Kadiköy and life on the Asian Side

“Get used to uncertainty,” Erika starts off the briefing and Burak smiles. Erika might of noticed shocked expressions and assures us that everything has a way of falling into place.

“Everything will be okay,” she reassures us. I take a deep breath and sigh.

When we arrived to our hotel after our plane ride we were all incredibly exhausted and I wanted nothing but to pass out in my bed. But Sig Sem waits for no one and we had to meet Erika and Burak in the conference room shortly for our briefing. Erika is the director of the SU Istanbul program and Burak is the program coordinator. These two are basically responsible making sure everything in the program runs smoothly and they are good at their jobs.

The briefing isn’t too long but covers the basics, including earthquake safety. Erika and Burak go over what to expect for the next two weeks, which is known as Signature Seminar. Sig Sem is basically an introductory class condensed into two weeks of lectures and traveling to get us familiar with the history and culture of our new home. It’s like a cultural boot camp in a way.

After our briefing we were given a break before a quick walking tour of Kadiköy, which is where we will be staying for the first half of Sig Sem. They scheduled the walking tour after the briefing to make sure we get adjusted to the time zone and not pass out from jet lag in our hotel rooms.

Kadiköy is a neighborhood located on the Asian side of Istanbul. I’m glad we have the chance to live in the Asian side even if it’s for a little bit. The Asian side doesn’t seem to attract as many tourists as the European side, which for some reason makes the Asian side seem more attractive to me.

It hasn’t really hit me that this is what my home is going to for the next couple of months. While there are many differences between the Turkey and the other two countries I have lived in I can’t help make compare the similarities. For example, Istanbul’s traffic has been described as the downfall of this city but I don’t think it’s really that bad. Istanbul traffic has got nothing on the traffic and insane drivers I’ve encountered in Bangladesh.

Balloons on the Bosphorus during our walking tour.