{"id":9567,"date":"2025-11-11T12:34:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T09:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/?p=9567"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:59:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:59:05","slug":"the-international-chronicles-72","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/?p=9567","title":{"rendered":"The International Chronicles\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS\/II)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Name:<\/strong> Muhammad&nbsp;Moeez&nbsp;Jamali&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Department:<\/strong> MAN\/I&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Country of Origin: <\/strong>Pakistan &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What were your first impressions&nbsp;about&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I expected Ankara to be as chaotic as \u0130stanbul, but Ankara was quite the contrary. The Ankara airport was&nbsp;really empty, and the person sitting next to me on the plane was from&nbsp;Bilkent. If I&nbsp;hadn\u2019t&nbsp;met&nbsp;Awais, I would have felt&nbsp;way more&nbsp;lost. The city felt peaceful and nice with beautiful mosques everywhere. The overall first experience:&nbsp;smooth as&nbsp;butter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What do you like best about&nbsp;Bilkent&nbsp;and&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The peace and serenity on campus, especially at night with music in my ears and a cold breeze rushing through my cheeks. A walk after eight is such an enjoyable experience. Another favorite time is when the sun is setting. The people here are&nbsp;really humble. Everyone understands English well, but sometimes I wish I knew Turkish better.&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;working on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are there any similarities between&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye&nbsp;and your home country?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, I figured out that a friend in my economics class was into Turkish poetry, and&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;into Urdu poetry. Both&nbsp;poetries&nbsp;are equally profound and carry deep meaning. There are lots of words which are common like \u201cishq\u201d\u2013\u201ca\u015fk\u201d and \u201chayat.\u201d This was an eye-opening discussion for me, and I realized we share the same poetic spirit of Iqbal and Rumi.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What will you miss most about&nbsp;Bilkent\/T\u00fcrkiye?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ll&nbsp;miss the people&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;met here.&nbsp;I\u2019ll&nbsp;miss the day-to-day things like the&nbsp;particular phrases&nbsp;my teachers use to wish us well in class and how every class has a separate vibe. The small, everyday things\u2014like bumping heads together, making unspoken eye contact on surprise quiz announcements and laughing internally in disbelief that we are going to do equally bad\u2014I\u2019ll&nbsp;cherish these for a long time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s&nbsp;your favorite place on campus, and why?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My favorite place, without a doubt, is \u201cyatak\u201d in my dorm. Jokes aside, when&nbsp;I&#8217;m&nbsp;coming back from classes late in the evening, the sunset view from a secret viewpoint right around Dorm 54 is unbeatable. Very few people know about this gem that overlooks the city through a cliff&#8217;s edge. People around Dorm&nbsp;60,&nbsp;take note.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s&nbsp;your favorite Turkish food and why?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turkish breakfast, without a doubt. It has so many types of cheese, olives,&nbsp;breads,&nbsp;eggs&nbsp;and butter. I could make anyone try it, and the variety would cover everyone\u2019s taste. As someone&nbsp;who\u2019s&nbsp;selective about food, I love the unique blend\u2014it\u2019s&nbsp;different from home.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where do you expect to see yourself 10 years from now?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I want to start my own entrepreneurial endeavor, making the world a better place\u2014something that&nbsp;benefits&nbsp;broader&nbsp;society.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s&nbsp;one thing you learned from Turkish culture?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The close, intimate head hug when&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;meeting someone or leaving a conversation. These&nbsp;small things&nbsp;make friendships stronger. Other small gestures, like saying \u201cafiyet&nbsp;olsun,\u201d \u201cge\u00e7mi\u015f&nbsp;olsun\u201d make the bonds intimate and beautiful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What places have you visited in&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye, and which one is your favorite?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve&nbsp;been here for around two months. Of the places I got to visit, including Ankara Castle and a few museums, I still find walking around&nbsp;Tunus&nbsp;my favorite, especially with the very convenient&nbsp;Bilkent&nbsp;buses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What\u2019s&nbsp;an interesting question or comment you hear&nbsp;frequently&nbsp;at&nbsp;Bilkent\/in&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re a management student\u2014your life must be so chill.\u201d I wish.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Describe yourself in three words.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inquisitive, leader, engaging.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How is the studying experience at&nbsp;Bilkent?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The professors have an immense amount of knowledge\u2014they really know their stuff. I like how&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;involved in the field and how&nbsp;Lale&nbsp;Tomruk&nbsp;Hoca&nbsp;and&nbsp;Arda&nbsp;Gitmez&nbsp;Hoca&nbsp;relate concepts to case studies and personal anecdotes outside the books. I find it especially insightful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS\/II)&nbsp; Name: Muhammad&nbsp;Moeez&nbsp;Jamali&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Department: MAN\/I&nbsp; Country of Origin: Pakistan &nbsp; What were your first impressions&nbsp;about&nbsp;T\u00fcrkiye?&nbsp;&nbsp; I expected Ankara to be as chaotic as \u0130stanbul, but Ankara was quite the contrary. The Ankara airport was&nbsp;really empty, and the person sitting next to me on the plane was from&nbsp;Bilkent.<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/?p=9567\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[201,83,193],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567"}],"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=9567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9580,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9567\/revisions\/9580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}