Translate

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The tale of two Thanksgivings

Merhaba arkadaşlar,
Nasılsınız? Ben de iyiyim, teşekkür ederim. Hello friends, How are you? I am good, thank you. 

Now, I will tell you all about my two wonderful Thanksgivings! On Thursday (the actual day for Thanksgiving) my host parents threw a party, invited a lot of my extended host family over for the dinner, and even made a Turkey. I feel so thankful that I was lucky enough to have gotten such a wonderful host family. I absolutely love them :) Also, Sebastian (well he's my host cousin) and Daffne came to the dinner too. And after the dinner, I skyped my USA family for a little bit and they also got to meet/talk to Daffne and Sebastian. Here are pictures: 
Daffne and the table
Before and after...
(L-R) Sebastian, my host mom, host aunt, & another host aunt who is also Sebastian's host mom. 

Then on Saturday after our Turkish Lessons Rotary put together a Thanksgiving Dinner for us at a resturant. We all made food from our home countries to share with everyone. I tried to make cupcakes, but it was such a fail. (I think it was because I had to short a few ingredients and substitute others...). So, I made Apple Bread instead and it was a hit! Pictures below:
My awful cupcakes... :(
At Turkish Lessons before the Thanksgiving Party. 
The table 
Food 
More food
Camila, me, Gabi, and Daffne
Our Turkey 
Us all holding hands and saying what we are thankful for.
Everyone
Actual Turkey meal (but we all got so full on the appetizer food. Oops)
Charlène, our little teddy bear
Me, Luis, and Hana

I feel so fortunate to have made such good friends this year. I can't imagine my exchange without you guys. Seni Seviyourm Arkadaşlar! 

XOXO, Maggie

Friday, November 28, 2014

Guest post from my Mom

Hey everyone,

I have an extra special blog post for you today! My mom wrote a "Top 10" list of all the things she's learned as a parent of an exchange student. I hope this list is a good reminder that it's not just the exchange student that gains something from their year abroad. Thanks again Mom, I love you! 

-Maggie 

10 things learned I’ve learned as a parent whose daughter is in Turkey:

 

1. You really can put your daughter on a plane to go across the world for a year, then head home and throw a load of laundry in and walk the dog.  Life really does have to go on.
2. That shopping for fashion boots with your 11-year old son is a whole different experience than shopping with your daughter.
3. How much you appreciate time spent talking with high school girls the same age as your daughter…or anyone for that matter who enjoys discussing random topics like bacon, coconut popsicles, craft supplies, movies, puppies,online deals, or rude customers at their place of employment.
4. How much you appreciate Skype and social media.
5. That there is no proper way to thank a family 5400 miles away who took your daughter in their home as part of theirfamily…and made a Thanksgiving dinner for her.
6. That keeping busy and healthy are great ways to deal with the change of your daughter being gone all year!
7. That you could be so happy, excited, nervous, proud, andsad…all at the same time.
8. That there are people who completely understand what you are experiencing…they also have daughters studying in other countries all year…thanks Lilly Lahey and Teri Fritch!
9. That most parents will look at you with a somewhat confused, “are you crazy?” kind of look once they hear that your daughter is studying abroad for a full year, and remindyou of all of the conflict over seas.  And you know they mean well.
10. That friendship and kindness cross all borders, languages, and religions, and that family isn’t just the people in your own home or your own community.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

So much randomness

Hey again!

So last Friday Daffne and I didn't have school so we hung out in Kadıköy ((a sub-division of Istanbul, and I happen to live there too)). Okay, before I continue with my story, let me explain how everything is layed out geographically in Istanbul. So first is the city name: Istanbul. From there you'd state your continent since the city is split between Europe and Asia: mine is Asia. Next is your "county": Kadıköy. And lastly is your "neighborhood": I live in Feneryolu. I know this must seem complicated, but this city is so massively huge ((14 million people strong)) that this was the only way to organize everything and everyone. Alright, back to my story. 
So we agreed to meet at Starbucks around 8am. I arrived at about 8am, but I wasn't expecting Daffne until 9am because she is almost always late. But it doesn't even annoy me because I already expect it :). So while I was waiting for Daffne, I got breakfast and finished my Turkish homework. Here was my breakfast/Kahvaltı ((turkish name)): 
And yes, that IS NUTELLA ON MY BAGEL. It was so delicious! (( Also, I am going to comment on the whole "all exchange students are obsessed with Nutella" theory. Honestly, I had Nutella on this day and maybe one or two times I'd had the Turkish version of Nutella, but that's it for my whole time here so far. I don't really want to spend all my meals eating Nutella because I love trying new Turkish foods instead. Plus, Nutella will always be there in the US, while these foods may not. Don't be afraid to try new foods!)) 
Oh, speaking of trying new foods, I went to another Inbound's house recently and her host Grandma prepared Cow Brain for us. YES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE EATEN COW BRAIN!! AND NO, IT WAS NOT GOOD. Basically, the only reason I ate the brain was to say I did... I'm so glad I got this opportunity! 

Once Daffne finally showed up, we went for some çay ((and breakfast for her)) at a nearby cafe. 
Let me just tell you, Kiwi çay is so so so sweet. Compared to normal black çay I'm used to drinking with a little sugar, this çay tasted so sweet and sour all at the same time I had to take tiny sips because it was so strong. 
Afterwards, we explored several bookstores and movie shops. We also discovered a new cafe! I'm so excited :) It was on the third floor of this bookstore I'd never been inside of. The best part is, they have free wifi and comfy chairs. I will definitely be making myself a regular there :) 
For lunch we had İskender. It was my first time trying it and I absolutely loved it! And by the look on Daffne's face, you can tell she was loving it too! 
İskender is made up of ((right to left)): yogurt, pita bread (underneath the meat), lamb meat, tomatoes, hot peppers, and it's all topped with melted butter. Can I just say that this is probably some of the best food I've ever eaten. Çok güzel! 

Then today during school, Daffne and I got bored so we skyped Gabi ((from Brazil)) and Julia ((from USA)), since they go to the same school like Daffne and I do. 
Gabi and Julia
Me and Daffne

Anyway, our Thanksgiving Party is Saturday and I can't wait! 

Thanks again for reading, 
Maggie 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Updates and Advise

Hey again! 

So recently I cooked dinner, for the first time, for my host parents and my host grandma! I made White Chicken Chili and Apple Bread. They loved it :) 

Also, last Friday was Charléne's birthday (She's the inbound from France). She turned 18! So on Saturday after Turkish lessons we all went out to celebrate with her. Julia even made her a cake! 
Hana and I
Almost all of the Imbound girls 
Such a fun night! 

Then on Sunday, we all walked the bridge connecting Europe to Asia! ((There was a marathon happening too, but you could walk the bridge for free during the time set aside for the public so we decided that would probably be better))
 Here is the bridge! We walked a few miles on either side of the bridge too, so we were walking for, roughly, 3 hours. Not a bad walk! Here are pictures:
Representing Rotary!
View of the European side from the bridge
Daffne and her Mexican flag! 
Such a great day to walk from one continent to another. 

Tuesday
Julia and I had our Rotary meeting today! Here are some pictures as usual:
Julia at our table 
Salad and Roll
Main course: Fish and Potatoes 
Dessert: Creamy, cold, rice pudding
And to finish off the meal, Çay of course!
Also, the speaker was a man from the Netherlands talking about the economy of Turkey from the perspective of a Dutch person. It was very interesting, but the best part was that it was presented in English! I love Rotary days. 

Afterwards, Julia came back to my house, we ate junk food and watched "Bridesmaids"! 


And in honor of the newest batch of Outbounds being selected from my home district, D6540, I thought I'd leave a little advice for them or anyone aspiring to be an exchange student:

1) I know starting a new school in your host countries might scare you, but really, it's the best place to make friends and learn the language of your host country. But don't worry. You'll get over the initial shock and somedays, while you are zoning out during Maths class, you'll be really bored and you might think the same things I think while at school... 😂 (example below!). 

2) Exchange will change everything. And the only people who will truly understand what you're experiencing are your fellow Inbounds (and/or Outbounds from your home district). They are awesome people and will most likely become your best friends. 

3) Always stay on your host family's good side. They are your caretakers and family as long as your in their country. They are the ones who allow you to hangout with friends, explore the city, and all the while they are accepting you into their hearts and homes. I am fortunate enough to have the same awesome family for the whole year! Here is a selfie feat. my host mom. (Ignore the caption..)

4) Be flexible. Seriously, even from the very beginning of my application process to become an exchange student I ran into issues that I didn't plan for. The hugest example: my country assignment. I was planning on France, but I ended up getting my 7th choice which was Turkey. Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely in love with Istanbul and all the people I've met so far but it was just so unexpected. As an exchange student, many details are out of our hands and we just have no choice but to "Roll with the punches".

5) Don't be afraid to choose a host country with a foreign language you've never studied. Trust me, I didn't know any Turkish before I arrived 71 days ago and now I'm making phrases and I'm able to talk to store people! Sure, it's embarrassing at first, and you'll make so many mistakes, but in the end the reward is great! 
Thanks for reading!
Maggie 

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Ankara Trip, Changes, and lots of Luck

Hey guys! 
So, last Wednesday/Thursday our group of exchange students, along with 1700 other school age kids, took charter buses to Ankara, which is the Capital of Turkey, to visit the memorial for Atatürk. We started off on Wednesday leaving Istanbul at 11:30pm. We drove through the night, but stopped every couple hours to eat (Honestly, who wants to eat a sandwich at 2am? Not me, that's who) and stretch our legs a little. The trip time is only 7 hours in total, but with stops we made it to Ankara by 9am. Here are some pictures from the trip: 
   
This was just a fraction of the people that went with us on our trip. Actually, some kids approached us while we were waiting to enter into the facility and were asking all these questions. But only in Turkish. So I had to use a majority of the Turkish I had in order to communicate with them. They were asking questions like, "What is your name?", "Where are you from?", "How do you like Turkey?", etc. They were all so nice! 
Walking to the burial site of Atatürk 
The outside of the burial site
Our whole group
2 other Americans, Annalise and Hailey
Dramatic shot of Luis
Daffne tried for a dramatic shot too..
Hahaha Charlène! 
Our only adorable Family picture
The Tomb of Atatürk 
Really cool landscape they had outside

After we left the Memoral, we went to the Turkish House of Parliament.
Love this quote from Atatürk 
Gabi (Brazil) and Charlène (France) posing with some artifacts 
Love the view from this window at Parliament 
A Rotary Youth Exchange committee member, Hana, Daffne, and Charlène 
The infamous "Foreign 5" 
I took a selfie with the guy who was serving refreshments on our charter bus. We all called him, "Kanka" which means either "Brother" or "Dude" depending when you use it. 
Daffne and I 
Then Charlène and I took a selfie with Kanka later on the way home.

Hana slept over at my house because we got home so late from Ankara that she couldn't have gone back to European side. 
This brings me to Friday. 

So since Hana and I didn't really sleep a lot during the trip, we got to stay home from school on Friday. We got up around 9am and had breakfast. But around 11:30am we left home and walked to downtown Kadiköy. We stopped and had lunch at this Döner resturant, went shopping, and I sort of had a "why not" moment and got my hair cut on a whim. I ended up getting 4 inches cut off (and I got layers too)! But I haven't even told you the best part. I got my hair washed, with shampoo AND CONDITIONER, cut, blow dried, straightened, and the hairdresser even put some fruity oil in my hair to make it stronger all for 7TL (which translates to $3.50)!!! Can you believe it? Such a good price for all the stuff they did for my hair. But I will admit I was a little scared because this was the first haircut I'd gotten without my mom. So since I was a little panicky, Hana held my hand almost the whole time... So embarrassing. And my hairdresser guy just kept saying "Panic yok, panic yok" which means something like "Don't panic". Here is where I got my hair cut at:
Afterwards, Hana went back home to European side and I went to my host cousin Naz' 9th birthday party! She is so adorable, I can barely stand it :) I saw this as a great opportunity to use my Turkish, so I just kept saying everything I knew and I even made some full sentences/phrases! The only bad part was that my host cousin Sebastian, the inbound from Mexico, isn't picking up on Turkish very fast. So I tried to speak with him in Turkish (example: I asked him "makarna istiyorsun" which isn't a full sentence, but it means something along the lines of "Do you want pasta" and he looked at me and said "Anlamıyourum" which means "I don't understand") but that was a lost cause. Instead, we spoke in 1/3 English, 1/3 Spanish, and 1/3 Turkish. It was pretty difficult. 

Saturday, I had turkish class again. Here is about how I felt walking into class:
Today we had a new teacher and he was MUCH better than our regular one. His English was better, he taught off the book, and even gave us the wifi password. 
Charlène and I 
After class Charlène, Hailey, Camila, and I went to this open air market in Besiktas. I got a new wallet for 10TL, so I consider the day successful :) we passed by this alley way on our way to the Pazar and I just had to take a picture! 

Sunday
Turkish class again. Which means more snapchat selfies. 
But this morning Julia and I got so lucky! So Daffne told us to meet her at the Kadiköy metrobus station at 8:45am. Julia and I both arrived at 8:50am and Daffne wasn't there because she left without us. But as we were walking to the place where you scan your card to pay for the metrobus, we stumbled upon 50 TL just laying on the ground. We both just stared at it and then at each other wondering if this was real life or not. We looked to see if there was anyone around that could have dropped it and there was absolutely no one. So we decided it was a gift from Allah and we would spend it on our lunch today (usually, everyone goes to the supermarket Migros for food during the break but they don't have real food there only chips, soda, and other snacks. But there is a cafe in the same building as our course so we are there instead). We both ordered Mante, which is a pasta filled with meat covered in Yogurt sauce, and cola to drink. It was so refreshing to actually eat real food for a change. All I can say is THANK YOU ALLAH! :) 
Our meal from Allah
After the course, Julia and I took the ferry home to Asia and went our separate ways. But before we got on the ferry, we explored this outdoor photography exhibit. I loved it! 
    
Istanbul seaside, one of my favorite places :) We took pictures here before boarding the ferry for Asia.

Thanks again for reading. 
Maggie