positive things about living in Turkey

[Scunner]

quote:Originally posted by pookie

God Keith, you had me filling up reading that

Maybe I should publish it, I'd call it "Memoirs of a Place that no Longer Exists"  

[LeeGlo]

Obviously the weather - well most of the time.
Being close to the seaside - all the time.
Beautiful scenery - love sitting having a coffee on the harbour and enjoying the views, warm sun on me while snow on the mountains.
The Turkish people - like the chap who took the time to help us at the PTT when we were trying to locate some well overdue post from the UK. He was just a chap who happened to be there not staff.
Our Turkish neighbours who insist on bringing us lovely food. One invited us round for tea at Bayram, she speaks no English but we had a really nice "chat" for an hour.
The fact that you can buy something in the morning and it will be delivered in the afternoon and sometimes even before YOU get home!
Still much cheaper than the UK for utilities.
Much more relaxed lifestyle, so much so that unless I kept a diary half the time I wouldn't know what day it was. YARIN is good enough for me.
Shops that are open 24/7.
BEING an immigrant instead of complaining about them in the UK.
Yes there are drawbacks, but on the whole our quality of life is much better here.

[hoops man]

Brilliant keith! Those were the days haaaa. i can relate to all of that. what a perfect reply. Also everything  corbindallas has said still applys. i live on the hills and all the weddings in this area i get invites. They come up the hill on there clapped out motor bikes and give me my invitations rapped in a t shirt as a gift. Turk tradion.

[starman™]

Best moment in Turkey......getting married by the Bosphorus last August
worst...getting my car shot at by the rozzers and setting it on fire whilst I was still in it.

[Jenny Daly]

Starman - You sound like James Bond?? Don't know you but guessing your a bit of a joker??  Love all your posts on Turkey - I totally agree with Leeglo....I can relate to all your comments.  Think everyone has covered all my thoughts.  I just feel sorry for all the street dogs and would like to take them all home with me - if I could afford to.

[Rimms]

quote:Originally posted by Scunner

quote:Originally posted by pookie

God Keith, you had me filling up reading that

Maybe I should publish it, I'd call it "Memoirs of a Place that no Longer Exists"  

Keith, it does still exist but maybe not as you first found it? For example, I think Liverpool has never looked so good but my mother remembers it being a much better place, I think that she is not wrong but that the city is just very different

[Scunner]

Apparently I only allow good things to be written on the forum about the area because I sell properties

I don't know George - there are so many angles to look at it from. I do believe the 'mix' of nationalities was better and the camaraderie too - there didn't seem to be people there back then whispering about each other when one of their group went for a pee for example. We felt a bit like pioneers (you also, even if it wasn't full time) and I do feel we generally gave great thought to our new home and neighbours, trying to learn what may be offensive and making sure we didn't do anything too 'western' or anything that may offend. Now I think it has changed to a "where would you be without us" attitude and as someone mentioned the other day, I do detect a little bit of resentment towards the large Brit numbers - not at specific people, just an overall sigh at the attitude of the "I pay your wages" Efes swillers. Of course it is not the British way in the main, but empty vessels do make the most noise and it is no different abroad.

Whether it was better back in the day or not I may never know. Maybe it was just new and exciting to me and in time it definitely went from new and exciting to time consuming and frustrating. I also think that it went from meeting a fellow Brit and that being an interesting event to thinking it would be nice to see a Turk now and again   It is possible nothing changed in that time but me.

I also realised that everyone wishes they'd done it before - customers in 2004 always said they had come out in 2003, in 2005 they were saying they wished they'd sorted a trip out in 2004 and so it went on - I am sure this year too. I wish I'd seen it with Moe and JB etc in 1998 and in that I am just the same as everyone else.

It's very easy to give the impression that you think that you are there and it's great so wouldn't it be nice to pull up the drawbridge and keep everything as it is but I do think, and encourage, people who have any thought to move to Turkey to most definitely do it - with the usual don't work/invest/lend - but I truly hope everyone with a calling does it. Our friends from Northern Ireland have recently moved to Kusadasi and they are buzzing about their life.

So while I am right without doubt that it was "better in the good old days", just maybe it is as exciting for people moving today as it was for us moving there over eight years ago now. And I genuinely so very much hope it is because life is for the living, and there's nothing better for the personality and outlook of us humans than living somewhere very different.

[Rimms]

Keith, I really understand the 'drawbridge' comment. It is interesting that I was in awe of you living there while I was here sitting day after day on the M6 or M25. Now that we are about to embark and make our life over in Calis, it will be interesting to see whether we still see it as heaven or hell in a few years?

You know,I am keeping an open mind which is why we have kept the house on here. I know we will return to the UK one day but I hope that it is a long way off, but if it isn't, then the forum will know both when and why!

[Scunner]

Well, genuinely I believe that with the experience and history of Chris and yourself in regard to Turkey, if you can't enjoy living there then it can't be done In fairness you have also had the benefit of a lot of experiences from those who went before. I think a combination of all those things results in the fact that you will have a ball. Just remember it's bingo at 2pm Wednesdays.

[laffa]

Best of luck to you George, hope it works out, Keith, I wish you could have known the Calis we fell in love with all those years ago, (1989), it was so quaint, and genuine, we used to say then, this place will get hammered with tourists when the word gets out, it was  mainly german visitors then and the second language was german,you would take decent shoes at your own peril,because they would get ruined on the gravel, no roads or pavements,but to me it was heaven on earth, I feel like arl granny grunt writing this, but you just got me thinking,that book "Calis Unlocked", will be out soon.