Every foreigner who lives in Turkey sooner or later gets to know the expression burası Türkiye!
Well, it's for a fact that here in Turkey even the most impossible things can become possible.. and at other times even the most banal things can become impossible challenges.
Well, it's for a fact that here in Turkey even the most impossible things can become possible.. and at other times even the most banal things can become impossible challenges.
So... in order to survive (and keep your sanity) you try to accept this fact, learn to get as flexible as possible and start to expect that unexpected things can happen at all times.
Basic tasks that can almost be called boring back in our homelands are almost never so in Turkey. Sometimes it feels like nearly everything is a small battle in this country, with constant obstacles appearing. And even though this can be frustrating sometimes, it can also bring great satisfaction and provide confidence when you were able to overcome it all by yourself.
Yet, probably the most dreadful of it all is Turkish bureaucracy. And probably for most, it is exactly dealing with the bureaucracy when one hears it for the first time and learns the meaning of the expression burası Türkiye! Eventually, these two words become like a mantra that you keep repeating to yourself whenever a new 'challenging situation' arises. And indeed it helps you proceed faster from the stage of frustration to laughing...
Funny or frustrating, read on to find out in what situations you can find yourself in when you are living in Turkey:
* Are you coming back home exhausted from a long day and suddenly oily macaroni spiced up with cigarette butts start to rain on your head? (The Weather God here is 'teyze' who is cleaning the apartment above) Burası Türkiye!
* You cannot find the institute you are looking for because every person you ask for directions sends you in the wrong direction - additionally they do it with great confidence and happy that they have helped you. Burası Türkiye!
* You got a great job offer from a big company but you cannot start working because in no possible way you can open a bank account... Burası Türkiye!
* You cannot open your bank account because the workers in immigration office accidentally entered a nonexistent city "Pitrock" as the place of your birth. And even when they correct this mistake, data in the bank system is still wrong and for nothing in the world, no one can fix that.. Burası Türkiye!
* After 8 months of waiting finally your ikamet card comes..but as the date of expiration yesterday's day is written so you have to leave the country in 10 days.. Burası Türkiye!
* A guy in the car in front of you suddenly stops on the busy road because he saw someone he knows and must say hi.. Burası Türkiye!
* You need a residence permit in order to open a bank account but you also need a bank account in order to get the residence permit. After visiting both offices for weeks on, the puzzle somehow gets solved by itself. Burası Türkiye!
* When you tell the bus driver that you have missed your stop and he stops to let you go out in the middle of the highway..then somehow you manage to get across it in one piece with the help of a random kind man. Burası Türkiye!
* Seeing people going out of their way to help street animals feel comfortable and have full bellies 💖 Burası Türkiye!
*When you visit your Turkish client during lunchtime and they ask you what would you like to eat. You say toast with cheese but then 5 min later a meat börek is put in front of you. You say it was a mistake to which they reply: "God wanted you to eat börek today" Burası Türkiye!
* When you live with your boyfriend and have to lie to your ultra-conservative neighbor that you are married..only to learn later that he knows the truth but is going with your lie not to upset his wife. Burası Türkiye!
* You take a nice quiet walk in Maçka park and run into a monkey..and then a goat. Burası Türkiye!
* When people ask you if you have kids, and you say that you don't have them.. the only reasonable question that can follow is: ''why not?'' Burası Türkiye!
* "Students why do you have the air temperature controls at different degrees in the same room?" "Well, we wanted to achieve an average of 20." .."Okay so why don't you put both on 20?" Student's reaction: baffled. Okay.. so let's say every country has some talents like that :)
* Yabanci: ''Lemon''.. Turk: ''???''
Yabanci: ''Lemon'' ..Turk: ''??!''
Yabanci: ''Lemon'' Turk: ''!!??''
Yabanci: ''Limon'' Turk: ''Aha!'' ....Burası Türkiye!
* Minibus full of people suddenly stops in the middle of the main road and the driver jumps out. After a good amount of time he comes back with the bag, jumps onto his seat and the whole bus smells like "lahmacun". Burası Türkiye!
* You are standing in the invisible queue that only you can see.. Burası Türkiye!
* Ecologically aware person as you are, you refuse to take plastic bag offered in the local market but simply want to carry those few things to your car in your hands. Yet, you have no chance when the seller who knows you well says: "Abla you will not bring those to your car like a gypsy. What are people going to think of our market!'' Burası Türkiye!
* When a long line of cars that are going to a wedding closes the road, and the bride and groom together with all the guests start dancing "horon" in the middle of the road. And shooting in the air with the gun. Burası Türkiye!
* And a similar thing happens in evenings when guys are celebrating their friend who is going to army...
* When you cross the road at the red light and freeze at the sight of a cop..but he doesn't care about you and crosses at the red light as well. Burası Türkiye!
* A few snowflakes fall and all the schools get closed indefinitely. Burası Türkiye!
* When you ask at the information desk where is gate 249 to which they reply ''there is no such gate''. You show them your boarding pass with the gate number written on it and reply is ''sorry gate doesn't exist''. You try explaining it in Turkish and you get same answer... Yet after awhile you arrive to the gate 249 by yourself. Burası Türkiye!
* You get to see farm carriages and even cows that appear out of nowhere in prestige parts of Istanbul. Burası Türkiye..
* When you are waiting for taxi on a narrow pavement and get almost hit by a motorbike driving on that pavement (the guilt is, of course, yours) Burası Türkiye!
* When TL is dropping faster than your salary is raising...and that way in two years you start earning half less.. Burası Türkiye!
* Once a year every year you are watching the gathering of "kurbanlar" across the street of your house, and then walk bloody roads the next day. Burası Türkiye!
* You are paying extremely high water bills until one day you learn that all this time you've been paying also the bills of your landlord...Burası Türkiye!
* When stopping in front of traffic lights that are turning red and having pedestrians flood the road causes a giant trailer to crash your car and then having its driver come yelling at you if you are from Mars. Burası Türkiye!
* Roundabouts and one-way streets that apparently can also be used in the opposite way... Burası Türkiye!
* Generally everything related to traffic is dangerous... Burası Türkiye!
* People (even strangers) always share everything with you no matter where they are or what they do..and you are expected to share as well. Burası Türkiye!
* A walk in the park with your dog is never ''a walk in the park'' because: there is too much street cats and your dog wants to chase them; street cats are attacking your dog; a pack of street dogs is chasing you; everyone adores and wants to share your dog (without asking you); the ones who don't are frightened of it and scream and even do a little dance while you pass; ... Burası Türkiye!
*When there is a fire drill at your school in the morning and they lit an actual fire which almost turns into school burning down..all because they wanted to get a good photo from it. Burası Türkiye!
* When you are accused to be American spy agent because you speak two languages. Burası Türkiye!
* You should keep a careful eye on your plate, çay, beer... so the waiter doesn't take it before you finish it. Burası Türkiye!
* You can see fireworks any night of a year.. because Burası Türkiye!
:D Have a wonderful day!
**All the situations mentioned above are based on true events.
Special thanks to all the wonderful ladies of Istanbul who have helped me to expand the post by sharing their own "burası Türkiye" story!
Komentarji
Objavite komentar