Moving to Bursa and Where to Live

So you’ve decided to make the move to Bursa, the fourth largest city in Turkey and you’re wondering where to live in this city of two million people. Whether you’re moving for work, love, school or you just love the city, check out my tips below on where to live in Bursa. 

First of all, it would be helpful to know where you’ll be going everyday. Are you a student and going to Gorukle every day? Are teaching in the old city center of Heykel? Bursa is narrowly spread out across the foothills of Mt. Uludag. You wouldn’t want to commute from an eastern neighborhood in Yildirim to Gorukle everyday, as the commute would take way too long. While traffic isn’t as bad as Istanbul, Bursa traffic is getting increasingly worse with construction and an ever-expanding city.  There is a pretty decent public transport system including a couple of trams, buses and two main metros, but during peak hours, you can feel like a sardine stuffed in a tin can.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the more popular areas in Bursa:
Nilufer: Nilifuer seems to be the most desirable area in Bursa due to its expat friendly neighborhoods, nightlife and its close to proximity to public transport and just about everything else in Bursa. Specific areas that are popular among both locals and expats for living quarters are areas around the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Boulevard (FSM), the Korupark Residence area and Besevler. Housing isn’t cheap in these areas although you can sometimes come across a good deal. Rents in the above areas typically range from 800-1800 TL per month.  You’ll love these areas because of the nightlife (both on FSM and Podyum Park), the Metros at either end of FSM for fairly quick public transportation and you will feel welcomed by the locals.

Osmangazi: Before the Nilufer area became popular, most people lived in the Osmangazi areas of Heykel, Kukurtlu and Cekirge. Rents are more affordable in these neighborhoods with rent ranging from 400-1500 TL per month. Kukurtlu is a beautiful neighborhood with parks, cafes and close public transport. Cekirge is similar although a bit further from the metro. Heykel is the old city center. Traffic can be kind of tight here during rush hour and the streets are usually quite narrow. I love going to Heykel to discover cool shops and to chat with the locals. All the way out near the Bus Garage (otogar) is a massive community called Bursa Modern. The homes and towers are beautiful but if you ever want to meet up with friends (most of them will probably live near FSM), you’ll have a bit of a commute on your hands.

If you’re a student studying at Uludag University, you’ll probably want to live in Gorukle. Gorukle offers some of the most affordable housing options in Bursa but is a bit far from FSM and Heykel. While they have their own little community of bars and restaurants, it’s still a bit far out for my taste. That being said, I know many people living in Gorukle and they do not mind the commute.  Ozluce is another option between Gorukle and FSM offering newer flats with semi-affordable rent.

Many expats live in Bademli. Bademli is a neighborhood that isn’t easily accessible without a car. There is public transport but it is sparse. This area offers many “villa” type homes often coming with swimming pools and 24 hour security. Rent in Bademli can range from 1500-3000 TL per month.

Before you decide where to live in Bursa, my advice to you would be to choose a place close to public transport. No matter where you choose to stay in Bursa, I am sure your experience will be an unforgettable one.

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.

Living and Working in Bursa

I’m often asked what it’s like living and working in Turkey, particularly what it’s like living in Bursa. Many people want to know about the cost of living in Bursa, how difficult is finding a job and what the quality of life is like in Bursa. I’ll try to cover as much as possible without boring you too much. After all, there are many blogs out there with many different views about living and working in Turkey, the following is my opinion.

First and foremost, I live in Turkey to be with my wife, Duygu. We came here to be near her family and friends and to travel. Working comes second. Since I am a foreigner and my Turkish skills are mediocre at best, I am limited with what I can do to earn money. Naturally, since English is my native language, I chose to teach. There may be some international companies out there that would hire me as is, but it’s all about who you know here and I don’t know many people—yet. I could work in the tourism sector but I am just getting to know the country. It really all boils down to the fact that I am not fluent in Turkish. Once my Turkish improves, I do believe that doors will open.

When it comes to teaching English, there are many private K-12 schools, as well as private language schools. Not all schools are created equally. Some offer housing, some do not. Some will employ you under the table (illegally), others will work with you to secure a legal residency and work permit while in Turkey. My advice to you is that you: stay far away from schools that are not willing to employ you legally. You do not want to face the consequences from the Turkish government if you get caught working illegally.

If you end up working for a private K-12 school, you will typically work a 9-5 schedule with occasional Saturdays—the number of Saturdays depends on your school. If you work for a language school, be prepared to work evenings and weekends, when most people are out of school or not working. The pay is similar between the two for starting teachers with more reputable private K-12 schools typically paying a bit more.  

Bursa is a nice city and is located 2 hours away from Istanbul by ferry. It claims to be the 4^th largest city in Turkey after Izmir. The air is fresh, we are near the sea in Mudanya and Mt. Uludag is about 45 minutes from the city center for skiing and other outdoor activities. On the other hand, Bursa is a conservative city. When compared to Istanbul the nightlife here is pretty much non-existent. There are some bars and cafes that you can visit to have a drink and relax, but in the winter, be prepared to make a reservation to go to a Red Robin/Applebee’s style restaurant to eat and drink on Friday and Saturday nights.

Rent in Bursa can be as low as 450 lira per month in the older city center, all the way up to 1200 lira or more for newer places located in trendy new neighborhoods. On Average, expect to rent a 2 bedroom, decent and clean place for around 800 lira.

Like the rest of Turkey, Bursa is relatively inexpensive compared to the US and most of Europe. Meats, electronics, cars and gas tend to be more expensive as these items are considered luxury items by the Turkish Government and are usually taxed accordingly.

If you’re on the fence about coming to Bursa, I would say go for it! It truly is a lovely place to live and work.

Cats in Turkey (Turkiye'de Kediler)

Before coming to Turkey in 2006 for the first time, I knew little about the country. Of the many things I have learned about Turkey over the years, certain things stand out in my mind and I continue to be amazed at such things.

Cats. I love cats. I would love to have a kitty of my own if it weren't for their stinky litter boxes, shedding hair and their razor sharp claws shredding up the furniture. Cats are everywhere in Turkey and I mean everywhere! The locals call them sokak kedisi, or street cats. Some cats are very polite and love to be touched, while others you should definitely steer clear of. One can usually tell the mean kitties from the nice kitties by looking into their eyes. For example, if you see a cat missing one of their eyes, he's probably a mean cat!

These cats are very clever...after all, they are street cats. You can normally find kitties near restaurants begging for table scraps. Apparently, cats love fish and cheese. But be forewarned: once you start feeding one cat, the rest will follow.

Turkey has ample pet stores with many kitties for sale at absorbingly high prices. If and when I ever decide to have a cat in my home, you can bet-your-bottom-dollar that I wont pay a cent for a cat (expect the shots, etc). I have seen many beautiful, friendly cats that I would happily adopt so long as I can get over the stinky litter box and the couch shredding.

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!

Introductions

Welcome to my blog. This blog is intended for my friends and family living all over the world and anyone else interested in reading/learning about Turkey. My goal is to chronicle all the fun things that come with living in a foreign country through the eyes of a foreigner. For the past few months, I have been living, working and traveling all around Turkey and I have lots of things in my pocket I would like to share. For now, an introduction is appropriate. 

My name is Matt and I just under six years ago, I married a beautiful Turkish girl. After bringing her to the United States and living in Seattle for nearly 5 years, it was time for a change. She missed her family and friends and I needed a change of pace from work. We decided to give Turkey a try. Now, I don't want to say anything is forever, but we decided on Turkey for the long haul. Who knows where life will take us. For now, though, we are happy to be here. 

Before taking the leap across the big Atlantic pond, I had an idea of what I was getting myself into. I had visited Turkey six times before and would typically stay for up to 4 weeks at a time. I kept returning to Turkey because the people here are amazing. My wife's family are very accepting of me and her friends are some of the most sincere people I know. The food...I love meat on a stick (in the words of Anthony Bourdain)...who wouldn't?!? 

But Turkey is more than just great people and tasty food. I encourage you to check back from time-to-time and live vicariously through me. And if you want, come and visit.