Soooo................
I reached Istanbul safely. Without any delays or cancellations. The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam seemed short; finished a short book and a movie and a half. I did not get sleep on the flight. The short 5 hours layover seemed like forever as I tried to take a nap on an uncomfortable cafe seat at the airport. Finally, after some good conversation with neighbors on the flight (one of them went to BAU, the university I was going to) I landed at Istanbul 22 hours after I left Cedar Falls.
But, I could not find the person who was coming to pick me up (found later). I was supposed to be taken to a host where I could stay for 10 days for free. But luckily, I happened to overhear a conversation and collected my gut to approach them. The American guy was being picked up by this gingery (just for the sake of description) girl and was going to BAU as well. Soon we met more people and were ready to get out of the airport.
We were lucky that someone had a car but not so lucky after just few minutes when we were in the middle of the highway and no vehicles would move. The traffic was super nasty, reminded me of Kathmandu but only better. Long story short, we got out of it.
First meal at Istanbul? Guess.........
PIZZA HUT...... serioulsy
Soon, my host confirmed that he would pick me up from the pizza hut and in no time, I was at my place of accommodation (for now). Sleeping was not a problem. I guess tiredness is still to come. A guy from Costa Rica (goes to a private college in Idaho and his name is Omar) is also staying at the same place. He is an energetic person and seems like a smart guy. Well, he went to United World Colleges!
This morning, we went to the university. Nothing special, just the regular orientation stuff like introduction, welcome speech, about the city and the campus and culture and safety talks. We also got to register for classes which was cool. Their campus tour was nothing like ours even though they only have four big buildings by the edge of Bosporus which is un-comparable.
In few hours of getting to Istanbul, I have not had chance to take much pictures. But they will come soon for sure. Please check back in few days.
Also, my Turkish vocabulary had expanded by few words already. And I had my first local food which was good!
I reached Istanbul safely. Without any delays or cancellations. The flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam seemed short; finished a short book and a movie and a half. I did not get sleep on the flight. The short 5 hours layover seemed like forever as I tried to take a nap on an uncomfortable cafe seat at the airport. Finally, after some good conversation with neighbors on the flight (one of them went to BAU, the university I was going to) I landed at Istanbul 22 hours after I left Cedar Falls.
But, I could not find the person who was coming to pick me up (found later). I was supposed to be taken to a host where I could stay for 10 days for free. But luckily, I happened to overhear a conversation and collected my gut to approach them. The American guy was being picked up by this gingery (just for the sake of description) girl and was going to BAU as well. Soon we met more people and were ready to get out of the airport.
We were lucky that someone had a car but not so lucky after just few minutes when we were in the middle of the highway and no vehicles would move. The traffic was super nasty, reminded me of Kathmandu but only better. Long story short, we got out of it.
First meal at Istanbul? Guess.........
PIZZA HUT...... serioulsy
Soon, my host confirmed that he would pick me up from the pizza hut and in no time, I was at my place of accommodation (for now). Sleeping was not a problem. I guess tiredness is still to come. A guy from Costa Rica (goes to a private college in Idaho and his name is Omar) is also staying at the same place. He is an energetic person and seems like a smart guy. Well, he went to United World Colleges!
This morning, we went to the university. Nothing special, just the regular orientation stuff like introduction, welcome speech, about the city and the campus and culture and safety talks. We also got to register for classes which was cool. Their campus tour was nothing like ours even though they only have four big buildings by the edge of Bosporus which is un-comparable.
In few hours of getting to Istanbul, I have not had chance to take much pictures. But they will come soon for sure. Please check back in few days.
Also, my Turkish vocabulary had expanded by few words already. And I had my first local food which was good!
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