Home away from Home away from Home

I have to say, I really missed the kids while they were on their home stays.  Sure, moving through an Istanbul crowd with six people rather than twenty-six is much less stressful, but I found myself missing their energy and banter.  However, I can say without a doubt that they did not miss me.  I even got a text message from one of my charges on their first night away saying, "Why is this so short!?!"

The following post was written by all four of the Collegiate students on the bus ride between Istanbul and Ankara following their home stays over this past weekend.

Grocery shopping in a country whose language you don’t know is one of the most disconcerting things I have ever had the pleasure of trying. Bright, unfamiliar letters screaming at you from every direction is quite overwhelming when you can’t read one of them. This was my first experience with my home-stay buddy.  Orkun took me to the market in his neighborhood where I had my first Istanbul Waffle, a wonderful invention I told him would make a fortune if imported to America. After a late dinner, he took me to Giza Park, where political protests had been brutally suppressed just last year. It was striking to see life going on as usual in such an important place in recent Turkish history.

The following afternoon, Orkun introduced me to Backgammon and Tavla, or Turkish Checkers, over Turkish coffee. I was very happy with my success in Backgammon, so I introduced him to American Checkers, in which he promptly trounced me.

-Hart

When meeting my home stay buddy I immediately noticed one thing, a British Accent. Timothy was not only had a British accent, but both he and his mother are fluent in English. Communication was much easier than I had expected, as Tim was fluent in both English and Turkish. I was very impressed with all of the Turkish living communities. There were many communities like Timothy’s that had housing for many people, along with a community pool, sports courts, and even restaurants.  I found Tim’s community very inviting and after meeting his “mum” we played billiards and a Turkish basketball game.

The homestay experience is one of the best things I’ve done so far in Turkey and I only wish I’d had more time. The following day was an awesome experience sailing to a Turkish isle on the family’s boat. I’ve decided seafood is best at the shore-side restaurants.

-Grant

The first thing that my home stay buddy asked me is, “What do you want to do?” I responded by saying “I want to do anything but touristy things” so I was showed a completely different side of Turkey. This was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever done. It was amazing to see how modernized and secular this part of Turkey is. My buddy and I went to 3 sections of Istanbul, the first section we went to was Nisantasi, which was more of a high fashion road. Then we went to Ortakoy, which was a boardwalk, with little shops. Last was Taksim, which was like the Times Square of Istanbul.

            The main observation that I made during my home stay was how similar secular Istanbul is to America, especially places like New York City. It is such an amazing place filled with so many different cultures. My home stay family was also so wonderful and nice, and also did an amazing job of immersing me in Turkish culture and strengthening my view of this dynamic country.

-Allie

We boarded the service bus to my host Kaan Goksal’s home in the suburbs of Istanbul. We told stories the whole way and got to know each other right off the bat in a way that I could never have anticipated. We were so much alike it astounded me. We had the same views of politics and of religion. I found out quickly that Turkish kids are incredibly similar to American kids. They hang out, study hard, and like to have tons of fun all of the time. Kaan’s mom is an English teacher so Kaan, his father, and his sister Rena all had great English since it is their 2^nd language. Kaan was so genuine and willing to share all that he could with me about Turkey and himself. He is a caring person and loves the outdoors much like I do.  Kaan had to take the ACT exam on the morning of my stay and so I was able to get some much-needed sleep. Later that evening I gave the family the book I had bought for them about Virginia and all of their eyes lit up when they saw the pictures in the book. It was such an amazing moment for me to see them appreciate where I am from and what it looks like. I had an amazing experience with my host family and there is no doubt in my mind that I will be back to Turkey at some point in the future.

-Nigel