BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS\/II)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Name: <\/strong>Klaudie L\u00fdskov\u00e1<\/p>\n\n\n\n Department:<\/strong> Psychology<\/p>\n\n\n\n Country of Origin: <\/strong>Czech Republic<\/p>\n\n\n\n University: <\/strong>Masaryk University<\/p>\n\n\n\n What were your first impressions about T\u00fcrkiye?<\/strong> What do you like best about Bilkent and T\u00fcrkiye?<\/strong> Are there any similarities between T\u00fcrkiye and your home country?<\/strong> What will you miss most about Bilkent and T\u00fcrkiye?<\/strong> What\u2019s your favorite place on campus, and why?<\/strong> What\u2019s your favorite Turkish food and why?<\/strong> Where do you expect to see yourself 10 years from now?<\/strong> I don\u2019t want regrets; I don\u2019t want the feeling of having missed something because I played it safe. I don\u2019t want to have settled down with a house and a child, that\u2019s just not the movie I\u2019m making. I want to have seen as much as I can see. I want it to feel like something. If I\u2019m alive in ten years, I want to feel like nothing was missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s one thing you learned from Turkish culture?<\/strong> What places have you visited in T\u00fcrkiye, and which one is your favorite?<\/strong> What\u2019s an interesting question or comment you hear frequently at Bilkent\/in T\u00fcrkiye?<\/strong> Describe yourself in three words.<\/strong> How is the studying experience at Bilkent?<\/strong> BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS\/II) Name: Klaudie L\u00fdskov\u00e1 Department: Psychology Country of Origin: Czech Republic University: Masaryk University What were your first impressions about T\u00fcrkiye?Honestly? My very first thought was: \u201cThis country is huge.\u201d I mean, I knew that on paper, but nothing prepares you for actually feeling it. We were[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[222,83,193],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10908,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10907\/revisions\/10908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Honestly? My very first thought was: \u201cThis country is huge.\u201d I mean, I knew that on paper, but nothing prepares you for actually feeling it. We were on the bus from the airport, and the landscape just kept going and going. It was so unlike anything back home in the Czech Republic. Suddenly you pass through these areas that look really rough around the edges, and just minutes later you\u2019re staring at this glittering skyline that looks like a mini Manhattan. That contrast hit me fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people, without a doubt. There\u2019s an openness here that you don\u2019t always find back home. People talk to you, invite you in, share things with you. It\u2019s warm in a way that catches you off guard. Then there\u2019s the swimming pool, I genuinely love it. Bilkent also gives you so many non-study related opportunities; I love the student clubs and the fact that everyone is welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not many, but what caught my eye is that the younger generation here has a very similar mindset to young people in the Czech Republic, the same energy, the same restlessness: wanting more out of life. And then there\u2019s the coffee culture. Turkish coffee is serious business, and back home we have our own love affair with strong coffee that leaves your teeth dirty, so that felt familiar right away. And we of course have kebab, which is not the same as here, but the idea clearly crossed borders long before I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people, absolutely. I\u2019ve built connections here that feel surprisingly deep for such a short time. I\u2019ll also miss my little rituals, the small, ordinary things that make the day a bit better: the walk to the pool, the coffee, the rhythm of campus life. University life itself is on a completely different scale here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The swimming pool, hands down. I know it sounds like a strange answer, but it really became a ritual for me. There\u2019s something about it; you go, you swim, you come out and the whole day resets. It\u2019s my therapy, my excuse to not think about anything else. I do not have to rush, I can just let the time fly. I\u2019m going to miss that pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baklava. Honestly, any Turkish dessert, I\u2019m not picky when it comes to sweets. But baklava holds a special place, and I totally understand why an entire culture is proud of it. I tried making peace with the fact that I\u2019ll never find the same thing back home. I haven\u2019t succeeded yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hate this question, and I mean that genuinely, not just as a clever answer. I don\u2019t want to go big with it. I don\u2019t want to say, \u201cI want to be happy,\u201d because happy feels like this vague, floating thing that you never actually reach. I want to be satisfied. That\u2019s different. Satisfied means you look at your life and you\u2019ve actually done the things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest clich\u00e9 answer is \u201cslow down,\u201d but it\u2019s true. There\u2019s a pace here that I had to learn. Not laziness, just a different relationship with time. Then there\u2019s the hospitality, which is unlike anything I\u2019d encountered before. People here will offer you tea before they even know your name. And then, and I say this with full respect, the smoking culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been to the Black Sea region, \u0130stanbul, Cappadocia, Eski\u015fehir, Pamukkale, the Antalya coast and Cyprus. I know, I know\u2014I was busy. But if I had to pick one, it\u2019s Olympos. It\u2019s this ancient city buried inside a forest right next to the sea, and there\u2019s a feeling there that is hard to describe. The vibes, as they say. It reminds me of the American west coast in some way, the freedom you feel when looking into the sea from the mountains. Some places just hold something in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are a few classics. Number one: \u201c\u00c7akmak var m\u0131?\u201d which means \u201cDo you have a lighter?\u201d I heard that so many times I could probably say it in my sleep. Number two: \u201cAre you Russian?\u201d I am very much not Russian, but apparently light hair and Eastern European is enough. And number three, my personal favorite: someone names a football player and asks if I know him. Every single time. I\u2019ve started just saying yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honest, impulsive, alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It feels a bit like high school. You actually go to class, because it is mandatory, and the weekly assignments keep coming. There\u2019s a structure and a rhythm that expects you to show up and stay on top of things, which is different from the more independent study culture I\u2019m used to at Masaryk. But it\u2019s also genuinely challenging, which I respect. It keeps you engaged whether you like it or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"