My life in Turkey is like a caricature of world politics. People have told me that Istanbul can be unsafe, and I'm unworried enough to venture down dark corridors at night, and on edge enough that I carry a sharp knife in defiance of the local laws. My turkish roommate is dirty, lazy and eats my food, but so far I've been too polite to try to make him change - he was here first, but that's becoming a less convincing excuse. The flat is more expensive than other possible places so I probably should move out, but I'm too stubborn and I like the location, plus it would be letting him win. Among my classmates is a Brit, older than me and with some Turkish already under his belt. He's not as clever and funny
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