LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH ISTANBUL
Cool things might make your daily life hard and it is not sustainable.
Today I have an in-depth conversation with myself. I’m new on Medium and it will be my first post. So, Are we readyyy? Yeah, put your glasses on and please fasten seat belts. The photo above looks picturesque, doesn’t it? Everything starts with this perception of beauty. For a while I have positive and negative thoughts about the city I lived in. Let me explain. This is more like love-hate relationship…
Some days I feel on top of the world, next days I’m desperate and pathetic. I’d like to explain myself more and in detail. More than 7 monhts I have been living in Munich but before moving here I was living in Istanbul. I was at college between 2008–2013 and then I decided to stay there, start my professional career. In other words, I gained all my experience that helped me build my personality in Istanbul. More than 10 years I lived in this Metropol and faced so many opportunities and difficulties.
I love the culture and diversity that is present around every corner. I love Istanbul because I can order an ice-cream to my apartment at 1:30 am by one click (I know, it is weird. Europeans might think this is ridiculous but for me ice-cream is a fine-line🙅🏻♀️). It is also quite difficult to picture Istanbul without the fact that you can experience being immersed in a variety of landscape to feel refreshed and inspired. In addition, I love Istanbul because there is no limit to find places to go, new activities to do, and new things to learn more. In my humble opinion, people are pretty social, young and they love spending their times hanging out with their friends, colleagues or dates. The city is alive 24/7. Even if you are new in Istanbul, you can easily find hundreds of activities and get involved in social life.
Don’t forget, there is no such thing as enough action in this multi-cultural city.
From the other perspective, I hate living in Istanbul, too. I mean, I’m not erratic person🙄. You’ll understand what I mean and agree with me when you continue reading. Please imagine that it takes at least 40 minutes and you need at least one or two transportation to get anywhere in Istanbul (you are really lucky if you can find a taxi, nowadays it is impossible because of the population and governmental issues). That is real guys. Moreover, there are multiple city centers in this city and if you want to get together with your friends, first of all you need to decide which location is easy to get to.
Do you know, how many relationships ended because of Istanbul traffic? Hihi this is very common. “We are people of different continents.”
Unfortunately, that’s not the end of it. Then you should think about how you can get there or which transportation you had better use. Most of the time there is awful traffic on both sides of the city. Now, I see that handling daily issues is not easy in this chaotic atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong, Istanbul. We have never been a good friends when it comes to commute (I finished many series, podcasts, movies on my way. They seem like benefits but meanwhile, I had such a bad back pain, too). Finally I realized that living in Istanbul as a tourist is fascinating but living there as a resident is a nightmare. I didn’t have any doubts to start my new life in a resident-friendly city.
I was most likely feeling freer to say goodbye to the city I dislike and I moved from Istanbul on a cold winter day.
So what did I love about Istanbul? Why was I living in there more than 10 years even though there were a lot of negativities and exhausting things? To be honest, I had a family who supported me in every situation, I had well-skilled and energetic colleagues with whom I learned new things everyday. I had such a dynamic business environment (I changed my position 3 times in 7 years). Last but not least, I had a sister from another mother. She was an awesome person who drew me into many actions. Thanks to her, my life was very colorful and enjoyable. No matter what we talked about, all the time I smiled and felt cheerful with her.
Even though we have been living in different cities for a while, our bond is still so strong. Whenever we come together, we can go on our relationship with no extra effort.
Though the relationship I personally have with Istanbul is complicated, it will always remain as my second home after my real home (for now this city is Munich). You know, home is where your heart is. In all fairness, no relationship is perfect, and spending some time away from Istanbul teaches me the value of understanding how every environment can be good or bad in different views.
This is the last part of my post. As I said before, I’m fresh to write my thoughts and ideas online. I hope you liked my language and post.
Take care, Bye for now!
