In 2008 I studied and lived in Turkey for about 8 months. I was a participant of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), an exchange program that gives students the oppurtunity to study in a foreign country. I chose to do this in Eskisehir (Eski = Old, Sehir = city), Turkey.

In Eskisehir I studied at the Anadolu University at the Cinema & Television department. During my studies there I made several films and photography projects, learned a little bit of Turkish language and about it’s history and travelled the entire country and some of it’s middle eastern neighbours, many photo’s I have taken on this great journey can be found in my portfolio up till today (allthough I am currently making a new selection of pictures).

Apart from all that, during my study, me and some other Erasmus students were asked to be interviewed for a Turkish TV channel at the University about the Erasmus program and our experiences with it. ‘Why did I choose Turkey?’ ‘What are the biggest differences between the university in Turkey and the one I study in at Holland?’ And a whole lot more questions like that.

I was never able to actually (re)watch the interview myself either online or on TV, but my dad came across the following article from the ‘Anadolu Haber’ a Turkish newspaper from the Anadolu University.

Basically what the article says is that I had been in Istanbul a year earlier -  before I went there for Erasmus – and fell in love with the city and it’s people (this is true ).

It also says that I talked about two Turkish Students (Pinar and Fikeriye) who went for Erasmus in Holland at my faculty from Turkey and when I became friends with them. I decided to study in Turkey myself for a couple of months. The article goes on about how ‘special’ it was for me and then continues with the questions about our cultural diversities and stuff like, all very interesting!

Anyway, I just wanted to share this with you, I found it quite nice to see this article.

And for the ones who can read Turkish, enjoy

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So this is what happened; I was enjoying a coffee and reading a book in Rossio, a nice area of Lisbon  with the biggest shopping street and two nice squares with some very nice fountains on both ends. Sitting at the cafe next to one of the squares, a little girl and – I assume – her mother asked me to buy hankerchiefs. I had allready given a little money to someone else earlier that day, so it was enough for me. But they kept bothering me, more then usually. The little girl was on the left behind me at some point while the mother was on the right side behind me. I was holding my iPhone (I was texting). The little girl started tapping my shoulder annoyingly, so I turned to her and at the same time (soooo stupid!) I put my iPhone on the table. The little girl pushed the hankerchiefs in front of my face (so that I couldn’t see propperly anymore) and when I pushed the hankerchiefs away they finally went away. But off course when I looked down on the table the phone was allready gone! I had allready payed for my coffee so I went looking for them instantly. Obviously they were nowhere to be found. I suppose it really WAS the oldest trick in the book…

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So, I’ve finally arrived in Lisbon almost a week ago now. After a strange flight that involved two firetrucks fixing the right wing of the plane at Faro airport while we were escorted into the terminal, the same plane touched ground in Lisbon a few hours later with a small delay of about an hour. I took a taxi to my new appartment and Hylco and Kasper – my roommates for the upcoming 5 months or so (they are also from the same faculty as me in Holland) – were at home waiting for my arrival.

They showed me the house and which room was mine and a few minutes later I enjoyed my very first Portugese beer (Super Bock). I freshed up a little and Kasper wanted to show me a little more of the city by night. We went to the Erasmus bar for a beer and after this to a nice viewpoint over Lisbon.

The next couple of days I tried to arrange my transport ticket. Had to wait in the que about 3 hours the first time and had to come back the next day and the day after that. I finally mannaged to get the ticket, though. It makes life a lot easier in Lisbon because now I don’t have to upgrade my ticket every 24 hours, but only once a month. It’s cheaper as well!

With my new ticket I explored the transport of Lisbon a little more, with the help of Kasper who got here a week before me.

Next week I’ll start my internship. If there is time I willl meet with José Mineiro for a coffee first to get to know each other a little. So far we only had contact by phone and email. I’m really excited to start my internship, but more about that later when I’ve been working there for a while. For now, enjoy some photos I took of Lisbon on my third day here when I did some sightseeing.

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Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul. Throughout the ages under whatever name Istanbul has never lost it’s mysticism and beauty. And not without reason Napoleon once said that if the whole world would be one continent, Constantinople would be it’s capital.

With it’s twenty million people the city is alive in all it’s aspects. It invites you, it excites you. The city inhales and exhales. It truly breathes and the people are the blood that’s pumping through her veins and gigantic heart.

Istanbul is a city to discover and never to forget. So by all means: go out and walk the streets where crusaders marched long ago. Bargain in the bazaar district where things haven’t changed all that much in over 2000 years. Wander amongst the most tremendous buildings in the world with your mouth wide open making you unable to speak for quite some time. Cross the Galata bridge which is like a city all on its own and meet the most interesting, friendly and hardest people of the city here. Get off the tram at a place you’ve never even heard off and spend that day getting lost to find your own Istanbul. And last but not least: every once in a while, just sit back with a cup of ‘kahve’ and watch Istanbul pass by.

Then, and only then, you might have gotten some idea of what Napoleon was talking about and the oldest of memories will meet the new.

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The basic idea was to show people, mainly students, what it’s like to study abroad and to motivate others into doing so as well. For me it was an unforgettable experience where I met new friends from all over the world. When studying in a country where the culture is so different from your own, for me personally, it gets even more interesting. But then again, I’m a ‘travel junky’. Anyway, when sharing with all these people your ideas and thoughts, go clubbing and traveling together suddenly makes all the cultural diversities and prejudicus you might have had dissapear and you realize we are not at all that different from each other after all. As a good friend  told me during our time in Eskisehir: ‘Erasmus is the lesson of your life.’ Well, I can’t agree more. In  some of the following posts I’ll try and tell more about my time in Turkey. Hope you enjoy(ed) the program and didecide to study abroad yourself!