Well I've made it! Let's see if I can recount my journey thus far without being too boring-
After a ceremonial last stop at Taco Shack, my wonderful parents dropped me off at the airport. I bought a great new suitcase for this trip which proved to be so big that I over-packed it. Like it was 80 lbs and the cutoff is 70. Luckily, the nice guy at the service desk gave me a box to unload 30 lbs in and I successfully avoided an extra charge. First flight was to Newark which went smoothly. Next was to Munich which was also just fine. Munich to Istanbul was a little delayed due to some real cold weather in Deutschland, but we made it. Picking up my baggage, I discovered that my package was sadly missing. After working my way through the system and filing a report
Someone from my company, Teachers in Turkey, picked me up and took me to the office which is on the European side of Istanbul. I met my coordinators, signed some papers, had some food, and we were on our way to the Asian side. Traffic is ridiculous- the city itself has something like 14 million people I think? Luckily, you can hop on a super crowded metrobus that is way faster. The Asian side coordinator took me to Kadikoy, which is where I rent a room in a flat. We walked around, bought a phone, and ended up at the flat.
The flat has 5 bedrooms, but one is big enough for two people. So far, I only have two other flatmates who are cool university students from Hungary. The apartment is going through some fixes so a few things need a little work and they have been painting. It is on the 5th floor and there is not an elevator so I look forward to getting daily exercise climbing the stairs.
Yesterday, one of my flatmates and I walked through the shopping district in our neighborhood which leads down to the sea and the ferry. You can see the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque across the water which is awesome. It's been really great weather so far, which makes it easy to enjoy these days off I have.
I start my job Monday, where I will teach 5-6 year olds. More on that when it happens.
I'll be posting some pics here, but more on Instagram. Feel free to follow me @vlmorris
