Job Discussion Forums

[Hector_Lector]

Obviously, coffespoonman is not having such a great time. He has to import friends from the States.

[coffeespoonman]

Well they're twice as expensive here with the VAT...

By the way, this month I went half on a plane ticket for my friend, entertained another friend from Prague for 2 weeks, threw a Christmas party, paid all my bills and my loans back home, and put 500 YTL in my USD account and 800 YTL in my YTL account. My flat is not great, but it's warm and comfortable, and with ET's living allowance, I only pay 80 YTL/month. I do share the flat with my girlfriend and our friend, and I wouldn't want to live alone. I like my roomates. And I have never, since coming to English Time, worked 40 hours a week, though I have been asked to. I refused, and there was never any pressure for me to take the extra hours.

Additionally, I didn't take the bus to renew my tourist visa, I took the new Dostluk express, a hotel train, where I had my own room, refrigerator, and room service, plus I went on the trip with my girlfriend and another friend (all ET teachers) and we stayed at a hotel and went shopping for those little things you can't get in Istanbul (like good wine and pork).

Finally, even with the all the holidays I took off (Christmas Eve and Day, New Years Eve and Day), I'll only lose a couple hundred YTL this month - leaving me with enough to save my monthly 500 YTL, pay my bills, and enjoy myself. I save 500 YTL every month (that's why I was struggling to buy that plane ticket after putting my savings away), because I intend to leave Istanbul with at least 5000 USD after my 10-month contract ends, which will certainly be very easy.

Mark, no matter how much you want it to, my life doesn't suck. I am not miserable at English Time. I am happy. I make decent money. I have a lot of friends. That's not going to change next month. I'm sorry.

I know it's very important for you to feel like other people are just as unhappy as you, to make you feel normal. But really, if you ever want to feel better, you must eventually admit that the problem isn't with ET or with Istanbul. It's with you.

[Mark Loyd]

That post should suck in a few newbies which is of course the point

[Mark Loyd]

That post should suck in a few newbies which is of course the point

[Henry_Cowell]