As Promised...

Blogging Location: my room, 12:22am




Who would ever think that my dad telling me he spoke to a turtle would bring me to tears.

I was suggested to write about some of my negative experiences abroad so far, because good times without the bad is pretty invalid, in my point of view. So here it is, as promised.

I consider myself a pretty cheery person, thus resulting in a mostly hunky-dory blog. I was reminded the other day that my blog is hardly realistic. It's a lie, really. Okay, maybe a half-lie. With the "fun" and "adventure" come the tough things I'm experiencing. Homesickness is among them. And stress (getting to airports, packing, etc...).

We often describe the way things are by comparing them to things they're not. My last bout of homesickness probably came about because I realised England wasn't-- well, home. Over Christmas and New Years I had stayed with friends and their families, both amazing times that I'll never forget. Staying with them wasn't just like staying in any old accommodation or house. I was staying in a home and that was when I realised that I'd forgotten what being home meant and felt like. What happened next was like having a bucket of ice cold water thrown over you in your warm bed, wrapped in your comforter and duvet: I came back to my flat, in between Germany and Turkey. It was quiet. Post-apocalyptically quiet. You know as well as I do that 'quiet' is the perfect environment for vulnerability cultivate itself into homesickness.

The English setting wasn't particularly kind to my wave of homesickness: outside the ice was malicious, the sky was colourless and the sun was nowhere to be found. Even the moon took a few nights off for good measure. But now that my ill temperament has been set aside, I've given the English climate a chance. The temperature isn't much of a bother anymore. I've become accustomed to walking around in dresses and tights (with a coat), despite the snow-worthy temperatures (it snowed just this Monday, according to my flat mate). I'm also easing into the local style of heels-over-cobblestone, as clumsy as I can be.

I've reasoned that the answer to why my English flat mates don't smile all that often is the drab weather. It's terribly grey. But it's a different kind of grey. There's no rain or fog or anything that resembles separate clouds. It's a static, motionless grey, sort of lifeless at times. For someone that's always known she's blessed to have California sunshine, the contrast here makes me feel like I've taken it for granted all my life. Here, one can go days without seeing the sun, something I can barely cope with. Last week, I definitely felt the lack of sun take its toll on my emotions. I know I'm not a person of overly-sunny-dispositions, but the darkness of day was a lot like a Doc Marten taking a good kick at my soul. If you ever see an episode where Spongebob is dehydrated, you have an idea of how I feel when the sun decides to disappear for ridiculously long periods of time.

Three, and now potentially four, students in my program have decided to take early leaves of their study abroad for various reasons. Whatever their motives, I respect their decisions as they have their own paths to tread. I'm not nearly about to cut my year short, but I determined a few weeks ago that England is not the place to permanently move to for me. I've mentioned the limited types of cuisine and the climate, but it's not simply that. I love England. I do. Its people are incredibly polite; their sarcasm is riveting, the land is green, its history is immense. It's part of and extremely close to Europe. The possibilities of travel are endless. However, I can't help but look back at the eagerness and curiousness of Americans, the cultural and ethnic mixes, the open and carefree attitudes. Neither countries are perfect, this is all too true, but my heart forever beats to the rhythm of the lapping waves, the pulse of the right-side traffic, and the cadence of the pursuit of happiness.

To be honest, I don't generally blog about these things to avoid the unnecessary worry I could be causing others, but nonetheless I appreciate the concern and prayers for my well-being. I can't tell people enough how appreciative I am to have people care about me. Thank you.:)

Germany and Turkey... Food for Thought

Caption: My friend Lena and myself in Singen, near Hohentwiel. Those humble little mountains in the farthest distance are none other than the majestic Alps.

Blogging Location: Flat, exhausted from revising for exams.
NEW: I've included some links within my entry for more information (to keep my entry shorter.)

I have so much to write about. And I'm not just talking about traveling. I want to tell you about- yes, traveling- but I also want to tell you more about living in England, about English culture, about my personal experiences in general and how I'm growing...
About how it feels to let a snowflake fall on your eyelashes.
About seeing the ocean crash against stones, igniting a foamy crest.
How air smells after the rain.
How happy children can be just by feeding pigeons in the park.
How beautiful it is to slip on ice once in a while and laugh out loud at yourself, whether alone or in public.
About missing home so badly your chest hurts as the wind robs you of your very breath.
About laughing so hard you can't stand.



Unfortunately, a lot of that will have to wait a while... It's about 1:30am and I've got lots of ground to cover!

The last time I wrote was just after Boxing Day. Since then, I've been to Rielasingen (Germany), Stein am Rhein (Switzerland), London and Istanbul (Turkey). I've taken 4 flights with 3 different airlines, 3 train rides, 1 coach ride... and 1 exam (yes, finals are AFTER winter break).

Germany
I spent New Years with my friend Lena who kindly and graciously invited me last minute to her and her mother's flat. It was just as fantastic as my Christmas in Liverpool. To be honest, I didn't even know the name of the town I was to be staying in over New Years till I got there, but I was just as excited as going anywhere. In Lena's car, driving from the airport to the flat, Lena was explaining that we were in Rielasingen, a town just on the border of Germany and Switzerland, so with any luck, I would get to visit two countries instead of one! Score! For the rest of the ride, we mostly caught up on things and got to know each other better (I met Lena because she's in my Bible study/cell group and she's also an exchange student at Leeds). It was only during the week that I would learn that Rielasingen, as well as the towns around it, are truly hidden gems among Europe.

Still very small and countryside-like, the area Lena and her mother showed me is absolutely picturesque. The air is clean and crisp thanks to the general lack of pollution and the snow. Smog is foreign. Very few poles or cables run across the skyline. There are pines and birches everywhere. Trash is absent on the streets. Noise pollution is nearly at 0. The Bodensee lake, which the Rhine feeds into, is like glass with swans, ducks and loons drifting across it. Just gorgeous. Not to mention the Alps that are usually within eyesight. Before landing in Germany, I'd hardly been anywhere like it.

I stayed in Germany for about 5 days and within my 5 days I had some pretty amazing food (I wish I had the stamina to keep up a separate blog just about food!) saw the most amazing churches (the Birnau is now my favourite), walked on a frozen lake, had a German New Years and had some great chocolate (again, I may need a separate diary just for the sweets and biscuits I've had). I also had the pleasure of visiting Hohentwiel castle, a large medieval castle situated on top of an extinct/dormant volcano.

Enough of my talk. Time for some photos:


This is raclette. Basically a grill that works top and bottom. You melt cheese, meat and toppings on a little tray, place it under the grill and when it's bubbly and melty and perfect, you either slide the goodness onto bread or a baked potato. Heaven. Oh, and you can grill your veg on top. :) I am now seriously considering an entry solely consisting of the food I've eaten. Maybe in a few weeks if it's so desired by my lovely readers. ;)


Stein am Rhein, Switzerland. Saw this in Lena's travel book of the Bodensee and I absolutely HAD to see this. I asked in a nicer way of course. :) Many of the half-timbered houses are painted this beautifully. If I could, I would have taken photos of every single one. I settled with buying a nice postcard for myself.


The Bodensee. In this photo, you can actually see two countries: Germany on the left and Switzerland on the right. HOW COOL IS THAT?


Walking on a frozen lake next to the Island of Reichenau, which we also explored.

Drumroll please...

My favourite baroque-style church, the Birnau.

I really couldn't thank Lena and her mother enough for driving me around all day and just hanging out all the time. Her mother had a cold as well, but she braved without a complaint the -8*C temperature with us nonetheless, bless her! She even went out of her way to make us German meals, which were delicious! Quite a smorgasbord (not a German word, haha). :) I truly felt at home in theirs; it was a bit bittersweet because it was then that I realised that I had forgotten what home felt like.

Turkey
About a year ago, I most definitely could not have imagined that I would ever, in my life, visit Turkey. Thanks to Making of the Modern World, a six-quarter required course at my college, my pastor from home and some friends, I have. One word for Istanbul: history. Istanbul is known as the second Rome out of three (Rome- duh-, Istanbul and Moscow). So maybe Istanbul is just a name to you right now. You may know that it's home to the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. But did you know that it was once Constantinople? Byzantium? This city has been through a LOT, to say the least.



I didn't go on my own. I'm not that brave. Or capable. Anyways, I went with my friend Stephanie who is also studying abroad, but in the fabulous Budapeshhhttt! She had been to Istanbul once before, but loved it so much she decided to come back. And just my luck! I had no one to go with, as the interest expressed in going to Istanbul by people in my program were nil.

Now, Istanbul. This sounds shallow, but the first thing I was ecstatic about was the weather. Even before I legally had entered the country, I noticed that I could strut around in a t-shirt and not die of hypothermia. It was cold (for LA) at around low 60s, but that was paradise compared to the frozen-over Leeds (Fun Fact: Leeds has received the most snow this year than it has in 40 years... just for me). Now, I'm going to tell you about VISA PROBLEMS.

Stephanie and I flew from London to Sabiha Gokcen and when we arrived, I needed to purchase a visa. It was only $20. Sure, not a bad bill to foot. I just want in! The only problem was that I had no DOLLARS on me. Well, fine, I have British pounds-- No'kay? Well I'll just use my card-- Oh, you don't take cards? Oh, that's not a problem, I'll just change my money. Ah, I see... the money exchange is *beyond* passport control. And, what's that? Your cash machine is broken today? Well, I'm in a cofuffle. I almost didn't get into the country. Luckily, the geniuses at the airport worked out that one of their guys could change my money and bring it back for me. I know, shady, but I was desperate, tired, and the dude had a uniform on with a badge. All in all, it took about an hour to get all this sorted. Other than an Australian gal, I was the only one that had this problem. And it was quiet and lonely on that side of passport control, but Stephanie was a trooper and waited for me.

After getting past passport control, it was into the real world. We had to work out getting a shuttle to our hostel, but thankfully it went smoothly. We got there starving (easyJet does not feed you, like the rest of the budget airlines), so we hunted down some doner-wraps. AWESOME and dirt cheap, compared to the UK. I think it cost me the equivalent of $3. WOW. That's how much a PACK OF GUM is in London. I fell in love with Istanbul right away.

Next we met up with Stephanie's couple-roommates Chris and Christy. Such nice people. :) Now, I think I'll tell more story in picture form:


Lucky for me, Stephanie hadn't gone into the Hagia Sofia/Hagia Sophia/Ayasofia on her previous visit, so that was our first stop. It's confusing, but the Hagia Sophia was originally an Orthodox basilica converted into a mosque, but now it's a museum. Talk about a chaotic history. It's about 1500 years old. No biggie.

Oh, this is awkward:

That's the Hagia Sophia on the outside. Yes, there's an elephant in the room: so Turkish people love tourists (of both/all genders) and they always want a photo with you, as we discovered multiple times. Just for the record, they don't all have uni-brows. And if you're Asian, you MUST be from Japan. At least on first guess. Although I was impressed when a couple people thought I looked Korean.
Sometimes they will ask you to dinner (didn't happen to me, but the little old man taking tickets at the Hagia Sophia did ask if I would be his "sweetheart.")

The next big (world famous) thing we hit was the Grand Bazaar:

I still can't believe we went shopping in the Grand Bazaar like it was no big deal...
It was a shopper's paradise-- well, at least for me. I love haggling. And knock-offs. And Turkish lanterns/lamps. And taking photos of having my photo taken:

But not as much as I love shopping.


Fish sandwiches = AMAZING. My pastor suggested that I hire a tour of the Bosphorus (the river that feeds from the Black Sea into the Sea of Marmara and ultimately the Mediterranean) where they have you catch a fish, cook it, and put it into a sandwich for you. I get seasick really bad, so I settled for a fish sandwich on land, BUT it was THE BEST FISH SANDWICH I ever had. No joke. So was the baklava that followed. We went to a place called KARAKOY GULLUOGLU BAKLAVA SHOP. Oh my baklava, it was heavenly... I've had a lot of baklava, but man! Nothing tops this shop's baklava. Perfectly sweet, flakey with a bit of pistachio if you so desire.


Tea: Tiny. Turkish. Did I mention that it was free? So people are incredibly nice in Turkey. Good ol' Turkish hospitality. Whenever I say this, everyone tells me, Raechel, you're daft, people just want you to buy their carpets. Well, true in some places, but a lot of the time, even when you've made it clear that you do not want to sit on the balcony and order the special of the day, they will still invite you to have some tea "on the free" or for free, as we've surmised. And they won't heckle you about ordering or buying anything after that. Stephanie was given a restaurant owner's tie after complimenting him on it simply because he wanted her to have it. Need I say more?
This is him in the middle by the way:

This is Moses. He owns Doy Doy. Doy Doy is your friend because the food is delicious. And so is the rice pudding. But only when Moses is there. It's kinda manky when he's not. Don't tell the other employees I said that. But yes, we went to Doy Doy multiple times.

Something else that was awesome in Istanbul... the Basilica Cisterns!

Reminded me a bit of Moria from Lord of the Rings. :-/ Pleasedon'tpunchthenerd.


Raising the bar at the Blue Mosque

At one point, we finally got to the Blue Mosque/Sultan Ahmed Mosque.

There are periods of prayer dictated by the earth's "natural rhythms" when tourists are not allowed inside (we also discovered that "The mosque is closed" is probably the most common chat-up line in Istanbul). During some prayer times, speaker phones at the top of the mosques' minarets will BLAST prayer chants without warning. Not for the faint of heart (literally, if your heart is faint, you may have an attack). These chants move from mosque to mosque.

Next up: the Spice Market!

After getting back from Asia where we visited some mosques and ate more good food (yes, we took a boat to Asia which cost about 1.50 Turkish lira or about $1 and took around 30 minutes of glorious singing of "I'm on a Boat") we hit the famous Spice Bazaar! Lots of spices and teas (including the mysterious "love tea") and plenty of funky herbs and fungii.

So my flight back was with Turkish Airlines NOTABUDGETAIRLINE because it was magically cheaper than easyJet's return flights! About 1/3 cheaper! Miraculous! Definitely a God thing and you'll see why... I left Sabiha Gokcen at 7:50 with luggage a lot heavier than the limit, but they didn't even check the weight! And when I got on the plane, there was yet another miracle: my knees didn't touch the seat in front of me. Lovely. I snoozed off for the first hour and awoke to the stewardess handing out meals. But wait, for free? (Yes, it's been a while since I'd flown on a non-budget airline where everything costs extra.) On top of that, I look up and see Antonio Banderas on the mini movie screen. IN FLIGHT MOVIES. I'd forgotten about that too! That's when I realized that Ryanair and easyJet have truly stripped me of humanity.

You can't talk about flights without mentioning the person you sit next to right? Well, there was no one in that seat and I had a window seat, but the nearest lady was INCREDIBLY nice. She was a Turkish woman living in London with her husband, but anyways, she always made sure I was alright and she explained to me the different Turkish things on the menu! The Turkish minced beef that I had was awesome! I also love Turkish rice! I would have gotten photos, but the airline specifically said no cameras.

Anyways, pre-Istanbul, I was trying to work out how I was going to get back to Leeds. The last train back was at 10:15pm. My flight was supposed to get in at 9:45pm. I didn't buy a train ticket in the case I missed the train, but God-willing, the flight got in at 9:49pm, I dashed to passport control, filled out the form like a pro (I've done it about 20 times at the same airport), whizzed out of the arrivals and bought my train ticket back to Leeds at 10:05 like a maniac. The guy checking my ticket probably thought I was going to eat someone if I didn't get on the train. He kept telling me "It's okay miss! You have TEN MINUTES!" It was okay in the end. I got back to Leeds at 2:40am. Got a cab. The cabbie asked politely where I'd come from and I said Istanbul, as proud as ever. About 10 hours prior I was in Istanbul. Like it's no big deal and surprise! My cab driver is Turkish! He gave me a discount. :D

But no, all of this could not have been a silly coincidence. I was praying in the Sabiha Gokcen that I wouldn't have to spend the night at Stansted Airport. I was praying on the plane that I could catch the last train or a coach. I was praying like nutter running out of the terminal and through Arrivals. It was definitely a work of God that I got through an airport in less than 10 minutes. I can't say I've ever done that before.

So that concludes my traveling up to now! I really hope to have an entry on other things (i.e. food) soon once I'm recovered from exams and writing this blog (it's currently 5:20am). Let me know what you want to hear about!

Cheers for reading,
Your Little Torrancian



For more photos, please see my Facebook albums. Or I can email them to you. But I can pretty much guarantee a post-download hard-drive crash. Or I can personally show them to you if I come home. Just kidding. WHEN I come home.