Longer Term In Istanbul
Aug 4th, 2005, 06:16 AM
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Longer Term In Istanbul
Hi - Does anyone have any experience with living longer term in Istanbul? My significant other is moving there for 2 years and I'm trying to figure out if it would be a fun adventure or a disaster if i tried to join him, with respect to culture, job etc...I'm an american woman, mid-twenties.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Aug 5th, 2005, 08:37 AM
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JK -- I'd LOVE to live in Istanbul for a couple of years...you'd find the Turks to be very welcoming, even thankful that you're there. You'll also likely meet a lot of expats who also live there.
When I was there in October 2003, I met a Romanian woman who was married to a Turk. She owns a restaurant in the Sultanahmet neighborhood, and came out to help us find the laundromat we were looking for. She was very friendly, and that night we went to her restaurant for dinner, where she told me about life as a foreigner in Istanbul. I got the feeling that it was easier for her to make friends as she learned the language, but due to the fact that Muslim is 99% of the people's religion, there was some feeling of not "fitting in".
That's not necessarily a bad thing...as she said she did make friends with the less conservative crowd, and certainly had more compassion for foreigners than she did before she left Romania.
Overall, I think you would enjoy the city...it's huge, it's diverse, and would certainly give you an outlook on life you wouldn't have if you just stayed home.
As for a job -- I would be surprised if one was easy to find, but a good place to look would be an English language school, especially if you have a college education.
Good luck,
Jules
When I was there in October 2003, I met a Romanian woman who was married to a Turk. She owns a restaurant in the Sultanahmet neighborhood, and came out to help us find the laundromat we were looking for. She was very friendly, and that night we went to her restaurant for dinner, where she told me about life as a foreigner in Istanbul. I got the feeling that it was easier for her to make friends as she learned the language, but due to the fact that Muslim is 99% of the people's religion, there was some feeling of not "fitting in".
That's not necessarily a bad thing...as she said she did make friends with the less conservative crowd, and certainly had more compassion for foreigners than she did before she left Romania.
Overall, I think you would enjoy the city...it's huge, it's diverse, and would certainly give you an outlook on life you wouldn't have if you just stayed home.
As for a job -- I would be surprised if one was easy to find, but a good place to look would be an English language school, especially if you have a college education.
Good luck,
Jules
Aug 5th, 2005, 08:39 AM
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Asia Minor-just curious-I know a lot of Turkish travel guides show up here to answer posts on Turkey, always putting things in the most flattering perspective, and not speaking at all about the increased threat to tourists from recent bombing attacks in the tourist areas of Istanbul and Kusadasi-where tourists have in fact been killed and injured, within the last few weeks, even.
I take it, looking at your email address, that you work for the Turkish Government? Their tourist board perhaps?
I take it, looking at your email address, that you work for the Turkish Government? Their tourist board perhaps?
Aug 5th, 2005, 09:25 AM
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Actually, I agree with Spygirl. I don't like it one bit when people from the tourism industry come here and hijack threads. This is a forum for travellers, with post written by travellers. This is not a forum to advertise or promote the travel industry.
Aug 5th, 2005, 12:43 PM
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To Spygirl :
Dear SpyGirl, I would like to ask you as a Turkish Citizen working in Tourism industry and reading your posts in almost every topic about bombs and threats or such, now for me even beyond irritation ! Would you please stop jumping from every corner and mentioning the same stuff. Please STOP.... People do have information sources and everyone has enough responsibility to make their own choice. They do not need your warnings neither we do ! I do not know for whom you are working for. I suddenly got the idea that you are trying to take peoples attention to draw other countries to go and visit instead of Turkey. Thats fine but do it elswhere not in Turkey forum.
Will you take responsibility of people changing their mind to come to Turkey but go London, Spain, Egypt, Russia etc. and have trouble over there ? Terror can hit people around the globe as we witnessed past couple of years and let the people enjoy their life as they desire.
THANK YOU so much for not writing here with this nature anymore....
Dear SpyGirl, I would like to ask you as a Turkish Citizen working in Tourism industry and reading your posts in almost every topic about bombs and threats or such, now for me even beyond irritation ! Would you please stop jumping from every corner and mentioning the same stuff. Please STOP.... People do have information sources and everyone has enough responsibility to make their own choice. They do not need your warnings neither we do ! I do not know for whom you are working for. I suddenly got the idea that you are trying to take peoples attention to draw other countries to go and visit instead of Turkey. Thats fine but do it elswhere not in Turkey forum.
Will you take responsibility of people changing their mind to come to Turkey but go London, Spain, Egypt, Russia etc. and have trouble over there ? Terror can hit people around the globe as we witnessed past couple of years and let the people enjoy their life as they desire.
THANK YOU so much for not writing here with this nature anymore....
Aug 5th, 2005, 12:54 PM
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On more note for the nature of forum : I aggree with ThinGorjus that travellers are exchanging knowledge here but I do not see why people from tourism industry should not write if they do not advertise.
In this forum I leran what foreigners are enjoying in my country and what not, different perspectives and experiences and incase there are questions which I am able to answer I try to give my brief answer to help. For other countries I will visit I also use fodors time to time to get more insider information, as travellers may not always answer these questions. Same applies to Turkish board too.
Personally speaking I try not to mention spesific names and addresses but tell people general info. You can check all my posts and you will only find straight and up to date info or corrections.
Happy Travelling
Murat
As for JK1234's question concerned :
You may fall in love to live in istanbul if you reside in a good location and if you are easy to socialise. Depending on your culture and hobbies etc. you may find a lot to do istanbul and make real good friends while you also support positevely your significant half. Ofcourse there is another side of the medal, you may hate to live there if you can not put the right pieces together.
Generally speaking, you may find to live in istanbul quite interesting and enlighting. I just met a German lady today, they came to istanbul for short term business and they extended and extended their posts here and now they are lving there for 7,5 years.
Good Luck
In this forum I leran what foreigners are enjoying in my country and what not, different perspectives and experiences and incase there are questions which I am able to answer I try to give my brief answer to help. For other countries I will visit I also use fodors time to time to get more insider information, as travellers may not always answer these questions. Same applies to Turkish board too.
Personally speaking I try not to mention spesific names and addresses but tell people general info. You can check all my posts and you will only find straight and up to date info or corrections.
Happy Travelling
Murat
As for JK1234's question concerned :
You may fall in love to live in istanbul if you reside in a good location and if you are easy to socialise. Depending on your culture and hobbies etc. you may find a lot to do istanbul and make real good friends while you also support positevely your significant half. Ofcourse there is another side of the medal, you may hate to live there if you can not put the right pieces together.
Generally speaking, you may find to live in istanbul quite interesting and enlighting. I just met a German lady today, they came to istanbul for short term business and they extended and extended their posts here and now they are lving there for 7,5 years.
Good Luck
Aug 5th, 2005, 01:01 PM
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propertravel,
Spygirl routinely belittles the anti-terrorist efforts of other countries in an attempt to breathe fear into those considering travel, and to act as if the US has some sort of advantage in fighting terrorism, when clearly we do not.
I have yet to determine whether she does this for sport, attention, or because she cares about anybody's safety. I have yet to see anything in her posts that suggest the latter, but I'm still waiting.
And I'm still traveling.
Jules
Spygirl routinely belittles the anti-terrorist efforts of other countries in an attempt to breathe fear into those considering travel, and to act as if the US has some sort of advantage in fighting terrorism, when clearly we do not.
I have yet to determine whether she does this for sport, attention, or because she cares about anybody's safety. I have yet to see anything in her posts that suggest the latter, but I'm still waiting.
And I'm still traveling.
Jules
Aug 5th, 2005, 01:39 PM
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Dear Spygirl & ThinGorjus,
I have difficulty in understanding your mentality and logic. What is wrong with my participation here and giving people genuine, honest and first hand information? Are you one those who will free us from weapons of mass distruction and bring democracy and human rights to this forum ?
I do not need to hijack anything and anybody from the forum as I have enough business and enough income to live on.
If you ask why I am here, my answer is so simple. I love my country and as a Turk I believe that we have lived and suffered a lot from disinformation, misinformation, biased and one sided propaganda from so-called NGO's and people like spygirl. Turkey is more than you have been presented by your embedded media so far.
For those who have been to Turkey, please just refresh your memories and answer honestly. What was the image of Turkey before your visit and the very image and impressions after your visit?
If you are too embarrassed to say, let me tell you what the image of Turkey was before your visit.
1.Midnight Express
2.Armenian problem
3.Kurdish problem
4.Cyprus problem
5.Human rights abuses
However, since this is a travelers' forum, it is not the place where we can discuss these matters. There is the other side of the coin and the other side of the story. We can discuss these on differnt platforms.
WITH ALL GOOD WISHES
P.S. If my posts are deleted for some reasons, I will try my best to prove that I know the meaning of the word "FORUM".
I have difficulty in understanding your mentality and logic. What is wrong with my participation here and giving people genuine, honest and first hand information? Are you one those who will free us from weapons of mass distruction and bring democracy and human rights to this forum ?
I do not need to hijack anything and anybody from the forum as I have enough business and enough income to live on.
If you ask why I am here, my answer is so simple. I love my country and as a Turk I believe that we have lived and suffered a lot from disinformation, misinformation, biased and one sided propaganda from so-called NGO's and people like spygirl. Turkey is more than you have been presented by your embedded media so far.
For those who have been to Turkey, please just refresh your memories and answer honestly. What was the image of Turkey before your visit and the very image and impressions after your visit?
If you are too embarrassed to say, let me tell you what the image of Turkey was before your visit.
1.Midnight Express
2.Armenian problem
3.Kurdish problem
4.Cyprus problem
5.Human rights abuses
However, since this is a travelers' forum, it is not the place where we can discuss these matters. There is the other side of the coin and the other side of the story. We can discuss these on differnt platforms.
WITH ALL GOOD WISHES
P.S. If my posts are deleted for some reasons, I will try my best to prove that I know the meaning of the word "FORUM".
cheers !
Aug 6th, 2005, 08:14 AM
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I've had limited experience in Turkey--just one trip, not quite a year ago. I absolutely LOVED it, as a place to visit. At this point in my life, I wouldn't want to live there, but in my 20s I think I would've been thrilled to have the opportunity to spend an extended period in this fascinating place. I do not think it would be particularly easy, but yes, I do think it would be a "fun adventure," not a "disaster." I have no idea whether you'd be able to find a job, but I certainly wouldn't count on it. Maybe you'd experience culture clashes and discomfort fitting in as a foreigner, but they might end up being more interesting than frightening. If you don't have children, or pets that you'd be leaving, or a career that would be irreparably damaged by your taking a break, or a house that would be at risk of damage if left unoccupied, or other kinds of ties that would make an extended absence too risky, I think it would be wonderful to spend an extended period in Istanbul. BUT why not VISIT there first as a tourist. If you are totally turned off by the enormity and the "strangeness" of it, then don't move there for an extended period.
Aug 6th, 2005, 08:23 AM
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So much dirt and poverty... and everything that comes with it. Even if you are living in a better suburb, you can't keep your eyes closed forever. There are so many nice places in Turkey, does it really have to be Istanbul?
Aug 6th, 2005, 11:23 AM
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Logos, if her boyfriend's going to be in Istanbul, and the idea is to "join him," why would she move all the way to Turkey but then live someplace other than Istanbul? It's hard enough to get around within this gigantic city, without worrying about getting there from another city or town for the very frequent visits that she probably has in mind.
Aug 6th, 2005, 11:44 AM
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To answer this question from Asia Minor: <<For those who have been to Turkey, please just refresh your memories and answer honestly. What was the image of Turkey before your visit and the very image and impressions after your visit?>> Do you REALLY want to know?
I don't remember what my image of Turkey was before I was 16, almost 17, and started university and met a freind who was to become one of my best freinds. she was fanatically in love with Turkey. Her best freind in high school had been an exchange student from Turkey, and my freind, who was already curious and fascinated by foreign places, became completely fired up about Turkey. all through college, I heard about Turkey Turkey Turkey, and she picked Turkish history topics for special seminar papers, talked about letters from her freind in Turkey, and made plans for a visit there in the summer after our graduation, when she happened to be in Anakara during a pretty bad earthquake and her mother couldn't reach her or get word of her. In the years after graduation, she specialized in Turkish history in grad school. When we were both in our 20s, she went to Turkey a few more times, and whn home, she often called me to go with her to just about every special Islamic or Ottoman or otherwise Turkish exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I'd often stay overnight at her apartment that was filled with Turkish photos and a Turkish things. So my image, based on many museum visits, my friend's books and photos and "stuff," and her constant talk about how wonderful Turkey and the Turks were, and her accounts of contrary views, was of incredibly beautiful and intricate architecture; intricate and glowing ceramics; rustic textile crafts that were both richly beautiful and rugged; friendly, brave, complicated, hospitable, smart people; delicious food that sounded not radically different from the food I knew best (south Italian); slightly exotic music; and CONTRADICTIONS (sweetness and ferocity, for example). Actually my friend's talk about Turkey was so excessively, overwhelmingly, incredibly, almost comically enthusiastic and positive that it made the little snippets of "positive image" comments posted here by our Turkish tourism forum members sound almost negative by comparison.
I don't remember what my image of Turkey was before I was 16, almost 17, and started university and met a freind who was to become one of my best freinds. she was fanatically in love with Turkey. Her best freind in high school had been an exchange student from Turkey, and my freind, who was already curious and fascinated by foreign places, became completely fired up about Turkey. all through college, I heard about Turkey Turkey Turkey, and she picked Turkish history topics for special seminar papers, talked about letters from her freind in Turkey, and made plans for a visit there in the summer after our graduation, when she happened to be in Anakara during a pretty bad earthquake and her mother couldn't reach her or get word of her. In the years after graduation, she specialized in Turkish history in grad school. When we were both in our 20s, she went to Turkey a few more times, and whn home, she often called me to go with her to just about every special Islamic or Ottoman or otherwise Turkish exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I'd often stay overnight at her apartment that was filled with Turkish photos and a Turkish things. So my image, based on many museum visits, my friend's books and photos and "stuff," and her constant talk about how wonderful Turkey and the Turks were, and her accounts of contrary views, was of incredibly beautiful and intricate architecture; intricate and glowing ceramics; rustic textile crafts that were both richly beautiful and rugged; friendly, brave, complicated, hospitable, smart people; delicious food that sounded not radically different from the food I knew best (south Italian); slightly exotic music; and CONTRADICTIONS (sweetness and ferocity, for example). Actually my friend's talk about Turkey was so excessively, overwhelmingly, incredibly, almost comically enthusiastic and positive that it made the little snippets of "positive image" comments posted here by our Turkish tourism forum members sound almost negative by comparison.
Aug 6th, 2005, 11:48 AM
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Maybe this it true love... and she is willing to trade a lot for it. Moving to Istanbul or working there is one of the more bizzare ideas that come to my mind. Quality of life there as well as you income and work possibilities really suck...
Aug 6th, 2005, 12:14 PM
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I think the difference is that she knows it's temporary and that she's not "stuck" there. I think it would be fascinating, for about a year. Plenty of professional Turkish people manage. If she MUST work there, that's a whole different issue, but then I don't think it would be that easy to find work as a foreigner in some small sweet town in France, for example, either.
