Top 5 tips to live in Turkey

1. Learn the language.
2. Get an Istanbukart (transportation card) for cheaper transportation.
3. Choose residence close to work place (Yes, obvious.. But very important in Istanbul)
4. Learn to bargain (if you are not coming from a similar background)
5. A big smile and uttering 'lutfen' (please) can go a long way! (often)

Good luck with the stay!! : )

From my blog mintyhideout.com

1. Do your homework!

The first thing I learned when I went to the Netherlands is that I had no idea what was going on! I didn't even know that everyone uses a bike there, and I am a really really curious person.

I had to learn the hard way that nothing was open on Sundays, that all shops close at 18:00 and that I was having my first exams in 1.5 months!….Now it all seems pretty logical to me but back then I was super confused because I hadn't prepared. I asked question after question and the answers just produced more questions for me. I thought that everything is so weird and different but this was because I hadn't done my homework.

My best tip: Research, research, research

Now we have Google Street View so you have no excuse!

If you are planning on living abroad research everything that you can and get information from different sources:

– websites — blogs — books — your employer — communities

If you start using Google Street View for example, the place that you are going to live won't look so different and hostile. If you learn a few words of the language in advance you won't feel so far away from everyone and you will enjoy recognizing them on the street.

Preparing not only gives you confidence about knowing what you are doing, but also makes the new place more familiar and in that way easier to accept and adapt to.

2. Get social!

When I went for my Erasmus semester in Budapest, Hungary, oh boy, I was prepared — I even knew where the closest supermarket is to my flat and what public transport to take to university. I knew how to say Yes (Igen) and No (Nem)…I had researched the neighbourhood, the sights, the places to go, the food, the money…

I felt so confident that I decided to rent a flat of my own and not have any roommates. So far so good you say…

Having a flat of my own was great but lonely….

While people from all over the world were meeting and talking in the living rooms of their flats I was alone watching TV shows and talking to my family on Skype. Eventually, classes started and I met quite a lot of people but it was never easy to socialize — they were always together with 4–5 people in a shared flat and I was alone many times, thinking about going back home.

Don't get me wrong — I had my fun, but I see that if I had tried to socialize with locals as well as with foreigners a little more I would have found better friends and experienced happiness at its fullest. I couldn't speak the language because I thought it was impossible to learn and never attempted to make one Hungarian friend.

If you want to be happy living abroad, find people to connect to on a regular basis, locals and not. It is imperative to happiness to build meaningful relationships and you can only enjoy the local culture if you do that with the local people.

3. Learn the language!

For me now language = culture. Once you start understanding the language of a certain place, you start feeling and LIVING the culture. I don't mean understanding the words but those little slang expressions, the tone and notes that you didn't feel before and the reason why something is said in a certain way. Language goes deep in the values of people and understanding it well means you can appreciate the culture better.

I felt at home in Turkey from day 1 of living here and couldn't enjoy more the fact that everyone was like one big family (maybe because people call each other uncle “amca” or sister “abla” without having any family relations ☺. But nothing can compare to the moment when I could understand and speak Turkish.

If you want to be happy living abroad, learning the language can have multiple benefits:

– you can connect with people easier 
— you can meet great locals 
— you can participate in more activities 
— you can feel strong and independent 
— you can practice the things you love 
— you can form and express your own opinions (no more ladies jumping in front of me on the lane at the supermarket!) 
— you have a skill for life!

Extra lesson from going back home: It's been almost 9 years since I left home for my first adventure. Every time that I got back to Bulgaria I felt differently — I don't live there but I still call it my first home. Going back home after an expat experience is no easier than going abroad, not because something has changed but because abroad changes US. Don't expect from yourself to act the same, talk the same or think the same as before you left — we grow and that's good. Give yourself time to find the new YOU at home and be comfortable with the fact that you are a better version of yourself.

from mintyhideout.com

Wow, I really liked your post Antoniya!
Thank you

Hello there
I would love to give such tips sure !

Well to start with number one , it would be :
Try to learn the basics of the language or at least the words you would use in every day life because English , although a very international wide spread language , is not that much useful here if you don't support it with the local language .

The second tip is , if you came to Istanbul in the winter time , do not wait for the weather to get better or for the rain to stop ! Because it won't
:-D so enjoy your every moment outside and in the streets because Istanbul is a very interesting city , full of life and definitely rich in culture .

Third tip to help you spend a comfortable time in Turkey is to get to know to the public ! Don't just visit the popular places and monuments and don't stick to the tourist programmes ! No !
Go to local shops , streets and talk to every one ! You will be amazed by the number of cultures and nationalities that coexist in such a great harmony ! .

Well I don't really have 5 tips in precise :-D but what I just said is from a personal experience and there is definitely a lot more to know about life in Turkey and in Istanbul which is where I'm living now , so I would say come visit ! Yes it's a very beautiful country ! And it would be a lot more beautiful for me when I get a job :-P

Cheers .

Try to find a trustable friend or colleage as soon as you come here , which will help you to overcome at least half of (the possible) problems.

Hi there!

Almost everyone has already given the best advices.

- Learn basics of the language
- Have someone you trust whom show you the way

1- We, Turks, like to exaggerate the things we know. One of them is foreign language. When you ask someone, ”Do you know English”, most of them will say YES!. For example, in Sweden, when you ask the same question to a Swede, most of them would say ”so so” but when they begin to speak, they would have a perfect knowledge. In Turkey, it's just the opposite .

There is something unique about Turks as well. We love foreigners more than our native people . I have travelled a lot, but hasn't seen this kind of behaviour anywhere on the face of the Earth.

So, they will try to help kindly with lack of foreign language knowledge.

2- Ask Turkish people about where to find quality and cheap things. There's no balance on prices.

For example: I bought 1 kg of tangerine for 2,5 TL from somewhere. The same tangerine was 11 TL just 400 mt away from there.

3- Turkish people are warm. But they tend to exaggerate this warmness sometimes. Our ”Close friend” conception is not the same as your ”close friend” conception .

In English, there is a word for ”friend” which is ”arkadaş” in Turkish. Close friend is ”Dost”. We have even special name for it .

4- When you take a taxi, be sure to take one from a taxi station. This would be much more safer. Because mobilized taxis are mostly crooks. I would advise you to download BiTaksi mobile phone application to your phone if you have data access and use it whenever you need a taxi.

5- If you prefer to use public transport, please download ”Trafi” mobile phone application. It will tell you which transport to take, estimated travel time, and exact price.

6- Do you like to party or go to the concerts? Check out biletix.com . You can find almost every event there.

7- If you're looking for a flat to move, hurriyetemlak.com is the best choice available.

If you need to ask something, just contact me
I will try to write more, but that's all I came up with for now.

Cheers

nice suggestions….language .. yes….of course...

nice suggestions….thank you for the tips about the taxi….YES ! and thank you for the websites provided for renting a home, taxi rides and entertainment… and of course the tip about no fixed prices is very accurate…its really interesting how economically clever one can be…and u can waist u money just as well…nice tips, thanks again

will check your blog. thanks a lot...

Yes, What I overlooked to mention is that in Turkey, it is next to impossible to survive as a resident without English. People do tend to be helpful, however, other than the touristic locations, it is difficult to find individuals who speak and understand English fully. And especially if you have to interact with a taxi driver, a sales girl in a mall, in a restaurant, reception of your residence building etc... It helps greatly to know a little more than basic of Turkish.

Good luck with your projects! : )

Seagullfilms wrote:

nice suggestions….language .. yes….of course...

totally agree….thank you…

hope all goes well with work, I love to learn how to read and basic vocabulary…it helps with my very limited French in Franco spoken countries…why not Turkish..??? LOL...