Thinking about coming to Turkey? Think again....and then come!

Traditional Turkish Tea

Hahaha...I got you! With all the hoopla in the media regarding Turkey in the last few months, I thought I would chime in and give my 2 cents.

While visiting Seattle for the month of July, there was an attempted coup in Turkey. It was the weirdest thing: I was on a boat heading to the San Juan Islands when I started receiving messages from friends and family both in Turkey and the US. To hear of the attempted coup in Turkey was heart breaking. It seemed like just when things were starting to quiet down, this happens. My family and friends were grateful that I wasn't in Turkey during the coup attempt. Many of them advised me to change my ticket and stay a few more weeks in the US so that things could "cool off" here. Well, We didn't change our ticket and came home to what was pretty much business as usual for Turkey. No, there weren't tanks roaming the streets; no, there weren't armed gunmen on every corner. People were just going about their daily lives as they always did.

Turkish Coffee

When people ask me about if I feel scared of living here, I just remind them of the recent attacks in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In todays world, an attack, earthquake, Ebola and just about anything else you can think of can happen to anyone, anywhere. Your location doesn't matter. If it's your time, it's your time. I truly believe that mainstream media makes things worse than they really are. That being said, you should always be aware of your personal surroundings whether you're in London, New York or Istanbul and use due diligence.

Delicious Food From Antakya

So, should you come to Turkey for work, to live with your family or to simply visit? Absolutely. Turkey still has some of the beautiful, historic places I've ever seen. The people of Turkey are some of the most humble and friendly people around.

Settling In

Settling in has been a lot of fun and a surely wild ride. From finding a job to activating my internet & cell phone service has been an experience! On arrival in Turkey, I felt naked without my OWN cell phone and my OWN internet at home. Needless to say I spent many hours at the Starbucks one kilometer from my home enjoying fast and free internet whilst sipping on an ice cold beverage. Speaking of Starbucks, I love Starbucks stores in Turkey. Most of them are air conditioned and they simply remind me of home in Seattle. I like to call it my home-away-from-home.

I brought an iPhone 4 with me from the states. Unfortunately, it was not as easy as popping in a Turkish SIM and using the phone. Rather, I had to jailbreak the phone in order to get it working here in Turkey. Once I paid a phat fee for that, I was pretty much ready to go. I have unlimited internet access on my phone--albeit slow--and all of my incoming calls are free! I only pay for text messages and calls that I initiate. A few weeks later Duygu's brother, Ozgur, went with me to our local TTNET store to activate the speedy ADSL internet. Once again, super fast and unlimited internet at home and in my pocket...I have my clothes back and I'm reconnected!

Next was finding a job (to me, it is more important to be connected to the internet rather than having a paycheck!) Before coming to Turkey, I pondered  the idea of working for a bank. Since I have nearly 10 years of finance experience, I thought I could teach these Turks a thing or two. Unfortunately, I was lacking two things: fluent Turkish and the desire to work 70 hour work-weeks. Luckily, I was born with a skill that is very sought after here in Turkey: native English! Duygu introduced me to her old English teacher that works as a high school principal at a very reputable school in Turkey. They must have loved my smile or were extremely desperate as they hired me on the spot.

I then needed to hammer out my legal status as a resident of Turkey. I was pleased to find out that it is not nearly as expensive/time consuming as the US when it came to Duygu getting her green card. I had my residency permit in about a week and it was for the most part pretty painless. Other than making multiple unnecessary trips to the foreigner police station and paying a few (hundred) Turkish Lira here and there, I can't complain much. 

Now that I am legal, have a job and internet in my pocket, it's time to sight see! I had three months to travel and relax and that is exactly what I did. During my nearly three month vacation, we spent time in Western Turkey on the Aegean in Ayvalik, we journeyed to Greece for a few nights (and LOOOOVED it), Spent a few weeks in Istanbul, visited Southern Turkey and the Mediterranean in Fethiye and just explored Turkey in General. More about traveling later...

It is now early September and my 1st 2nd and 3rd graders will start school next Monday. Am I ready to teach English? I dunno. But I am surely reading to give it the good ol' college try. 

I've always said I keep coming back to Turkey because the people are so great and the food is to die for! I continue to meet new gracious Turks and foreigners from all over the world here in Turkey, eating my way into new relationships. All that being said, the real reason I am in Turkey is for my wife. She was generous enough to give up her life here in Turkey to join me for nearly five years in the US--I can do the same for her. I am so happy being here with Duygu and seeing her face when her brother pops by with her niece. I love seeing Duygu's mom treat her like a daughter--telling her what she should wear and what to eat. Duygu is now able to reconnect with friends from her childhood and university friends. She is happy. If she is happy, I am happy. I can be happy anywhere in the world, as long as we are together. Don't get me wrong, I do miss my family and friends...but I just got here, and I'm happy to be here!