Job Discussion Forums

teacheringreece · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 79

Hello all,

I'm considering moving to Istanbul for the next academic year. I've been to visit and saw the tourist areas and really liked the place. What I'd like to know is what the suburbs are like, what everyday life is like, how easy it is to make friends (especially with Turkish people), if any of you have done Turkish language courses. Basically, whatever impressions and comments those of you living (or have lived) there have would give me a really useful insight.

Thanks!

ps By the way, I know about the job information journal, but in my experience it's full of accounts of people with gripes, and I'd much rather hear what people who are actually in Istanbul and are enjoying it have to say.

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

i have said in posts before that i fell in love with istanbul. it is a fabulous place-- in the center. i think the far suburbs suck-- that is where i lived when i first came here 8 yrs ago. there is lots to see here, old and new, the food is great, and the people are mostly nice. there are some turkish language courses (eastern languages institute, tomer, int. house) to get you started. you can make friends easily, i think, especially if you speak a little turkish. i feel very rich in my friends here, actually. everyday life can be a challenge at times, as you have to learn to shop differently, things don't work the same way, sometimes the water or electricity are cut off for varying lengths of time. most important is your attitude to life here. if you are open and willing to have daily small adventures, then you would probably like it here.

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

the best thing to do is just read as many threads as possible. Ok you'll have to sift through loads of stuff to find things that are relevant. as you'll work out there are lots of teachers who have been here for years. If you are looking at any particular school, then again post and ask about it(31 will probably answer saying it is crap.) Why do want to live in the suburbs? Like Molly I lived in the suburbs when i first came but then moved into the city centre years ago and i prefer living in the centre. You will also find out that some posters prefer the European side and some the Asian side. It depends what you are after

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

Istanbul is like having your cake and eating it too, then having another piece afterwards with a nice cup of coffee (though it might be Nescafe) then someone walks by and says or does something to amuse you and when the weather is perfect life begins anew but sometimes you're totally confused about what's going on so you opt for more cake but there isn't a gym next door. Yet.

corall · Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 270 Location: istanbul, turkey

best city ever.!!!!!!!....heed the warning of the others though - do not live in the suburbs!!!!

no seriously, i have had some of the greatest times here and met some of the best people. my biggest gripe with this city is that a lot of the turkish men can be a bit much, being a single woman, but the good far outways any bad i have come across here.

like just me said it really is like having your cake, eating it too and then getting another piece...... i don't think it could be put better then that

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

Yeah, if you're new here don't live in the suburbs or you won't know where to go or how to get there and you'll feel alone and you won't be able to talk to anyone.

But if you're like me and you're not from a city and you don't like cities, once the magic wears off the new place then the suburbs are a good compromise. Cities, even good ones, do my head in after awhile. Sometimes I get a rash which no antibiotic or creme will fix.

I can't believe I'm defending the suburbs. But I am. A little. But I'm not trying to be defensive. I like the trees and the smell of freshly mown grass and all the wildflowers and domestic flowers and there aren't any foreigners anywhere so I have to speak Turkish no matter what and there're farms nearby which smell like good sweet dirt and it alleviates my homesickness a little and if there are roosters around they're far enough away they don't bother you and the sidewalks are marginally better and whenever I go back into the city it feels fun and new and shiny and exciting like I'm going there for the first time again.

But there's nowhere to park out here either. And there are a lot of big scary bugs that are different from the big scary bugs in the city.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

[of teachers who have been here for years. If you are looking at any particular school, then again post and ask about it(31 will probably answer saying it is crap)

I can`t wait for the OP to ask about how easy it is to get private students and how much you can charge. The TEFL fantasists will come out of the woodwork and say they charge 100 YTL an hour and scoff at those who charge less. Course the TEFL dreamers still work at their day jobs and moan about how expensive the beer is in their ex-pat bars.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

We have done the private thing before. What do you mean by an expat bar? The JJ North Shield? They suck. I do admit going to the JJ sometimes as it is the only place I know where i can watch the rugby, cricket and SPL. Or do you mean an expat bar as in a bar where expats go. That 's probably every bar in Taksim.

justme · Joined: 18 May 2004 Posts: 1944 Location: Istanbul

Bar Madrid?

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

You'll love it even though people wait until the last day to pay their bills, and use Tomato Paste when then cook. That`s not all:

tinned tuna fish is too expensive

old hag beggarwoman who moan and cry as a begging tactic

Women who wear ''abaya'' Why don`t they sell nice ones like they do in the Gulf?

''buyuk soz soyleme'' What an admonishment?

When you are walking by yourself on a pedestrian overpass and there is a beggar ahead, what is the done thing? Do you pretend that the beggar is not there as they are moaning or do you say Allah bakar?

Were there eunuchs in Hadimkoy and thieves in Haramidere?

The name Anakiz

GAP Project-How come nobody has benefited? I saw an interview where this peasant laughed his head off when the skinny model like reporter girl asked him about the benefits.

90% of Turkish employees earn less than 300 USD a month. Do you believe that? Or is it just what their employers put in the books to scam the SSK?

Does even the Istanbul City Council know how many people there are in this city?

In some textile factories the workers get a couple of bags of food every month which is free. The one I taught at gave them vegetable oil, tea, sugar etc. Why?

Why can`t you buy kuru fasulye in tins like baked beans? That barbunya they sell in little tins is hardly the same

Inflatables and wearing t-shirts in swimming pools-why is it such a crime?

Why no Cinabon here?

Do they all think that Koreans and other Far Easterners eat dog every day and what is so funny about it?

Poor choice of instant coffee

Scavenger/rag pickers who go through your flat`s rubbish bin and leave crap all over the place. Why does nobody tell them to stop?

Why is a vulture called an ak baba?

Angry uncle?

Putting sugar in fruit juices but charging double for sugar free

Every month on pension day there are huge queues outside Is bank. Pensioners-go a day later.

When uni students share a house they share the chores and eat evening meals together as if they were at home.

Why are parents too scared to let their uni student offspring go travelling outside Turkey?

Do they think animals have no feelings?

Selling leeches in a jar in the street market

Shush-no matter how many times you explain that it is not a mispronunciation of sus they just don`t get it?

Going on and on about having another ''af'''Yes lets spend lots of time and money locking people up but when Mrs Ecevit or someone wants lets let them out early and face all these degenerates on the streets.

firinda makarna-so what?

The girl in the Young Sport shop in Bakirkoy-how does she manage to look so aloof and oof ya all the time?

Eskici basically take anything that has even the remotest value wheras hurdaci are much more discerning and only collect metal. Yet I have never seen any of their yards or depots. They must be close as they are on foot or by knackered old horse. Although I have seen one eskici with an old pick up.

What is zabita in English?

Baba Alex · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 2411

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

Really, do you have to fill up every post with your inane ramblings ?

There is plenty of room for your half inch.

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

teacheringreece · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 79

Well thanks everyone for sharing your ideas (some slightly more coherent than others, admittedly). I mentioned the suburbs because firstly I wanted to get an idea of what the city was like apart from the centre, and secondly because I presumed that living in the centre would be very expensive. From what I've read though it seems that I'm wrong. What is the accommodation situation like? I would be working on the European side in the centre.