I'm leaving Istanbul in 8 hours! Can't believe 2 and a half months just gone by! I just finished packing and I'm really tired now :(

Anyway, for these 3 days, I was moved from the office to a desk at the end of a hallway as a new staff joined the International Office. I wasn't too excited about the move, but it turned out that sitting by the end of a hallway of professors' offices can be really fun. The professors would talk to me as they passed my desk, and so I kind of know all the professors now. A pity I was only there for 3 days :(

The people at the International Office were really kind to have lunch at a restaurant to mark the end of my internship, and they got a cake as well. I thought it was a pretty sad farewell, as I have got to know the people at the International Office quite well.

And since it was my last day in Istanbul, I decided to go on a little tour. I took the bus, rode on the ferry, then got on a tram, and finally a funicular to get to Istiklal (my favorite place). I could have just took a bus and got there, but I thought it would be nice to ride on all possible transportation to get to my favorite place :) And that was the last thing I did in Istanbul. (wanted to watch Harry Potter! but I didn't want to risk missing the last bus home)

Well, hopefully I can get to come back to Istanbul or Turkey again. There are some places which I have not visited in Istanbul, as well as many cities outside of Istanbul. And of course, to see the people I know in Istanbul :)

I'm really glad to have been living/interning in Istanbul :)

P.S. I took some pictures, but it's late and I'm sleepy, so I'll post them when I get back to Ann Arbor :)

Signed off by Priscilla

Can't believe my last weekend just zoomed past! I felt like I barely did anything :(

I wanted to visit Dolmabahce Palace on Saturday, but it was closed when I got there. It says it is opened till 5pm, but it was closed when I was there at 2.30pm. I have no idea why that happened. Hopefully I can visit it before I leave. Anyway, it is an European style palace built during the Ottoman empire.

I went to Taksim and Istiklal (my favorite place in Istanbul) after learning the palace was closed. There was a crowd around Taksim Square and it turned out that there was some kind of international event there.

From right to left: S. Korean flag, Malaysian flag, and another flag which I can't identify. People were dressed in their national costumes.
I walked over to Istiklal and ended up watching "Public Enemies" just to get away from the heat. And after walking aimlessly around Istiklal, my Saturday was over.

On Sunday, I actually visited a museum. This museum is situated in a obscure location, hidden among a residential area. If I were to visit on my own, I doubt I would find it. But I visited this museum with the director of the International Office from the university as she was trying to plan a tour for some visitors. Due to its location, there were few tourists there.

This museum was a church from the Byzantine days, converted into a mosque during the Ottoman empire, and finally into a museum after Turkey became a republic.


It isn't a big museum, and I don't know much about Byzantine art, so it took me just 15 minutes to walk around and take photos. Other tourists there had telescopes and were staring intently at the ceiling.


After the museum, I went to where the director lives. She gets amazing view of Istanbul from her garden.

She lives on a hill on the Asian side, so Asian side is in the foreground, while European side is in the background. I'm envious how people in Istanbul get such great views so easily :(

And then, my Sunday was over. 3 more days before I leave! :(

Signed off by Priscilla

Haven't blogged in more than a week! And yes, I only have around 1 week left in Istanbul. I'm starting to feel sad that I have to leave Istanbul soon...but at the same time looking forward to seeing my friends again :)

Anyway, for the past week, I got to do some interesting work. I had another research to do for the whole week, but I also got to be a receptionist on Tuesday morning for a conference that was held at the university. I stood by the door, asking for the guests' name and hand them conference materials. Most of the guests were professors from American universities such as Michigan State and Emory. (But none from Michigan!!)


Later in the week, I was also asked to help out in a class. The instructor had a meeting during one of a help session for his students, and I was to help conduct that help session. I was really worried and nervous, especially since I'm still a student myself and the instructor only taught me the material a day before the session. Luckily only 3 students turned up for that help session, so I didn't have to deal with a crowd :)

On the weekend, I was invited to have breakfast by the Bosphorus. It was quite a nice experience - having a Turkish breakfast with the river as the backdrop. But it was quite an expensive breakfast. There were 6 of us, and each of us paid 35 Turkish Liras (23 US dollars). Well, I guess that is the price for dining with a great view.


Not quite sure what to do this week to fully utilize my time before I leave Istanbul. I probably will revisit some places that I like :)

Signed off by Priscilla

So a week has gone by working in the university, and it felt really fast. All week, I was working on a research for a professor and I had it completed on Friday. I'm just waiting for the professor to let me know if she wants any addition or changes to what I did.

Throughout this week, the university had a program in which high school kids were introduced to college life. I was invited to join in their activities; which I did. I went to one session which had the high school kids competing in groups to build the tallest tower out of straws which could hold an egg. During that session, I got to meet some of the student volunteers working on the program.

As my host was in charged of the program, and he said he needed help on Saturday, I went to "work" on Saturday as well. My host had to prepare lunch for the kids, and so I became one of the kitchen helpers among the rest of the students volunteers. Well, I cut vegetables, but the bulk of the job was washing dishes....

Sunday was the last day of the program, and my host thought I should join in as well. I went to the program and I was glad I did. The high school students put on performances, and there was much emotions as the high school students said goodbye to the student volunteers. I got to meet more student volunteers, one of whom I remember clearly, for he majored in American literature because his high school literature teacher was beautiful :D Well, I thought it was a curious reason to base a decision on.

I also watched a movie on Saturday, and got to know an interesting practice in Turkey's cinema. Halfway into the movie, the movie will be stopped for 10 minutes. According to my host, he thinks the break is for people to use the bathroom or buy food. Sounds like a great idea to me if the movie is long.

Ok, so still no photos. I'm getting a little lazy in taking photos....

Signed off by Priscilla

First day of work and I feel like I did more than I ever did in my entire time at FIBA real estate.

I had to do research for a professor, and the amount of research I need to do will probably take me days to complete. Since it was my first day, I had to wait for a computer to be set up and arrange for transportation, so I didn't have much time to progress far on my work.

I also spent some time at the dentist. I have a bad tooth for some time now, as my friends in Newberry know very well, and so I asked the people in my office about dental services. One of them immediately got me an appointment today. I wasn't too sure what the dentist said though - I remember hearing the words "cut" and "extract". I really hope I heard wrongly. My host said she will go with me to the dentist tomorrow to find out what exactly he said.

Well, I will try to take some pictures and post them.

Signed off by Priscilla

So today is my last day at FIBA real estate. It's a sudden decision and I know I have never mentioned anything about ending work there at all. But no, I'm not heading back to Ann Arbor yet. I am actually transferred to work for Özyeğin University from next week onwards. It happened just 2 days ago when I chatted with the coordinator of my internship. After the chat, the coordinator offered to have me at the university. Well, I felt bad just leaving FIBA so suddenly, but seeing that they don't have much work for me there, it might be good for me to try something new. And so I accepted it :)

Since it happened pretty suddenly, my supervisor had no idea this is my last day. I told him about it early in the morning, but he only got an official notice from the human resource department in the afternoon. I thought it was quite a sad last day actually - I didn't get to see many of the people I worked with as they were out at various different offices. But, I will still be in Istanbul and I can visit them again.

I'm looking forward to a new environment! :)

Signed off by Priscilla

The final shuttle bus to her home

View from my friend's home (she lives in the mountains)

My friend told me that this is her summer home. She lives in the city area of Mersin, but during the summer, it gets too hot there, so her family will move to the cooler mountains.

The next day, we spent the morning going around the village in a car.

Barbeque!
Lunch outside!
After the heavy lunch at 4pm, we went for a walk.

Feeding goats and cows :)Gathering flowers!

And spent the night watching tv and staring at stars. I saw a shooting star for the first time in my life too.

The next day, my friend and I left her house early. My bus ride is at 6pm, but I need to get to the city. We were in the city early, so we walked around and my friend also brought me around to meet her friends.

In a cafe by the Mediterranean sea

After that, I got on the shuttle bus which brought me to the bus back to Istanbul. The ride was shorter, but it still took around 12 hours. I only got home at 630am the next day. Tired but fun :)

Signed off by Priscilla