Part 1/2 Cappadocia; a city of wonders and beauty is more of an understatement that can be comprehended unless you have actually visited the place yourself. It is located slightly south east of Istanbul (still in Turkey) so the weather is slightly warmer, but the land and its formations are nothing like Istanbul, or anything else that I have ever seen in my life. I do not regret for a moment that I went on this adventure along with 80 other Erasmus students that go to universities in Istanbul. It was a full weekend trip, and when I say full I mean that it started Friday night and we returned Monday morning. Now this may seem like a long trip, but our destination took thirteen hours to arrive at, so therefore 24 hours of my weekend ... read more

The remainder of the week took a turn for the better as after we had lost our first match, it did not really matter what happened next as we had already been to the bottom, we already hit our low and all there was room left to do was go ahead, move along and keep our chins up. We played with all of our might and all of our effort in both of our Wednesday and Friday games, and although we did not win I managed to score a goal and assist the captain at another, and we as a team were able to come together and play well despite the outcome. With fewer nerves and less stress we played our game and came out of each smiling and knowing we did our best. After the ... read more

What a week. I am unsure of where this blog entry will take me, and what I really mean is how long it will take me to sum up my week away with my soccer team. It was a great adventure to say the least and now I am very sure I can walk away and say I have made some great Turkish friends, I have had some great Turkish experiences, and I have had some wonderful Turkish fun. I could not have anticipated anything that occurred within the past week but I loved it none the less. I must say that I did have some ups and downs throughout the time I spent away but in the end I can without a doubt say that I wish I could return tomorrow. After my first day ... read more

Today was not a regular Monday by any measure. I boarded a plan with my futsol team to fly to Antalya for our week long tournament. I knew this day would be an adventure from the moment I began pulling my suitcase (or more like dragging) along the cobble stoned streets, up and down hills, to catch a “big white bus” that I was informed would take me to the airport. I somehow managed to conquer the streets, purchase a coffee and catch the bus with one minute to spare because as soon as I took my seat on the bus and informed the driver I was travelling to the domestic terminal we were off. My team met up with me at the airport and we gathered our tickets and spirits and headed onto the plane. ... read more

I am tempted to say that this week was the usual for me, but as I think back to it I still experienced some very unusual things. I like the fact that in a usual week in early March I still find was to make this experience a memorable one. Monday might have been the most eventful of all the days this week as I had to go to the on campus medical center to get a medical evaluation for approval to play on my new soccer team. My coach set up an appointment for myself and for the German girl (Kathi) for nine in the morning where I was informed I would undergo some “tests”. In the English language this sounds sketchy enough, but to have “tests” said and done in Turkey is a different ... read more

A whole afternoon walking along the water, on the first sunny day we have seen in weeks. Istanbul is a never ending city of beauty.... read more

Friday, in this case, was my most favourite day of the week not only because I am that much closer to the weekend, and not because I get to party and not worry about school, but because today was my first soccer game with my new Istanbul soccer team. I made sure I got enough sleep the night before and I made sure I ate healthy meals and drank water all day long in preparation to play my first game in a long time. My coach had informed me at practice the night before that I was not allowed to eat anything after 4pm, and if I did choose to eat or drink something it should be a fruit and/or coffee because coffee which was completely fine with me because both options are an essential part ... read more

The rest of the week was great; there is no other way to put this. Tuesday I woke up at one o’clock in the afternoon to my alarm that was set so I could get up, get ready and get to soccer on time. It was mandatory for me to be present at this lecture given by my soccer coach which started at 3:30 as he was explaining the methodology and rules of futsol to the entire team in order to prepare us for our first exhibition game on Friday. The lecture lasted for three hours and was then followed by a two and a half hour soccer training practice. I knew most of the rules, so I just sat in class respectfully and quietly while he went over every single thing there was to know ... read more