Well evidence that I've been here in Istanbul for six months now and starting to adjust to life, for starters, is the fact that I am having more and more trouble writing this blog. No longer can I look around my life and see the eccentricities of this journey. It just seems normal now. Boring almost. I woke up this morning, went for a run, graded some papers, watched House (online on dizimag which shows American TV shows with Turkish subtitles...love it!), walked down the hill for some groceries, and made cookies with my neighbor Ambrose. I yawn just reading this. But there is more, of course, that is going on. Baking cookies is not just like baking cookies in the States. Google Turkey is a needed cooking tool. We are constantly referring to it for ingredient substitutions for items we can't find here and temperature and measurement conversions. And using the computer is another adjustment. Navigating around the Turkish google page has become second nature. Don't ask me what the word for google images or maps is, but I can click it when I see it. In fact, I don't know if this second language immersion thing has improved my language acquisition, but my spatial skills have been really honed. My work laptop has a Turkish keyboard. I have it turned to English. This means I must remember where letters and symbols are since they aren't as they are labeled on the keyboard. Letters have long been imprinted into my finger memory, but symbols, which I use often in classroom lessons and worksheets, took some additional training. Now though, the +, -, #, = , <, >, even ^, (, and ) are typed with as little thought is "this" was.
Speaking of spatial skills, let's talk about getting around this city. First off, traffic is insane. It keeps me in way too often, but I just hate going into it. Especially when it means just sitting in a taksi as the meter climbs up. Istanbul, city of 16 million plus, has major transportation problems. And I've seen Seattle and Chicago. Nothing in comparison to this city. These ancient narrow streets were not built to accommodate traffic like this, but nonetheless it must. Because people are packed into those ancient houses right next to those ancient roads. And if these old, narrow, winding streets weren't hard enough to get around, Istanbul-ites are even worse at giving directions. They know absolutely no roads. Instead they go by landmarks. Just hope one of those landmarks does not include a mosque...it's like telling a Seattle tourist to turn at the coffee shop. In Istanbul-ites defense, I know absolutely no streets in Istanbul, but can navigate any taksi driver to Robert College by...you know it...landmarks.
All in all, I must say life here is getting easier. Easier. That is definitely not what I wanted when I was living in Seattle. But now that is what I am striving for. I think anyone who has lived abroad understands this. Adjusting to a new job, culture, and language can be so overwhelming. Nothing seems to be easy. If I wanted to go get some duct tape, I would have to think and search hard on where to get it. There aren't big Walmarts or Targets or even big grocery stores and drug stores. Grocery stores have just groceries. Drug stores have just medicine. And it's not like I can just go and ask anyone. But there is the benefit and charm to having these small mom and pop places. And it takes some adjustment to start enjoying those benefits.
Speaking of spatial skills, let's talk about getting around this city. First off, traffic is insane. It keeps me in way too often, but I just hate going into it. Especially when it means just sitting in a taksi as the meter climbs up. Istanbul, city of 16 million plus, has major transportation problems. And I've seen Seattle and Chicago. Nothing in comparison to this city. These ancient narrow streets were not built to accommodate traffic like this, but nonetheless it must. Because people are packed into those ancient houses right next to those ancient roads. And if these old, narrow, winding streets weren't hard enough to get around, Istanbul-ites are even worse at giving directions. They know absolutely no roads. Instead they go by landmarks. Just hope one of those landmarks does not include a mosque...it's like telling a Seattle tourist to turn at the coffee shop. In Istanbul-ites defense, I know absolutely no streets in Istanbul, but can navigate any taksi driver to Robert College by...you know it...landmarks.
All in all, I must say life here is getting easier. Easier. That is definitely not what I wanted when I was living in Seattle. But now that is what I am striving for. I think anyone who has lived abroad understands this. Adjusting to a new job, culture, and language can be so overwhelming. Nothing seems to be easy. If I wanted to go get some duct tape, I would have to think and search hard on where to get it. There aren't big Walmarts or Targets or even big grocery stores and drug stores. Grocery stores have just groceries. Drug stores have just medicine. And it's not like I can just go and ask anyone. But there is the benefit and charm to having these small mom and pop places. And it takes some adjustment to start enjoying those benefits.
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