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
Monday, February 22, 2010
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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