How's Berlin?

We've had a bunch of people ask us that recently, so I figured I'd answer it here.  Berlin is great!   We're almost completely unpacked/settled.  We have a few more light fixtures to hang and possibly another end table to buy, but our apartment is being lived in and loved.  We've officially worn it in and figured out all of it's kinks.  On top of that, we're enjoying living in Berlin, where there is a plethora of things to do and see.  We've bought bikes and it's starting to feel like fall.  

We've also learned a few things about our home country.

1.  Germany is a cash society.   They're ahead of the times in almost everything else, but they still use cash as their primary mode of payment.  It's not as much of an issue with big payments, but we've definitely gotten the snake eye when we've tried to pay for smaller things with a card.  
2. Germans are all about recycling.  Guys, we have four different trash receptacles in our house with the option for a fifth.  Trash, paper, glass, and other recyclables are all we have right now, but we have the option of composting if we want.  It's a lot to keep track of, but after a year sans recycling in Turkey, my heart doesn't hurt when I throw things away (even if they end up in the wrong bin).
3. They're also all about plants. If you look at all of the balconies in our apartment complex, they're all covered with plants. There are big plants and little plants.  We're literally the only ones without them.  I bought a basil plant the other day and then it died while we were gone this past weekend, so I think we're just going to call a spade a spade and be plantless.  Plus, winter is coming so all of the plants will die, right?
4. You can have your groceries delivered! I feel super pretentious doing it, but really, it's worth it.  Our grocery store is super small since it's in the heart of the city and doesn't have the selection that I need/want. Plus, I haven't learned all of the names of foods yet, so it's easier for me to do it from my computer than from the grocery store. Judge away.  I'm judging.  I still go to the Turkish market to get all of our produce, though.  
5. It's all about bottled water here. I'm longing for my free and refillable water at a restaurant.  I guess the translation for "tap water" is something closer to "toilet water,"  so there is this stigma of drinking from the tap.  It's completely fine and we do it all the time, but if we go to a restaurant, we almost always have to pay (an exorbitant amount) for a (small) bottle of water.  It's usually more economical to just drink beer. 

Overall, it's been a pretty smooth transition.  There are a lot less tears than during our move to Turkey, which both of us are extremely grateful for.  We're still getting used to some things, but are starting to embrace others.  Mike has been riding his bike all over town registering for school, the university, and getting our apartment settled.  I've been running all around our house getting unpacked, as well as on the phone trying to renew my driver's license (don't worry, the DMV is just as miserable on the phone as they are in person), so although it hasn't been quite as exciting of a week, it's been productive.

We have our first visitors come tomorrow! We're super pumped for Steve and J. Leiu to come and stay with us and show them around our new town!

Evacuation Complete

I like to think we're good people.  We try to do the right thing.  We try to help others when in need.  We do things that merit good karma.  Well, somewhere along the line, we must have done something terrible because our karma on this move has just not been so great. While this week wasn't as bad as being stuck in Turkey during a coup, there were concerns that we were going to be stuck outside of Frankfurt.

We flew to Frankfurt on Monday night after spending the entire last week unpacking (I'll do another post on that once our house is presentable and I can take pictures) and took the train outside the city to Wiesbaden, where our hotel was.  There is an Army base there (where some people from Izmir went during the evacuation), as well as our car that had arrived from Turkey! It was the last step in completing our evacuation.  We had our household goods, an apartment and, soon, our car. Our plan was to pick up the car on Tuesday and head to see some fellow Olmsteders in Freiburg, Germany on Wednesday and Thursday, as well as stopping in Leichtenstein (checking off countries!) and some other German towns along the way home.  We were excited to have the car and make our own schedule as we headed back to Berlin.

 We knew we would have to get our driver's licenses, register the car and get temporary military plates in order to be issued our car.  Luckily, the office is right next door and all of our research (okay, just Mike's...I leave the military stuff up to him) told us that they only took walk-ins.  There was no need for appointments.  We got up early on Tuesday with the thought that it might be crowded and we might have to wait.

As we were walking to the building, Mike and I were joking and saying "what do you think the new rule is going to be?"  It seems like whenever we try and do anything related to the move, there is a new rule that makes things infinitely more difficult.  Sure enough, when we arrived at the building to register and take the driving test, there was a sign that stated, "Beginning September 1st, we will not be accepting walk-ins.  Appointments only."  We just laughed because there it was.  The new rule that was going to make things difficult.  We walked in and asked if we could make an appointment to take our driving test and register the car. Since it was 8:00am, we had missed the driving test by a half an hour and the next one wasn't being issued until Wednesday.  On top of that, the next appointment they had to register the car was Friday at 12:30.

In complete shock and despair, we went back to the hotel to reevaluate our plan.  At this point, we had three options.  First, we could stay in Wiesbaden all week, which was not something we wanted to do (there's nothing there except an Army base). Second, we could rent a car for the week and head down to Freiburg before coming back on Friday, which would have been fine, but we weren't expecting to pay for a rental car and we would have to sacrifice the rest of our trip.  Third, we could fly back to Berlin and just try again another week, which would have been expensive and accomplish nothing.  We opted for the second option after finding a cheap rental car and were out of Wiesbaden before you could say "Appointments only."

After two nights in Freiburg with great friends (I'll do a separate post on that!), we headed back to Wiesbaden.  The testing center for the licenses offered a 7:30 test time and we had made an appointment for a 12:30 registration.  The test was actually really hard because a lot of the signs are different and there are all sorts of rules like "If your car breaks down, you have to put the warning cone 200 meters behind your car" and only Mike ended up passing.  Luckily, I can retake it online (which would have been nice to know before because we could have just taken it at home, but alas...) and then I just have to go to a base to get the actual license.  I was really hoping that was going to be the worst part of the day, but I guess that just wasn't bad enough karma.

After the test, we headed to the registration office.  We had an appointment at 12:30, but it was an hour early and we wanted to see if they were available so we could get things rolling.   They did, in fact have an opening for us (makes me wonder if they had appointments earlier in the week and we didn't have to wait until Friday, but I don't like to think about that!).   Let me just preface this next part by saying that I understand working in customer service has to be hard.  You answer the same questions a million times and deal with people who have no clue what is going on.  That being said, you should give everyone at least one chance before treating them poorly and should probably be a little understanding when they get frustrated over things that are justified.  When we got to the guy's desk, we were prepared.  We had all the documents needed to register the car and had filled out the proper forms.  Our next hurdle came when he realized that our military mailing address was based in Berlin, not Wiesbaden.  He made a call and came back with some bad news.  We had to go to Sembach where the head of car registration for all military serving in Germany is.  Sembach is an hour away.  It was 12:30.  The latest we could pick up our car was 4:00.  If we didn't have any traffic or any issues at Sembach, we would be able to make it back in time, but that was a big if.

This is where the guy could have shown a little sympathy for our frustration.  We had been waiting all week for this appointment.  Unlike the people stationed at Wiesbaden, we couldn't just walk home and try again later. Without the car, we would be stuck in Wiesbaden all weekend until we could try again on Monday.  Mike was visibly frustrated and instead of just saying the simple words of "I understand how frustrating this is.  I'm sorry there isn't anything we could do," he just said "I don't know what you want me to do."  I thought Mike was going to lose it.  In fact, he kind of did, but luckily it was as we were walking out.

We went next door where the car was and explained the situation to them and luckily, the lady in charge was extremely friendly and sympathetic.  She gave us her cell phone number and told us to call her if we didn't think we'd make it back by four and she'd probably be able to hang around until we got there, barring it wasn't too late.  Thank God.   With that, we hopped in the car and headed to Sembach.

Side note: I was starving at this point, but there was NO WAY that I was going to ask to stop for lunch.  I probably would have been left on the side of the road. :)

We made it to Sembach in record time (probably thanks to Germany's lack of speed limits on the Autobahn) and got our name on the list.  Luckily, we only had to wait about ten minutes before Mike met with someone who was able to get the car registered quickly.  While Mike was doing that, I got to sit in the waiting room and watch the Today Show.  Oh, the joys of being on an American base!   Thankfully, the registration process isn't actually that long and Mike was done only ten minutes after his name was called.  We stopped at another office to quickly get a gas card (gets us gas without having to pay German taxes....aka cheap gas) and I stocked up on Cheez Its and Peanut Butter M&Ms.  Y'all, it was a stressful day.  I don't normally eat a lot of junk food, but this was the only way I was going to keep my sanity.  Plus, if there's one way to Mike's heart, it's peanut butter m&ms. I figured we deserved it at this point.

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We hit the road back to Wiesbaden and, once again, thanked the good Lord above for the lack of speed limits on the Autobahn. When we bounded into the office where we could pick up the car with huge grins on our face, I'm sure we looked like we had just won a race.  In fact, we did.  We won the race against the clock.  The lady who we spoke to before looked so surprised to see us back so soon, but quickly showed us to our car where we checked for damage, put the plates on the car that we got when we registered it, and signed the paperwork to make her all ours again!  I don't know if Mike and I have ever been so happy to have a car.   I thought about giving a hug to the lady, Cristal, who handed us the keys, but figured I should save any shred of sanity she thought we might have and went with a handshake and smile instead.

Oh Anya, we didn't realize quite how much trouble you would cause, but we're glad to have you back.  Hope your trip from Turkey was enjoyable.

After we got the car, we had to return the rental car.  We knew it would be a few hours late and were willing to just accept the fine.  When Mike ran in to turn in the keys, there was a distraction and the guy didn't even notice that it was four hours late! Hallelujah! I guess we've earned some good karma somewhere along the way. 

Our last stop was completely for me and Mike probably would have just skipped it completely if doing so wouldn't have warranted a complete meltdown by me. Mike had promised me a trip to the commissary before he knew how this week was going to turn out and I wasn't going to let him forget it.  I figured after the week we had, we deserved American brand food and some of our favorite things. Plus, at this point, it was almost five, so we were going to be getting home late anyways, so we might as well just add an extra half an hour to our trip. Amiright?  Guys, I was like a little kid in a candy shop.  I was SO HAPPY to be at the commissary.  I went a little crazy, buying all sorts of things, like peanut butter, Wheat Thins and four cans of canned pumpkin to make all sorts of things fall-ish.  It's a good thing we didn't have a way to take home any perishable goods because our grocery bill would have been double the $103 it already was.  I didn't even care.  I was so happy.  Like a kid in a candy shop, I tell ya.  Don't worry, Mike stocked up on his favorite things too. That ramen is all for him.  Now you know, if you ever are in need of a gift to send us, American food is the way to our hearts and will not go unappreciated.

We made one last stop at the food court on base for our first meal in way too long before hitting the road at 6:30pm, six and half hours after we expected to.  We arrived home around midnight and didn't even unload the car.  We just walked upstairs in a daze, sat down on the couch, and were grateful that we can officially say the last part of the evacuation is officially over.  At one point on the drive home, we were reflecting on this little tidbit of information and talking about all of the easy and difficult things that came out of it.  It's funny because, while the military took great care of me while I was at Ramstein and I'll be forever grateful for that, it's been the military stuff that has been so hard to deal with.  We've encountered red tape almost every step of the way after I was evacuated that made everything so much more difficult.  Funny how that works out, isn't it? You would think moving to a foreign country would have problems dealing with foreign things and, while there have been a slew of those, they've paled in comparison to the issues we've run into with the American side of all of this.  It's a learning experience, y'all and a humbling one at that!

After our tumultuous week in Wiesbaden, traveling was just not in the cards for us this weekend.  Instead, we are enjoying a quiet weekend at home.  I ordered groceries online (judge away because I'm judging myself), hung the last of our pictures, and are excited to watch some American football tonight.  The calm AFTER the storm. 

Housing Update!

After three long weeks of waiting, it's official!  The apartment that we fell in love with on our second day of house hunting is ours! Hallelujah! The equally exciting news is that we  got an email letting us know that our household goods have arrived in Germany and are ready for delivery...a month and a half early!  All the praise hands because I am SO tired of this hotel room and so anxious to get our stuff in our apartment.

Three weeks ago, we began our house hunt and, after looking at an apartment that wasn't even finished, we saw this apartment and fell in love. We knew right away that this was the apartment for us and asked the real estate agent what paper work he needed.  We rushed home, sent over the pay stubs and passport photos that were required and waited.

We waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.

And finally, after almost a week of waiting, we called. Apparently, our realtor never got our passport photos.  Why he didn't call or email us is beyond me, but we emailed those over again and were promised a lease soon. So we waited.

We waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.

And finally, after almost a week of waiting, we called.  The realtor still hadn't heard anything from the landlord who was looking over the lease, but reassured us the apartment was ours.   We thought this was strange but went along with it.

All along, Mike has stayed pretty calm about the timeline, whereas I have been getting more and more anxious. Although the Navy allots us 60 days of hotel life, we are leaving for Mike's sister's wedding next Saturday and needed a place to dump our stuff.  There was no way I was flying to London with those beach chairs.  No thank you.

I think all of my anxious energy finally wore off on Mike and he agreed to email the realtor and say that we needed a lease within 48 hours or we would start looking elsewhere. I guess sometimes all you need to do is light a little fire under some people because less than two days later, we had a lease! We are so excited and thankful that this apartment worked out because we love it.  It's not quite as big as our Turkish apartment (which had more than enough room for us, visitors and an office!), but we will be the first residents since it's renovation.  It also has underground parking and storage space, both of which we will use.  It's in a cute little neighborhood with lots of restaurants and a huge market.  We fell in love with the neighborhood before we even stepped foot in the apartment.

Overall, we're really excited and anxious to get in.  We're going to try and arrange the movers for the day after we get back from our little adventure in London and Scotland, so that we will be able to minimize the amount of time we spend sitting in those beach chairs. dd

And now, for what you all have been waiting for...pictures.

No, that's not a tv.  It's an oven vent :)

A view from our sunrise balcony.  We also have a sunset balcony on the other side.  Rough life we live ;)

German houses don't come with light fixtures, so we'll have to go find a few of those, but other than that, the apartment has everything we could ask for...besides visitors :)

Berlin Week #2

We've made it another week in Berlin! It's been a little cold (in the 60s and low 70s!!) and rainy, so we've spent more and more time inside, but we've made it a point to get out and see our new home.  Speaking of homes, that house hunting update?  Well, I was hoping for some more definite and exciting news, but things are taking a while (very un-German).  We've found a place that we love and have gotten a verbal confirmation that it's ours, but the landlord is still looking the lease over, so we haven't signed anything yet.  We're hoping all of that will happen this week.  Inshallah. 

Anyways, while we've been waiting for our lease, we've taken to exploring the city.  We've gotten into quite the routine.  We wake up, go to the gym downstairs, go to lunch and then do some sightseeing.  We usually come back for an hour or two to hang out and rest (thanks for satisfying my introverted soul, Mike) before heading out for dinner and beer (the reason for the morning gym). 

On Sunday, we headed out to Alexanderplatz and museum island, which has four museums.  We only did two of them since we figured we would save some for when we have visitors.  Plus, we figured we had been to enough Pergamon museums/lived it.  We went to an art museum and a history museum, both of which were pretty interesting!

Monday, we went to the zoo! We thought it might rain, but we figured we'd risk it and it turned out to be a great day.  The zoo was beautiful and the animals were out and moving, which is always exciting.  We were also able to see the chimpanzees get fed, which had us laughing because they were just so freaking excited.  Don't worry guys, I get excited at meal time also!

I love zoos, but sometimes it creeps me out how similar we are to these big guys.  Plus, he looks so sad....

Mike and I saw this and both muttered "God bless America" at the same time.  Ain't that the truth!

Wednesday, we decided to go to the Topography of Terror museum, which is one of the many free World War II museums in Berlin.  This museum was extremely interesting and had TONS of information.  In fact, both Mike and I remarked that we wouldn't mind coming back again with guests because there is so much information that it will take multiple visits to cover it all.  There is a great exhibit outside along the actual Berlin wall which gives a great timeline, but the museum itself is inside and is fascinating.  While it's definitely not uplifting, it's extremely well done and informative.

 Thursday, we did the Sandaman's Free Walking Tour, which I highly recommend.  This was our second time doing it (we did it the first time we came to Berlin last fall) and it didn't disappoint.  We wanted to do it and brush up on our German history so when visitors come, we can give them the tour ourselves. Our tour guide was Canadian and just as informed and enthusiastic as the last one.  It was a little rainy this time around, so I didn't take a ton of pictures, but the tour ends at Humboldt University where Mike will be studying! Fun fact: there are lots of famous alumni, including 29 Nobel Prize winners, the brothers Grimm, and Albert Einstein (as a professor).

Friday was a rest day because the Berlin Beer Festival was that night! Mike's Christmas! It actually was a lot of fun.  There was live music, lots of good food and LOTS of beer.

Saturday had an early start (rough after a night at the beer festival).  Mike is an avid scuba diver and found a dive shop here in Berlin.  They do dives about once a month in the lakes surrounding Berlin, so we rented a car for the weekend and joined them for the dive that morning.  This lake was about a half hour away from the hotel.  We met the rest of the divers that morning, Mike suited up, and they headed out into the lake.  Like I said earlier, it's not so warm here and was in the 60s that morning, so I stayed on shore in my jeans and a sweat shirt and read the new Harry Potter.  I forgot how open and un-modest the Germans are and ended up seeing a lot of naked people going for a morning swim.  Welcome to Germany!

It's been a fun week here, although we're starting to go a little crazy in the hotel.  Hopefully, this week will bring a lease for us to sign, sunnier weather and lots of Olympics watching!

Berlin: Week #1

I've been putting off posting in hopes of some big housing news, but since that hasn't come yet, I figured I'd update you on the going ons here anyways. We haven't been super busy, but we have been out and about trying to explore at least one new thing every day, as well as fit in some house hunting.

The first weekend we were here was the gay pride festival right outside of our hotel.  This seems to be a trend that follows me in new cities.  The first day I arrived in Paris for my study abroad program, the gay pride parade marched right in front of my dorm.  While the Berlin gay pride festival had nothing on the Paris one, it was fun to go check out.  There were even signs in defense of repealing the law in North Carolina.  Pretty cool!! Mike and I even got interviewed for an English speaking YouTube channel.  I'm pretty sure we were the most awkward people ever to be interviewed because the guy just kind of threw his phone in our face and asked us what we thought of gay pride, but whatever.  We're kind of famous...and we love gay pride!  Also, every few blocks there were tents with multiple kinds of sangria. #heaven.

We also arrived just in time for the craft beer week, which is like arriving just in time for Christmas in Mike's eyes.  So, when we weren't house hunting, we were craft beer festival-ing.  There are worse things in life.  It was actually a great way to see the different areas of the city because there were multiple events each day, in different parts of the city.  The week ended with a two day festival.  We ventured there on Friday and enjoyed LOTS of craft beer.  It was quite the way to end our first week in Germany. 

The other thing we've been doing is lots of eating.  In Turkey, we had the option of Turkish food, Turkish food and....Turkish food.  Oh, and expensive, bad Chinese food.  Not good, bad Chinese food like we like to eat normally, but BAD Chinese food. Needless to say, having ethnic food options is like my Christmas!

We've had everything from German food (duhsies) to Korean food and everything in between.  

Sushi?  Check.

Pizza? Check.

Pho? Check.

Dim Sum (whatever that is)? Check.

Ramen? Check.

German food!

Korean food!

Saturday, we decided to just walk around and explore the city on foot.  Berlin is such an eclectic city with TONS of opportunities for good people watching.  I've noticed there is a ton of diversity (yay!) here, while none at all.  Since this is such a big expat city, there are tons of people from all over the world here.  It's so cool.  That being said, I've never seen so much blonde hair! I mean, I knew Germans were blonde haired and blue eyed, but man, I never realized how true that is.  In Turkey, all the Turks thought Mike was Turkish, especially in the summer when he was tan.  Now, all the Germans think I'm German.  The only difference is, Mike speaks Turkish and do not speak German.  Almost everyone in the city speaks English, though, so we haven't run into a language barrier at all.  I guess that's why the Olmsted Foundation only sends refugees to Berlin....

This one's for you, Cookie and Chance!

my life motto...

Our house hunting experience has gone really well and we're hoping that the stars will align later today or tomorrow morning so that I will have big news to post for you, but until then...mums the word!

That's a wrap for our first week in Berlin! It's been a fun week of sight seeing and exploring, as well as house hunting.  Here's to hoping week #2 will bring good news and more fun!

Wine Tasting in Urla

After a busy weekend in Istanbul, we all wanted to sleep in and take it easy the next day.  We spent the morning just lounging around, which was perfect.  I needed that and I think Poorna and Mike did, too.  Finally, around noon, we got our act together and were ready for the day. Mike's classmate, Murat, came over and we all  headed out.

We park our car about a mile from our house in a garage since we don't use it that often and there isn't any parking on our street.  Once we got to the car, we realized that we needed to stop for gas along the way.  We applied and got a chip to put in our gas tank so we don't have to pay taxes on gas here in Turkey.  Turkey's gas prices are one of the most expensive in the world, so this was exciting.  We just got the chip and haven't used it yet, so this would be our first time.  You have to go to specific gas stations that have the special machine, so you have to be a little more conscientious of how much gas you have in your tank, but it's definitely worth the price break.

We set out towards the winery, while also looking for a gas station.  Mike got a little worried that we might not make it, so we pull over to a gas station and put in a 20TL worth of gas just to hold us over until we find a gas station that can fill us up.  We continue driving and find a gas station with the sign that says they can do it, but it turns out it's broken, so we continued on.   The gas station attendant directed us down a road about 4 km to another gas station that would be able to help us.  We finally found it and filled up, but I don't think we really got a discount.  We need to figure that out because gas is ridiculously expensive (it's like $100 to fill up our little Volkswagen Golf!).

After that rocky start to the trip, we were in need of some wine! Mike and I had been to Urla Winery before, but Murat and Poorna were newbies.  One of best parts of this winery is the view and the building.  They even have a couple of rooms there to stay in!  The tasting room and hotel is at the top of a hill that overlooks the vineyards.  It's breathtaking.

We all tasted a few reds and whites and walked away with a few bottles to bring back to our respective homes.  Mike and I also wanted to take  Poorna to MMG, which was a winery we went to when Kelly was here visiting.  Not only is the view incredible, but it's family owned and everyone is so friendly.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the son, who we hadn't met and the adorable black lab puppy that we met last time.  This time, though, the puppy wasn't a puppy any more.  He was probably 30 pounds heavier and definitely fully grown. This was the winery that also had the Kangals, which are the Turkish dogs who are around 250 pounds each.  A small horse.  After playing with the dogs for a while, we headed out to the deck where we were once again greeted with a stunning view.   The son brought out delicious grapes, cheese and crackers, as well as four different kinds of wine.  I think we were all fans of this wine and probably could have spent all day there.  Poorna, Mike and I bought wine before we headed back home.

I mean, really?  How is this real life?

Mike and Murat

I had to teach that night, but I knew Mike and Poorna would be fine hanging out for a little while.  They had talked about venturing out to a bar near our house and I figured I would meet them later.  When I returned from teaching, they hadn't left.  Instead, they had decided to drink wine and have heart to hearts while doing a puzzle.  I mean, I knew they'd be fine together, but they were complete BFFs by the time I returned! Ha!

Overall, it was a relaxing day of wine tasting and exploring the outskirts of Izmir.



***All photo credit goes to Poorna :)

Thinking Out Loud

A lot of little things have happened in the past few days/weeks that I definitely wanted to document, so here's a run down of a lot of little things!  I'm linking up with Running With Spoons today, too, so that's just an extra bonus!

1.  We were talking about guilty pleasures.  People seemed to understand what the meaning of a guilty pleasure was and were naming all sorts of things from Candy Crush to different TV shows.  All of a sudden, one of the students was like "Hanukkah!"  I was SO confused, but figured it could be some weird obsession with Hanukkah.  As he kept talking, I realized that he didn't mean Hanukkah, he meant hookah, which is extremely popular in Turkey.  Maybe he's planning on celebrating eight nights of hookah?

2. We were talking about Turkish culture, which I think is interesting to hear from them.  They were coming up with great stuff and I was soaking it all up.  Finally, they ran out of ideas, but one girl decided to search "Turkish culture" on Google.  She starts sounding out the word with a confused look on her face...

"Cir-"

"Circum-"

"Circumcision?"

Nope. Not talking about that here! Sorry!


3.  Izmir has decorated for Christmas.  At first, we just noticed a few lights shaped like snowflakes, which gave it a winter-y feel.  Then, we started noticing lights shaped like angels and things just got weird. A few days after the angels appeared, I was walking to work and I noticed two guys setting up a light display at the end of a no drive street.  When I was walking back home at the end of the night when it was dark out, I realized that it was a straight up nativity scene.  Turkey is 90% Muslim.  Why is there a nativity?  They didn't get it quite right because, even though there was a baby, there were four angels looking at him.   So so weird.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas decorations, but I think it's kind of strange how obsessed they are with Christmas decorations, despite the fact that they don't celebrate Christmas.  Maybe that's just me...

4.  I finally got my haircut.  I got my haircut before we moved here.  Yup, in June.  I've needed a haircut for months, but between traveling and the language barrier, I just haven't done it.  There is a small barber on base, but Mike and I had been talking about going to get my haircut out in the real world, so I hadn't done it.  Finally, it got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore and I broke down and went to the guy on base.  I am definitely not ready to try to speak Turkish to get my haircut, but maybe by the time I'm due again, I'll be ready.

5.  Mike's friend (and groomsman) Ben came to visit this weekend on his way to Israel for work.  While I was getting my haircut/manicure and pedicure, they were out exploring Ephesus and Izmir and seeing Star Wars.  I told them if they took a picture, they'd make the blog, so this is what I got.  Love it!

6. Our Goddaughter, Emma, was baptized on Sunday and, while we weren't able to be there physically, we were able to participate through FaceTime.  Thanks to Emma's parents for arranging it for us and to our lovely videographer Karen! Emma was a gem and was wide awake and quiet throughout the entire baptism and then promptly fell asleep for the entire church service.  She woke up just in time for the last hymn and then pictures with anyone and everyone. What a smart little lady!

I promise I'm not crying in this screen shot, but I mean, she's just so cute, I could understand if I was!

Emma's baptism gown was made from Anna's wedding dress which makes it extra beautiful!

The camera really makes us look great, don't you think? I also love how excited Emma is in this picture! Can't you just see all of the joy and excitement? Ha!

We are so honored to be Emma's Godparents and we were so happy to watch from afar.

As Mike and I were discussing the baptism that morning beforehand, he decided he should practice his lines and just goes "I pledge allegiance, to the Emma..."   He had me laughing at that one.

7.  I made Christmas cookies the other day, thanks to the package from my mom, and brought them to my Turkish class and then to my students.  Y'all, they went nuts and thought they were the greatest thing! It was so fun! The students in my Turkish class were taking pictures of all of the different shapes (Santa, snowflake, Christmas Tree, etc) and then in my other class later that night, they just kept talking about how delicious they were.  I didn't have the heart to tell them they were just a mix with store bought icing.  I loved it!

Tips for Helping a Friend Living Abroad

I've been thinking about this a lot recently.  How can you be a good friend/family member to someone living abroad?  We've been so lucky because our friends and family have been so supportive and just all-around awesome since we've gotten here.  They have definitely kept us sane throughout this whole experience.  These are some of the things that they've done that have definitely made a huge difference.

1. Be there.  I don't mean physically there, I just mean "there."  For some people, that's easier than others but we're lucky to live in the 21st century where there are tons of ways to "be there."  My parents and I video chat almost every Sunday night.  In the first few months (and even now), I lived for these video chats.  One of my best friends always gchats me as she's working, while another sends me emails every so often.  Mike and I also are in a few group chats on Facebook or gchat that help us stay connected.  Regardless of how you do it, just being there is number one.

2. Be supportive. There are days (okay weeks) where I am just not feeling this experience. It's definitely not all sunshine and rainbows. On days weeks like this, all I really need is someone to just sympathize with me and nod their head as I complain about some trivial thing that really isn't that bad.

3. Don't be too supportive. Some days I need people to just nod and sympathize with me, but I could see how it could go too far.  For me, Turkey is like my sibling.  Growing up, my siblings drove me nuts (love you guys!) and all I want to do is complain to my friends about them.   The minute that my friends started complaining about them, though, was the minute in that conversation I would get defensive.  I could complain all I wanted about my siblings, but I was the only one who was allowed to do that.  I feel the same way about Turkey.  I complain about it a lot, but it has found a special place in my heart. The few times my friends have tried to complain about Turkey with me, I always find myself getting a little defensive.  It's better if people just say things like "Yeah, that's gotta be tough"  or "Wow! That's so different from home!"

4. Send little tastes of home.  Living away from home is hard, even if you are enjoying it.  There are so many things that are different about your new home, even if it's in the United States.  You might not be able to find the food brands you're used to, the weather may be different or those special things that make you love home so much might be missing.  One of the most creative ways our friends have shown support is when we received our It's Fall, Y'all package from Matt, Katy and Beau.  We don't really get Fall here, so they sent us all sorts of fall related things.

5. Ask Questions about Life Abroad. I enjoy telling people about my experience, hence the reason for this blog. Even if your friend/family member doesn't have a blog, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't like talking about their experience.  One of my best friends always has a ton of questions when we video chat, which I love.  It makes me think about our experience and, lots of times, it makes me think about things that I usually take for granted.

Looking back at this list, it doesn't have to be a friend living abroad.  They could be in a new city or state. Sometimes that's as different as a new country! I'm sure that by the time we leave Turkey, we'll have more tips and tricks from our wonderful friends, but these are definitely some of the gestures that our friends and family have done that have made being far away a little bit easier.

And really, when you live in a place like this, how can you complain too much?

Residence Permit

In order to be a legal residence in Turkey, you must apply and obtain a residence permit. This allows you to be legally in the country, as well as come and go without a visa. You cannot apply online; it requires a meeting in person at a government office where you present all of the required documents listed online. We began this process in July to get my residence permit (Mike doesn't need one since he has military orders).  Here's the order of events.

Meeting Number One
Mike had been trying to make an appointment online to get my residence permit ever since we got here. Every time he checked the website, the calendar said that there were no appointments available for the next three months.  We thought that sounded ridiculous, so we decided to go to the office to see if they had any openings. When we showed up, we told the person at the front desk and she referred us to a woman who spoke English (who'd we get to know VERY well).  Mike explained to her that the website said that there were no appointments available for three months and she said that was not true.  She said that we needed to go to a internet cafe and try.  If Mike tells this story, he describes it as essentially being called a liar. Dramatic? Yes. True? Pretty much.

Meeting Number Two
After that disaster, we went home baffled.  On a  whim, we tried the website on my computer.  We used the same browser (shoutout to all the Chrome users of the world!) and it worked! Don't ask me why.  Don't ask me how.  Just shake your head and say "because...Turkey."  So, after we were able make an appointment, we once again gathered all of the materials listed on the website, filled out the application, and headed out. When we got there, we were greeted by the same delightful woman. When we were shown to her desk, she continued to talk to another woman and look at pictures on her phone.  Great customer service, right? I was willing to overlook that, but it was obvious she was not going to be bothered with us. She took one look at our documents and said they were not right.  Apparently, even though they are all same ones listed on the website, they weren't right.

Meeting Number Three
Mike was fuming and neither of us really knew what to do.  Luckily, there is a lawyer who works for the Air Force base and she was willing to write a letter (in Turkish) explaining our situation. We were hopeful that this would be the key. We made the appointment and crossed our fingers.  We scheduled it for the week after we got back from Oktoberfest, but thanks to Bayram, it was cancelled the week before our appointment.  We still went, hopeful that since we had an appointment, we'd still be able to get in, but we were wrong.  Not only was our appointment cancelled, there were no instructions on if the appointment would be rescheduled.

Meeting Number Four
Once we recovered from the frustration of that whole fiasco, we scheduled yet another appointment.  There were no holidays and we had our letter, as well as all of the documents listed on the website.  We met with our same friend from before, but this time, she was actually somewhat pleasant. She read the letter and began to look through the paper work.  One of the required documents is a criminal background check. It was actually a lot of trouble to get this because we had to print off a form and mail it back to the US, as well as an envelope stamped and addressed for our house in Turkey. When she looked at my criminal record, she looked confused. She looked at Mike and said "Why do you have her criminal record?  We need your criminal record."  Ummmm....what?!?!? That makes no sense.  Mike asked why he needed to provide his criminal record and her response was just that since I am here with him, they need to make sure he is not a criminal.  THAT MAKES NO SENSE! Unable to do anything without this background check, we were once again turned away.

Meeting Number Five
Luckily, the NATO base here was able to do a background check for Mike, so we didn't have to worry about trying to mail things back to the US.  The last time we were went to get the residence permit, the woman told us that if we brought the criminal background check, we didn't need to make an appointment, so we just went and let the front desk person that we were here.  We probably should have just made an appointment because we ended up waiting like 45 minutes. Once we got in, we were surprised that we weren't meeting with our friend, but instead met with a younger woman who didn't really speak English.  We presented her with all of the papers and at one point she said we didn't have the right type of pictures (biometric, like on the passport) but after Mike raised his voice a little and told her we had been to two different photo shops to get biometric photos, she let us move along. We sat there for a good ten or fifteen minutes where she asked us random questions such as my blood type and an American phone number. I thought things were going well since we had never been asked these questions and, sure enough, I was right!  Twenty minutes later, we walked out with my (temporary) residence permit in our hand.  I'll get the official one in the mail within the next three months, but this temporary one will do the job! Hooray! It's good for a year, but we have heard that the renewal process is a lot easier and some people said you can do it online.  I won't hold my breath for that, but I don't have to worry about it for a year.

This whole process was a complete mess and so unnecessarily complicated.  Luckily, Mike and I have pretty flexible schedules and are able to dedicate five afternoons to this whole process, but many people don't.  If Mike or I had a nine to five job, we'd be screwed.   I'm just so glad it's over and I never have to step foot in that office again....at least for a year!


Oh, and on a completely different subject, I taught my students the word "hangry."  One of them was describing their favorite television show and she said the character was very angry, except the way she said it was hangry.  I took that opportunity to teach them some American slang, so I just wrote "HANGRY = HUNGRY + ANGRY" on the board.  They laughed and one girl goes "When I am hungry, I am mean." YES!! That's hangry! YES! YES! YES!

My Cell Phone

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I arrived in Izmir on June 25th.  It's October 6th and I still don't have a cell phone plan.  Yup.  It's been three months since I had a working cell phone. If you had told me this would be the case six months ago, my eyes would have been the size of saucers and I probably would have just died.

When we got here, I put my phone on airplane mode and just accepted that it might be a little while before I got a cell phone plan.  As weeks passed, I grew more and more accustomed to only being able to use my cell phone when I was in a wifi zone.  It really wasn't a big deal because the only person I knew in Turkey was usually sitting next to me.  In fact, it was almost refreshing.  Instead of spending my time at a restaurant on my phone, I actually had to look up and enjoy my surroundings. Fast forward three months and I still don't have a plan. I haven't really pushed it since, as I've said before, I really don't have a need for it.  I can use it when I'm in a wifi zone (which is basically any restaurant in Izmir, as well as my apartment) and if I really need to give someone a phone number, I can give them Mike's.

Mike got a cell phone plan a few weeks after we got here because he needed to be able to be contacted by the military.  Someone from base took him one day while I was in Turkish lessons and was able to really help him.  In Turkey, it's a lot more complicated than in the United States (like everything else here).  You have to register your phone within 30 days of coming into the country.  To do this, you have to bring your passport to the tax office and pay a fee.  After doing so, you receive a document that says you've paid, which you bring to a cell phone provider who then give you a Turkish sim card.  That doesn't sound complicated, but just remember, this is Turkey.

We finally decided that it was time to get me a cell phone plan on Monday, since Mike has the afternoons off. When Mike had gone to get his phone plan, he went to a tax office a couple of miles away that is closer to the base. We decided to go to another one, which is closer to our house. When we got there, we asked the police officer at the front desk where to go and he was very helpful and told us to go upstairs to the second floor.  We found a line on the second floor and joined in, even though we weren't sure what the line was for.  When we made to the front of the line, the woman behind the desk was not as friendly.  Mike explained what we were here for, but she said that since I didn't have a residence permit (a whole other story), I would just have to go to the cell phone provider and pay the fee to register my phone there.  That made no sense since you have to register the phones with the government, but we obliged and off to Avea (Mike's cell phone provider) we went!

When we got there, they told us that we couldn't register phones.  Of course not. Neither of us were surprised, but I could feel Mike's frustration level really rising. The man at Avea said that the Turkcell store around the corner could do it.  At this point, Mike was so frustrated that he didn't even care that it was a different provider than his.  We both just wanted this whole process to be over.

Once we got to Turkcell, we spoke to a man who quickly told us that we had to go to the bank to pay the fee and then bring the receipt back.  I just sighed and followed a very frustrated Mike to the bank around the corner. In banks in Turkey, you walk in and get a ticket with a number on it. When your number is called, you go to the desk with your number (there are usually five or six desks that are open) and complete your business.   We grabbed our number and waited.  and waited.  and waited. After 45 minutes, our number was finally called.  Hooray!!!

Don't get too excited.  We went to the desk and Mike explained what we we needed to do.  We were quickly told that bank couldn't do this type of transaction.  Of course not. That would be too simple and convenient. Instead, we would have to go to another bank which was a block over.  I honestly thought Mike was going to explode.

So, around the block we walked. Luckily, this bank was much smaller and our number was called almost immediately. When we went to the desk, Mike again explained what we were there for.  We handed him my passport so that he could see that I had been out of the country within the last 30 days.  He pulled up the form online, but we could see that something was wrong.   He told us that we would have to go to the tax office to register the phone.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?

When we asked why, he said that the computer was asking for my Turkish citizenship number which I obviously don't have (proud to be an American!).  Since he couldn't input this number, he couldn't proceed to the next part. He was very nice about it and realized that we were pretty flustered.  He explained (and I quote)...

"Not many people know how to do [register phones] and if they don't know how to, they just send you somewhere else."

We left the bank completely deflated and so frustrated with the entire process. I still don't have a cell phone plan and I think that we're going back later this week, but who knows.  This whole process has been the epitome of bureaucracy.

I've been working on this puzzle for almost a month.  It's been so hard.  Not only does the picture make it a difficult puzzle, it's not very well made.  A lot of the pieces fit with more than one other piece and since there are parts of the puzzle (like the sky) that all look the same, I've ended up putting the wrong pieces together.  I put the entire puzzle together and discovered that there was one piece missing and two pieces that don't fit in the remaining spots.

This puzzle is kind of like Turkey. For the most part, all of the pieces fit together, but it takes a lot of extra work.  I had to redo entire sections of the puzzle multiple times to make sure it was right.  Not only that, but there are pieces that don't actually fit, which means somewhere in the completed part of the puzzle, a wrong piece is stuck in there. There are so many things in Turkey that we've done and had to redo, as well as things (like this cell phone) that haven't worked out, despite our efforts.

I'm sure that, if I try, I can figure out where the mistake in the puzzle pieces is, just like how, if we try, we can eventually get my cell phone plan.  It's just a matter of how much patience we have....

"I think I'd rather watch the eagles lose to the skins repeatedly rather than deal with this" -Mike trying to set up my cell phone

Homesick

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When I resurrected this blog, I vowed that I would be better about talking about all aspects of our journey, not just the good stuff, so here we are, blogging about being homesick. It's been a great month here.  We've been wine tasting and traveled a ton (Istanbul, Cappadocia, Fethiye, and Kas).  I think we were out of town more than we were actually in Izmir, which was such a change from the previous month where we were here in Izmir trying to get settled.

While all of this travelling has been great, I think it has just made our time at "home" even harder.  We have so much fun travelling that I begin to dread our time in Izmir.  The thought of returning home to our small sink, no dishwasher and our apartment that seems to lose power once a day becomes a small pit in my stomach.  Add in a few emails of events I'll be missing over the next year and the pit grows bigger and bigger.

Luckily, I have great friends and family.  I get to video chat with my parents every weekend, which is always a highlight and Mike and I have found ourselves in several group chats with friends (we love the Smogans, the Ficks and of course the Huddle). We live for the gchats and texts from friends to help us connect us to life back home.  I even got a surprise video chat from a friend who was early for work the other day and decided to call me (thanks Katy!).  All of these definitely makes the pit in my stomach get a little smaller.

So, while we're loving all of the opportunities to travel and we're always thankful for this experience, it's not without it's hardships.  I'm sure it will get easier, but it's still an adjustment.

one month

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Guys! We survived the first month! I say 'we' because it truly has been a group effort. We've had LOTS of highs and LOTS of lows, but we made it.  They say that it takes about 3-6 months to completely adapt to life abroad and I believe it.  This month has been quite the month of transitions and I'm slowly learning that not all things are easy. Who would have guessed?  That being said, after one month of living here, I have a new appreciation for every single day.

Let's start with the good because I like to think I'm a positive person.  First, you wanna talk about beautiful?  Turkey is like the Giselle Bundchen of countries.  Maybe there are other countries with equal model status (one with 50 states maybe?)  I've only been to a couple, but Turkey has definitely been promoted to supermodel rankings since I've been here.  We have only had the opportunity to travel a little bit within the country, but there are moments on every trip where I am just in awe of how beautiful this country is.

Speaking of travel,  what an opportunity! Mike and I are constantly saying how lucky we are to have this opportunity. We are able (and plan) to take a two hour plane ride to any European country.  Plus, we are given a grant to help us do this. This is truly the opportunity of a lifetime and there isn't a day that passes by that we don't remember that blessing.  We've already traveled a bit to some nearby places in Turkey (Bodrum, Pamukkale, and Cesme) and have a few domestic and international trips already planned for the next few months.

Third, this is an incredible experience to have as a newlywed couple.  We chose to do a smaller honeymoon following our wedding because we knew that we'd be travelling a lot once we got here and started joking that we were getting a two year honeymoon.  I don't know if I would go that far, but it truly has been amazing to do this with Mike.  He constantly cracks me up and keeps me smiling, but also is an amazing travel partner.  He isn't afraid (or at least doesn't show it) to try and speak Turkish or get lost wandering the city.  Plus, he's an awesome tour guide/travel planner.  I can't imagine doing this by myself and am constantly learning and seeing new sides of him that make me want to keep him around.:)

Now that you've suffered through the cheesiness of that last paragraph, let me be the first one to tell you that moving abroad is not easy.  It. is. hard.

Logistically, it has been exhausting, mainly for Mike.  There are a million different things that need to be done, from getting residence permits to figuring out where to live, and dealing with it all is mentally exhausting.   Trying to get our furniture was frustrating enough. Add about a million other things to that list and you're right where we are.  Mike has been here almost two months and we're still working things out.

On top of the mental exhaustion, it is emotionally exhausting. There has yet to be a week go by without tears.  In fact, for the first two weeks, we would celebrate a day without tears.  It's extremely difficult being in a completely new culture. It's an incredible experience, but it's tough. I have been in places and situations where they spoke another languageand other situations where I looked different, but never have I been in a situation where I've experienced both at the same time. When we walk around, people automatically know we aren't Turkish.  It makes it that much harder to assimilate into the culture here and even after a month of living here, we still don't feel like we're immersed in the culture.

We also have struggled to meet people.  I think that's pretty normal when moving to a new place, but I feel like it's heightened here. I think that when I thought about moving here,  I knew that we'd have trouble with the cultural immersion, but I don't think that I ever realized that it would be quite as lonely.  There are days where Mike and I only interact with each other.   We've had days where our big adventure is the mile walk to the commissary.  I'm naturally pretty introverted, but there are days, especially when Mike has been out running errands, where all I want is actual physical interaction with people. We've tried different techniques and have yet to find any solid friends.

Despite the mental and emotional exhaustion that we've been through, we've survived.  It's been a month of new discoveries, lots of travel, and a few road bumps along way.  We've got a lot to look forward to this month with lots of travel on our calendar.  I'm hoping that we'll celebrate a week without tears and  that we'll make a few friends.  All I do know is that we will remain thankful for this opportunity that we have in front of us because it's truly a gift. Every. Single. Day.

Household Quirks and Accomplishments

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We've been arranging furniture, unpacking various items, and hanging lots of pictures over the past week.  While doing so, we've noticed that our new living quarters have a few quirks, to say the least.  While there are wonderful aesthetic aspects to our casita, such as granite counter tops and crown molding, there are some aspects that leave us just saying "What?!?!?!"

Let's take a little look....

1. We've been hanging pictures all week and have concluded that our walls and ceilings are not level.  If you look at the floor, you can see where the floor isn't even.  Then, we went to go hang pictures and used a level to make sure it was even.  Despite the fact that the level said it was, my eyes told me it wasn't.  Yup, the ceiling was crooked so all of our pictures and frames look crooked while hanging.  Good thing I'm not OCD....
2. While hanging said pictures, we quickly realized that a hammer and nails was not going to be effective because the walls are made of CEMENT.  Yup.  Our entire house is made of cement. I'll let you figure out how we managed to hang those lovely pictures. Get creative. We did. 
3.  The office and the back guest bedroom share a wall. Or so we thought.  Mike was hanging his "Don't Give Up the Ship" sign and realized that it was a little bit different from the concrete walls.  He left the nail in and went into the guest bedroom and opened the closet door that is on the "shared wall" and, yup, you guessed it, there was the other end of the nail.  So, the supposed wall that these rooms share is non-existent.  The (current or previous) owner decided to just put up closets in this L-shaped room and make it two! We had heard that most rooms don't come with closets, but I guess we just thought we were lucky. 
4. The counter tops have these little lips so you can't wipe things off of them.  It's kind of annoying, but mainly just weird. I guess it prevents things from spilling on the floor. Maybe?

I'm sure there are others that we've yet to discover, but these are the fun ones we've discovered thus far.   I actually love our apartment and think it is perfect for us, despite these little quirks.  Attention to detail has never been one of my strong points, so crooked pictures and oddly shaped rooms don't bother me.  I just think it adds a little character to the house.

And now for the accomplishments!

1. Congrats to my brother Andrew for getting hired as a Program Manager with City Year DC!! Andrew and I both served two years with City Year in various cities, but Andrew is now on staff making the big bucks (comparatively)!  He snapped me this gem on his first day of work, which made me chuckle, so I broke the number one SnapChat rule and took a screen shot to share with all of you.
   
2. Mike got accepted to the University of Izmir School of Economics!! Wahoo!! It's his back up school, but it's definitely a relief to him (and me!) to know that he'll be going to school somewhere.
3. And maybe the biggest accomplishment of them all... I beat Mike at cribbage! Hooray! Don't worry.  He beat me the game before that and the game after, but for one game, I was victorious. 

 

Oh and since it's Wednesday, here's a little something extra I like to call Michael's Musings to get you over the hump of the week. These are probably the you-had-to-be-there funny, but they make me laugh, so you get to hear them too.

Mike has been reading To Kill a Mockingbird (my all time favorite book) and shortly after starting it...

"Scout is kind of a bitch."

Are we reading the same book?

Knowing that I have the bladder the size of a pea....

"Wait. Wife. You don't have to pee?"

After our humbling experience with the oven 

"Do you feel as dumb as I do right now?"  The answer is yes, yes I do.

While we (and by we...Mike) was hanging pictures

"I can't hear you over all the slave driving" 

During our time without an oven, I tried a lot of new crockpot recipes.  Since Mike is an extremely picky eater (no fruits or vegetables), I made a board on Pinterest called "Things Mike Likes" to save the recipes that were good and met the approval of the Mister.  This particular recipe for chicken curry was not that great. 

"You can defriend this  from the Things Mike Likes board."

Mike: Smell my feet.

Me: No thank you.

Mike: Please, it'll be good for you.

Me:

As you can tell, it's a wild world in the Hogan Household.  Until next time