Istanbul not Constantinople: The first month

February 24^th 2014

It has been about a month in good ol’ Turkey, and the days are beginning to feel like a routine, rather than an exotic vacation. Of course I still get amazed and charmed by my surroundings, but school has a way of killing fun. Classes are finally in full swing as we enter the forth week of the semester. There is this thing I did not realize was a thing here, its called Turkish time. Basically it’s the same as Murphy time but applies to everyone, everywhere and for all circumstances. Classes were suppose to begin on February 4^th, so I showed up to as many classes as I could find, only to be confused by the lack of other human life in the classrooms. Panicked I was, believing I had the wrong buildings. After the third time this happened I figured out that classes don’t actually start the first week of the semester as they are scheduled to, they start on both the second and the third week. Both of these weeks were intro weeks in all my classes for those students who practice severe Turkish time and end up being three weeks late for things. For most people Turkish time is annoying. I on the other hand just laugh and roll with it. Why worry about what I can’t control and what I only have five months to experience it.

Of course Turkish time is not the only strange thing I’ve run into. There are many aspects of Istanbul and Turkey that are not what I would call ‘organized’ or ‘logical.’ The metro for example has a very odd layout, logically a grid or circle kind of system would make sense. But of course I’m no engineer or demographic expert so I shouldn’t use that as an example, but I can help but questions the two lines on the map that have only two stops.

The other thing that has been very strange has been the residence permit process. Not only did I require a student visa to enter Turkey, but I also have to get a residence permit or else I can’t leave the country and I could get fine. I guess coming from Canada we try to make these kind of things simple, by putting them online, or just not having them. Either way the process was confusing, time consuming and far away. It was basically as complicated as it could possibly be, on top of that the level of English in the foreign affairs office was minimal, they were using chaotic methods of filing, and they were using archaic looking typewriters. But all of this was forgivable because of how friendly these office policemen were. So friendly in fact my ‘friend,’ Andre, was joking with them in Turkish and pointing at me and laughing. He had told them all I was looking for a Turkish husband. Oh how the crowded office laughed. That gives me a total of 2 proposals since I’ve been here. Yay.

I have to admit the language barrier is frustrating. Of course I am taking Turkish classes, but my vocabulary is limited, my grammar in non-existent, and my application of the language is just embarrassing. But speaking English makes me feel ignorant, so I often just look silently as people talk to me, I may mumble ‘Ingilzce,’ or ‘merhaba’ with a stupid smile. People probably think I’m rude or mentally challenged. Either way I need to gain more confidence when I try to speak, and generally just talk more, even if I screw it all up. This experience has made me feel so stupid for never trying in French class. How many years did I study French and most of the French I know I only understand from reading the French labels on most of our Canadian products. So when I graduate with my Anthro degree, I’ll put it to excellent use and move to Quebec and try and get a job as a ski bum, solely to learn French. Although, it will probably be more difficult than learning Turkish, because French people are not as patient as Turkish people. Either way I stand out being in Europe, knowing only one language.

My courses right now consist of Turkish Language and culture, Anthropology of Pop Music and Communication, Sociology of Music, Urban Review; discovering Istanbul, Forensic Anthropology and Museology. Two of these classes have field trips every two classes and the rest are just really cool. My favourite being forensic Anthropology, only four students in the class and we get to look at 1500 year old bones. Museology we visit Museums, and get credit for it. Two of them we listen to music, and ‘Discovering Istanbul’ is exactly as it sounds. Sorry if I made any anthro friends back home a little jealous. And even if I get low marks in these classes I only have to pass for it to count, the grade wont be transferred back as a number, only as a pass or fail. So the pressure is off and I’m going to enjoy it. The only downside is you can’t skip class. You only have class once a week and you meet for three hours. So you miss one class, you miss a good portion of the course.

So yes I am still enjoying myself, I go to class, I nap, I explore, I drink beer, I eat food, I swim, I meet people, I observe, I learn and I sometimes sleep. In a nutshell.