An American Life in Istanbul

Current Mood: Esctatic

Guess 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 stay in the apartment and use the car for as long as I want - which when they realize how long I want they may change that clause to ‘as long as i need.’

To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about it too much. I already have a round trip plane ticket to the US  for April 14th-28th. I will just figure it all out when I get back I guess. I feel like I should be more worried - I know my friends are worried - but I think the end of my employment was due. Things just weren’t going to my satisfaction. A few weeks ago I met a Syrian representing an American company in the Middle East. He told me that I didn’t know it yet, but since compressors is such a specialized industry, I was going to spend the rest of my life in compressors. That worried me.

I am a bit disappointed though. I was finally starting to get the hang of things. I took this job with no prior training and received no training once starting here. I more or less had to figure everything out on my own. From servicing compressors, to international shipping regulations, I discovered most of this information on my own motivation. These past few months things have been picking up for foreign sales. In March, I felt as though I was on the cusp of really boosting the foreign sales. Everything had finally fallen into place: Alper had found a packaging solution, I had translated all the necessary things into French, I had completed our new service manual, we had finished designs and prototypes for our new potentially huge OEM customer (they were readily accepted), I had completed compiling all data for our technical documents and Altan had nearly completed the 3D technical drawings… pretty much everything was falling into place. Furthermore, I had had the whole gambit of possible questions about compressors so I am no ready to handle tough questions on the fly.

But as I said, it was time. I am excited at what the future holds for me.

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