I am Nils, 19 years old and soon my stay in Türkiye will end. I was here for 7 months. In this post I want to write about some of the many things this time gave me and that I’m grateful for.
First of all I realized again how lucky I am to be able to do this ESC and that traveling and experiencing new cultures is a very valuable and special gift. It definitely made me grow as a human to leave my comfort zone and put myself in a completely new environment. Sadly, many people do not have the option to do the same, so if you do, I highly recommend it. I loved the amount of new people I met during my time in Izmir and almost all of them were great! I have had many cool attendance to my workshops, that I also chilled with in my free time and I met a lot of interesting people in public.
I want to highlight 3 people I met during my ESC in particular:
Ahmet:
Ahmet is the mentor Pi Youth Association matched with me and I have to say they could not have chosen a better person! Since day one he was a great mentor and we became good friends. We think alike in many ways and he showed me so many cool things in Izmir. He is funny, always down to help people who are in need, and in general pleasant to be around. When we met, it was never boring and always a fun time. Also he is very good at practical thinking and creative in solving problems. He introduced me to playing football, which I never imagined to be this fun for me before. He took me paragliding, showed me Turkish food, introduced me to friends, and much more. Ahmet you made my time in Izmir a lot better and I’m very thankful for our friendship.
Vincent:
Vincent was my roommate for 2 months. By sharing my dry and random sense of humor, we had a lot of funny moments together and I don’t think I laughed as often with someone as I did with him for a long time. He definitely made the flat a lot less boring and I think the two months he was staying were the best of my whole time here. He also has a very relaxed vibe, never stresses and he is very skilled at cooking. It would have been very cool if our time together would have lasted longer but I am sure we will see each other again. Keep up the randomness!
Mustafa:
Mustafa works in a cafe place very close to my flat and I could always go there to relax and have good talks with him. He is a very kind person and has a great heart. Also, his taste in music, coffee and his style are very good. You can talk to him about random stuff but also about serious things. He showed me lots of stuff in the techno scene in Izmir and even invited me and Joan to stay at his aunt’s house over Bayram, which was my coolest and most relaxing vacation in Türkiye. Sadly, we also met relatively late into my stay in Izmir, but what matters is the time we had together, thank you Bro! Also my other flatmates Emilie, Kamila and Joan were a great addition to my experience here! Buca Hasanağa is the best hood in Izmir by the way.
Another thing I’m grateful for, is my work in the conversation clubs. Most of the time I had fun myself and I loved seeing people making progress in their speaking skills. I also was very happy how positively most attendance reacted to the activities I prepared, or when they called me teacher, although I’m so not qualified to be called that haha! I don’t think I have ever gotten as many compliments as I did in these workshops. The amount of time I spent speaking to people I didn’t know before, definitely brought my social skills to another level.
. I’m grateful for every friend or family member, that called or texted me during my time here. Having people that care about you is one of the most precious things on E arth. The last thing I want to talk about is how I experienced my own self during my time away from home. My time here taught me that I want to do this as much as possible in my life. I want to see everything and meet everybody in this world. Before I came here, of course I was excited, but never scared. This theme continued during my stay here and my home sickness was very little. I expected it to be like this, but it is nice to know for sure now, how I react to being abroad for a longer time. I‘m grateful for my mindset and the way my parents raised me.
All in all, I’m ready for more.
