I started my European Solidarity Corps project in Izmir, Turkey, on the first of September 2025. The day my plane landed on Turkish soil and I left the airport for my new adventure, I was greeted with a completely new cultural and social lifestyle in a country that is full of colors and warmth. And warm it was indeed. My German self, coming from one of the northernmost parts of Germany, is not used to the dancing air of Turkish life.
Fortunately, after having arrived in my apartment, I quickly discovered that there was indeed air conditioning. Thus, I learned I would manage to defy whatever temperatures were in store for me. Mostly.
The first month was easy; we had time to discover the city, the food, and the culture. From Manti to Dolma and the standard McDonald’s, we could find anything amidst the hectic life of Izmir. The grocery stores were mostly an adventure in themselves. The products, which I had never seen in my life, stared at me from behind the icy doors and warm shelves.
Besides new food and new means of transportation, such as the boat, I also discovered the cats. Izmir, like most of Turkey, is full of them. In front of my apartment lives a playful but also tiny bit arrogant orange cat that my housemates and I lovingly called Turu, which comes from the Turkish word for orange. Between feeding her outside our grocery store and petting her at night, we learned to love “our” street cat. Her, I will maybe miss the most.
Before the work here properly started, our volunteering group had the opportunity to travel to Denizli, paid for by the Turkish National Agency, for the training of our volunteership. Between seminars, food, and games, we had the opportunity to form friendships with people from all over who had decided, just as we did, that volunteering in Turkey was the right step for them. Besides all of that, we also had the opportunity to discover Pamukkale and its beautiful calcium pools. All too fast, it was already over again, and we made our way back to Izmir to start our proper volunteership.
Thrust into kindergartens, conversation clubs, schools, and workshops,we quickly learned that the Turkish people were more than kind and interested. I taught children their first English words, had German conversations with high schoolers, played English games with elderly women, and learned Turkish myself during all that time.Besides my most important work, I also had the opportunity to travel and see more of Turkey.
I went to Ephesus, which used to be an ancient Greek city and the home of the Greek goddess Athena. I learned the history of all those who came before me and left their homes long after it had fallen.I visited the snowy mountains of Kayseri, a city famous for its Manti. I visited one of the first hospitals in Turkey and learned the history of the sultans and princesses of the Ottoman Empire.
I had the chance to visit the hometown of my family, which had long been abandoned in their journey to Germany: Bandırma, the city that sits across the sea from Istanbul. At the water and the ocean, the home of a long-forgotten time.
I visited Çeşme, with its beautiful beach and ocean, with water I could walk into as far as my eyes could reach the horizon. I walked around in Foça, the old fishing village, with the clearest blue and freshest water.The colorful houses set between the streets meant no one could miss the sandy beach.
I took the bus all the way down to Fethiye, the dream of the Turkish people, with beautiful mountains, blue water, and the ancients close by. I spent time with my friends between Pide and traditional Turkish seeds.We drank tea and bought çiğ köfte dürüms.We learned, we laughed, we dreamed, and most importantly, we lived. A life in Turkey, which now has come to an end.
Shayen Soszynski
Pi Volunteer