Orientation

Yesterday we had Orientation, and I got a chance to meet a bunch more international students here at Boğaziçi. Most of us are from America (all over the country too), but there are also a lot of other Europeans here, including from Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Ukraine, oh, and then China and Japan. So we're a pretty eclectic bunch. As I said before, most everyone is younger than I am, though I've found out that I'm not the only grad student which is a bit comforting.

We got a tour of the North and South campuses too. The North campus is closer to the Superdorm and it looks like most of my classes will be there, and the South campus is the larger one closer to the Bosphorus. It sprawls on the hillside with a blend of Victorian-era American architecture with distinct Turkish accents that you can see in the interior tilework especially. But in a way, it's strangely familiar. Boğaziçi was originally founded in 1863 as Robert College, for those of you who don't know, so it was/is the oldest American college outside of the US. It's now a Turkish institution, but all of its classes are taught in English and it's a very prestigious school here in Turkey. The North campus is more modern and has a very large library, so it is likely that I will spend a lot of my time there. Shorter walk, which is grand, because we do plenty of walking here. I'm really hoping that I walk off about 10-15 pounds by the time I get home! :) Of course, you balance that with very good Turkish food, and that ambition may be a lost cause!

After the tour, we had a brief break and I grabbed a drink with a couple new students that I hadn't yet met, a girl from NYC who's originally from Poland, and a girl from NJ who is Turkish, and speaks both English and Turkish fluently. After this, we loaded up on buses to go to dinner, and enjoyed a pretty tasty (albeit pricey) dinner right along the water, and then it was back out into the cold and then onto to Tophane, a historical area (what isn't in Istanbul, really?) that is very famous for nargile. Sure enough, shortly after pulling up, we spilled out of the buses to see several cafes lined up, their slightly smoky interiors beckoning us in out of the cold to go enjoy a hot cup of çay, play a game or two of backgammon, and smoke the nargile.

For those of you who don't know, all of these are famous traditions here in Turkey. The nargile, otherwise known as the hookah or water pipe (yes, that thing the Caterpillar was smoking in "Alice in Wonderland") is very popular here. They stand about knee-high, and their base is filled with water which cools the smoke. The top is set with coals, and the long pipe is wrapped in cloth and piping, and is passed from person to person (each of us had our own tip to insert for smoking). This was something that I simply had to try. The smoke smelled good, even tasted good, but when it hit the back of my throat, it burned, and I ended up coughing a lot. Not very dignified, but then, I'm not a smoker. *shrug* Livia, Lessa and I sat with Anna from the Ukraine and Chris from Bulgaria, and we played a few games of backgammon. Since I had never played, the others took turns telling me the rules. Chris' father was a three times national champion of backgammon in Bulgaria, so he definitely knew what he was doing!

It wasn't a bad way to pass the evening hours, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, meeting new people, chatting, drinking the ever-present glasses of tea. We felt very Turkish. :) This morning was registration, so I have to hope that I'll be able to get into the classes I need (already they hit their quotas!) I have a feeling that I may not able to as there are a couple of conflict with the dates and times, but I'm hoping too to have a chance to speak to my advisor and work out such details. Wish me luck. :)