Visual Istanbul

Here are some pictures from my adventures in Istanbul.
Here is a picture from the Galatasaray game I went to. Although I like Fenerbahce more, the Galatasaray fans are dedicated. The whole time they stood on their seats chanting! Notice the police to the side.







Here is a picture of me, my Turkish friend Yanki who I met in Beloit, Two french guys named paul and Karim who also study on exchange at Marmara University, and Argun who is also a friend I met at an Eurasmus gathering. We are at an R&B and Hip-Hop club in Taksim called Riddem.


The Blue Mosque during the snow fall in Istanbul, The day we had a snow day. Enough Said. It's beautiful! I can see this whenever I feel like it, it's just a short ferry ride away to the European side. Istanbul Is beautiful like that. If I could stay for a year I would.

Update on Istanbul- Soccer, School, Snow

Hello,

I apologize that it has been awhile since my last post but Istanbul has so much to offer that I find it hard to just stay in my seat. I’ve been here for a little over a month now and my Turkish is still not very good, but I am able to get around and understand some things. Especially since I am around the language all the time I pick up on some words and phrases. I also have some friends who are willing to teach me Turkish. It is a difficult language. But here’s an update as to what I have been up to since my last post.

First: I went to my first Soccer Match with Galatasaray vs. another team. They lost. But I find myself more a Fenerbahce fan. Anyway, the soccer match was intense. People stood on the chairs the whole time and chanted cheers in Turkish. There was max security at the game and before the game began I saw a group of police with shield line up against an enclosure where the opposing teams fans sat. I wondered why they were needed, but as soon as the other team scored a goal…coins began to fly toward the opposing teams fans, food, and lots of curse words in Turkish. Some people even attempted to run toward the other team. Needless to say, I understood the security measures. Also Fenerbahce is going to play in the European finals. After Fenerbahce won the game the street near the stadium was full until 3am with people celebrating and carrying flags big enough for 50 people. It was a sight to see!

Second: The day school was suppose to start it snowed. So the first day of school was a snow day. Which was fun, so the other Beloit students and I took the opportunity to go to Sultanahmet and see the Blue Mosque and hang out on the European side. We took the ferry by ourselves and the minibus- and then walked everywhere. Istanbul is horrible with clearing the roads- so everything was ice. At one point in time we got lost and had to ask directions to the Ferry, which was surprisingly easy because we had learned the words “ferry”, “where”, and “there”. Body language also helped. Beyond the horrible road conditions Istanbul is really beautiful in the snow, esp. the blue Mosque.

Third: School started after the first week of picking classes. Although the vacation was nice I was ready for school to start so I could meet new people. I decided to take 6 classes for the semester. Each class is about 3 hours a week. They are all in 3 hour blocks so after a day with two classes you are really tired. But I like the majority of my classes. I am taking Negotiations with an American professor. That was quite surprising and for awhile I felt like I was cheating, but it’s nice to see another American who teachers at the university. I am also taking Citizenship and Migration and Racism and AntiRacism. The professor for these classes is French. It’s been so interesting to learn about Racism from an International perspective. I am also taking Politics of Global Finance, Turkish Foreign Policy, and Current Issues in international Relations all taught by Turkish professors. I hear about America a lot in my classes because American policy is so influential around the world and our current relations is affecting the world. Even the mortgage crisis in America is having an International affect that I am learning about in Politics of Global Finance.

I was told there were about 1,000 international students on all the campuses of Marmara University out of 55,000 students of so. So spotting International Students is not hard because there are so few of us. The majority of the International students are from Germany. I have made friends with people from Holland, France, and of course Germany and Turkish Students. The Eurasmus office seems to organize a party every week and I have been meeting lots of people there. I am constantly surrounded by people speaking German, Dutch, French, and Albanian. The common language is English and it seems like just a few of us know Turkish. What I find interesting about German exchange students is that out of all the students from Germany half are also Turkish.

Fourth: I have been able to meet my friends from Beloit College here. Before I cam to Turkey I made good friends with Turksih exchange students and International Students while at Beloit during my first year here. Within the first day I was here I met two of my old friends Yanki and Seray. It was as if no time had gone by since I last saw them, although in reality it had been two and a half years. Also I was able to see Berkin again recently. Seeing my friends here again has been a highlight. I missed them so much. When I think about it more I find it great that I had the opportunity to meet these Turkish students at Beloit years before I imagined that I would be here in Turkey. Now that I am here it has been so nice seeing them again and they have helped me adjust better.

First Days In istanbul

Hello Bloggers!

My name is Jasmine. I am a junior at Beloit College. My major is international relations. This semester I will be studying abroad in Istanbul at Marmara University on the Asian side in Goztepe (which is a neighborhood in Istanbul). I’m writing on an English keyboard so I don’t have the ability to type the correct spelling for cities in Turkish. I have been in Istanbul for two weeks now and I am a weekend away from picking classes. We came early to participate in a Turkish survival course and I feel pretty satisfied that I know enough Turkish to get by. Lots of people in the university speak English; however outside the university it’s hard to find people who speak English on the Asian side. I came four days before the program started to stay on the European side and get a feel for where I will be staying for the next 5 months. While I was on the European side it seemed that everyone spoke a second language whether it was German, English, Spanish, French, or Italian.
Everything is so beautiful here. The architecture is very unique and the buildings are all high rises. It is like New York City. The guest house where I am staying is 9 stories tall. There are three other Beloit students studying abroad with me. The 3 girls live together and the one boy has a single. The Guest House is like a hotel. The rooms are huge and we have a refrigerator and a laundry room in the basement that we can use to wash our clothes free of charge.
The food is very good and rich. We usually can’t finish our plates. We eat in the cafeteria on the weekdays for lunch and dinner. The meals are so big that there is no way anyone can go hungry. We eat a Turkish style breakfast on the weekdays at a restaurant just across the street from the campus. A Turkish style breakfast is cheese, bread, olives, tomatoes, and sometimes a hard boiled egg with lots of tea and coffee. On the weekends we eat a café called the Kantinn. Everyone is really friendly there and the owner has made a deal with us to teach us more Turkish if we teach him English. People get so excited when you try to speak Turkish.
I am really enjoying Istanbul so far and look forward to writing more about my experiences. Right now I am in my room. Yesterday we went shopping in the city center of Kadikoy and tonight we are hanging out with some of our new Turkish friends. For the first time the university decided to give us a host student named Beyza. She is super nice and friendly. She has also introduced us to other students and we have become quick friends.