Lately I marked seven years since I came to Alanya first time, decided to move here and change my life completely. Seven years is a pretty long term, and that made me think about my life in Turkey, where I was and where I am now.
Everyone has his comfort zone, which includes person’s habitat, habits, circle of contacts etc., and leaving it even for a while can cause a big stress. Thinking about my first year here, I wondered about the reasons which made me leave my comfort zone (however good or bad it was), and rush into a completely new life.
Coming to Turkey for the first time as a tourist, I fell in love with this country, as many people do and, due to a chain of events, here I was — with a suitcase, a job offer and English, completely alone in a foreign country. Everything seemed rosy; I saw this place as an endless festival. That’s what, probably, helped me cope with a new environment and reality, which appeared to be not as friendly and glowing as it seemed at first sight.
First, working in tourism is not a bowl of cherries. Along with it, you have to adapt to a new place, mentality, people, food — everything! I experienced a real culture shock, when every step I made was a step on a rake. Not that Turkey treated me bad, not at all. But before you perceive all the cobwebs of other country’s mentality, you gain a bad lump on your forehead.
Apart from mentality difference difficulties, there was also a difficulty of leaving behind many things, which I got used to in my “old” life. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult for me. I know some Turkish people who returned from abroad just because they couldn’t find some simple kinds of food, which they got used to here. Luckily for me, I am not picky in food and like to try different things, discovering new tastes. There are some products which I still miss, but most of them are supplied by my friends (thank them very much!), some of them I managed to replace with the local analogues.
What I really missed were my friends and family. It’s difficult to find new friends even in your home country among people with the same mentality who can speak your language. Sometimes I missed just a small talk. Internet made it easier for us now; it creates an illusion that people are very close to you. Talking to somebody on Skype, it seems like the person in front of you is just at arm’s length. I really want to thank people who invented internet and Skype for letting us feel closer to people we love, being thousand miles away!
One more thing I missed was books. Though I brought a lot of them with me, I finished them all very quickly and was craving for the new ones. There was no foreign library in here and the new books were very expensive. Soon, I have found a book supply source — one of my acquaintances worked at the hotel and there were a lot of Russian and English books left by the guests.
Slowly thing were improving. You can ask me, what was the use of having a rough time here, why not living in your home country as the most people do? Definitely, it wasn’t seeking for adventure or thrill in my life, not a “cruising for bruising”, as they call it. I just wanted to get out of swampy routine, which I definitely succeeded in. Looking back, I see that the first years here gained me a great life experience. Meeting different people — good and bad, learning languages and other countries’ cultures is my treasure, which I would never exchange for a lifetime of quite dwelling.
Have a good week, take care of yourselves but don’t be afraid to step out of you comfort zone!