Culture is everywhere. I am discovering that this is one of the most interesting things about living as an expat. The language barrier around us is an obvious sign of being thrust into a new culture. I am also noticing smaller and smaller things that demonstrate the culture here. As a newly-arrived expat, I oftenContinue reading “Culture is Everywhere”
Author Archives: Mike
Escaping the City
In my last post I shared about how life in the city can be a bit constricting. Recently my family and I took a quick retreat from the city to another relatively nearby city. We rented an Airbnb in Tekirdağ (about 2 1/2 hours by car from the Asian side of Istanbul) and spent aContinue reading “Escaping the City”
Living in the City with Kids
Before we moved to Turkey I heard a lot about culture shock and culture stress. So many things would be different for us in our new host country than in America. We did our best to try to find out what to expect so that we could be more prepared. Some of that helped. SomeContinue reading “Living in the City with Kids”
Is Turkey in Europe or the Middle East?
Is Turkey in Europe? Turkey has similarities to Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, but it is not the same. I am learning that Turkey is Turkey.
Travel Writing as an Expat Resident
Most travel writing about Istanbul, Turkey is from a tourist perspective. My aim is to share a different perspective as an expat living here.
A Blizzard in Istanbul
Last week an incredible blizzard blew through Istanbul and seemingly everywhere else. There were reports of as much as 31” (80cm) of snow in some parts of the city. We only saw a comparatively small amount in our area. But in a city of 16 million people, there’s no way to carry on like normalContinue reading “A Blizzard in Istanbul”
On the Menu: Börek
On the Menu My last post kicked off an ongoing series called On the Menu. I shared a bit about my first experience with Tost. A key desire for our family in moving to Turkey is learning to live in a foreign culture and learning the foreign culture. Turkey is so intriguing to us, butContinue reading “On the Menu: Börek”
On the Menu: Tost
Food in Turkey “Strange” and “normal” are often in the eye of the beholder. This is especially true when it comes to food and drink. I have often heard from people who have lived in Turkey or visited here that the food is excellent. In some countries or regions of the world, there are, let’sContinue reading “On the Menu: Tost”
Why Turkey?
“Why do you want to live in Turkey?” We have heard that question more than a few times since we decided to move here, and especially since we got here. It’s a fair question, I suppose. There are lots of reasons why we want to live here. At the top of the list is givingContinue reading “Why Turkey?”
We’re Finally Home!
The Duffel Bag Saga Comes comes to an end. These bags have loomed large in our family’s life for the last 6 months. They have been a sort of bookmark in our life. It was quite the journey getting them from America to Turkey, but we are here. We had been looking at apartments onContinue reading “We’re Finally Home!”