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built on seven hills to match the seven The student house has six floors, on time I learned a lot about culture,
hills of Rome. Istanbul’s famous Hagia each floor there were about twenty language, cooking and other activities
Sophia was the largest church in the people living. On the first floor of different nationalities. This
world for about 900 years until Seville we had the security guards and experience is priceless and it opened
Cathedral was completed in 1520. It depending on the day of the week we my mind and widened my horizon.
was also one of the 20 finalists for the had three different house managers Most of the students were Turkish or
New 7 Wonders of the World. which we called “hoca”. Every student Turkish-speakers for example from
had massive respect for these guys as Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan but also
if they were their father. The main some “non Turkish speakers” like
From Bahçelievler to Beyoğlu problem for me was that none of me, for example from Nigeria, Saudi
them spoke English so a conversation Arabia, Syria, France, Switzerland
I arrived in Istanbul on the 25th was very difficult. This student house and Spain. On every floor there were
of January 2015. My new home is a strictly male institution. It is not different smells, moods, languages
was a student house “yurt” in allowed to invite female friends or and music. But almost everybody
Șirinevler which is in the district of even your own mother, if she wants to was going up and down the floors to
Bahçelievler. We lived together with visit you. Also if friends from outside meet other students and spend some
a lot of nationalities mixing different want to come around and hang out quality time. It was not always easy and
characters and culture. Almost with you they have to wait in the lobby relaxed because the language barrier
everybody spoke their own language until the visited person picks them gives space for misunderstandings
but the common language was up. At 23.00 the visitors have to leave and the fact that we lived together
English. Some of my neighbors spoke the house. During the first month I with not a lot of space. Also the
good English but some almost none. spent a lot of time in the yurt. At this different behavior according to the
This type of situation can be funny
but sometimes it can be stressful
and problematic as well. I shared a
room with two Turkish roommates.
One guy called Sezgin who is from
Bursa and other one was Hassan from
Diyarbakır. None of them could speak
English. Sezgin was a quiet guy but
he was interested in learning English
and the European culture and music.
Hassan was gay and a funny, outgoing
person. He was always dancing and
listening to loud Turkish pop music.
Both study in the same department as
me, Communication and Arts. Even
if the communication was difficult we
enjoyed breakfast together with a lot
of cay or a good Turkish kahve.