Job Discussion Forums

[MarcusK]

I just heard from the DoS of a school in Istanbul. It looks like they'll be sending me a contract very soon! Yeah!

So I hope you Istanbul old-timers will be tolerant of my questions!

First question: Are there any good sushi places?

[bron]

Congrats on your contract! Who did you sign with?

I miss sushi like the devil here. I've seen a couple of places in Taksim/Beyoğlu and surrounding areas, but never been in one. I've eaten Indian, Chinese and Thai in Beyoğlu and Sultanahmet, though, and based on those experiences I can make an educated guess about sushi...

It will not be the best sushi you've ever had. Its eatability will be directly proportional with how much you pay for it. And you will pay a lot. That seems to be the trend with international food generally!

[dmb]

There are a couple of Sushi places. They are quite pricey but they do home delivery. BTW welcome to Istanbul. Enjoy.

[MarcusK]

Well, I received a verbal, er written (hmm... does e-mail count as written?) offer from Interlang, but I haven't seen the contract yet. Apparently there is a meeting next week to discuss staffing needs at the various branches, after which I'll get a contract which also tells me _where_ I'll be teaching and also the terms of the contract.

Of course nothing is final until it's signed, but I'm optimistic. From what I've read on various boards and from talking to the DoS, it sounds like the kind of teaching experience and training that I'm looking for.

As for sushi, perhaps we'll have to try for a once a month sushi party. I must admit that I'm a bit hesitant, but I learned to eat sushi while living in Columbus, Ohio! Istanbul's surely cannot be any worse.

[bron]

Gah! My roommates and I had Chinese tonight and it was eighty-five million for the three of us!!!!!

It figures they're having a meeting to talk about staffing. I think one of the Mec teachers is considering leaving but isn't sure yet, plus they seem to be expanding, especially in Kadık�y, plus all the Bakırk�y contracts expire one after another, about two weeks apart, and we all want holidays.... Crazy stuff for them to figure out, but rest assured they're not stalling because they're going to go back on their offer. If they say they've got a job for you, they have.

Hope you get in Mec, like you wanted. Welcome to the Interlang posse!

[richard ame]

Hi

Thats one of the joys of living outside İstanbul,the food is much cheaper . A Chinese restaurant in Altinkum does set meals for two for 30 million. Kusadasi is even cheaper but forget Bodrum and Marmaris still cheaper than the bull though . I can't spell the Turkish or French version so just happy eating .

[scot47]

Personally I find Turkish/Levantine?/Eastern Mediterranean cuisine so nice that I would not think about Chinese or "Indian" or sushi. Note "Indian" in inverted commas - the stuff that you get in one of those restaurants in Britain is no more Indian than I am !

But then I tend to be in Turkey for only a few days. Maybe after a few months the lkocal cuisine would beging to pall.

[yaramaz]

Scot47, after months and months and months of non stop kebab/pide/�orba/domates ve salata salad and variations thereof (ie iskender kebab, doner kebab, beyti kebab, şiş kebab), you do begin to crave diversity. Or at least I do. Turkish food is great, and I admit that if there ever was a cuisine that I had to eat day in, day out indefinitely it would be up there with Vietnamese and Mexican and Thai. But breakfast, lunch and dinner, all day, everyday... it can become incredibly uninspiring. Also, I love spicy food and Turkish is pretty minimal in that department. For this reason I pack my tom yum paste and mexican chili powder etc.

[bron]

What Yaramaz said. Only waaaaay more so, given that I forgo all d�ners, d�r�ms, k�ftes, kebaps and even b�reks and live on stuffed vegetables and mezze due to being The Only Vegan In İstanbul. And even still, I find Turkish cuisine incredibly good for the vegeterian diet and rarely get tired of it... but after several months, yeah, you want some variety.

[MarcusK]

A Vegan in Istanbul... that could be the title of your autobiography.

I'm not hugely familiar with Turkish food, but I'm looking forward to the adventure. One thing that I have sampled is raki. I'm looking forward to more of that, but only in very small doses!

Sounds like I'll be receiving my contract soon, so sometime in August or September, I should be over there! Now I have to get the loose ends tied up here.

Did anyone bring DVDs with them? I have a bunch, but the cases take up extra space, so I was thinking of just using one of those zippered holders instead.

So what else should I bring besides DVDs and wasabi?

[sweetpea]

If you are looking for the adventure of Turkish "cuisine" (and I use that term LOOSELY) you will be sadly disappointed. I, too, am a vegetarian, and it is not easy finding good, quality food here to appease a hungry appetite (and a well-educated tongue, mind you). I have a great love for Indian food and am looking forward to eating that nearly every day when I return to the States. I am fortunate in that regard: many of my friends are from India and will be cooking for me nearly every day. I am sooooo grateful!!!

Being in Bursa, I suffer. There are no international foods here and what little is offered to a vegetarian is minimal. Corba is good, but after a while, I want real, substantial and tasty food.

Okay, I am griping, but am heading home soon. I do this as I get close to leaving: look toward to where I am headed.

Baris, Sevgi ve Mutlulak
Sheila

[yaramaz]

Sheila, are you coming back to Turkey after summer or are you gone for good? And if so, where to next?

It is possible to have affordable yabanci food in Istanbul. Lucy K and I went to the Lokal place in Beyoglu and had pad thai, sprng rolls and spicy veggies n beef noodles and it was quite affordable AND good. I think mine came to about 17 million and I had the spring rolls on top of the main dish (yummy). Also, in the heart of touristy Sultanahmet there is a really good Korean restaurant (run by koreans who speak good Turkish but minimal English) and you can get a good dagalbi (sp?) with all the soup and rice and kimchi you can eat for about 12 dollars. Not cheap but manageable, certainly.

[justme]

I had no problem with music CD's in Turkish players, but aren't DVD's country coded so you can't use them everywhere? I know Turkish ones don't work in the States but I don't know if it's the other way around. Also, I wouldn't fret about hauling too many DVD's unless you have something particularly old or obscure-- you can find really cheap bootlegs of just about everything here, at least until they start cracking down as part of their EU concesions...

[yaramaz]

Re:dvds-- I think most turkish dvd players are universal now, or if not can be easily rigged to play all zones. Also, as for bringing your dvds with you, I think it might be a good idea. Maybe its different in Istanbul but here in the middle of nowhere, almost all good quality vcds are only in turkish, and the very-bootlegged ones are often unplayable. The selection of dvds isnt great either--- way too much action/adventure stuff, and they cost about 15-20 million each. Cheaper at HMV in london! Mind you, the electronics market near eminonu does have a decent selection, now that I think of it.

Personally, I'd pack the ones you have and want to see again in a cd wallet--- they'll get you through winter at least.

[Mike_2003]

I second that. The VCDs are rubbish. The only decent ones are the copies made from older movies from DVDs. I stopped buying them years ago after getting fed up of poor sound, shaking images and people in the cinema where it was recording standing up and blocking the view or twittering in the background. I would rather pay the extra few million and go and see it at the cinema. At least then I can go in the morning when it's empty, cheaper, and just kick back and enjoy it in all its glory!

Watch out for DivX. A mate of mine rents DVDs in the UK and copies them into DivX format. It's really high quality. I just get him to do me anything decent which I would like to have as a long term copy. I hope one day the pirates will cotton on to producing DivX format films. The quality is great and you can fit a film onto one disc. So not only will it be watchable, but also cheaper.

In the meantime, I prefer either the cinema or just to wait till it comes out on Digiturk.

Mike