Final on a Party Boat

Although I am here for one more month, most of the exchange students are turning back to their countries. That is why ESN (Exchange Students Network) also finished their activities with a memorable Final Gala at a party boat called ‘Albatros’. When we get the invitations I was very excited, because it was the first time that I thought about having a party and dancing on a boat. It would not sound so strange if we were near the sea but I also wondered how could there happen a party boat in Tilburg? Everyone wore their fanciest dresses, so we all had to take a taxi to the boat. I took my welcome champagne and started to observe the atmosphere inside. All the small windows of the boat were closed by the pictures and the mirrors hanging on the wall. The deck of the board was turned into a dancing area, where we spent the rest of the night dancing for the last time with all the lovely people that we met during the last 5 months. When the night came to an end ,the board was still continuing to make surprises for us by giving memories like ESN pens... I realized how lucky we were, as an exchange student, to have such a successful and enjoyable ESN organization in Tilburg because they definitely helped a lot at every stage from the beginning to the end. Not only to ESN but this week I want to thank to everyone that I met, for the good memories in my mind…

Farewell Dinners

Since I came here I started to cook myself, because I have been leaving with my parents all my life. Thanks to my mother I always found a dish ready in the kitchen. I did not expect to learn cooking so quickly, but after eating sandwiches for the first week I get bored of them and decided to have a look at the recipe book that my mother gave. However, since she is always cooking for 4 people she forget to adjust the measures. Unfortunately, I could only understand this after I had to eat my first rice for 4 people whole week in order to finish it. Since then, I am trying to learn by myself. I am mixing all the things I want and sometimes I try cooking some difficult Turkish meals as well. I found that it is better to cook for two people rather than for one person, because you can finish the vegetables before they get off in your fridge. Therefore, I have been cooking with my friends for at least 2 days of the week, but now all of them are turning back to their countries. They are giving farewells which are the hardest dinners that I have, knowing that I will not have the chance to cook or talk with them so frequently anymore…

Lady with a hat

I attended to my last lecture two weeks ago, although I will be coming to the University for the exams at least for three more times I won't probably spend that much of time anymore. I don't know if you have the same strange feeling too. Sometimes I feel like some furniture and statues are watching us while they stand all the time at their places. The same phenomena happened with the statue of that lady with a hat ( it is so fashionable, isn't it) in the Koopmans Building. I could not stop myself from smiling at her when I am passing in a hurry because of being late for my lectures most of the time. Every morning I said good morning to her and she replied by saying ‘ Why are you in a hurry Buket this time, for a sandwich, a print-out or a coffee?’. I know that it is a game that I am playing with my mind ,but I like having such memories with the places that I live. For the last time I wanted to see her, but this time I will take my time to say goodbye..

Prescribing Sunlight

I already had some Dutch friends (three musicians) with whom I met in Turkey while they were traveling by their van from the Netherlands until India following the road of gypsy music. I was shocked when one of them told me that sometimes psychologists were prescribing a certain amount of sunlight to people in order to recover the depression. It is so strange for a person who lives in a place where sunlight is one of the most natural and normal things that we have, it is like prescribing someone to take more fresh air. Actually in the summer time, when I go to a holiday place, I have the opposite problem. I am always trying to protect myself from getting exposed to the harmful lights of the sun. Sometimes it is so sunny that, I have to use a sun cream before going out even in the city. You should get a sunbath in your swimsuits only when you are in a holiday area, not in front of people who are sweating while running to catch their businesses. That is why we never get a sunbath in the parks inside the city; it is so strange for us. When I saw that shop, selling sunlight lamps, I suddenly remembered that sentence my friend told me. Now I think that if I were staying longer or if I were living in a city with clouds all the time, maybe I would feel the need to buy one of these sunlight lamps too…

This Library Is Alive

Look at this big Christmas tree in the middle of the library!! I really like the changing decoration of UvT Library according to the important events or celebrations. For example, one day you enter to the library and you see the Halloween decoration with the spider webs and the other day there are flowers everywhere... I could follow the celebrations by looking at the decorations of the library. Normally, the libraries are supposed to be cold and formal places as if there is no human being inside, only the books are waiting in their ‘home shelves’. But you can easily feel that this library is alive…

Soul of the Bike Shop

As I told before although all the cheap bikes were finished by the time I started to look for a bike, I was very lucky to find a good one from a reasonable price. Last week I feel off my bike because of the icy ground (don’t worry I am alive) and had to go to the bike shop again to fix my wheels. I really like visiting that bike shop because it makes me feel the music!! I can see that you are a bit confused… In the beginning I was also confused when I saw my bike seller and his wife dressed like the 90's. Then I saw the piece of newspapers on the wall about a rock band and finally his wife invited us to his concert at a rock bar called Little Devil. From now on, when I go there I really enjoy the songs, like Rolling Stones, playing in the background while he is working. Like the living library this shop has a soul too...

Still Enthusiastic About Tilburg

When you travel to a city for the first time, everyone has a different priority for the places to visit. For example, I am a person who likes to visit the museums and photography galleries. If I am lucky enough to find someone who wants to join me, than it is even more enjoyable. But when you start living in that place, you start losing your interest and enthusiasm for discovering new places after a while. When I first came here I asked difficult (!) questions to my mentors such as ‘’Do you know whose statue is this big one?’' They said they have never thought about it before, because it becomes a part of your daily life. I did not want to repeat the same mistake while I am in Tilburg and finally I went to the Natuurmuseum Brabant which is opposite to the central station. Although I found out that I was a bit old for the target age group of the museum, I am still enthusiastic about discovering Tilburg…

Aluminium Giants

The location is the entrance of De Pont Museum; these giants are welcoming you… My actual attempt was to visit the new photography exhibition of Thomas Struth. The original name of the project is Familienleben and it consists of at least 30 family portraits of the families he selected while his travels from many different cultures such as Japanese, German, American, Irish, Italian etc. It was really enjoyable to try guessing the family ties or the closeness of the relationships between the family members by looking at their postures in the pictures. However, I would like to see some other details which can complete the pictures such as the letters or notes they wrote to each other. It is possible that the photographer did not want to distract the attention of the viewers. Although I could easily understand the photographs just by looking, I can not say the same for these aluminium giants because they were too artistic for me… Maybe someone could help me with it?