arkadaş

People who have Bachelor of Education degrees and move to another country to teach are generally pretty rad people.  They are usually friendly, outgoing and have a great sense of adventure.  People who move abroad to teach English as a Foreign Language tend to fall into one of two categories:  1) They are really rad people who are friendly, outgoing and have a great sense of adventure, or 2) They are rejects of Western society (to quote my good friend Colleen, who I agree with 100%)

I'm never afraid to move abroad to study or teach, mainly because of Category # 1.  I know I'm bound to meet people, and I'm almost guarenteed that I'm going to have alot of things in common with my new group of friends because we have similar goals:  We are teachers who want to travel.

People from my hometown are always asking, 'Do you have any friends in Turkey/London/Chicoutimi/Brussels/Montreal (insert latest travel idea here) ...?' when I mention moving or travelling to another place and my response is usually no.  But to echo Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, I think to myself 'But I will have friends'.  I'm happy to report that I have had no problem making friends in any of the places I've been to thus far, and Turkey is no exception.

Despite the fact that there is a possibility of a higher proportion of Category # 2 here in Turkey (I am teaching ESL now, not mainstream school) I have managed to find a small group of the lovliest people you'd ever want to meet, and I am so unbelievably grateful for their company.

Google Images:  Olympos beach, Turkey

Together with two of these girls, we booked a trip to Olympos, a beach destination in the Mediterranean part of Turkey where you can stay in cute little treehouses.  We have booked a three bed treehouse for our long weekend (October 29-31).  Olympos is supposed to be great fun, with hot weather, sandy beaches and open-air discos.

Google Images:  Side, Turkey

We have also booked another trip to the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey, this time in Side, which is supposed to have beautiful sandy beaches and plenty of archeological sites if we get bored of the beach (I can promise you, I won't though).  We've booked an all-inclusive resort and plan on taking full advantage of the all-you-can eat and drink aspect of it.

The Mediterranean Coast of Turkey was one of my main reasons for moving here and it hurts my soul to know I've been here for two months and haven't been there yet.  I'm so excited to be on my way to a beach on Thursday night.