histoire

i initially became interested in turkey because of mr. atatürk, and his "aggressive" efforts to shape turkish nationalism.

one of the most profound changes (besides the switch of the capital from istanbul to ankara (which i wrote about back in '09)) was the change in the turkish alphabet from the arabic script to the latin one.

this quote below was used in my FREE language study program.

i thought it was super cool...

The current Turkish alphabet used for the Turkish language replaced the earlier arabic alphabet and was created at the initative of Kemal Atatürk by borrowing different Latin characters in 1928. The letter Ö was taken from the Swedish alphabet because the Swedish interpreter from the Dragoman House (ambassador house) was assigned to the committee creating the new writing language. Ç was taken from Albanian, Ş from Romanian, and Ü from German.

grueling preparation.

i leave for istanbul in thirteen-ish days.

i'm studying at bogazici university, in the international relations faculty.

i plan to take classes on (non-western) film, music, art history, and then MAYBE international law.
ECSTATIC

i'm gonna live in a huge dormitory with a bunch of other expatriates

i'm so completely full of anticipation, there's barely any room left for fear, or nervousness, or excitement...i'm just in a stagnant state of unknowing, with a multitude of expectations for this journey.

these are my pre-departure tasks:

a) i need to learn more turkish, i only know: "merhaba". saying hello is one thing, but learning how to say goodbye, yes, no, please, and thank you is pretty key.

b)take my wardrobe and cut it into thirds, then take half of that third and pack it in a suitcase. (first world problems)

c) practice taking photos with my new wonderful lumix camera.

d) figure out everything logistical.

e) mentally prepare.

i've never been more ready to leave this hemisphere.

tips for international travel?