from Istanbul, with Love

a collection of observations, thoughts, realizations, and truths from my time spent in, but not limited to- Istanbul, Turkey.

[istanbulsummer]

{Everyone in the program on the ferry headed to Sultanahmet sites last last weekend, & my team on our camera test day at the base camp, at the beginning of our journey... } Can't believe that in a week, we will have finished our films and will be screening them, and saying our farewells to each other- it's been a fun learning experience and I am happy to have gained friends in different parts of the country/the world that I can talk to about film-making (amongst other things) : ).

( I will be in Turkey for another few weeks, so I am currently planning out a loose itinerary- but one thing for sure is a hot air balloon ride/date with Pops in Kapadokya <3)

[istanbulsummer]

This morning started with waking up from a dream in which we were in editing week (that would be next week) and we had a scene with a Korean-speaking unicorn (like in Adventure Time) in it...

Actually, that may have been before or after waking up when the team working with Blue Crescent left for the airport to fly to the Turkish-Syrian border, so jelly that they get to meet Syrian refugees!

N told us she had a dream with a lot of colorful fish, which is a good thing in Islam. I told her fish appears a lot in the Bible symbolically, as well.

Wish I had more time to blog and I could expand on each short paragraphs I am writing- but maybe I can do so another time, maybe this weekend...

For now:

This week has been more intense than I anticipated. Yesterday felt pretty long, but today was a much more enjoyable, restful, easier, and delightful day (& productive!), even though it was even longer- I think inviting Him out loud into it multiple times has made all the difference. Yup.

Istanbul is def. the place to search out trinkets and gems in its antique shops.

One of the favorite interactions from today: from the place I bought 5 vintage postcards of Istanbul (1.50 TL for two), I got to chat a bit with the old man in the store who told me that he has a daughter who did her masters in LA. Hehe.

Looking forward to:

Eating at the Korean restaurant in Taksim this weekend,

Feeling accomplished at the end of this week (but remembering to give ourselves pats on the back all throughout)

Going to the concert of the musician/cellist that I met at Taksim two weeks ago,

Visiting a little section of rows of antique shops not known to many tourists,

Buying a whole watermelon and cutting it into squares, and storing it in the fridge. Then devouring it.

: )

[luxury-andfashion]

[istanbulsummer]

With next week being filming week, and still working through shot lists and scheduling, this quote is truthful in a new light. : )

[istanbulsummer]

1) a happy place. 2) front of the hostel that we are staying at all month- the hill that leads down to the waterfront (where we take the ferry often to cross to the European side) reminds me of San Francisco a bit. 3) meeting with potential characters for the documentary, at Gezi Park! (the site of the recent protests) 4) another evening when we were meeting people from Zumbara around Taksim.

[istanbulsummer]

My favorite installation at the Istanbul Modern (had the chance to visit this past weekend): "Bring yourself to me by Handan Börüteçene... places African masks and suitcases of Turkish migrants to France on old chairs belonging to the National Museum of the History of Migration in Paris. To complete the piece, viewers are asked to discover the marks on the suitcases with the aid of magnifiers and to recall their own memories. The installation of 19 suitcases, 19 chairs, and 30 magnifiers on wheels has an arresting presence in the lower lobby of the museum."

The invitational text for the viewers to interact with the installation (sit on the chairs, etc.) was rather small and discreetly placed on the other side and it felt like I had stumbled upon a secret. There's a sort of a thrill, being 'allowed to interact' with an art piece at an art museum. Unfortunately, I can't find the English translation of the poem that was written on the wall that accompanied the installation.

[aysegulguzel-blog]

via Satori

[istanbulsummer]

The outreach/documentary production program with Actuality Media officially started this past Sunday (or maybe I should say Saturday evening, since that's when almost-everyone met and had a group welcoming dinner) and the days have def. been going by faster. It's been about a week since I've been in Istanbul/Turkey, but it feels longer in a good way- I've def. adjusted since my last post. The jetlag has been conquered, for one. 

The days feel busy for me, maybe a bit busier than other members of the team because I'm usually eager to study some Turkish during my spare time, communicate with friends here, have some time to myself and spend with God, etc. During the first week ('research' week) we do some research on the organization, the area, etc., meet up with people in the organization (leaders, participants, etc.), brainstorm and start visualizing the structure and flow of the documentary as well discuss potential main characters for the documentary. Every morning we have briefings where we are given concise but insightful information regarding different aspects of documentary production. I actually really enjoy them, and all of the short documentaries that we have watched so far during our briefings have been truly inspiring. It's the first week, but so far, the process of documentary production is quite exhilarating (we haven't even gone out to film yet- third week!), especially in this city, this summer. 

Having the role of 'producer' for this project has been fun and challenging (mostly having the role within the team and being assertive when necessary). I chose the role, even though I would've enjoyed the other ones as well, because I thought it would stretch me the most and I would learn the most from the experience in such a setting as this.

There's lots of things I would like to record, but here are some of the little but meaningful things that I would like to remember from the past week:

Last evening I went to Taksim Square to meet with a couple of our potential characters, and before leaving our hostel I was telling the other group that I'm so jelly (jealous in a good way, since it sounds friendly... defined by me haha) that they get to fly to Southeastern Turkey to meet Syrian refugees. When we got off the ferry, a girl was headed to the same location as us and walked with us. Turned out that she and her friend are both Syrians living in Istanbul. Hehe. They were so sweet. Her friend looked at me and asked 'Are you South Korean?' : )

Walking around Sultanahmet with Zeynep is like I'm being let into the secrets of Istanbul- as an archaeology/Ottoman/ancient art and artifacts major, she points out significance of small and large structures on every corner, that even locals don't know about ; ).

On the ferry on the way back to Kadikoy- the first person that we met with for the doc, told us that she has become more hopeful after the protests. She's very cool, free-spirited, an artist who was raised by an artist mother. She also loves Korean culture and is seriously considering living in Korea in the future!

The kindness of the woman who walked me to the post office when I asked for directions, and the fact that I was able to 'converse' with her most of the way in my broken Turkish.

I am really glad that I brought my ukulele here. It's so much easier and fitting to play certain songs on it too, though there's also a guitar downstairs in the hostel.

Getting to talk about 'goodness' and how I know the goodness of God to be the most true and one that runs deep, with a new friend : )

'Good finds' such as comfy semi-Turkish pants, new cell phone cover for 5 TL, the bakery that I have decided to call one of my happy places in the neighborhood, a neighborhood that has antique shops that carry items that are far more magical than the ones at Grand Bazar hehe.

[istanbulsummer]

The Bosphorus.

I found out, from reading the novel (or rather, a biography?) Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk on the plane ride, that the word for 'throat' is the same in Turkish as the word for the Bosphorus. It is the strait that serves as one of the dividers of the great city into the Asian side and the European side, a body of water that remains significant since Ancient Greece to this day. 

Despite my awareness that the Istanbul portrayed by Orhan Pamuk is rather melancholy as he narrates the city through his life views and experiences, I think his interpretation of the role and symbolism of the Bosphorus to Istanbulites is probably true. I only had to walk along the Bosphorus myself this afternoon to understand it- that a walk along the Bosphorus is to be cherished, and somehow it reminds one to cherish his life, as well. A walk along the Bosphorus, away from the crowded streets and across from magnificent buildings on the other side of the strait, does wonders. It is refreshing for the throat, the mind, and for the heart. 

Before my program starts on the 3rd, I've been trying to take things slowly, and take some time to adjust to being away, to being here in Istanbul. I felt unexpectedly nervous to venture out of my room this morning, but as the day progressed I've felt more and more at ease : ). It started with browsing through a bookstore to find a dictionary, and exchanging a few words with kind locals when I sat down in front of the Bosphorus to people-watch (which they seemed to be doing too). In the evening, I walked alongside familiar faces and felt very glad and secure to do so, had my first dondurma since arrival, then an iced Americano over a conversation that made my heart happy, then a chicken kebap plate with dear friends (we all ordered and devoured the same thing). 

[istanbulsummer]

I'm back...!

I left Turkey in January, 2012, after studying abroad for the fall semester and spending most of my time in Ankara (as an exchange student at Bilkent University). The experience was nothing short of magical, while eye-opening, and definitely not without hardships. And without a doubt, I gained beautiful friendships from my time in Ankara. I left, knowing that I'll be back. I left with the last few pages of my journal filled with reflections on how blessed I've been during my time in Turkey, but that if there was just one thing I wish I could've gotten the chance to do (or do in the future-), it was to explore Istanbul. A year and a half later, I'm back. To the city that 'held me back' from leaving Turkey for another day, during which I met another beautiful soul from Iraq (she told me later that when she saw me, she prayed that I was in the group going to a hotel nearby), failed to go inside the Hagia Sofia for the second time, enjoyed Arabic chocolate and the rainy views of Istanbul on the tram, shivered in the cold and rainy tour bus ride, and had the most satisfying and warm lentil soup of my life. Oh, Istanbul. I started to learn its story right after I left in 2012, through my history class that studied (studied, rather than explained, or encompassed) the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire with an animated professor who clearly had a love for the Middle East and Istanbul in particular. It's almost like we have a relationship- maybe it's that I've been eager and somewhat persistent in getting to know this city, even after I left, or especially after I left. Maybe it's really like I haven't left at all, with my constant correspondence with my Turkish friends and my nostalgia for (I can't say efforts towards, because I didn't get to continue my studies as much as I would've loved to) the language, even in San Diego. Maybe it's unique that while I haven't visited Korea, my place of birth and the country of my nationality, since college, this is my third time in Turkey. My friends should know that I am a traveler and I am very serious about my wanderlusts. There are numerous other places I would have loved to go. Instead, I came back. When others ask, 'Why?', I tell them a story, rather than give an explanation. Not only because I'm naturally more of a storyteller, but it can't really be explained- I can only tell them 'how I got here'. 'How I got here' often lies outside of my expectations, my foresight, and my plans (thus it can't be contained in an explanation or explanations), but I am thankful to be, 'here'. One of the things that I'll definitely get the chance to do, this time I'm in this fascinating country, is to explore Istanbul: I am staying in the city most of my time in Turkey this summer, being part of a team comprised mostly of film and/or journalism students, that is producing a short documentary in Istanbul. I am truly blessed to have such a unique experience. And quite happy to be immersed in the beautiful language again, to drink cups after cups of cay, to marvel at its historical buildings and its ethereal landscapes.