After almost two months in Turkey, I am back in America and have been for the past eight days. The journey back took over 24hrs and for the most part was uneventful, except for almost missing the final boarding call in Istanbul because we were playing Euchre. The plane ride went surprisingly fast and was really nice. We got two meals, free drinks, and I watched three movies. Once we landed on American soil, we quickly picked up our luggage and went through customs. I was then greeted by my wonderful family. We all went to see where Garrett lives and spent about an hour in Chicago. I am still adjusting to the time difference and feel like such an old person going to bed early all the time and falling asleep while watching movies in the theater. Sorry Jana, I'll try to stay awake next time!
I have been meaning to post this list for a while but for one reason or another I haven't. Here are a few bullet points about the many things I noticed while living in Turkey (don't be too disappointed as my observations are pretty basic and of little importance to most).
- Backgammon is a very popular game, many people play while they are at restaurants or just hanging out and drinking tea. I learned how to play and enjoy it so feel free to challenge me (even though I’m not that good).
- Movie theaters had assigned seats and there was an intermission. The intermission was nice because you could stretch your legs, go to the bathroom, or get more snacks. At the same time it was annoying because it didn’t matter what was happening in the movie, like a fight scene in Batman, the intermission would interrupt it.
- Turks smoke like chimneys: men, women, young, and old.
- There was hardly any concept of a line. When purchasing food or drinks at the café in the university (or anywhere for that matter) we were constantly cut (or what we perceived as being cut) by Turkish students/citizens. The same thing happened when getting on the bus and tram.
- There was a NATO airbase nearby our apartment so we were constantly interrupted by low flying jets. When they flew overhead all conversation had to stop, no matter how much you tried to yell. After awhile it became quite comical because it always happened during the critical parts of conversations.
- They don’t put sauce on pizza, which was a huge disappointment when we ate at Pizza Hut (definitely better in America).
- Fountain drinks (although rare to find) are served without ice cubes.
- Water in restaurants was not free and came in bottles, so no free refills either.
- There is a belief that cold foods (like ice cream) can make you more susceptible to getting sore throats and colds. In order to counteract these effects, they drink warm water, tea, or coffee afterward.
- While driving people constantly honked their horn. At first it seemed to be for no reason, but after awhile, I realized that they did this to warn other drivers when they were in their blind spot, passing them, approaching an intersection, or a number of other reasons.
- In an earlier blog post, I think I mentioned how chaotic the traffic was, however, I never saw an accident the entire two months. There must be some order to the chaos.
- It is customary to leave your tray on the table when eating in the mall food court or at fast food restaurants.
- French fries were served with both ketchup and mayonnaise, it was awesome!
- They call large shoes “baby graves.”
- Some people had a hard time pronouncing ‘Ross,’ I thought it was funny and actually made me feel good since I had a hard time pronouncing some of their names.
- Being from America, people thought it was strange that we actually wanted to go to Turkey. They didn’t understand why we would leave a county that has “everything."
- Time never seemed to be an issue or of any real importance. The buses didn’t have a set schedule (or at least didn’t follow it if they had one), classes started around the posted starting time (many were postponed to allow people to eat breakfast or lunch), lunch breaks were 1.5 hours, etc.
- There is no word for “I’m sorry,” they typically just forget about it and move on.
- Everyone, particularly women, seemed to be really into fashion and were always dressed presentably. That’s right, no sweatpants, sweatshirts, leggings, gym shorts, or “workout clothes” unless actually working out (which hardly anyone seemed to do).
- Running was uncommon. I think the only people that did, were MSU students, and when they did, they were gawked at by the locals.
- There were toothpicks on every table at every restaurant and dining location.
- American music was played everywhere. In stores, restaurants, bars/clubs, etc.
- Many mannequins had nipples and at least one had areolas. Quite an unusual sight.
- The word turquoise comes from a French word meaning “Turkish stone.”
- There was far less personal space. People were not hesitant to sit next to you on the bus and would sometimes even pass up an open seat to sit next to a stranger (weird I know). Here, we try to avoid sitting next to people at all costs and will even go out of our way to do so.
- Grades were posted with students names next to their corresponding grade. This was extremely surprising at first and is a stark contrast to America, where student's privacy is highly protected by numerous laws and FERPA. I wish I would have asked how students felt about this and whether it makes them work harder to avoid embarrassment or if it has no effect at all.
I guess this is the end of my blog. I am not a writer nor a blogger, but hope that my posts have been interesting and insightful to read. At the very least, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thank you!
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