I have been in Turkey for less then a week and I am already starting to understand more things and feel more comfortable. It is largely to the Turkish Students that are called Buddies that help out the International Students. They are so friendly and so very helpful. For example, today a Buddy and I went on a bus to try to get a phone for me. We went to a huge mall but all the phones are really expensive. There is a district called Kadikoy that has much cheaper phones and basically anything I need so I will have to go there soon. I am beginning to see what Kadikoy really is. In Turkey, there are many districts and Kadikoy is a popular place for college students. It is where many students live and there are great places to hang out I have heard.
I am still trying to figure out public transportation as being from Iowa, we just use cars. However, since Istanbul is so huge, it is much easier to travel by bus and trains, or a ferry to get to the European side. I know though that bus 19 will get me to the gate of the university! I am very happy that my apartment is only a two minute walk from campus. The people that live away from campus have to use the bus and it takes much more time.
I am really enjoying my new apartment. My flatmate is a Turkish student who also goes to Yeditepe. She is very nice and we have been helping each other learn each other’s language. I taught her pomegranate and she has taught me key phrases. The first night I didn’t sleep very well but that was expected. I do live somewhat near a mosque so I hear the Call to Prayer. However, I must have been really tired, as I didn’t hear it this morning. I have my own room with a bed, side table, another table that I can do homework on and a huge wardrobe that holds all my clothes and other random things I have. I did have to buy a blanket today as I have been cold at night.
It is interesting and funny to see how people react to snow. It has snowed off and on for a few weeks and it is so rare. It hasn’t snowed like this for about four years I have been told. Traffic slows way down and nobody wants to go anywhere. I actually really enjoyed walking in the snow today. It made me smile as it reminded me of home. All the people around me were either complaining or throwing snow at each other and I was just smiling to myself.
The campus is so much different from Beloit. It is much larger and the buildings are huge. They all have elevators. There is a student center that has so much in it! There are four restaurants, a little food store, a bank, barber, bookstore and a place to buy Yeditepe apparel. It also has a ATM which is handy. I have been learning how to convert Turkish Lira to US dollar. One lira is about fifty six cents. There are also dogs everywhere. I went from tons of squirrels at Beloit to many dogs. The dogs are really chill and people feed them
I went to my second class today, Social Problems in Turkey, and there were only four other students. I have been learning that most people do not attend the first week of class. It was the same way in the class yesterday, Gender in Society. Only ten people came but about forty people had signed up. I was expecting more people know English here. Though I did find out that this is a foundation school meaning that many of the people here are just learning English. There is a test that the students take to see how well they know English and then get put into one of the three tracks. Today in my Soc class, the professor was talking in English and then went to Turkish for a few sentences. I was already warned about this so I was prepared. It is just very interesting.
I just made my appointment from my residence permit. It is very strange as the earliest date is in April! But the important thing is that I now have an appointment. I do not understand the Turkish system and as everyone tells me, there is no system. I am getting used to everything not being organized of it all. Though I did by a planner yesterday as I like my life organized! My professor canceled class for tomorrow so I have a three day weekend. I am going on a tour of Istanbul on Saturday with International Club which will be great. But besides that, I am just going with the flow.
No comments:
Post a Comment