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sarkd1603-blog · 7 years ago

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Memories

#bosphorus #istanbul #rumelihisari

About a year and half ago, I moved to a cold rainy city called Vancouver. I was very focused to come here to study in Canada. It sounds really good; studying in one of the best 3 education countries in Canada and also the benefits of studying in Canada includes 3 years of work permit and after that applying for permanent residence then maybe citizenship...

True story.

I wouldn't have said this at the time, but in retrospect, yes, I was obviously trying to run away from Turkey. I never studied enough in high school so my GPA wasn't good, my relationships ended badly, I don't remember any success of myself at the times I spend in Turkey and I didn't have successful social life or close friendships. I felt like a failure every single day, but I refused to admit this to anyone.

I couldn't admit that I sucked.

I was born and raised in Istanbul, the most improved and modern city of Turkey but because of that there are too many people live in that small city and it causes too much traffic and air pollution. One of the things that makes Istanbul unique is Bosphorus and the Bosphorus Bridge, fascinating beauty of Istanbul. It separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Bosphorus was the only thing that makes me relax on the exam week, while you are in a ferry from Asia side to Europe side to go to school. That was the only advantage of living on Asia side while your school is on Europe side.

#BosphorusBridge #Bosphorus

#Turkey

In Turkey, city, district and neighbor terms are different than Canada. For example, in Canada "city" is a small location compared to the "city" term in Turkey. Istanbul is a city and for Turkish people, the district I live in Istanbul called Uskudar but Uskudar is a city for Canadian terms. Uskudar is a really old district, it exists since the Ottoman Empire and because of having a cost side on Asia side, it's accessibility is easy, everyone can reach with a bus or a ferry or a subway so easily to Uskudar and these reasons give big population and businesses to Uskudar.

My childhood passed in a neighborhood called Barbaros in Uskudar. It was really nice place to find warm and friendly neighbors and in Turkey, there is a neighborhood culture. Everyone helps everyone if anyone needs help and most of the neighbors become close friends, they make meetings and stuff because, in those kind of old neighborhoods, everyone's parents know all of the neighbor's parents, I am even sure that grand grandfathers of Barbaros knew each other, basically I meant everyone knows everyone in those kind of neighborhoods.

#uskudar #barbaros

I grew up with going to school and playing video games or playing with friends on the streets, specially playing soccer on the streets is the activity that everyone does in their childhood for sure, because it is Turkish culture unless you are not rich as to live in expensive residences or in luxury mansions, you have to play games on the streets with neighbors, you can't run away from this if you want to have friends and also most of the people in Turkey love to play and watch soccer, like I said it is cultural.

#oldtimes

I lived in a cool building that has 3 apartments. At the top one my grandpa and my grandma live, I lived in the second apartment and my grandpa gave the third apartment to rent, oh sorry I forgot to mention that my grandpa owns that building so it was quite affordable for as lol. That neighborhood Barbaros affected me in many ways, made me who I am and to explain how it affected, first I need to tell u about my school and the difference between my school's environment and my neighborhood's environment will make you to understand everything.

All of my education life until end of the high school was in same location, same school. Except my school, rest of the elementary and secondary schools are different. After the graduation from 8 years of education in elementary school, you have to take an exam and as a result of that exam, you place to different high schools. But my situation was different and lucky.

The elementary school I went was Galatasaray Elementary School. Education was French and the difference of this school was, it only takes 50 students every year with a lottery.

Yes only 50 students, and every year at least 2 million people apply for that lottery and guess who is the one of the winners of the lottery in 2003? That's right, it was me.

The second different thing from the other school is my elementary school is connected to Galatasaray High School which is the best high school in Turkey. You can say that this connection between elementary school and high school look like a connection between FIC and SFU, actually it is similar but except one thing. And that is:

You don’t have to have a required GPA or any specific grade to pass to Galatasaray High School, you just pass directly, you don’t even have to take the Turkish High School entrance exam. Isn't it fantastic? You take french education from the first year of the elementary school until the end of the high school and the best part is that government owns the school, so it was a free education, yeah it sounds like an expensive private school but yeah it was free.

#GalatasarayHSGate

Now, you are thinking that after the elementary school education, only those 50 students study in that best high school of Turkey. Answer is no. Actually, except those 50 students, rest of the students who study in Galatasaray High School, they are the one who made that high school is the best high school of Turkey. They had to work so hard to get in that school, because if you didn’t win the lottery, school asks u to get 0 mistakes from that High School entrance exam that I talked you about and it mean doing right 160 questions out of 160 questions, no exceptions. So as u can understand, my high school education was challenging, even that I had French education before those people who came with an exam from different elementary schools, those people I sit with in class, they were the smartest students of Turkey and because we had free pass to Galatasaray High School, none of those 50 students (me included) didn’t study enough to have same backup with those smart students, and as u can guess many of us got kicked out from the school, only 24 of us made it to graduate.

To be honest, I studied so hard, those times were so stressful but at the end, that challenge between the smartest kids in Turkey made me strong, gave me the discipline of study and different perspectives. That high school has really big impact on me like my parents.

#Galatasaray

Galatasaray High School is one of the oldest school in Turkey, made it in Ottoman Empire times to raise smart future politicians to take Turkey to better future but nowadays, because of brain drain, many students prefer to go to different countries to study after the high school.

Galatasaray High School located at the middle of Istiklal Avenue which is famous avenue in Turkey. It is famous shopping and eating area for tourists and also Istiklal has many art galleries and historical monuments. 24/7, weekdays and weekends, Istiklal is always crowded. It has also really famous nightlife. So, I look like I am writing like a tourist guide but my point is that all of my friends in high school was from around Istiklal. There are many private school which give French education like Galatasaray and because of same location you become close with other French educated students from other schools.

#IstiklalAvenue

#istiklalavenue

Istiklal and Uskudar except having different locations, they have different cultures even if they are in same city and because of my high school's and Istiklal's atmosphere, afther the elementary school, I became far from Uskudar unwillingly. I started to not hangout with my childhood neighbor friends and all of us followed the different ways in life. One of them became a bus driver and the other one didn’t go to college and decided to be a school bus driver. Later on, because of not making good friendships in my school, I became more closer with private school's students. But they were rich, they grew up different than me, they went to fancy places, different childhoods. Those times were the times I see how different economic situations affect people's lives. Thanks to my high school's relative location, I had a chance to see different life styles and different perspectives about my country and in same time because of me all of my friends got knowledge, how are the lives look at outside of their wonderlands. I can't blame any of them, they grew up in closed box. I don’t think that they ever played soccer at outside of their home, when they were kids. They were more like condo kids probably.

Anyway, so my high school times were all about studying and going out on weekends with my friends from Istiklal and have fun. Actually, the point I want to make is that, one time my friend's dad told to my dad and then my dad told me that he didn’t want his son to study in Galatasaray High School just for good education, most important reason was his son to grow up in that atmosphere, in that environment and I agree on that. Most of the successful people on their jobs didn’t make that success alone. It is how it is, this is how world works. Successful communities bring successful people and successful people bring successful individuals..

#GalatasarayLisesi

There was one more place that shaped my life and changed my lifestyle. I t was my first gym "Fashion Sports".

Yeah, name sounds fancy and a little funny but that gym made me motivated for many things and turned my bad mood to good ones, the people I met there and that atmosphere affected me deeply.

Fashion sports is a popular gym around Uskudar. It is 12 minutes walking from my house and when I started to go there, first time I got in there, you can't imagine how motivated people were. Everyone was focused on their exercises. Everyone was yelling, everyone was pushing their limits and I am telling you, I didn’t see any atmosphere like this before, it was like watching Olympic games on live.

#FashionSports

After that, I told myself that I should be like them.

It wasn’t like other gyms. In other gyms, people go to show their selves, all about satisfaction of ego. Specially in Turkey, going to gym is all about show off, so stupid.

But after getting know more people in Fashion Sports, I became more aware of living a healthy life, eating healthy and spending time for more meaningful things. At least 5 days per week, I was there. First weeks since I started there, I was the one who was asking questions always in the place about exercising and eating but later on when we get close, they learned somethings from me too, I mean other members of the gym. You always think, when you get included to some community, only that community affects you but actually sharing is mutual. After u get some progress in there, people see that and they start asking questions too. After I realized I helped people in there like they helped me. Gym is like a loop but every loop roles change. We grew up together, now one of my closest friend is from Fashion Sports and it didn’t happen because I paid for a membership and exercised there, it happened because of mutual sharing, I couldn’t be in this position. I couldn’t have the eating order I have right now or exercising discipline. I am lucky that I have been in that community.

#FashionSportsUskudar

#inspiration

Let me conclude the topic,

My life was so basic in Turkey. The relative location of my home was ideal because it lies in the center of the city. Therefore, the absolute distance between my gym, high school and my home was less. So, I spent most of my times on those 3 places.

Actually, let me explain to you how was my one weekday routine.

I wake up at 7 am and do my preparations for school then my journey begins with a bus from my home to the Uskudar ferry dock, accessibility to everywhere is so easy from my home, thanks to the location of my house, actually thanks to my grandpa that letting us use his apartment. Anyway, after the beautiful 15 minutes ferry trip in Bosphorus to Europe side, I take the funicular train to go to Istiklal from underground. It sounds like a long way because of many transit changes but actually, it is not that long, only 45-50 mins. After the nice morning walking in Istiklal Avenue, I reach to school.

The most thing I miss is the length of the courses. Every weekday, we had 8 lectures with 40 minutes long and event that length was making me feel tired but now 4 hours of lectures in FIC, but it isn't illegal in Canada probably so there is nothing I can do about it.

Sorry, I changed the subject, I am getting together.

My high school ends at 3:40 pm. After that, nightmare starts, because worst thing about Istanbul is traffic.

Until to Uskudar ferry dock, everything is same as coming to school, but waiting a bus at Uskudar ferry...

#ferryroads

I could have find some device, creation or some discovery with those times I spend with waiting bus at Uskudar.

But, thinking of going to gym and exercising with my buddies were keeping my mood good. The I reach to gym, when I get inside, I keep all of my problems at outside of the gym and focus on my workout. That gym wasn't only the place for workout. I was eating there, drinking tea or coffee there and even studying there sometimes.

#BusWaitings #Uskduar

#FashionSportsRestaurant

Last stop is home again, eat, doing homework, sleep and be ready for tomorrow to live the same loop. Those days, I was happy but now, I think like, how didn’t I get bored form that life. Now I live in Vancouver but maybe living at the mountain made me depressed or different cultures but life is much different here than Istanbul. In here everything is ordered and people live like robots. Also, most of the Canadian people, of course there are exceptions like always but mostly they are same, as long as the people I met in campus or in residences, they listen same music types, they dress kinda same and its boring, everyone focused to their future, trying to avoid to enjoy current moment but Istanbul city looks like more alive than Vancouver and every individual is different anyway, I don’t know how did I come to collaboration of Vancouver and Istanbul but my main point in this blog is that every place is different, even if it is in same city, you can't imagine how many differences between 2 places that really close to each other as absolute and relative location. Also, me as an individual, that gym, that school and my home neighborhood made me the person who I am right now. There is a saying that, tell me about the people around you and let me tell you who you are.

References for images:

http://www.turkishculture.org/picture_shower.php?ImageID=3678

https://onedio.com/haber/cocukluk-gunlerimizden-aklimizda-kalan-mahallede-olmazsa-olmaz-15-cocuk-tipi-700098

https://www.dreamstime.com/editorial-stock-image-galatasaray-high-school-tram-station-istanbul-turkey-january-two-red-trams-stands-next-to-main-gate-to-january-image68633854

http://www.getawayjourneys.co.in/package/turkey-package-7/

Reference for maps:

Google Maps

All of the Pictures were retrieved on 26 November 2017.

All GIFs and the pictures those don’t have references up there are retrieved from TUMBLR itself from tumblr.com

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