Year in Review

So it is the end of December 2010, I’ve spent my quiet time this week thinking back to everything that I’ve done this year. Here it is:

January:
-First College Acceptance Letter; Susquehanna University (final tally accepted to 4 our of 5 schools, disregarding Lawrence cause I never did here from them)

February:
-End of Yarmouth Basketball

March
-College Visiting Trip in PA with Madre

April
-The best gift of all time my Canon!
-Family Vacation to Costa Rica
-Accepted to Rotary Youth Exchange to Turkey

May
-Sadly I remember nothing from May except little things from school and Memorial Day weekend in Mass

June
-Graduation from YHS
-Head to Hamilton, MA for the summer

July
-Roasted a Pig on 4th of July
-Work at the Farm Bar & Grill
-Clam Fest 2010

August
-Trip to Quebec with Aunt Rachel, Matt and Betsy
-Last Week in the U.S.

September
-TURKEY
-Marmaris and southern coast
-Meet the other Rotary Exchange students, most importantly Logan Kettering (happy now? There’s your name) (just kidding to all you other exchange students, you are ALL important to me)

October:
-Turkish Class
-Eurasian Marathon
-Halloween Party (best costume: Autograph Book)

November
-Ankara Trip
-LOST CAT!
-Thanksgiving

December
-Thanksgiving Party
-Snow in Istanbul
-Galata Tower
-Memorable Christmas

There we have it 4 countries, college, high school, work, school, guess it was successful right? Bring on 2011. I can’t wait.

Mutlu Noeller

What’s that phrase? The first step to fixing a problem is admitting there is one? Well, I admit it. I have been awful, simply awful with blogging about my time here, so as part of the year of 2011’s resolutions, blogging (fingers crossed weekly) will be occurring.Tamam mı? Tamam! (Ok? Ok!) So let’s get down to business.
Today is December 26 2010 and I can’t say that I have ever had a holiday season like the one that I’ve had so far. To start things off, the weather. I mean, I know I’m from Maine and used to snow, sleet, frozen sidewalks and not being able to get in the car in the morning, but I expected at least some chilly weather. I think I would be able to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt and be, well fairly comfortable. The only time that it really feels chilly is when it’s raining, a cold rain, which is one thing that I’m not usually used to.
Secondly the holidays. Well being the 99.8 % Muslim country (CIA World Factbook) the concept of Christmas, birth of Jesus, Santa isn’t really around. I mean they know of it, and some of the malls have blow up snowmen and trees in their displays but it’s not a holiday. There are plenty of lights and what seem to be “holiday” decorations but it’s for the new year.
So yesterday was quite a different day. I woke early and went and took the ferry across the Bosphorous and back. For no reason other then I can never, ever get over the view, the feeling, and there’s just something special about it. I came back home and sent my Christmas wished via email, face book, skype and then went out with Lauren for lunch and tea in Beyoğlu by Galata Tower. We talked about our own Christmas traditions and how it was a first for both of us, doing something different for Christmas. Did I mention the weather was a clear, sunny, blue sky nice 50(ish) degree day. Pretty good afternoon.
We walked down Istiklal (a pedestrian street that I consider to the be hub of Istanbul) to Taksim Square and met with fellow exchange students and Rotary Counselors before going to dinner. At dinner we exchanged secret santa gifts. I received a nice scarf (that makes three) and some Turkish prayer beads or Tespih. Finally dinner started and while dinner was being served there was 4 belly dancing performances and traditional Turkish dances performed on stage. Yeah, a little different from tradition haha. But memorable none the less. I took plenty of video and will post that sometime soon.
Besides the different holiday weekend, school is going swell (when was the last time you saw that word?). Amanda and I have discovered plenty of things to do when not in class and after a certain speech in front of the school a few weeks ago plenty of new people are talking to me everyday.
2011 is almost here and so I plan on posting in the next few days a little recap of 2010. Stay tuned!

As always comments are much appreciated if not encouraged. It gives me ideas on what to write next.

Around Istanbul

Click here to view these pictures larger

View

One thing I can not get over is the view I get crossing the Bosphorous. No matter the time of day, by bus, car, ferry it is always something different and something great. This picture was taken last Saturday on the way back to Asia on the ferry. I feel like ever lira I spend on public transportation (only about 1.5) is well spent with a view like this. Currently I am working on loading pictures so that more people can see them. If you have any ideas, lemme know!

Potter

Just saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part1). Yep that’s right, in Turkey, two days before the U.S. I got to see it. That’s pretty cool. I will be the first to admit that I have never been a fan of the movies that have followed the Potter Books. They never lived up to my dream, and the fact that they changed every movie (new director) frustrated me too no end. But I sat there today, and by golly, they finally got it right. I was impressed, in fact I was ready to see it again because it finally had put the words to the screen. Now I’m sure that plenty of people will have whatever opinion about the movie. But for me, it worked. If there is one thing I am learning here, it’s that there are SO many different views on anything. Pick any subject and suddenly you are presented with ideas you didn’t even know existed. I will never look at things the same again. But I do know I will be going to see Harry Potter again.

School

How different could school be?
That is the question I thought about most this summer leading up to my year here. Would it be hard, easy, in Turkish or English? Well here is all the information about my school.
I wake up every day around 6:45 or 7, about the same as back home, but then here is where things start to differ. I have a uniform and one that I am not a fan of at that. There is a school shirt, white polo with the "Marmara Koleji" name and symbol on it, and then jeans. Now many if not everyone will say this is not that bad at all, but I don't like jeans. I have never owned a pair, worn a pair and dislike wearing them. Give me a pair of khaki's any day over jeans. I just don't like them one bit. After I choose from my 5 shirts (long or short sleeve? Wow, decisions decision) and get dressed it's breakfast and then out the door by 7:30. The school "bus" picks me up at around 7:40 right in front of my apartment building. Most private school's have a fleet of their own buses, or vans, that go to specific areas of the city and pick up about 12 students and bring them back to school. Makes the morning very interesting with all of these vans with all the schools going everywhere. The drivers are incredible sometimes though, I still marvel at their ability to move to one side to let one another pass. In the morning it takes about 30 minutes to pick up the rest of the students and get to school. My school is located a bit outside the city in the hills. Classes start at around 8:40 and from there my day gets interesting. When I met with the foreign exchange coordinater of the school he signed me and my fellow exchange students up for only the classes that are taught with a little English in them. That means I am taking English (it's tough, really I swear.....NOT, the teacher asks me sometimes for explanations) Biology, Math, Economics, and a philosophy type class called Theory of Knowledge (TOK). I'm also enrolled in the 11th grade because 12th is much more of preparation for the tests that all students take throughout the year. But with so few classes I have lots of free time. That lead to the first few weeks of struggling to find things to do. I even tried to read Harry Potter in Turkish from the library because I figured I knew them in English so well I would be able to learn some.....that idea fizzled after the first page. Classes are 40 minutes long with a 10 minute break between each and a 40 min break for lunch. There are 8 periods in the day so we get out at 3:50, buses leave at 4 and I get home around 4:45. I'll write another post about class and things I do in school later. Oh and one more thing I have two other exchange students through rotary with me at the school. Amanda from Brazil and Xelina (Shelina) from California.

Getting Around

Alright so I am now back in Istanbul and I have made a decision. Turks are the worst drivers I have ever encountered. My ranking would be from best or normal to worst is Maine-Massholes (spending the summer working there proved that fact)-Italians-Then Turks. If anyone who is reading this is planning on coming to Turkey at some point DO NOT RENT A CAR. The parking is less to none, and i'm still wondering how people get their license here. Turn signal is like it's not even there. The horn is constantly used to express disapproval of another driver, signal another car to go down a narrow street before you or just to tell the other driver to hurry up. And with so many people in the city (somewhere around 16 million) the traffic is awful at times and it's always about how fast to get to your destination. A manuver I have begun to notice is when an ambulence is making it's way through traffic people will try and follow it because it's getting you there quicker. It's crazy! The alternative is the better choice. The public transportation is amazing and on top of that inexpensive. I can take a dolmuş (a small mini bus that does a set route and you pay depending on the distance you are going), the bus (maybe a little more crowded but very inexpensive, the ferry (a personal favorite when crossing the Bosphorous because no traffic and the view is always amazing), and the taxi (haven't had the chance to experience this one yet but it's still a better option then you driving). I enjoy getting around the city now that I know how to do it. Crossing the Bosphorous is always a great experience no matter ferry or over the bridge. The view makes it spectacular.

Sports (9/13)

One of the great things about countries besides the U.S. You can always find a soccer game on T.V. For the past four years it's been clips during SportsCenter in the mornings and walking through the weight room after school that has totalled as my soccer intake. Already a week here and i've been brought into the fold of Besiktas (Beshektas) my whole host family here decided that for me on the second night when they played. If anyone asks you who do you root for, your answer is Besiktas. Another thing that has been going on here that I think is being totally overshadowed by the NFL premiere is the FIBA Basketball World Championships. They are being held in Istanbul (of course the one week I'm on vacation outside Istanbul) but Turkey has been doing quite well so every other night is another game. If no one saw it they should Youtube Turkey vs. Serbia Semifinal. The ending was one of the most spectacular i've ever seen in a basketball game. This placed Turkey in the Final vs. none other then the U.S. Now recognizing the company that I was in I did not make any comments on how I thought the game would turn out. My host dad went out and got an American and Turk Flag and we laid them out before the game. Well predictably the U.S. almost effortlessly won by 20 something points. Again I wasn't too boastful in my countries victory. Basketball seems to be the second most popular sport here in Turkey. I have a suspicion that I will be watching a lot of NBA basketball this winter. Soccer and basketball are big here, and wouldn't you know I'm a 6'2" American. I think it's going to be my "IN" card.

I'm Back

Hey Everyone
So I know that it's been a few weeks of silence from me. Internet cafes are alot more scarce back here in Istanbul so I haven't been online very much. Fortunately my parents sent over a nifty little netbook (mini laptop to those untechnical people) and so now I have the world at my fingertips again. I will be bringing everyone up to speed on all of my time here from my last post so they will be dated. Pictures will also hopefully be posted this weekend, fingers crossed. Just wanted to let the world know I'm all good here.

Fırst Days

So compared to metropolıs that ıs Yarmouth, Maıne Istanbul ıs hardly comparable. It just stretches for as far as the eye can see ın every dırectıon and you see these towerlıke spıres everywhere representıng the mosques. It was late ın the afternoon so we got stuck on one of the two brıdges over the Bosphorous for awhıle. As the next day we were leavıng to go to Marmarıs on holıday we decıded to go out to dınner and shop for the 7 hour car rıde we would be facıng. We parked at thıs mall that I swear ıs the bıggest mall I have ever been ın. Now for you Maıners thıs makes the Maıne Mall look lıke a corner store. I have been ın some bıg malls ın PA so thıs one was just mınd blowıng. Oh and they had almost every Amerıcan store you could thınk about. I even saw a Krıspy Kreme shop. They dont even have them ın Maıne. Woke early the next day to get on a ferry then a 7 hour car rıde. Not sure ıf I should be proud of thıs but I slept for the whole trıp agaın. Both ferry and car rıde. I was OUT. I woke on the coast ın Marmarıs a place where I thınk anyone would have a good tıme. Spent the fırst few days on the beach workıng on that tan everyone knows I can get so well. Then a late dınner and new turkısh vocab and then bed. Ok for those that know me well, or sınce I was a young chıld you wıll know that I was a horrıbly pıcky eater and whıle I have gotten better stıll quıte bad. When I hıt my teens I expanded my lıkes to eggs and lettuces, yes wow ı know, bıg step. You would also know that I would hardly ever try somethıng new unless my Uncle Jım saıd I would lıke ıt or asked me to take a taste. Well to shock you all, most of all my mother, I have had over 20 meals here ın Turkey and I havent dıslıked one of them. And no ıt hasnt been the same thıng or thıngs I eat ın the USA. I am usıng the ınternet cafes I run ınto every few days so more posts should follow. Please leave comments and I wıll answer any questıons. Iyı gunler.

Flight

So Earl dıd not delay me at all ın my journey to Istanbul. The journey was actually enjoyable. Ok so you know those people who work behınd the counter at the aırport? Where you get the tıcket and check your bags. Well I am goıng to drop some knowledge that I never thought about before; Get on theır good sıde. They can make or break the journey to and from your destınatıon. As I arrıved to Logan Aırport on Frıday Sept. 3 in my blazer (Rotary attıre) the lady behınd the counter started talkıng to me as I was an 18 year old dressed lıke I was goıng on a busıness trıp. I guess I got on her good sıde cause she ınformed me she moved me to gıve me some more leg room and gave my bags prıorıty stıckers. Made the trıp sooooo nıce. The only tıme I dıdnt sleep on the flıghts was the change over ın Frankfurt. My ıPod wıll be gettıng major usage thıs year. Arrıved ın Istanbul and was pıcked up by my host father Bulent. Drove out of the aırport and saw the HUGE cıty I wıll be lıvıng ın.