THE TO DO LIST

Writer: Farah Sabrina (Bachelor candidate at SDÜ, Isparta)

Assalamualaikum friends!

Hope you are reading the post in the best of health and imaan insyaAllah. As per Adi Miftah’s request I’d be writing the post in English. So pardon my grammar and spelling mistakes I’ll be making since the keyboard I’m writing on is the Turkish Qwerty keyboard – where the ı and i are different letters and ğ, ü, ş, ç, ö takes the places of several punctuations marks such as the comma and period that I am used to type on growing up; the first living difference of surviving in a foreign country. You just have to adjust and move on. Okay maybe that was just an excuse made to cover up me slowly forgetting my command of English after five years speaking and learning Turkish.

Since there was no topic given to me and they said this was ‘up to me’, I’d like to share my version of the ultimate to-do-list before coming to study or teach in Turkey. Some are based on my own experiences and the rest are by witnessing some struggles of others.

There have been quite a number of exchange students this past year from Malaysia such as sister Mariah, an undergrad student from UIA, sisters Adibah and Ili Balqis, post graduate students from UPM here in the small and cute Isparta- the city of roses, thus the exchange students from nusantara  are all female students until now! Several numbers of lecturers from Malaysia and Indonesia have also been here under the Mevlana exchange program to share some of their knowledge with the staffs and students of Suleyman Demirel University. Since interest in this city has taken a perk lately, I’d like to address the ones who are thinking to do the same as these students.

Dear all the future upcoming student candidates of Isparta, please take note!

     1. Turkish Language

Guys, the language barrier here is real. From the first day you arrive in this city you will have to need help of an English speaking local or someone you can easily communicate in your own language who speaks Turkish. Road signs, street names, food menus –anything you can think of that has writings on it will be in Turkish. I can easily say that not even 5% of the people you meet on the streets speaks nor understands English fluently. They assume you speak their language straight away and will talk to you and ask questions in Turkish. Some are very helpful and will use any methods at hand such as Google translating their intentions and will try to help to solve your problems at hand. Some speaks slowly…. With a LOUD teacher-like voice trying to explain things for the second time. Okay maybe this helps after a B1 Turkish language certificate holder but totally not for those with zero command of Turkish!

My advice is try learning some basic common phrases that are a necessity before coming here – such as hellos, thank yous and goodbyes. Surely some effort will surely make the locals more interested in helping you with a smile.

  

   2. Cultural Differences

Brace yourselves because the cultural differences between here and you countries are obvious everywhere, from the way they talk and their sense of humor, the fashion style, their opinions on politics and sensitivity on some government issues, also their views on religions and identities. Anything and everything is a possible to happen here so brace yourself and don’t be too shocked if something contradicts your own personal views.

Experiencing Hari Raya, the Eids- Kurban and Ramazan bayramı-, and the fasting months for example, will be a whole new experience because us in the SEA celebrates the festive seasons differently.

     3, Comfortable Shoes

You will be walking a lot here in Isparta, without the comfort of your cars and reliable trains and buses back home. So please remember to bring comfortable shoes to walk in suitable to the season you’re going on. You wouldn’t want to have your sandals stuck in knee-length snow or slip on ice wearing your flip-flops.

     4. Health

The Turkish government requires health insurance coverage for someone applying for a residence permit here. So make sure you insure yourselves and buy a plan before coming here because the insurance plans here may cost a little more here.

     5. FOOD

Of course food is the most important of all. Please, please and please be prepared. The food here is totally different than those from home. There are no spices like chilli sauce, soy sauce and such used in their meals. And their meals are mostly tomato-based. Their breakfast set are stagnant, I mean standard. Bread, olives, cheese and tea; that is the basic set that any Ayşe, Ali or Ahmet  (okay lah I edit the names cause there are no Tom, Dick nor Harry here) eats. If your budget permits, I recommend renting an apartment and cook yourself with the ingredients you bring from home, all the rempah curry, kunyit and serai. Because there are no such ingredients sold here in Isparta. If not you will be staying in student hostels where cooking is totally not permitted. So pack yourselves some Asian snacks like seaweed and dried squids because some days you will be dreaming peeling off prawn shells and some days you be salivating in front of your computer screens watching food programs.

If any of you have any more questions regarding anything else I’ve forgotten to mention above please feel free to write me up! Also these advices are biased to my experiences and thoughts so I would like to apologize if there are any hard feelings! Peace and good luck :D



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IMPIAN SUKA-SUKA

Penulis: Nukman Jurkapali (Bachelor candidate at SDÜ, Isparta)

“Setiap insan bernyawa meski harus memiliki impian” kata-kata yang diucapkan oleh seorang moderator dalam sebuah program ketika usiaku 18 tahun. Dia berkata kepada kami “Tuliskan apa impian kamu di sebuah kertas!!. Tulis apa-apa sahaja impian kamu yang kecil ataupun besar”.

Ketika itu aku menyadari bahawa ketika itu aku tidak ada sebarang impian dalam diri. Dan waktu itu aku dikelilingi orang-orang yang bijak dan pandai sampai aku mengatakan dalam diriku “apakah impianku sekarang? Bolehkah impian aku jadi kenyataan?”….

Sambil menunggu, kami mencatat impian-impian dilembaran kertas. Moderator program mula buka sebuah kisah, “Ada seorang lelaki dari negara eropa yang dahulunya ia tidak memiliki impian dalam hidupnya. Kemudian pada suatu hari ketika dia pulang ke rumah, dia memikirkan tentang hidupnya… “apakah impian aku?”. Lalu masuklah dia ke biliknya dan memandang meja belajarnya. Diatas mejanya itu ada selembar kertas. Kemudian duduknya dia dimeja belajar dan mengimbas kembali apa yang dikatakan oleh gurunya”.

“Jika ada impianmu walaupun kecil, tulislah dikertas..” terang moderator.

Bersambungnya lagi…. Bila lelaki itu teriangat kata-kata gurunya itu, bermulalah dia menulis impiannya. Impian lelaki itu lebih ada 200 impian dan dilihatnya impian yang ditulis itu hari-hari. Dan banyak impiannya adalah mengembara lebih 50 negara dalam hidupnya.

“kemudian nak tahu apa yang terjadi pada lelaki eropa itu?” Tanya moderator pada kami.

“dia telah mengembara lebih 45 negara sekarang ini dan hampir mencapai 200 impiannya itu. Dari seorang yang tidak ada impian sehingga menjadi orang yang hampir mencapai impiannya”. Tambah moderator.

Bila aku mendengar kisah lelaki itu, aku mula menulis impianku dari impian sekecilnya hingga sebesarnya dalam keadaan main-main. Seperti mesti pandai masak, pandai memandu kereta, berjalan-jalan didalam dan luar negara dan banyak lagi. Sambil gelak-gelak dan sampai impianku yang besar aku menulis…

“Saya ingin membuat grup resmi Pelajar Nusantara di Isparta ini. Adakah kamu semua setuju?” kata seorang pelajar doctor pada kami. Beliaulah yang paling berpengalaman diantara kami 8 orang. Beliau menunggu jawaban kami.

“Saya setuju” sahut salah seorang dari kami, seorang pemuda tahun 2 yang belajar dalam bidang ilahiyat (pengajian islam) di Universiti Suleyman Demirel.

“Ingat!! Bila dah resmi grup ini, adakah kamu sanggup korban masa kamu dan kurangnya tidur kamu nanti?” Pesan pelajar doctor itu lagi.

“Kami setuju” kata kami sepakat 8 orang.

Setelah habis meeting, aku dengan kawan-kawan nusantaraku mengingatkanku diantara impian besar yang ditulis pada 9 tahun dahulu ; “Bersatunya negara-negara Nusantara”. Tersenyumlah aku bersendirian berjalan pulang ke rumah sambil menikmati udara sejuk Isparta dengan mengenangkan kembali impian suka-sukaku.

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