New Job!

I have spent my first day in Antalya, and i have to say that it is pretty impressive! It feels slightly like a ghost town due to there being no tourists but thats not really a bad thing :p No doubt that it is a beautiful place though. Today, we will be going white water rafting, and i can not contain my excitement :) I have some interesting news, in that i will now be teaching english at a private education school. It's primarily a part-time post, which i can do around my own studies, so it sounds like a great opportunity. Once, i took the job i was thinking in my head, how if anyone asked me what i did in my year abroad, i could say i studied international law, travelled around, and taught english, not a bad life is it?

Mash'Allah

water anyone?

No prizes for guessing what this shope sells.

My culinary skills.

Turkish construction.

Time is flying already!

After having spent the early part of the week in Istanbul, due to my family visiting, i was able to visit some of the more tourist orientated elements of the city. I took a trip to the Archaeology museum which had things from as early as 8/9th cetury BC and also revealed a lot about the history of the Ottoman Empire, such as how they took over from the Byzantines and which Sultan was in charge when, all fascinating stuff. However, the best was yet to come, we went to the Topkapi Palace museum, which gave fascinating insights into Islamic history, they had on show hairs from the beard of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the rod which Musa (AS) used to split the ocean, the arm of Prophet Yahya (John the Baptist) and swords from the the first four Khalifas' and the Sahaba and much more, really amazing! I had had a great time and after another sad farewell with my mum, came back to Eskisehir on Wednesday. I have to say those four hours on the train from Istanbul to Eskisehir, seem to fly by everytime, the scenery on the way is breathtaking, its just so beautiful and poetic, i seem to lose myself in it everytime! Although, i was rather glad to get away from the chaotic nature in Istanbul and be back in more peaceful territory. I have atlast realised how fast time is going, so im just trying to poise myself and appreciate everything and take it all in as much as i can. This year has started to fly already, guess thats the problem when you adapt to life. Im also planning to go Antalya next week, im going to try and travel as much as i can, but it looks like time is running away already, but i guess thats a given for all of us.

Small city or Big City?

I am currently in Istanbul, with the family visiting. I am doing my best to impress them with my basic Turkish, seems to be working so far lol! It has been another action pack week, which has ended with my arrival in Istanbul, a city which i fell in love with the moment i stepped foot into it. However, this time i seem to be fed up with the constant crowds, haggling and traffic! This has made me realise that everybody settles into a lifestyle and once we are brought out of it, we get frustrated. Eskisehir is my Turkish Loughborough, my hometown, my comfort zone. Istanbul is my Turkish London, nice for a couple of days, nice history, but a bit of a headache. Im not doing another Victor Meldrew, i do still love it but it's fact that im a Hometown boy and i prefer Eskisehir for that cosy factor. Most of the week has been spent socialising, i did do a little reading, it's a start! I also cooked last night, a mean chicken curry, which fed 6 people, i surprised myself with the culinary talents, but im no Jamie Oliver. The Turkish Adventures are going pretty well at the moment, theres still that little bit of homesickness in me, but time is flying, i'll be home for Eid pretty soon! I think i'm beginning to like this place :) Don't worry Loughborough will always have my heart though!

Living it up in Es Town!

The last two days have been actioned packed, on Friday I experienced traditional Turkish folk music in the Serdivan Cafe, the entertainment was interesting, that was until it got a lot more interesting, when the customers started to get up and dance and before you knew it, more than half the people were doing the traditional dancing, I got dragged up but me dancing to turkish folk music is not a pretty sight! I was fascinated by what I would call real Turkish culture, it's easy to see it masked by the new European culture. On Saturday, The Erasmus students were given the opportunity to Midas City, an old town actually, which had beautiful landscapes and mountainous terrain, I think the pictures speak for themselves. We also visited Sultan Beyazite's Tomb. So, it was tiring and yet refreshing to experience some real culture. All, I can say though is that for the folk music nor the mountain climbing, will I be quitting the day job!

Brown, Sarkozy, Al-Essad, Obama?

Yesterday i was invited round for dinner at a friends house and quite a few of the Erasmus students came. After dinner, we embarked on a conversation about politics. Everyone was bemoaning the lackings of their own state/nation, whilst we also intriguingly listened to takes of human rights abuse and poor social security systems, there was conversations on communism, capitalism and everything in between lol! What i found though, was that no matter how much someone bemoaned their country's politics, it didn't matter, because regardless of that, everybody held their own nation as the best place to be, for one reason or another, so i guess home really is where the heart is, but if the heart was ever allowed to wonder, i couldn't have wished for a more intriguing place, i guess in reality, for the next year, Eskisehir is home!

Lock, stock, the f***ing lot!

Today at long last I finally received my timetable and after having visited most of my Lecturers, it looks like it's going to be a few months of long, hard, independant learning lol! Understandably, it's not easy for them to lecture in English but they have set quite a few semester papers and are there to help when required, though it all appears quite flexible, i am warned that there is quite a lot of work, so it looks like a lot of reading is going to take place! If anyones interested the subjects i've taken for this semester are Humanitarian Law, Welfare State and Social Rights, International Law, European Legal Systems, Rights in Roman Law and of course Turkish for beginners :P On a much brighter note, i've found a DVD shop round the corner, which sells British/American DVDs, get in!! :) This is great news considering i have watched the only 3 DVDs i bought with me about 10 times each, they were Snatch, Layer Cake and Lock, Stock & Two smoking barrels! Thank you Guy Ritchie!