A day in life

Life has started to be normal. I do not feel like I am in a completely different city, away from home and away from my university which I had called to be home for last three years. Istanbul has a lot of things to offer and there is always so much to do and see. For nerds who love history, culture, arts, language, architecture, religion and food, there can be no better place than Istanbul.

After almost two months in this city I do not feel like a tourist anymore. My routine has started to be normal again. My body is now comfortable with this environment (also includes sleeping in until 9 am everyday). Here is how a typical weekday is for me:

• Wake up around 9 AM ish 
• Grab some food if there is time before the first class or if there is food in the flat
• Rush to campus for the first class (I live 10-15 mins walking distance from campus)
• Couple of classes a day, drink some chay in between and eat whatever this town has to offer.
• Sit in the computer labs for a couple of hours, try to finish assignments but not without distractions.
• Then there is two options, either pick up a bite on the way home or stay out with friends (watching soccer or just hang out) before heading home.
• Plan on going to bed around midnight but procrastinating sleep for at least until 2 AM.
• While going to sleep, set up 3-4 alarms promising to self not to sleep for more than six hour.
• Next day, wake up even later skipping all the alarms and breaking all the promises from last night.

It has been a good two months but it also means that this life is coming to an end. It is definitely one of the biggest opportunities I ever grabbed. I have just over two more months before the semester gets over and life will be back to normal. It feels like I am living in a cocoon avoiding the responsibilities I have taken for last few years but the cocoon will eventually break and the big beautiful butterfly will come again. 

Oh yeah, about the weekends, nothing special there either. We go out or stay home, the nights are even longer and the days shorter.

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Unknown 2:46 AM  No comment

More stray cats of Istanbul.....

This is the continuation of the previous post titled Cats of Istanbul!!!!!
http://nepalibideshma.blogspot.com.tr/2014/03/cats-of-istanbul.html

I took these cat pictures when I visited Princes Island yesterday. Princes Island has its history from Byzentine period. Princes Island is a chain of nine islands (archipelago) few miles off the coast of Istanbul. I had heard a lot of Turkish people have summer residence there.

Wikipedia article about Princes Island

Everything else, these cats are just so cute. 

How about you guys give a caption to these pictures this time? I will number them you name them on the comment section below.

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Unknown 3:32 AM  1 comment

Why did I decide to study abroad? Where did it lead?

Many students plan their abroad semester well in advance. By the time they start their application, they know where they are going, how much it would cost and what they plan to do while abroad. For me it was a last minute thing.

I have had some travel opportunities in 2013. I had been to short term study abroad program and had enjoyed my time there. Fall semester of 2013 began and classes started getting harder. My commitments with work and involvement started getting intense as well. I was very certain that I would just say at UNI for next couple of years and finish my degree. But week 7/8 approached, I started thinking a little too much about my remaining time at UNI. I stumbled upon a couple of semester long programs and looked into them without having any real interest to leave UNI campus. The same day I mentioned Elizabeth that I had looked into studying abroad. She had already decided to spend a semester in Thailand by then. She was actually very encouraging.

Presidents' Council in Shanghai Dianji University, Summer 2013

Next day I went Chris's office and asked about the programs that UNIBusiness had partnership with. The very new partnership that Dean Moussavi had mentioned few months earlier at Presidents' Council meeting with Bahcesehir University in Istanbul was the clear winner because of transferable classes, good location and was a cost neutral which meant CBA would pay the extra cost of attendance if there is one. I started my application a week before the Study Abroad Center deadline not knowing for sure if I was going in the first place. I had decided to gamble on the non-refundable application fee. My original plan was to withdraw the application if finances were going to be a problem. Everything worked as planned and I finally (officially) decided that I was going. Obviously, I had made my mind when I applied but if it was not for the College of Business cost neutral program and the UNIBusiness Points Plus program, I probably would have withdrawn. It does cost some money but I was fortunate enough to have received something.

I thank following department for their scholarship, it does help me with the whole travel plan.

• Office of Financial Aid, UNI
• Office of Admissions, International, UNI
• University Honors Program, UNI
• College of Business, UNI, and 
• UNI Study Abroad Office

Also I thank my supervisors at CME, International Admissions and ALC for providing me some hours at work over the winter break so that I could save some money. SAC, Office of Admissions, Economics Department and Math Department have helped me get the courses needed and hope to receive more if I have difficulty registering for classes. It has been a great experience to be at UNI for last two and a half years and I plan to make it bigger and better. 

Eastern Iowa Airport, Cedar Rapids.            Source KCRG

I have had amazing support from administrators, family, friends and my instructors at UNI, without which something would be missing in my life. It makes me feel like I have taken advantage of all the opportunities that have been provided to me. Let me know if I am missing out on something. I need to get that done before I graduate. :) 

My airport look. 

And here I am 4 months after I submitted my application, sitting at the Cedar Rapids Airport waiting to board the flight thinking about the wonderful opportunities I have received and the adventure that is awaiting me thousands of miles away. I look back and think how small things came together to make this possible for me. Truly destiny is something that you do not think much about. What if I had not met Kristi back in 2009 on that college fair? What if I had signed up to visit a different school during that time? Honesty, it would have taken a while even to hear about UNI let alone putting an application in.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers and write to me or comment here. I would love to hear from you and show you Turkey through my eyes

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Unknown 6:00 AM  No comment