BY EHSAN SHAREEF (CTIS\/II)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Name:<\/strong> Sakurako Ishiguro<\/p>\n\n\n\n Department: <\/strong>MBG\/III Exchange<\/p>\n\n\n\n Country of Origin: <\/strong>Japan<\/p>\n\n\n\n University: <\/strong>National Taiwan 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> What’s 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: Sakurako Ishiguro Department: MBG\/III Exchange Country of Origin: Japan University: National Taiwan University What were your first impressions about T\u00fcrkiye?When I landed in \u0130stanbul from Tokyo, the first thing that hit me was the language\u2014everything was in Turkish, and it suddenly felt very real that[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[205,83,193],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9782"}],"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=9782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9784,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9782\/revisions\/9784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bilkentnews.bilkent.edu.tr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
When I landed in \u0130stanbul from Tokyo, the first thing that hit me was the language\u2014everything was in Turkish, and it suddenly felt very real that I was in T\u00fcrkiye. From the plane to Ankara, I looked down and saw this endless brown landscape and thought, \u201cWhat am I looking at?\u201d It was a view I had never seen in my life, and I even took a video because it felt so strange and fascinating. In my head \u0130stanbul had always been the capital, so seeing Ankara from above, calm and not at all chaotic, was surprising, especially because I\u2019m used to the crazy busy vibe of Tokyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Bilkent, I love how curious and friendly everyone is toward international students. In most of my MBG classes I\u2019m the only international student, yet people still come over, ask where I\u2019m from and switch to English so naturally that I feel very welcome. In T\u00fcrkiye overall, the food has completely won me over\u2014I eat a lot but somehow I\u2019ve lost weight, probably from all the walking, living my private school life with big green areas and quiet corners. I love exploring the city and visiting bazaars like the one in Ulus, which feel lively and similar to Taiwan\u2019s night markets, \u201cye shi\u201d (\u591c\u5e02).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of my favorite small similarities is tea: in Turkish it\u2019s \u201c\u00e7ay,\u201d in Japanese it\u2019s \u201cOcha\u201d and in Chinese it\u2019s \u201ccha,\u201d (\u8336) which makes me smile every time I hear it. Tea is a big part of life both in Japan and in T\u00fcrkiye, and there are also strong traditions around it, like formal tea culture in Japan and the everyday social \u00e7ay culture here. Beyond tea, both countries can be quite traditional in their own way, and there\u2019s a shared sense of respect and manners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will definitely miss the people the most\u2014every person I meet here has a completely different background and story, and talking to them makes me feel like I\u2019m travelling the world without leaving Ankara. I focus on the quality of my interactions, and in T\u00fcrkiye I\u2019ve had so many positive ones that I know I\u2019ll carry these memories with me. I\u2019ll also really miss my professors. My MBG coordinator, for example, not only helped with course registration but also spends extra time after class explaining topics he knows are hard for me, which makes me feel seen and supported. Outside of class, I love the cozy bars, the lively nightlife and all the late-night conversations that come with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My favorite spot is wherever I can find one very specific cat: a white cat with a big spot on its back that often hangs around the chairs next to the FF building, near the stairs leading down toward the caf\u00e9s. When that cat decides to sit on my lap, it can stay there for two hours straight, and I just sit, pet it and enjoy the peace around me. In general, I love that Bilkent is full of benches and quiet corners where you can sit, chill and feel like the campus is your own little world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dish that completely shocked my taste buds in the best way is kunefe\u2014this warm, sweet dessert with cheese inside and crispy layers on top. I tried it for the first time at Bilkent Center after a German friend, who is obsessed with it, kept telling me about it. It was unlike anything I\u2019d ever had in East Asia. I\u2019m also a big fan of d\u00f6ner kebap and kebaps in general; I might call myself \u201csimple,\u201d but these are honestly perfect comfort foods for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ten years from now, the one thing I\u2019m sure about is that I want to be travelling a lot and experiencing life in different countries. Since I was a child, I\u2019ve been lucky enough to visit places like New Zealand, Canada, the US, Mexico, Malaysia, the UK, Taiwan, and now T\u00fcrkiye, often staying long enough to actually live a bit of local life. Those experiences have made me interested in a life in which I can move around the world, and I\u2019ve even considered becoming a diplomat because I speak several languages and enjoy connecting with people from different cultures. At the same time, I still love Japan, so my future might be a mix of travelling and returning home. Wherever I end up, I want to keep that sense of movement, curiosity and discovery that I\u2019ve had as a student abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest thing I\u2019ve learned is just how deep the love for \u00e7ay goes here; it feels like a lifestyle. Wherever you go, there is almost always a small glass of tea nearby, served in those hourglass-shaped cups that look so cute and iconic. I love how tea here is both casual and meaningful\u2014you sit, talk and let time slow down over \u00e7ay. This made me see tea differently and appreciate the social side of it more. It\u2019s a piece of Turkish culture I definitely want to bring back home with me, maybe along with a set of those small glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, I\u2019ve visited \u0130stanbul and \u0130zmir but surprisingly my favorite is Ankara. In \u0130zmir, I didn\u2019t spend much time in the city itself; we mostly went to historical and archaeological sites like Ephesus, which were beautiful, and I still remember eating an amazing kebab there. \u0130stanbul, on the other hand, felt huge and intense, more like Tokyo in terms of chaos and energy. I know it \u201cowes\u201d me another visit because a weekend was not enough to explore everything. Ankara wins for me because of its chill vibe and the way it has started to feel like home. When you live somewhere, you recognize faces, find your spots and slowly claim the city as yours. Just walking around during the day, going out in Tunus in the evenings and discovering new places has made Ankara a place I\u2019m emotionally invested in, which makes it special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most common question I get is, \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d followed immediately by, \u201cWhy do you study in Taiwan?\u201d and \u201cDo you speak Mandarin?\u201d People are often surprised that I\u2019m Japanese but study in Taiwan, because many assume you\u2019ll study in your home country. These questions always lead to fun conversations about Taiwan, languages, and how I ended up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talkative, outgoing, disciplined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Academically, studying at Bilkent has been challenging in a good way: many of my MBG courses here are more advanced than what I\u2019ve taken in Taiwan, so I\u2019ve had to push myself to keep up. The professors are engaging and supportive, which makes the tough workload feel more manageable. Learning Turkish has been another big challenge; after picking up Mandarin relatively quickly, I thought I was good at languages, but Turkish humbled me. My Turkish friends still encourage (or force) me to speak, and one even told me I had to get a good grade on my Turkish exam. The only thing I will never get used to are the right-handed exam desks; as a left-handed student, I have to twist my whole body to write, so sometimes it looks like I\u2019m cheating when I\u2019m really just trying to survive the table, haha.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"