By İrem Naz Duymuş (AMER/III) & Eda Emekoğlu (AMER/III)
nazduymus@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
eda.emekoglu@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Ho Ho…Oh No!
Fellow happy merry people of Bilkent, this week is THE week. New Year is right around the corner with the not-so-fun surprise of finals. Honestly, I don’t know if this counts as torture, but it feels like it. However, in the spirit of New Year, I must look on the bright side of things and remind you that classes are ending. Yes, we have successfully survived another hard semester of Bilkent with all the quizzes, papers, mid-terms and presentations. Remind yourself that you have done a good job, and maybe don’t get into the advent calendar specifically designed for our consecutive day-by-day finals. Don’t do that. Have a nice chat with your friends, and perhaps you’ll end up talking about something other than the worry of upcoming finals. On the theme of conversation, a friend recently told me that Santa, the white-bearded, giant-bellied “amca” was literally “amca” because he is from Türkiye. Of course, in the spirit of good journalism, I started digging. Turns out he was right.
Santa Claus, as we know him, is actually Saint Nicholas, born in the ancient Lycian city of Patara in Antalya. Nicholas, born into a wealthy family, had been full of miracles since he was a little boy. He even survived a wreckage. Soon after this tragedy, his father died and left him an inheritance. At the same time, one of Patara’s wealthy family members fell into poverty. Their daughter was meant to marry, but the family couldn’t provide her dowry.
Nicholas decided to share his wealth, and to perserve the family’s dignity he did it in secret. He snuck gold into the house through a window and left it at midnight. Nicholas then learnt about two other girls in need of money and tried to do the same thing for them; however, because their windows were shut, he went through the chimney. Stories like these didn’t stay confined to Patara for long.
Over time, Nicholas’s quiet acts of generosity began to travel from mouth to mouth, slowly transforming a kind bishop into something much larger and creating the Santa Claus we know who delivers gold in three red sacks and distributes wishes. So, it turns out he is from Türkiye, and you can find some of his remains at the Antalya Museum. If any of you Antalyalı’s are reading this, know that Santa is your “hemşehri,” and he may have lived amongst the streets you now live in.
With the knowledge of this interesting fact, rip open a chocolate advent calendar and eat it through finals’ week. This alters its purpose, but it’s what ensures happiness throughout. Also, in the spirit and joy of Christmas, consider buying a cup of coffee for those who are very broke. I am not talking about myself, I am just splurging ideas, trying to end the year with acts of kindness—but I wouldn’t say no. Speaking of acts of kindness, dear Bilkenters, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as you won’t hear from me until 2026. Farewell. I’ll be sleighing off now.
