Hoş Geldiniz to a newsletter
Hello newsletter version of the instagram 'close friends' list,
After some reflection and discussion, it seems like the time has come to join that grand tradition of Fulbrighters and young people going abroad anywhere and start a blog. Except a blog seems very presumptious to me, and, like, anyone could read it, which I think would dilute the candor. On the other hand, I'm supposed to be a "cultural ambassador" and "increase mutual understanding" and there should be "expected benefit to the United States of the grantee's experience abroad," so perhaps publicity is the point? At any rate, I simply could not bring myself to make a WordPress.
So far, Fulbright has meant lots of forms. After not giving any clear information for six months, I suddenly heard that my grant would start in February, and was international-courier-equivalent of smacked in the face with a ream of forms about rights and responsibilities, terms and conditions, and program guidelines. It's so overwhelming after so long of hearing absolutely nothing that I've gone full avoidant, and have only read/signed/initialed/returned the bare minimum and only at the last minute. It's been a long time since I've had to force my brain to focus on extracting information from long and convoluted texts that I just haven't been able to read most of it, even though it is important and exciting.
There seem to be ten ETAs for this year in Turkey, and I've met them briefly over a Zoom orientation meeting and in group messages. It's been very helpful to have people to confer with about visa stuff and other logistics. A lot of them seem to have a background in Turkish language study (the CLS-in-Azerbaijan-to-Fulbright-ETA-in-Turkey pipeline is alive and well) which is a bit intimidating considering that I simply don't speak Turkish. I did attend a Zoom Turkish class over the summer, but with no accountability and no departure date in sight, I forgot anything I might have learned. We are almost all assigned to different cities, and given the difficulties even with domestic travel, it's unlikely we'll get to spend much time together. Somehow, three of us are from the Twin Cities, so I did get to meet one in person when he gave me some Turkish textbooks and a homemade pastry. All of us Twin Citians have appointments for work visa interviews at the Turkish consulate in Chicago on January 4, but for some reason, neither of them want to road trip with me :/ (yes I asked!!) So I will presumably be driving down with my dad because my family is avoiding airline travel.
The official steps remaining are (1) secure work visa (2) secure medical clearance. My host university (Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat Universitesi) has applied on my behalf for a work permit. Once steps (1) and (2) are complete, the Fulbright commission will buy my flights. The unofficial steps remaining are to mentally, physically, and spiritually prepare to move to another continent where I don't speak the language or really know anything when I have spent an average of 18 hours a day in my childhood bedroom for the last eight months. Things will sometimes spring to mind--I should pack Cholula hot sauce because it surely isn't sold in Turkey!--but the only effort I have made is talking about the impending move with some friends and very casually doing some Turkish Duolingo. I think things will start to feel more real after visiting the Consulate. Right now, Fulbright is just something that some boxes on my computer screen say is happening, and it feels completely divorced from my reality and completely inconceivable in the way that big changes always do.
Kendinize iyi bakın,
Netta