Getting Ready for My Turkish University Life 🇹🇷🎓

Part 3 :- Getting Ready for University 🇹🇷🎓

After spending our first few days settling into Turkey, we were getting closer to an important moment of our exchange journey our orientation at Istanbul Gelişim University.

Our orientation was scheduled for 18 September, so on the 17th, we decided to go out and exchange the euros we had brought from Pakistan into Turkish lira.

But before leaving, there was another little decision to make what should we wear?

Before coming to Turkey, we had received some information that we should dress more formally for university, like wearing pants and shirts, and that the boys should also dress formally. So we had packed some outfits accordingly.

But we had also brought our Pakistani clothes with us.

That day, we decided to wear our Pakistani traditional clothes.

I wore a traditional frock, and honestly, I was a little curious about how people would react to our clothes.

As soon as we stepped outside the hotel, I noticed people looking at our outfits with interest. Some people even complimented us and asked where we were from.

When we told them, “Pakistan,” their faces immediately became warmer.

They showed us with gestures that Pakistan and Turkey were good friends and that they had a lot of respect for us. They also complimented our traditional clothes and told us that we looked beautiful.

It was such a small interaction, but it made me feel proud of where I came from.

Exploring the Streets Before Orientation

We left our hotel and walked for a while. Along the way, there was a bridge connecting the metro area with the road, and we crossed it.

When we went down the other side, we found an area full of life restaurants, shops, grocery stores, and currency-exchange shops.

We finally found a place where we could exchange our money, and after a little communication, we managed to get our euros changed into Turkish lira.

It was another small experience of learning how to manage things in a completely new country.

After walking around for a while, we started feeling hungry again. So we decided to get some pizza from the restaurant at our hotel.

And that was another interesting discovery.

Turkish pizza was different from Pakistani pizza.

It had its own style and taste, and even something as simple as pizza felt like a new experience because we were eating it in a different country.

We took our food back to the hotel, ate together, and rested for a while.

A Little Movie Night 🎬

That night, we decided to have our own little movie night at the hotel.

We chose a horror movie, and honestly, we had a lot of fun watching it together. There were some really good scenes, and watching a movie with friends in a hotel room in a foreign country somehow made the whole experience feel even more special.

After the movie, we went out for another walk.

There was something about Turkish nights that made us want to walk outside again and again. The atmosphere, the cool air, the streets, and the feeling of being somewhere completely new made even an ordinary night feel special.

But we didn't stay out for too long.

Our exchange-program coordinator from Istanbul Gelişim University had already sent us the location for our orientation the next morning.

And suddenly, it hit us:

Tomorrow was our first official day at our new university.

We were excited to meet new people, see the university, and finally begin the exchange experience we had been waiting for.

So after our little adventure, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep early.

We had a new country around us, a new university waiting for us, and a whole new chapter about to begin.

The next morning wasn't just another morning. It was the morning I would finally step into my Turkish university life. 🇹🇷🎓🤍