First Week Survived

It's been a week since I got here, and so far so good. I've met a lot of great people from all over the world, so not only will I learn about Turkey but I'll also be getting some new perspective from other places, too.

I had an 11 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, so I went out into the city and explored a bit. There was a festival going on down by the river so I enjoyed myself there, but then I got a little lost. Some German lady cussed me out when I politely asked her if she spoke English so I could get directions. She said it all in German, but I understand what she said, which was, "No, I don't speak English. We're in Germany, we speak German." Even though it actually hurt my feelings a little and was extremely rude, I was glad she said it because in my head this was a very "American" thing to say. It was almost like, "Ok, this doesn't just happen in the US, maybe we're not so bad" type of thing, because I know the reputation Americans have sometimes. What I mean is, it's not about where you're from or what language you speak, it all boils down to what kind of person you are; if you're an asshole, you're an asshole. Real simple. She was one of those people who wore a permanent frown, so really I should have known better than to say anything to her anyway. I ended up calling the tour driver who I had befriended on our drive into the city and he came and got me and we hung out for a bit before he showed me how to take the metro back to the airport. His name was Ingo, and he was my savior! I'll definitely hit him up when I'm in Frankfurt again. Bless his soul.

Induction has been going pretty well so far. A lot of information about the school and what's to be expected has been covered, and I've also started my survival Turkish lessons. I like the language but it's all suffixes and there's a different word order, so I know I'll have to practice a lot. At least I can order a glass of red wine, that's what's important here.

The group has been introduced to a few nice bars and restaurants on or near campus and we did the city tour yesterday. Thursday was a holiday so Emily and Nadia and I took the bus and metro to Kizilay and Bachelievler (spelled the way is sounds because I don't have the Turkish letters on my keyboard) walked around and ate lunch. Emily has been here for two years teaching in a different city, so it's helpful to explore with someone who has a decent grasp on the language. I've been to a few malls and stuff nearby, too. Their regular malls are like our Mall of America, minus the rollercoasters (although there is a small fair outside one of them!). I've been spending a lot of money because I've been piecing together my apartment with things I need that you never really knew you used a lot until you don't have one. I also don't have a dryer, and you can't drink the tap water. Little things like this will take some getting used to, along with the dry weather. Being from Florida, it's always humid. Here the air is really dry, so my nose has been bleeding a little bit and my lips were really chapped for a while, but you adjust in time. I like the weather difference so far, actually, I just don't like the process of adjusting!

Next week starts more training as well as the ICELT course. I'm looking forward to that but not really at the same time because I've been told it's really overwhelming and time consuming. My fiance will arrive on Friday afternoon though so I'll be happy to have him here and it'll be a nice beginning to the weekend. The internet has been out though and will be all next week, which majorly sucks, but there's a Starbuck's close by (it's everywhere, actually) so I've been using their internet and Skyping with my family and fiance.

It's only been a week, but it's still hard to believe I live in Turkey now. Not having the internet to Skype with people or anything has also made me feel really removed from my "old life" in the states. I've felt a little lonely because of it, but thank the Universe for Starbuck's because being able to talk to my mom and fiance and a few friends from home has been the highlight of my day today. I hope I'll be able to better balance my time with all that as everything continues to develop here. Even though it's all a little overwhelming, I'm really excited to experience everything this next year will bring!