Americans, and Erasmus students (Europeans). With the exception of the development of contemporary democracies there is at least one other American in all my classes which is nice. The classes range from about 25-35 kids and are a mix of both lectures and discussions. My favorite class thus far is Politics and Society in the Middle East. The professor is really animated and excited about the subject matter. He seems really nice and is very engaging. He wants his class to be more like a laboratory where we question everything including what he says. I actually have a map quiz on Wednesday in that class. We have to memorize the main waterways, cities, countries, deserts, etc. in the Middle East. The amount of work is nothing compared to BU, but it still requires a solid amount of time. My "books" for this semester consist of photocopied packets of all the readings for the semester. These packets are about 700 pages long, but the price of these packets for 4 classes cost about the price of a textbook in price (90$).
I rearranged my schedule so that I now have Mondays completely free of classes. I also picked up a basketball class that meets for two hours on Thursday afternoons. Well, I'm not going to bore you with more details on the classes, but if you want to know ask in the comments and I'll respond with more information.
That pretty much takes care of Monday through Friday. I'm forgetting what day it was, but I think it was Thursday, Yigit came back to the room around 8pm and asked if I wanted to go to the mall with him to look for a pair of shoes he had seen in Paris and desperately wanted. He has a car on campus, so we drove about 20 minutes to one of the largest malls I've ever been to. We couldn't find the shoes, but we walked through the mall. It has two separate sections: One for the normal folks, and one for the really rich people. Walking into the rich section was like night and day. Every designer you could think of (the best of the best) was located here and the cars were ridiculously nice. Just around the entrance there was a Ferrari, Maserati, and Porsche. Friday, my roommate took me out to show me around Istanbul. We went to a couple of bars that were really busy even though it was pretty early. We got back around 10:30 and around 11:30 he came by to ask if I wanted to go to a party with him and his friends. I was sitting in my room in my shorts ready for bed, so I declined. I heard him come back in around 4 am! Saturday was dreary weather if I remember and I did not do much. I got some reading done for class and got involved in a book I brought from home. There's a bookstore about a 15 minute walk from me that has English magazines and books. I only walked through once, but I'll be going back again for some new reading material.
Sunday I had my first big outing since I've been here. I went to Edirne, Turkey with five other people. One of them was Erin, the girl from Windsor and who goes to BC. Also on the trip was my friend Joshua from Oklahoma, two Erasmus students, and an Irishman who was not attending the university, but was couch surfing with Joshua in Istanbul. Speaking of which, have you guys ever heard of couchsurfing.org? I had only heard of it in passing, but apparently its a great way to meet people. Its basically a network of people throughout the world who are willing to offer up a "couch" or spare room for a few days as you travel throughout the country. No money is supposed to be exchanged for your stay and your host will often show you around the city/town that they live in. Anyway, the reason I went to Edirne was to cross the border into Bulgaria to void my student visa and return with a tourist visa. Long story short, getting a residence permit with a student visa requires up to three trips to a police station where they most likely don't speak English and these trips might take up an entire day. So, if you leave the country within a month of arriving you can get a tourist visa that allows unlimited entry for three months and its a lot cheaper than the resident permit. Technically, its not the "right" way to be in the country, but some in the international students office at the university recommended that we don't get a residence permit. So I met Erin at 8am at the starbucks down the street. We took a cab to Taksim (about a 15 minute drive) where we met with the other 4 members of our group. From taksim, we took a bus to the Otogar (bus station) which was about a 45 minute ride. That just gives you an idea of how big istanbul is! From the bus station we were able to choose from about 3 bus lines to go to Edirne. We went with Ulusoy which is like the Mercedes of bus lines. The ticket for a 2.5 hour bus ride was only 10TL (roughly 6.50$). Bus travel is really big in Turkey and is much cheaper than flying or the train, and just about as nice. Our coach to Edirne was a double decker and on each floor there was an attendant (think flight attendant) who came around and passed out free drinks and an assortment of snacks to choose from. Every seat had TV screens (of course, it was in Turkish so I didn't watch). Leaving Istanbul reminded me of leaving Melbourne, Australia. Once you get out of the city, there's nothing... just rolling hills and lots of green grass.
Edirne was fun. We arrived around 12:30 and took a free shuttle from the bus station to the city center. We had lunch at a cafe that was famous for its lamb liver. I tried the liver, and it was okay, but not something I need to have again. We ordered three different dishes, the lamb, a kebab dish with chicken, lamb, and veggies, and something similar to a pizza. After lunch, we visited three different mosques in the area and then walked around the city for a couple hours. After our walk, Erin, myself, and the two Erasmus girls took a bus to the Bulgarian border. Technically, I don't think we ever crossed the border into Bulgaria, but we were able to get our tourist visas after a lot of confusion. I don't think you're supposed to cross the border by foot and so everyone was staring at us. The officials seemed very confused by what we were doing and we kept getting stopped. After about 30-40 minutes we were able to head back to Edirne with our tourist visas. We met backup with Joshua and Alan, the Irishman, at a little cafe. Erin and I, decided to split off and head back to Istanbul as we were both tired and didn't want to wait any longer. Erin and I took a 7:00pm bus back to Istanbul. After arriving at the Bus station in Istanbul we took a 40 minute bus ride back to Taksim and then I took a public bus from Taksim back to the University. All in all, the trip (one way) took about 3.5 to 4 hours. I got back to my room around 11 and went immediately to sleep! I took a few pictures, but not many as nothing really struck me as needing to be documented so I'll post those in a few days.
Tomorrow, I'm back in class and then Thursday night I'm leaving for the Cappadocia region of Turkey with about 50 other exchange students. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow!
Okay, hope everyone is well!
Love and miss you all,
Brett
I had my first full week of classes last week and they were all interesting (for the most part). The classes are a good mix of Turkish students, Americans, and Erasmus students (Europeans). With the exception of the development of contemporary democracies there is at least one other American in all my classes which is nice. The classes range from about 25-35 kids and are a mix of both lectures and discussions. My favorite class thus far is Politics and Society in the Middle East. The professor is really animated and excited about the subject matter. He seems really nice and is very engaging. He wants his class to be more like a laboratory where we question everything including what he says. I actually have a map quiz on Wednesday in that class. We have to memorize the main waterways, cities, countries, deserts, etc. in the Middle East. The amount of work is nothing compared to BU, but it still requires a solid amount of time. My "books" for this semester consist of photocopied packets of all the readings for the semester. These packets are about 700 pages long, but the price of these packets for 4 classes cost about the price of a textbook in price (90$).
I rearranged my schedule so that I now have Mondays completely free of classes. I also picked up a basketball class that meets for two hours on Thursday afternoons. Well, I'm not going to bore you with more details on the classes, but if you want to know ask in the comments and I'll respond with more information.
That pretty much takes care of Monday through Friday. I'm forgetting what day it was, but I think it was Thursday, Yigit came back to the room around 8pm and asked if I wanted to go to the mall with him to look for a pair of shoes he had seen in Paris and desperately wanted. He has a car on campus, so we drove about 20 minutes to one of the largest malls I've ever been to. We couldn't find the shoes, but we walked through the mall. It has two separate sections: One for the normal folks, and one for the really rich people. Walking into the rich section was like night and day. Every designer you could think of (the best of the best) was located here and the cars were ridiculously nice. Just around the entrance there was a Ferrari, Maserati, and Porsche. Friday, my roommate took me out to show me around Istanbul. We went to a couple of bars that were really busy even though it was pretty early. We got back around 10:30 and around 11:30 he came by to ask if I wanted to go to a party with him and his friends. I was sitting in my room in my shorts ready for bed, so I declined. I heard him come back in around 4 am! Saturday was dreary weather if I remember and I did not do much. I got some reading done for class and got involved in a book I brought from home. There's a bookstore about a 15 minute walk from me that has English magazines and books. I only walked through once, but I'll be going back again for some new reading material.
Sunday I had my first big outing since I've been here. I went to Edirne, Turkey with five other people. One of them was Erin, the girl from Windsor and who goes to BC. Also on the trip was my friend Joshua from Oklahoma, two Erasmus students, and an Irishman who was not attending the university, but was couch surfing with Joshua in Istanbul. Speaking of which, have you guys ever heard of couchsurfing.org? I had only heard of it in passing, but apparently its a great way to meet people. Its basically a network of people throughout the world who are willing to offer up a "couch" or spare room for a few days as you travel throughout the country. No money is supposed to be exchanged for your stay and your host will often show you around the city/town that they live in. Anyway, the reason I went to Edirne was to cross the border into Bulgaria to void my student visa and return with a tourist visa. Long story short, getting a residence permit with a student visa requires up to three trips to a police station where they most likely don't speak English and these trips might take up an entire day. So, if you leave the country within a month of arriving you can get a tourist visa that allows unlimited entry for three months and its a lot cheaper than the resident permit. Technically, its not the "right" way to be in the country, but some in the international students office at the university recommended that we don't get a residence permit. So I met Erin at 8am at the starbucks down the street. We took a cab to Taksim (about a 15 minute drive) where we met with the other 4 members of our group. From taksim, we took a bus to the Otogar (bus station) which was about a 45 minute ride. That just gives you an idea of how big istanbul is! From the bus station we were able to choose from about 3 bus lines to go to Edirne. We went with Ulusoy which is like the Mercedes of bus lines. The ticket for a 2.5 hour bus ride was only 10TL (roughly 6.50$). Bus travel is really big in Turkey and is much cheaper than flying or the train, and just about as nice. Our coach to Edirne was a double decker and on each floor there was an attendant (think flight attendant) who came around and passed out free drinks and an assortment of snacks to choose from. Every seat had TV screens (of course, it was in Turkish so I didn't watch). Leaving Istanbul reminded me of leaving Melbourne, Australia. Once you get out of the city, there's nothing... just rolling hills and lots of green grass.
Edirne was fun. We arrived around 12:30 and took a free shuttle from the bus station to the city center. We had lunch at a cafe that was famous for its lamb liver. I tried the liver, and it was okay, but not something I need to have again. We ordered three different dishes, the lamb, a kebab dish with chicken, lamb, and veggies, and something similar to a pizza. After lunch, we visited three different mosques in the area and then walked around the city for a couple hours. After our walk, Erin, myself, and the two Erasmus girls took a bus to the Bulgarian border. Technically, I don't think we ever crossed the border into Bulgaria, but we were able to get our tourist visas after a lot of confusion. I don't think you're supposed to cross the border by foot and so everyone was staring at us. The officials seemed very confused by what we were doing and we kept getting stopped. After about 30-40 minutes we were able to head back to Edirne with our tourist visas. We met backup with Joshua and Alan, the Irishman, at a little cafe. Erin and I, decided to split off and head back to Istanbul as we were both tired and didn't want to wait any longer. Erin and I took a 7:00pm bus back to Istanbul. After arriving at the Bus station in Istanbul we took a 40 minute bus ride back to Taksim and then I took a public bus from Taksim back to the University. All in all, the trip (one way) took about 3.5 to 4 hours. I got back to my room around 11 and went immediately to sleep! I took a few pictures, but not many as nothing really struck me as needing to be documented so I'll post those in a few days.
Tomorrow, I'm back in class and then Thursday night I'm leaving for the Cappadocia region of Turkey with about 50 other exchange students. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow!
Okay, hope everyone is well!
Love and miss you all,
Brett
Monday, February 22, 2010
First Day of Classes
Hi Everyone,
After a long wait of 2.5 weeks it finally happened... I had my first day of class! Granted I only had 1 class, but its a start! The class I had today was religion and society from 1 to 2:50, but we only met for the first hour. Most of my classes are in the political science building, but this one was in New Hall (Creative name, right!?). New Hall is located in North Campus which is about a 5-10 minute walk from my room. It was nice to walk to class and finally see other students with backpacks and such. New Hall is a, you guessed it, "new" building and is (I think) five floors of classrooms and lecture halls. Much like the states, the classroom had a projector, whiteboard, etc. and had room for about 35-40 students. I'd say there were about 30 students in the class and with the exception of me and maybe three others everyone was Turkish. The professor is about 35 and was really nice. Unfortunately, he didn't speak in the loudest voice so it was difficult to hear him, but his English was superb which is key! He described the class as a 4th year seminar, which would make it the equivalent of a 400 or 500 level class at BU. In terms of workload, the professor described it as writing and reading intensive, but after looking at the syllabus its nothing compared to BU. We have four papers throughout the semester that are each 3-5 pages. There's no final exam and there's roughly 60-80 pages of reading a week. Compared to BU, in my IR 521 class on the CIA, I had about 200-300 pages of reading per week a midterm, final, one short paper, and one 10-12 page research paper. When I think about it, 3-5 pages of writing for a non-native english speaker is probably quite challenging as I can only imagine writing 3-5 pages in Turkish or even Arabic.
As interesting as the class seems, I might have to drop it. When I registered, my advisor told us that we could have up to 2 hours of class conflict (two classes at the same time) during a week. So I went ahead and registered for both the religion class and politics in developing countries despite them meeting at the same time on Tuesdays. My classes meet three times a week so my plan was to alternate weekly between the religion and developing countries class. That way I would still attend class at least 2 times per week and would get the notes for the class I missed from another student. This ended when today's profession said that he does not tolerate absences and more than 4 will result in a half grade deduction. Tomorrow, I'll attend the politics in developing countries and see if the professor is okay with me missing that class once a week. If so, I'll keep taking both classes and if not, I'll drop one and take something different.
On a different note, my roommate moved in. He arrived on Friday, but didn't spend a night here until yesterday. His name's Yigit and he's a chemical engineering major. He seems really nice and eager to help! Later tonight, I'm going to sign up for a trip to the Cappadokia region of Turkey from Thursday March 4 till Sunday the 7th. Its a trip organized by the university for exchange students. I'll have more details on the trip later.
Okay well that's all I have for now. I miss you all a lot! Enjoy the winter weather that's supposed to be coming the next few days!!
Love,
Brett
After a long wait of 2.5 weeks it finally happened... I had my first day of class! Granted I only had 1 class, but its a start! The class I had today was religion and society from 1 to 2:50, but we only met for the first hour. Most of my classes are in the political science building, but this one was in New Hall (Creative name, right!?). New Hall is located in North Campus which is about a 5-10 minute walk from my room. It was nice to walk to class and finally see other students with backpacks and such. New Hall is a, you guessed it, "new" building and is (I think) five floors of classrooms and lecture halls. Much like the states, the classroom had a projector, whiteboard, etc. and had room for about 35-40 students. I'd say there were about 30 students in the class and with the exception of me and maybe three others everyone was Turkish. The professor is about 35 and was really nice. Unfortunately, he didn't speak in the loudest voice so it was difficult to hear him, but his English was superb which is key! He described the class as a 4th year seminar, which would make it the equivalent of a 400 or 500 level class at BU. In terms of workload, the professor described it as writing and reading intensive, but after looking at the syllabus its nothing compared to BU. We have four papers throughout the semester that are each 3-5 pages. There's no final exam and there's roughly 60-80 pages of reading a week. Compared to BU, in my IR 521 class on the CIA, I had about 200-300 pages of reading per week a midterm, final, one short paper, and one 10-12 page research paper. When I think about it, 3-5 pages of writing for a non-native english speaker is probably quite challenging as I can only imagine writing 3-5 pages in Turkish or even Arabic.
As interesting as the class seems, I might have to drop it. When I registered, my advisor told us that we could have up to 2 hours of class conflict (two classes at the same time) during a week. So I went ahead and registered for both the religion class and politics in developing countries despite them meeting at the same time on Tuesdays. My classes meet three times a week so my plan was to alternate weekly between the religion and developing countries class. That way I would still attend class at least 2 times per week and would get the notes for the class I missed from another student. This ended when today's profession said that he does not tolerate absences and more than 4 will result in a half grade deduction. Tomorrow, I'll attend the politics in developing countries and see if the professor is okay with me missing that class once a week. If so, I'll keep taking both classes and if not, I'll drop one and take something different.
On a different note, my roommate moved in. He arrived on Friday, but didn't spend a night here until yesterday. His name's Yigit and he's a chemical engineering major. He seems really nice and eager to help! Later tonight, I'm going to sign up for a trip to the Cappadokia region of Turkey from Thursday March 4 till Sunday the 7th. Its a trip organized by the university for exchange students. I'll have more details on the trip later.
Okay well that's all I have for now. I miss you all a lot! Enjoy the winter weather that's supposed to be coming the next few days!!
Love,
Brett
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Down by the Water
Hi Everyone,
Thought I would do a quick update. I'm eagerly counting down the days until class begins Monday. As much fun as it is to be a tourist, I'm very much looking forward to having some structure in my life. I think once classes start I'll really start to get to know more of the kids. I had a meeting with my academic adviser on Monday afternoon with the other exchange kids in the Political Science and International Relations department. There were about 20 of us. Four of the guys I met at orientation and they seem really nice so that's good. There's a guy about my age from Providence who I'm looking forward to meeting, a girl from Boston, and a random assortment of other kids. Actually, Keith if you read this, I'm on the trip with a guy you went to high school with... Brent Seigel. He asked if you were still doing pre-med and I laughed, and told him you were now a history major. Small world, right? Interestingly, one of the students is a graduate student from Virginia who I'm looking forward to talking with. The registration system is really flawed. I mean I though BU's system was messed up at home, but this was 10 times worse. Turns out that all 12,000 students register at the same time. Talk about a massive traffic jam on the internet! It took some work, but I managed to get the four classes I really wanted. I'm debating about taking a fifth, but for now I'm sticking with four. The four classes are: Religion and Society, Politics in Developing Countries, Politics and Society in the Middle East, and European Foreign and Security Policy. Hopefully BU will give me credit for at least 2 of these classes! If not, senior year might get a little interesting! Luckily, all my classes are in the same building except for my class on Monday. I'm glad I won't have to run around the three campuses to find what building I'm supposed to be in. (I probably spoke too soon!).
So the picture at the top of the post is of my new favorite part of Istanbul: Bebek. It's one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city and its right along the Bosphorus. The past few days have been a little rough for me, but when I found this area I became excited again. Its absolutely beautiful! Tomorrow is supposed to be 65 and sunny (I'm thinking about breaking out the shorts!) so I'm going to go back and visit a couple museums and an old castle that is supposed to be in the neighborhood.
Okay, well more pictures are being uploaded onto shutterfly as I type this so check them out!
Love you all,
Brett
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Orientation and more!
Well its been a few days since I last wrote. Wednesday I had orientation at the office of international relations. There were roughly 50-60 American exchange students and another 15-20 Erasmus students or the European students. At the orientation, I got to meet a lot of the other kids. There from all over the US, but quite a few are part of a Duke University program that has kids from both and other colleges. The actual orientation was a little odd... It was about two hours and consisted of a long power point presentation that didn't really cover a lot of information and a campus tour in the rain! The campus tour was a good chance to meet the other kids as I was able to walk around and introduce myself. Too many names to remember, but everyone seems friendly and nice. One of the kids that I hung out with, Joshua, is very intriguing. I found out after the orientation that he's 24 and in his last year of school at the University of Oklahoma. He's a freelance travel writer who's been all over the world. He's spent a lot of time in South America and Australia. After the campus tour, we all loaded on buses and had a buffet style dinner at another campus belonging to the University. There were traditional turkish food offered like kebabs and meatballs, with an American twist to it. We ate in a long dining hall at many different tables. There were about 8 of us at each table so were able to mingle with everyone. Unfortunately, I think arriving a few days early was more of a disadvantage than I thought. Most people who arrived on Monday took at least some part of journey together. As a result, they were already friends and formed their own groups. A lot of people are traveling right now as we still have another week before classes begin. After dinner, we took the buses to another region of Istanbul which I'm conveniently forgetting. We went to a hookah bar where I inhaled about 10 years worth of cigarette smoking. I'm glad I went, but I won't be going back again!
I've been taking a lot of walks around the area. Each time I've been venturing a little bit farther. I'm getting a little sick of this area and after I complete the registration tomorrow I'm heading to the tourist area. I had wanted to go over the weekend, but was feeling a little under the weather so I decided to postpone the trip till I felt better. I'm trying to convince a few people to go with me, but it seems everyone has already been. That's what I mean when everyone who showed up the same day are already friends. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm the only American on my floor which is a bit of an issue in terms of meeting everyone else. Oh well, it'll just be a little more challenging. Once classes start, I'll be spending a lot more time with the students. For the next week I might have to be a solo traveler, but I'm not going to sit around my dorm doing nothing so I'll be adventurous and see the sights on my own!
I'm having fun, but I'm definitely homesick. There have been a few times when I've questioned whether I made the right decision in coming here, but a long walk usually clears up any doubts. Still, I definitely think about it. Tomorrow is registration and a meeting with my academic advisor. I'll let everyone know what classes I'm in after I register!
Love and miss you all!
-Brett
I've been taking a lot of walks around the area. Each time I've been venturing a little bit farther. I'm getting a little sick of this area and after I complete the registration tomorrow I'm heading to the tourist area. I had wanted to go over the weekend, but was feeling a little under the weather so I decided to postpone the trip till I felt better. I'm trying to convince a few people to go with me, but it seems everyone has already been. That's what I mean when everyone who showed up the same day are already friends. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm the only American on my floor which is a bit of an issue in terms of meeting everyone else. Oh well, it'll just be a little more challenging. Once classes start, I'll be spending a lot more time with the students. For the next week I might have to be a solo traveler, but I'm not going to sit around my dorm doing nothing so I'll be adventurous and see the sights on my own!
I'm having fun, but I'm definitely homesick. There have been a few times when I've questioned whether I made the right decision in coming here, but a long walk usually clears up any doubts. Still, I definitely think about it. Tomorrow is registration and a meeting with my academic advisor. I'll let everyone know what classes I'm in after I register!
Love and miss you all!
-Brett
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Settling In!
Hi All,
It's about 11:30 here in Istanbul and I'm back in my room getting ready for bed, but I figured I would do an update first! I saw that CT and the surrounding area is set to get hit by a big snowstorm tomorrow. I'm not sure what's better: the rain in Istanbul or the snow at home. I think I'll take the rain!
For those concerned, I was able to find a pillow, groceries, towel, and due to a misunderstanding at the department store queen sheets that are doubling as a blanket for now. I got all of this at a mall about a 10 minute drive from my dorm. I almost walked to the mall as its about a 30-35 minute walk from the Superdorm, but I decided not to. That proved to be an excellent decision because when I left the mall it was pouring rain and I had about four shopping bags of groceries and linens and my backpack. The rest of saturday, I spent hanging out in the dormitory. At the grocery store, I purchased lots of fruit, veggies, pasta, a variety of chips, cheese, and cold cuts. All the things I need to survive on! I'm completely blanking on what I did Sunday, which probably means I did not do much!
I'll just skip ahead to yesterday, Monday. I went for a long walk in the morning in a different direction than what I had done before. I looked it up on google maps and it was somewhere around 5 miles, but I'm not positive of my actual location so it might have been off by a little. Of course I forgot to bring my camera, so I don't have pictures of that area, but I'm sure I'll be back in that vicinity again. Monday was also the day that most of the other American students started arriving. In the basement of my dorm there's a barber shop (random, right?), laundry, cafe, and small market. Monday afternoon I went down to the mark to buy some more bottled water and a girl in a Columbia sweatshirt walked out of the entrance. I think I scared her a little bit with my extremely enthusiastic, "Hello, and are you an American." Thankfully she was, and we talked for about 15 minutes. Even though I knew I wasn't the only american student at the university it was nice and also a big relief to know that they were finally on campus. It had been a lonely weekend!
Today, I had to go to the main campus to pre-register for registration. Basically, I had to go to the office of international students and check-in. The main campus is about a 15 minute walk from where I'm living. The campus is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, it was misting so I decided not to take any pictures, but I will soon. The school is huge and sits right on the edge of the Bosphorous. I can't even begin to describe it so hopefully the pictures will be up soon. After registering, I went for a walk in the surrounding neighborhood and got completely lost, but managed to make my way back to the dormitory after only a few wrong turns. I've started carrying around a copy of the university's address in my coat pocket so that if I ever get lost and need a cab the driver will know where to go. After the walk, I went back to my room to hang out and then I went to dinner with a girl from BC and her two roommates who are also american students at Bogazici University. The BC student, Erin, is friends with the daughter of one of mom's friends, Laurie Schwartz. It was nice to finally sit down and meet some people. We went to a small cafe and had dinner. I have absolutely no idea what I ordered. I just pointed to the menu and asked the waiter to pick whatever he thought was best. I ended up having something like a stuffed/crunchy pasta with what seemed like a cream or yogurt sauce. It was tasty! After dinner, we walked down the main street of the neighborhood I'm living in and stopped at a cafe (similar to a panera's, but much nicer) and had ice cream and coffee (And, for the record, I still have not had a coffee in my life).
Okay, well tomorrow I have orientation at 3 and then a dinner and some sort of outing afterwards. I have no other details besides that, but I'm looking forward to meeting the other students.
Hope everyone is well and talk soon!
Love,
Brett
It's about 11:30 here in Istanbul and I'm back in my room getting ready for bed, but I figured I would do an update first! I saw that CT and the surrounding area is set to get hit by a big snowstorm tomorrow. I'm not sure what's better: the rain in Istanbul or the snow at home. I think I'll take the rain!
For those concerned, I was able to find a pillow, groceries, towel, and due to a misunderstanding at the department store queen sheets that are doubling as a blanket for now. I got all of this at a mall about a 10 minute drive from my dorm. I almost walked to the mall as its about a 30-35 minute walk from the Superdorm, but I decided not to. That proved to be an excellent decision because when I left the mall it was pouring rain and I had about four shopping bags of groceries and linens and my backpack. The rest of saturday, I spent hanging out in the dormitory. At the grocery store, I purchased lots of fruit, veggies, pasta, a variety of chips, cheese, and cold cuts. All the things I need to survive on! I'm completely blanking on what I did Sunday, which probably means I did not do much!
I'll just skip ahead to yesterday, Monday. I went for a long walk in the morning in a different direction than what I had done before. I looked it up on google maps and it was somewhere around 5 miles, but I'm not positive of my actual location so it might have been off by a little. Of course I forgot to bring my camera, so I don't have pictures of that area, but I'm sure I'll be back in that vicinity again. Monday was also the day that most of the other American students started arriving. In the basement of my dorm there's a barber shop (random, right?), laundry, cafe, and small market. Monday afternoon I went down to the mark to buy some more bottled water and a girl in a Columbia sweatshirt walked out of the entrance. I think I scared her a little bit with my extremely enthusiastic, "Hello, and are you an American." Thankfully she was, and we talked for about 15 minutes. Even though I knew I wasn't the only american student at the university it was nice and also a big relief to know that they were finally on campus. It had been a lonely weekend!
Today, I had to go to the main campus to pre-register for registration. Basically, I had to go to the office of international students and check-in. The main campus is about a 15 minute walk from where I'm living. The campus is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, it was misting so I decided not to take any pictures, but I will soon. The school is huge and sits right on the edge of the Bosphorous. I can't even begin to describe it so hopefully the pictures will be up soon. After registering, I went for a walk in the surrounding neighborhood and got completely lost, but managed to make my way back to the dormitory after only a few wrong turns. I've started carrying around a copy of the university's address in my coat pocket so that if I ever get lost and need a cab the driver will know where to go. After the walk, I went back to my room to hang out and then I went to dinner with a girl from BC and her two roommates who are also american students at Bogazici University. The BC student, Erin, is friends with the daughter of one of mom's friends, Laurie Schwartz. It was nice to finally sit down and meet some people. We went to a small cafe and had dinner. I have absolutely no idea what I ordered. I just pointed to the menu and asked the waiter to pick whatever he thought was best. I ended up having something like a stuffed/crunchy pasta with what seemed like a cream or yogurt sauce. It was tasty! After dinner, we walked down the main street of the neighborhood I'm living in and stopped at a cafe (similar to a panera's, but much nicer) and had ice cream and coffee (And, for the record, I still have not had a coffee in my life).
Okay, well tomorrow I have orientation at 3 and then a dinner and some sort of outing afterwards. I have no other details besides that, but I'm looking forward to meeting the other students.
Hope everyone is well and talk soon!
Love,
Brett
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Pictures
Hello again,
I'll be posting pictures to this website:
http://brettinistanbul.shutterfly.com/
Please check it out whenever you get the chance!
-Brett
I'll be posting pictures to this website:
http://brettinistanbul.shutterfly.com/
Please check it out whenever you get the chance!
-Brett
First Day in Istanbul!
Hello,
After a long journey I'm currently sitting in my bedroom which has a beautiful view of the Bosphorous River. Anyway, my flights went well. Luckily, the flight from Boston to Frankfurt was not full and the two seats closest to me were not taken so I was able to stretch out. Unfortunately, there was a clan of babies on the plane and I did not fall asleep. I arrived at the airport in Germany around 6 in the morning and had about 3 hours to kill before my flight to Istanbul. I have no idea what I did, but somehow I managed to pass the time. The flight to Istanbul was great. I was lucky enough to sit beside a lawyer from DC who was heading to Istanbul with her college roommate from 40 years ago to see another college friend who lives in the city. Even more fortunate was the man sitting two seats over. This man, Meric, overheard me talking about how I was confused about getting from the airport to my dorm. Luckily, he stayed with me from the time we left the airport till I got in a cab. He made sure that I knew where to go and that the driver did not rip me off, something that is apparently very common in Turkey.
I arrived at the superdorm at the university around 2:30pm on Friday. So far, the only person who speaks english is the dorm manager who is not the most helpful of people. I don't even know how to describe the lack of assistance/help I have received. When I asked where I could find food, a blanket, and a pillow, she looked at me oddly and then told me to walk down the street and I would find everything I needed. I did that, and have yet to a blanket or a pillow. I took a brief nap and woke up around 5:30 thinking that I would go to the cafe or market in the basement of my dorm and have something for dinner. Both were closed, and will not reopen until Monday (hopefully). So I went back to my room and had some cereal that I found in the cabinets. Mind you, before the cereal I had not really eaten anything since the plane to Germany.
So with the hearty cereal in my system, I went to bed around 9 and woke up at 10 with a plan to walk around the city until I found food, a blanket, and a pillow. After several hours of no luck, I am thrilled to say that I have found several food options. While walking down the street I saw a familiar sign: Starbucks. I took a picture of it for my sister Bailey knowing that it was one of her favorite places. About five steps past the front door of the starbucks I looked to my right and saw a beautiful sight: a TGI Fridays. It was probably the greatest moment I've had in a long time. Noting the familiar smell of TGI Friday's I decided to keep walking and see what else I could find. About five minutes later I found a McDonalds and a Chili's. It's like heaven. Some of you might be asking why I did not try the traditional turkish cuisine. Well, at first I did not want to do that because I knew there would be a rather large language barrier and I did not know how the food was prepared. However, when I left my dorm the second time to find food I stopped at a small cafe about two minutes from my building and had a couple of what I will describe as pizza rolls (soft buttery roll with melted cheese and a few vegetables on top). They were quite tasty. I'm now back in my dorm room and just talked to my parents on skype (I would love to talk to any of you if you have skype so email me or facebook me and let me know your screen name). My plan for the rest of the afternoon is to take a nap and then go back out for a walk and eat at Chili's or TGI Fridays. I have yet to run into any Americans, but my hope is that they begin arriving on Monday. I'm going to try to post some pictures so you get an idea of where I'm staying and the surrounding area.
Talk soon,
Brett
After a long journey I'm currently sitting in my bedroom which has a beautiful view of the Bosphorous River. Anyway, my flights went well. Luckily, the flight from Boston to Frankfurt was not full and the two seats closest to me were not taken so I was able to stretch out. Unfortunately, there was a clan of babies on the plane and I did not fall asleep. I arrived at the airport in Germany around 6 in the morning and had about 3 hours to kill before my flight to Istanbul. I have no idea what I did, but somehow I managed to pass the time. The flight to Istanbul was great. I was lucky enough to sit beside a lawyer from DC who was heading to Istanbul with her college roommate from 40 years ago to see another college friend who lives in the city. Even more fortunate was the man sitting two seats over. This man, Meric, overheard me talking about how I was confused about getting from the airport to my dorm. Luckily, he stayed with me from the time we left the airport till I got in a cab. He made sure that I knew where to go and that the driver did not rip me off, something that is apparently very common in Turkey.
I arrived at the superdorm at the university around 2:30pm on Friday. So far, the only person who speaks english is the dorm manager who is not the most helpful of people. I don't even know how to describe the lack of assistance/help I have received. When I asked where I could find food, a blanket, and a pillow, she looked at me oddly and then told me to walk down the street and I would find everything I needed. I did that, and have yet to a blanket or a pillow. I took a brief nap and woke up around 5:30 thinking that I would go to the cafe or market in the basement of my dorm and have something for dinner. Both were closed, and will not reopen until Monday (hopefully). So I went back to my room and had some cereal that I found in the cabinets. Mind you, before the cereal I had not really eaten anything since the plane to Germany.
So with the hearty cereal in my system, I went to bed around 9 and woke up at 10 with a plan to walk around the city until I found food, a blanket, and a pillow. After several hours of no luck, I am thrilled to say that I have found several food options. While walking down the street I saw a familiar sign: Starbucks. I took a picture of it for my sister Bailey knowing that it was one of her favorite places. About five steps past the front door of the starbucks I looked to my right and saw a beautiful sight: a TGI Fridays. It was probably the greatest moment I've had in a long time. Noting the familiar smell of TGI Friday's I decided to keep walking and see what else I could find. About five minutes later I found a McDonalds and a Chili's. It's like heaven. Some of you might be asking why I did not try the traditional turkish cuisine. Well, at first I did not want to do that because I knew there would be a rather large language barrier and I did not know how the food was prepared. However, when I left my dorm the second time to find food I stopped at a small cafe about two minutes from my building and had a couple of what I will describe as pizza rolls (soft buttery roll with melted cheese and a few vegetables on top). They were quite tasty. I'm now back in my dorm room and just talked to my parents on skype (I would love to talk to any of you if you have skype so email me or facebook me and let me know your screen name). My plan for the rest of the afternoon is to take a nap and then go back out for a walk and eat at Chili's or TGI Fridays. I have yet to run into any Americans, but my hope is that they begin arriving on Monday. I'm going to try to post some pictures so you get an idea of where I'm staying and the surrounding area.
Talk soon,
Brett
Thursday, February 4, 2010
First Post!!
Hi everyone,
As most of you know I'm studying abroad in Istanbul, Turkey for the spring semester. My goal is to write about my adventures and experiences while abroad in this blog. As much as I'd like to promise that I'll write everyday I know that won't happen so check back a couple times a week and I'll post as frequently as I can. I'm leaving today (in about 5 hours!!!) so look for a new post over the weekend. Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to leave comments or send me an email!
Talk soon,
Brett
As most of you know I'm studying abroad in Istanbul, Turkey for the spring semester. My goal is to write about my adventures and experiences while abroad in this blog. As much as I'd like to promise that I'll write everyday I know that won't happen so check back a couple times a week and I'll post as frequently as I can. I'm leaving today (in about 5 hours!!!) so look for a new post over the weekend. Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to leave comments or send me an email!
Talk soon,
Brett
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