An American Life in Istanbul

Ok, for those of you that are not familiar with the area, here is a quick rundown of local geography. First, note that the green arrows on the maps are pretty close to where we live (thanks Google). Also, don’t tell Google I used their maps.

So in the first map, you can see that I am actually quite close to Greece. It’s less than two hours driving from here. Bulgaria is also quite close. Take a look at the map below and then we’ll take a closer look

Here we are much closer to the Earth. See that white fuzzy circle, that’s where are apartment and our office is. We live very close to the office. You can see the sea from our apartment. Just east of us is a narrow strip of land flanked by a lake and Marmara sea (they don’t actually connect). On this strip of land is this cool really old bridge-ish type thing. It was built right after the fall of the Byzantine Empire by some famous architect (sorry I don’t know more detail; perhaps someone can fill in the holes with a comment). The reason I mention it is because we pass it all the time and it look really cool. It used to be the road into Istanbul.

Going further east (about 45 minutes to an hour drive in normal traffic) is the heart of Istanbul. It straddles the Bosphorus (the body of water that seperates the two continents). There are only two bridges over teh bosphorus which makes traffic pretty rough some of the time. According to Wikipedia, there are about 11 millino people living in Istanbul!

Alright, that concludes today’s geography lesson. If you want to read more about Istanbul, check Wikipedia’s Istanbul Page . When I get more settled in, perhaps we will have another geography lesson. Oh, and for those of you that don’t know where Turkey is, check out this diplomacy ma (it’s the country in Red).

Ciao,
Conrad

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Yesterday, I decided to bring my running clothes and shoes with me to work, with the intention of runnning home. “Dude man, why?” was Murat’s reaction. He had a point though, it’s a pretty crappy run. There isn’t much traffic, but the terrain is not very good, and the scenary is terrible. Of course, I had taken these things into account. The route is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 mile and seems relatively safe. Furthermore, running home after work gives me an oppurtunity to have some regular exercise scheduled into my week. I figure if I do this three times per week or more, I should be able to stay in relatively good health (of course it will also be combined with some anaroebic exercise). It will also keep me in shape for the occasional soccer game.

Since it is warm enough out, I figured why not get started as soon as possible. I have to get inform before it becomes very hot in the summer, so I can still run a reasonable distance in the heat. So, come the end of the day, I started putting on my running stuff. Again Baris and Murat were amused and suprised. After a quick goodbye, I threw my stuff in the back of the car and began jogging home. Since it’s mostly uphill, and I am out of shape, I didn’t quite make it non-stop (I know, it’s sad).

When I got home I did some floor exercises for my abs, shoulders, sides and lower back. After everything Murat threw me quite a compliment, or at least I took it as one. He said “[the difference between you and me is the differnce between you and me is the difference between America and Turkey. It’s why America does so well… I admire you man]” (Murat says man and dude a lot). He didn’t explicitly say what those differences were, but I like to think it’s the proactive, go-getter attitude.

While I do not agree with the decisions of my government, I think that it’s important that we do not become ashamed of who we are. In many of my travels, I have gotten the impression from the so called “worldly Americans,” that many of them are somewhat embarassed, and ashamed to say they are American. I think this is terrible. We are the way we are because we grew up in that culture. Your culture and evironment shapes you just as your parents did. We should not force it upon others - the opposite extreme - but we should atleast acknowledge that our home culture is a large part of who we are.

So yeah, I guess I am a little patriotic.

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Oh, here is a picture of the building we work in. It has offices and a manufacturing floor. They aren’t planning to stay here very long though. There has been talk of moving the manufacturing side to Izmir and keeping the offices in Istanbul. Not sure why, but I am in favor of that.

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Last night, we came home from work in the evening, around 8pm. The three of us (Baris, Murat and myself) were tired and hungry. When we got back to the apartment, much to my surprise, there was cooked food on the stove stop! Soup, sauce, vegetables, meat, pasta, bread, the works! It was a Turkish meal fit for… well certainly better than the likes of us. We instinctively dove in.

Furthermore, my laundry had been folded, the garbage taken out, and the sink full of dirty dishes washed and dried. This was of course a surprise to me, but not so much to the others. Apparently Murat’s Aunt, a widow living alone, only a few minutes a way. Periodically, she sneaks into our apartment while we are going, and does most of the things I listed earlier. How great is that? I am going to have to figure out some way to return the gesture.

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Since I don’t have insurance here yet, I can’t really drive, without risking damaging one of the company cars, and having to pay for it myself. So, I have been generously provided with a driver, to drive me around. Just this past weekend, my driver dropped me off at my friend Izzy’s place and picked me up the next day when I called him. He was a little late, but that was ok, I forgave him. After all traffic is terrible here. It takes forever to get anywhere. So yeah, it’s been nice going around in style. Here is a picture of my driver.

For those of you know, my driver as I call him, is actually Murat, my boss. That’s him sitting at his desk. Four of us share a huge room, each with our own desk. There is Murat, myself, Baris (sounds like boreesh), and some other guy. Baris is a friend of Murat’s from high school who is living with us temporarily. He has also just graduated and is working here only for a short time to help on out on one project. I don’t know much about the other guy since he doesn’t speak English and I haven’t been here very long. Here’s a picture of me sitting at my desk.

I know I don’t have any cool stuff around yet. It’s pretty empty (except for the top, I throuroughly messed that up already). I do get a seat by the window which is nice, but the view is well… interesting. Look in the picture below, behind the flags. That’s a chicken coup that the neighbors have.

Our building is nice and all (see below), but the neighbors are a little, out of place for the area. Kind of funny though. I suggested we buy one of the ducks for the office, but I was turned down.

Today we spent the day getting things ready for the fair in Germany, which is exactly three weeks from today. Mostly we worked on gettting the catalogs ready. The highlight of the day was our discussion over what to call our different compressors. Right now they are just called “Power” + [their horse power] + [type]. Murat decided we needed letters, or a cool name other than power before the other information. He cited competitors that had names like Galaxy, and petunia. So I suggested, the CW series (my initials) jokingly. Well Murat liked it since the letter “W” doesn’t exist in the Turkish language. So it looks like I might have my own series of compressors named after me. Heh, I guess you all now know what you are getting for Christmas.

Ciao,
Conrad

PS Leave me comments, and read my blog and visit Huskycon.com

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I finally have a job! I will be heading to Turkey on March 22nd where I will be working for an air compressor manufacturer in Istanbul. I got the job offer from a friend I studied with - Murat - who’s family owns the company. I certainly could get a higher paying job in the US, but I think this offer is very unique, and has a lot of potential. There are several factors that led to me making my decision:

1. Location: It’s in Istanbul. While not in the prime part of the city, it is still in Istanbul. I have always felt a strong desire to work abroad and well, here was a great chance. During the week, I will stay near the office, but on weekends, we will be in the nicer parts of Istanbul which should be great. I really enjoyed the city the last two times I was there and I find it to be a fascinating city. Further more, I have many friends from Carnegie Mellon that live in Istanbul, which should help me assimilate easier.

2. Travel: According to Murat, this job will require I travel a lot, which is exactly what I want. If the companies hopes to be successful internationally, someone is going to have to visit customers and negotiate terms. Since Murat and I will be the only two fluent English speakers, it is most likely going to be us doing all that traveling.

3. Why the heck not?: I thought about it and realized: what do I have to lose? The answer to that is nothing really. I hardly own anything and I am single. I couldn’t think of a good reason not to take this job other than the ‘opportunity cost ‘associated with not taking other potential offers. But I haven’t done anything in six months, so that argument is totally invalid. The worst case scenario - the company fails or I get fired - I will still gain valuable experience that I think would be rare for most people my age to have. I do wonder if I will be able to gain as much from it as someone with more experience could. I imagine that working in a big company, the new guys get mentored by the older guys who have lots of experience. In this fashion, one can learn a lot very quickly from the wealth of wisdom and knowledge a large company has to offer. Since this company is only 30 people or so (most of whom are working in manufacturing), and most don’t speak English, I wonder if I will be missing something. However, I still feel the benefits outweigh the negatives this far.

4. People: Lastly I get to work with one of my best friends.

So there a four good reasons to take this job. If you want a fifth, imagine where I could end up if the company does very well?

In preparation for going, my mother took me shopping for a bunch of new clothes so that I can look professional. It is so nice to have long sleeve shirts that fit me well (usually the arms are too short). I got a bunch of shirts, but I think we will go back and get a few more things to complete my wardrobe.

Hopefully before I leave for Turkey, I will update my main website and include a bunch of pictures from my first visit to Istanbul so you can see what the city is like. When I have my address and all that jazz, i will post it. Keep checking here for pictures of my apartment and my office and all that jazz.

Ciao,
Conrad

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