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
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!
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
Breaking News: Earthquake!
2008-03-15 08:40:00 On Wednesday, Istanbul was shaken up by a minor Earthquake . I am not sure where I was but my flat mate felt it, so did most of my friends. Maybe because it was my first earthquake I didn’t notice it? That doesn’t make any sense does it? Regardless, people were pretty shaken up by it because of reports of a big earthquake on its way. In 1999 a massive earthquake rocked western Turkey. It hit in a city east of Turkey called Izmit (200,000 people, Turkey’s 35th largest city), causing massive damage. Some estimate put the death toll as high as 40,000 people and the damage to Turkey’s infrastructure was enormous. The quake registered 7.6. Since then Turkey redefined it’s building code to prevent the widespread damage in the next earthquake. The US Geological survey has predicted that another massive earthquake will strike Istanbul in the next 30 years. Thus, while I was excited to have lived through my first earthquake (despite not noticing) some of my frien... More About: News , Breaking News , Breaking
I Need Turkish Lessons
2008-03-10 10:15:00 Sorry I haven’t written much but my wrist has been bothering me a lot because I spend too much time in front of my laptop, which has a keyboard that is too small for me. Both of my wrists are killing me right now. I have been dreading typing anything lately. * * * In December07, I got up and went through my morning routine. Everything was pretty normal; Bathroom, shower, brush the teeth, get dressed, breakfast. On this particular gray and dreary morning, I poured the last drop of milk out of the container I had been using into my cereal, filling it far short of the desired level. So I took to the fridge rummaging around. I found one bottle and checked it over for the percentage. The bottle had already been opened and had not been bought by me so I assume Murat had bought it. It was in Turkish so I figured if I looked for a number I could figure out what kind of milk it was (I hate skim milk). After about a minute, I thoug... More About: Lessons
Update: The last two months
2008-02-28 22:20:00 Current Mood: HappyWell a lot has happened since I last wrote a real post way back on… December 12th! It was a real pain in the butt trying to get my domains transfered and set up my new host for my website, but it’s all finally done thanks to the help of Ant and Ali Emre. So what has happened. I guess most of you know about the primaries in the US, which has been the news item winning most of my attention. I guess that’s not interesting for my American readers (everyone else go to cnn.com, they have good coverage). Izzy and I went to Morocco for one week. It was an organized all expense paid tour. This was the first time I have done something like that and probably the last. I prefer to travel on my own schedule and to just wander around. Although it was a fun trip, I don’t think I will do it again. I covered four cities in seven days. On the way over I hadn’t quite gotten over a nasal infection. I couldn’t equalize the pressure when we went up ... More About: Update , Months
Back!
2008-02-24 15:57:00 I am back! Thanks to Ant and Ali Emre for helping me with everything. There are still some kinks to be worked out but the transfer is finished. I need to fix the pictures, and Ant has some tweaking left to do but other than that, everything is on track. I promise an entry by the end of the week. More About: Back
Update: Possible Downtime
2008-01-30 10:08:00 I am transferring my website to my new host this week - MSFNHosting.com It’s some hosting service that Ali Emre recommended and since he knows way more about this than I do, I am taking his recommendation. I am not sure how the transfer process works, but I do know that it takes a few days. ... More About: Update
Update: Domain Trouble
2008-01-20 11:31:00 Current Mood: AngryHey everyone! Sorry I have not returned to blogging, but Ant and I have been trying to move my blog to my main domain (www.conradwoodring.com) from the current subdomain that it is at (www.blog.conradwoodring.com). However my website host, 1and1.com is terrible. There is some sort of problem on their end that prevents me ... More About: Domain , Update
I am back!
2008-01-15 14:29:00 Well next exactly. I am working on moving the location of my blog to my main domain (www.conradwoodring.com) instead of my blog sub-domain. So far it’s not as easy as I thought it would be. Hopefully I will get that done this week and post my backed up entries from the past month. Sorry for ... More About: Back
New Year’s Topics?
2007-12-25 13:57:00 Since a new year is about to begin, I thought I would ask you the reader if there are any specific topics or questions you would like me to address. In the coming months, or if anyone would like to see specific things in and around Turkey. More About: New Year , Topics , Year
New Year?s Topics?
2007-12-25 13:57:00 Since a new year is about to begin, I thought I would ask you the reader if there are any specific topics or questions you would like me to address. In the coming months, or if anyone would like to see specific things in and around Turkey. More About: New Year , Topics , Year
Vacation From Blogging
More articles from this author:2007-12-12 09:44:00 Hello everyone, My life has been getting busier and busier, and I have been getting more and more tired. With a week vacation in Morocco, followed by a visit from my brother and a friend from university, coming up, there is no break in sight. I therefore regret to inform you all that I am taking a break from keeping this blog. I need more time for other parts of my life. I want to exercise more, and I need to put more time in at work as things are growing here. Although I love keeping this blog, it is somewhat time consuming (coming up with fresh content all the time is not easy nor is resizing all those pictures). I will therefore take a one month break from writing (maybe you will see a few entries, but nothing near the frequency I have had). I will probably put one entry a week between now and January 12th. On an unrelated note, today marks my ninth month of keeping this blog (and 145 entries - that’s more than an entry every two days). More About: Blogging , Vacation 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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