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

Istanbul reminded me of Kathmandu

So, I have been living in here in Istanbul for few days now and I love this country. And surprisingly, I found much similarity between Istanbul and Kathmandu, the city where I spend my teens.

• There are mosques everywhere, very similar to temples in Kathmandu. The traffic here is crazy as well.The first day I got here, our 30 minute drive turned out to be two hours. 

• There are open restaurants by the roadside where you could see "Doner" here like you see steaming momos on the streets of Kathmandu. 

• Tea (Chay) is very common here as well. The tea is a little different compared to Nepalese tea but are widely available and is the easiest thing you could get.

"Doner"

• Lots of street vendors. Bargaining for price on the street works very well. 
• There are quite a number of beggars as well.

Some key things that to know.

• Istanbul is NOT the capital of Turkey. The capital of Turkey is Ankara which is on Anatolian Peninsula (Asian Side). The capital was moved by the Founder of Turkish Republic, Ataturk, in 1923

• It is the largest city in Europe with 14 million + population. A majority of population is of age group 20-30 year making it a city of young people.

• It is the only city that is in two continents, Europe and Asia, separated by a narrow body of water called Bosporus Strait.

• It is one of the most important cities in the history of mankind. It was the capital of Roman, Byzantine, Latin and the Ottoman empires with almost 2000 year of history. 

• Visa is required for Nepalese Citizen to visit Turkey. American Citizen can get visa on arrival. There is direct connection to Istanbul from major American, European, African, Middle Eastern and Asian cities. Turkish Airlines have a direct flight from Kathmandu four times a week.

Turkish Chay

Istanbul map

(Please check other resources for date and other facts. I learned the above mentioned facts through conversation here) 

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Unknown 9:00 AM  No comment

So the real "thing" begins !!!!!

One of the building of the Main Campus in Besiktas where all my classes are Depending on your major, your classes could be on any of 3-5 campuses in Istanbul. 

Today onward the real "study" part of study abroad begins. But apparently here the syllabus day is not a very big deal. First week is the experimental where you can check if you like the class/professor/time/etc. and then the following week you could add/drop classes.

Ironically, one of my instructor emailed yesterday that he was going to lecture on the first class and that we were to be ready. So was I, ready, set and to go!! I had two classes today. One was his and the other was differential equation. His class went "full on" two hours. But the second class, she only taught around one of the two hours.

The view of Bosporus Bridge from the campus. You can see
Asia in the picture. 

My semester here is supposed to be math intensive . I am taking THREE super hard math classes (according to my friend). I have one economics class which seems pretty tough as well as another gen ed. class. But that will come later. It would seems like a heavy load to any normal American student. But here, (I'm pointing to a group of students) some Turkish students usually take like 10-12 classes each semester. I was like........ Holy Cow!!

The cafe area where almost all students hang out when they are out of their
classes. It is super difficult to find a seat here during 11-1PM hour. 

Compared to everything I do on campus while at UNI, this load should not be very intensive. I plan to have some traveling experience and also get some research done. The semester here seems a little longer without a spring break in between so the plan is to make everyday like spring break. Either way, the days are warmer here than in Cedar Falls so is already spring break for me. :)

Thanks for reading these posts. Also, let me know what you want to hear so that I can incorporate them in my future posts.

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Unknown 10:20 AM  No comment

Merhaba Istanbul!!! Ready for the adventure!

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!

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Unknown 2:26 PM  No comment

Beginner's Introduction

Hi,

My name is Parash and I am a student at the University of Northern Iowa. I am starting to blog about my upcoming adventure to Turkey and also plan on writing about other travel and experience I have had. My plan is to write actively which has never happened before. So I do not want to make promises yet.

Over next few months, I will be living in Istanbul, the world's most cosmopolitan city. Going to a school there and spending my time in two continents simultaneously will be a dream come true for me.

My host institution is Bahcesehir University and is located right on the edge of Bosporus on the Europen side. I will be staying few miles away from the campus but since they have a very extensive public transportation system, I do not feel that the distance will be a problem. We will see how everything goes.

I leave in exactly seven days from today.  I will be bidding adieu to Cedar Falls until late July. I have a lot of preparation to do but it does not feel like leaving yet. This place is very cold now but it will be absolutely pretty in few weeks. My past two spring in Cedar Falls were amazing and I know for sure that it has more to provide soon.

Overall, I am ready for this adventure. I am excited about Turkish food and the culture. Hope that not knowing Turkish language is not going to be a disadvantage. Keep sending me wishes and prayers. I will update you on my trips. Hope you will be able to see Istanbul through my posts.

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Unknown 7:33 PM  No comment