Conrad's Blog - An American Life in IstanbulConrad's Blog - An American Life in IstanbulI have picked up my roots and moved to Istanbul, Turkey. I started this blog as a way of keeping family informed, but it has become a window into Turkish culture with many unique insights. This blog is a record of my observations, learnings and way o 
Articles
Average Temperatures Istanbul vs New York
2008-08-14 03:10:00 One of my first reactions after returning to New York from Istanbul was how hot it was. It felt a lot hotter than Istanbul and it was definitely more humid. I thought this could be an anomaly but I remember a friend's mother claiming that New York is actually warmer than Istanbul, so I looked ... More About: Turkey , New-York
Hail Storm in New York
2008-08-11 21:09:00 Well today's weather was a little crazy so I took a few videos. As you will see in the videos some of the hail stones were as big as my thumb nail. It lasted about twenty minutes and it got really freaking cold during the storm. Our basement flooded (also in the video) and a ... More About: Turkey , New York , Storm , York , New-York
Helping another visitor to Istanbul
2008-08-03 07:00:00 I was contacted by Robert and Cynthia for advice about visiting Istanbul . They found my blog online and did the right thing by asking me for advice. In return Robert offered me a brief run down of his trip to post on my blog. Hopefully Robert's experience will be useful to other people thinking about ... More About: Turkey , Visitor
Farewell Turkey
2008-07-28 17:48:00 My time in Turkey is coming to an end. Since leaving my job in April, I been considering what to do, what my next step should be. I decided I needed to figure out what makes me happy and pursue it. After extensive thought and consideration, I realized that the answer to that question was ... More About: Farewell
One week of good byes in Istanbul
2008-07-26 06:35:00 During my last week in Istanbul I had quite a schedule. We arranged to do a variety of my favorite things. I wanted to post some pictures and give you the schedule. Wednesday - Diplomacy and board games. Thursday - Catered Moroccan dinner in Harvey's apartment. Friday - A night of epic drinking in Taksim. (So epic we ... More About: Turkey , Week , Good
Re-Post: Adventures
2008-07-06 11:58:00 Well, this will be a huge disappointment to some of you, but I am leaving Turkey soon, very soon. I haven't been posting because I am making my rounds, saying my good byes, and preparing myself for the next thing. In thinking about what to do next, a previous blog entry came to mind. "Adventures " ... More About: Post
Turkey?s Azure Coast Part IV: Butterfly Valey
2008-06-25 17:38:00 Sorry everyone, but I got too wrapped up with some things in my personal life and didn't have time to give the fourth and final leg of my incredible journey through the south of turkey: The Butterfly Valley. The only route down into the valley was extremely difficult, hence most of the valley's visitors go ... More About: Turkey , Part , Coast , Azure
Turkey Beats Czech Republic: Makes it to the quarter final
2008-06-16 09:55:00 For those of you that do not know, the European soccer (football) championships is being played right now. After losing to Portugal and barely beating Switzerland (who is terrible), Turkey 's chances of moving on going into their third group stage game. The game was against the Czech republic, and the outcome would be the deciding ... More About: Quarter Final , Czech Republic , Final , Beats
Turkey?s Azure Coast Part III: The Lycian Way
2008-06-15 10:39:00 Our route along the Lycian way started in Alinca. The plan was to hike 7-8 km to Kabak, stay there one night, then hike 7-8 km Faralya, then hike a long 10-15 km to Ovacik. Faralya is where the beautiful butterfly valley is, which we never made it past. Despite rather short distances, the path ... More About: Turkey , Part , Coast , Azure
Turkey?s Azure Coast Part II: Finding the trail
2008-06-13 14:59:00 Since I was unable to hook up with any climbers, I decided to tag along with David to hike the Lycian Trail . As I said in my previous post, he had just finished his military service in Germany and was touring Turkey . We started by heading from Olympos to Antalya where we intended to do ... More About: Part , Coast , Azure
Turkey?s Azure Coast Part I: Olympos
2008-06-11 14:59:00 Well I returned from a fantastic trip in the south of Turkey about ten days ago. I have been a bit slow about writing the entry because I wanted to cover the trip thoroughly. I have tried to include prices where I can so that if someone else is considering a similar trips they can ... More About: Part , Coast , Azure
Music shop street in Galatta
2008-06-05 17:19:00 Sorry, I am still outside of Istanbul, so all you get is another picture. In my random wanderings around the city, I found this street near the Galatta Tower. The street seemed to have nothing but music shops with the occasional juice stand. These are the only music shops I have seen, although I haven't ... More About: Music , Turkey , Street , Shop
Hidden church in Istiklal Street
2008-05-29 17:03:00 Well since I am out of Istanbul without a computer, I am just posting a short series of pictures of a rather well hidden church right on the busiest shopping street in Istanbul, probably in all of Turkey . Istiklal Caddesi is a pedestrian street leading up to Taksim square, lined with shops, bars, restaurants, and ... More About: Pictures , Church , Street , Hidden
Beer tasting with Turkish friends (and a birthday party)
2008-05-25 16:47:00 You all remember this picture from my earlier post Back in Turkey: Well at a friend's birthday I brought the beers and we had a tasting. Most of the tasters were a mix of impressed, intrigued and shocked at the wide range of tastes. Most Turkish beer is made in the same way as the traditional ... More About: Pictures , Friends , Culture , Party , Birthday Party
More Tulips
2008-05-20 16:44:00 These are some pictures of the tulips sculptures that have sprouted up around the city. Most of them are around Taksim or Nisantasi, two of the more affluent neighborhoods in Istanbul. A few months ago it was lots of cows. They have since disappeared and now we have tulip sculptures. It's nice to see outdoor ... More About: Culture , Turkey , Tulips
A day at the Taps brewery in Istanbul
2008-05-14 18:20:00 Now that I have more free time I decided I should make the most of it. I have signed myself up to take the GREs and the GMAT so that I can apply to graduate programs. I am also half heartedly looking for a new job, and I am planning some trips within Turkey . This ... More About: Istanbul
No More Youtube! AGAIN!
2008-05-05 22:57:00 For some reason Youtube is blocked as of today, again. No word yet as to why though... I'll keep you updated. More About: Turkey
Back in Turkey
2008-05-04 15:12:00 I recently got back from two weeks in the US. When I made the reservations I was planning to come back to my job. Since I am not working anymore, that was not the case. Instead I have been spending time with my friends planning my next step. A lot of people asked the standard questions; ... More About: Turkey , Back
May 1st: Labor Day Protests in Istanbul
2008-05-02 15:12:00 Yesterday was international labor day, a day that celebrates the rights and achievements of workers around the world. In most places peaceful demonstrations are held during labor day. Yesterday here in Istanbul , it was a full out battle, with the police finishing way a head. There was teargas, fire houses, and beatings a plenty throughout ... More About: Politics , Turkey , Labor , Protests
Turkey’s strange
2008-04-16 11:38:00 Here is a series of pictures - all from Turkey - that a friend sent to me. The ones posted here are the ones that I could easily see happening in Turkey Debatebly better than a whole in the floor, which is quite common in Turkey. I haven’t seen something like this personally but it wouldn’t surprise me if I did. Looks a little dangerous, doesn’t it? Another one that I haven’t seen but wouldn’t be surprised if I saw it. This is my favorite one. I actually have seen this at one of the monuments. On the right it says the entrance fee is two million Turkish Lyra. On the left it says “entrance one million.” Sneaky Turks! More About: Strange
Out for drinks in Taksim
2008-04-13 21:29:00 Just some pictures from the weekend. That’s Doruk, Erman and myself. Because there are so many students in Istanbul, there is quite a good night life to be found. Istanbul is a city that never sleeps. From the left Doruk, Erman and myself Doruk and Erman Friends! More About: Drinks
Tulip Festival
2008-04-11 21:19:00 Tulips have long been indigenous here in Turkey, and are the symbol of Istanbul. In the spring time, they can be seen everywhere. Yesterday I had the chance to go to Emirgan park, the park that was given to the boy friend (yes boy friend) of one of the sultans. It now serves as a beautiful, wooded retreat from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. The park is so quiet and beautiful that you wouldn’t believe you were still in Istanbul. Below are some pictures from my afternoon in the park. I went with Tahsin, who will join the army on Saturday to do his mandatory military service. What you need to know is that a european ambassador to the Ottoman empire took the flowers to western Europe with him between the years 1550 and 1560 because they seemed to do very well in the early spring, a time which is unfriendly to flowers. If you would like to read more about the Tulips and are not interested in the pictures, here is an interesting article about it: Sunday’s Zaman Article:... More About: Festival
Traffic
2008-04-05 14:04:00 A few weeks ago, Alper sent me this video. This is from the main highway into Istanbul, the highway that I take to get into the city. The best part is probably the last driver who drives not only against traffic but in the fast lane?! The question is why do so many people need to go against the flow of traffic? Are they stupid or are the roads poorly designed. My guess is a combination of both, but more the later. www.conradwoodring.com/wp-content/uploads /Turkish Highway I have several more traffic, driving and car related entries if you are interested: Traffic Traffic Part II Traffic Part III Police Police Part II Police Part III My Chauffeur
Interview With A Professor
2008-04-05 04:04:00 Over the weekend I stayed at a friend’s house (I will avoid using names because the issue may be sensitive) that I do not normally stay at. Realizing I had not asked my friend what his parents do, I asked. They are both professors at two of Turkey’s most prestigious universities. I was excited. The town I grew up in was near a very large and reasonably well known university (Stony Brook University in New York). There were many foreign professors and foreign students from all over the world there. Because of this, many of my friends growing up were the children of professors. From my experiences growing up and my experiences at university, I found that the academic community always held a good, well informed opinion of current events, and was a good way to measure what changes were coming. So at breakfast, I casually slipped in questions to his father, constituting what I consider my first interview. The issue was the pending court case to remove the current government fo... More About: Interview
Fenerbache upsets Chelsea
2008-04-03 13:48:00 I actually wasn’t sure that the Istanbul based soccer club Fenerbache had beaten London’s Chelsea last night during their champions league match last night here in Istanbul. Fenerbache is the most expensive team in Turkish history this year with a total cost for it’s players of 100 million euros. That’s quite an impressive number. Besiktas and Galtasaray are finishing somewhere around 50 million euros. Chelsea on the other hand is the most expensive team in history, coming in at 456 million euros per year. As you can see these two teams are of a drastically different scale. However, since signing Roberto Carlos over the summer (See: Roberto Carlos is Coming to Istanbul) Fenerbache has seemed unstoppable. They are currently in the quarter finals of the most prestigious tournament in Europe, which means they are in the tops 8 in Europe this year. They are on pace to win the Turkish league again this year (they are currently on top). Well last night I looked at...
Big News!
2008-04-02 22:18:00 Current Mood: EsctaticGuess what? I am no longer employed! How’s that for big news? Didn’t expect that did you? If you were one of my friends here in Istanbul, you probably were expecting it. Over the past few months it became clear that things just weren’t going to work out between my employer and myself. It came down to a schism in ideology that was part cultural differences. It would be a great topic to write about, but knowing that this is a public forum and that some of distributors have or still do read my blog, I am not going to say anything. Anything that could potentially adversely affect my past employer would be unprofessional. The question is what will I do next? I am not sure. I will apply for jobs around Istanbul because frankly, I like Istanbul. It’s a great place. I may also apply for masters programs. I may go on a little adventure. The company gave me a decent severance so I don’t immediately need to find a job. They offered to let me ... More About: News , Big News
Update: My Display Name
2008-03-31 13:37:00 In case some of you didn’t realize, my comments on my blog are made using the alias skyblueshu. I have fixed that so now it will show my name as Conrad on all future posts and comments. However, old comments I have not yet figured out how to Change. - Conrad More About: Display , Update
Jessica’s visit to Istanbul
2008-03-31 13:29:00 Two weeks ago a friend from high school, Jessica , came to visit me. She, like me, is an expatriate. She currently lives in Cadiz, Spain where she works as an English teacher. She came to visit Istanbul for one week. Below is an excerpt from her blog entry or you can click here to read the whole thing on her blog. Thanks for visiting Jessica it was a pleasure to have you. <<< Then we met up with Conrad and went back to the same one Conrad always goes to and his friend Izzie and his other Turkish friends showed up and we played more backgammon and they smoked hookah and we drank lots of tea and orchid milk drink. The Turks never get bored of hookah and backgammon and tea. It’s so absurd. If I had to pick one drink that I always drank, and one thing I always smoked, and one game that I always played, it probably wouldn’t be those. It would probably be white mochas, and maybe it would be backgammon, but it could also be Scrabble or Geschenkt or Taboo, and we won&rsq... More About: Visit
Economic Hiccups
2008-03-22 16:14:00 The Turkish economy is actually quite good. The size of the unreported or black market economy makes Turkey reasonable stable. Despite the very volatile political situation that has been developing over the past year, the Turkish Lyra spent most of the fall being one of four currencies rising against the year. However, there are hiccups form time to time. When I moved to Turkey the Lyra was trading for 1.41 against the dollar. One month ago it was at 1.16. Today it’s at 1.24. Despite the bumpy ride, things seem to calm down. Since the financial crisis of 2000 where the Lyra lost half its value over night, things have been pretty good. A lot of people lost a lot of money during this crisis, however many with close ties to the government coincidently sold everything they had and invested in foreign currency weeks or days before the crash (according to my friends). Some people think another crisis is coming (SeekingAlpha.com) which may contribute to the recent volatility. People ... More About: Economic
No more YouTube!
More articles from this author:2008-03-22 15:32:00 Check it out: Turkish Government Bans YouTube! No more YouTube! In Turkey there is a law called article 301 which has made it illegal to insult ‘Turkishness’ since coming into effect in June of 2005. The article states: <<< Article 301 states the following.[6] A person who publicly denigrates Turkishness, the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and three years. A person who publicly denigrates the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security organizations shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years. In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a Turkish citizen in another country the punishment shall be increased by one third. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute a crime. >>> (excerpt from wikipedia.org) The law has been used to persecute journalists, wr... More About: Youtube 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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