It begins...

everyone!

This is my first post of the blog - EurasianAmerican.blogspot.com -
I thought that rather than shoot off emails that might get lost in the fray or instigate unwanted responses, I'd create a blog so folks could check up on me at their leisure, posting and reading as (you) please.

I landed in Istanbul at Ataturk Int'l Airport on Wednesday, February 4th...although it took us a while to take off. We were stuck at JFK for 2 hours... in the plane. Have I mentioned - well, no I guess I haven't yet - whatever - so Lufthansa is a lovely airline. God bless the Germans for their precision engineering, snazzy yellow plastic trim, and in-seat personal monitors. What happened to being on time!!! Fuc*ers. Both of my take-offs were late. I thought that Germans could control the weather (ice storms and low-lying fog? wtf!) Anyways, I almost got through 2 movies before we took off. Can't remember what they were though...obviously not very memorable. A positive note, however: I had 4 seats to myself!! kick ass! I slept for the majority of our flying time, completely laid out across my row and flaunting it at every opportunity to my lowly economy class compatriots. Ah, isn't it great being royalty?

When we landed in Munich though, I had already missed my plane. I was efficiently booked on a later flight, which was fantastic. One problem: Munich was covered in fog...another hour delay on the plane after a 2 hour layover and one hour regular outside-the-plane delay. Can you follow this at all? I'm beginning to lose track myself.

Whatever though! I met a guy on the plane (obviously - no, not that I talk to everyone. I only talk to men, duh) who goes to Bogazici U and lives nearby my apartment. He took one shuttle and a bus with me (as my personal guide) and walked me to my apartment. Nice guy - named... Onur (like Honor, but oh-noor). I met my roomates - nice people, although there are 6, sometimes 7 of us living in a 4BR. I'll explain later.

We all went for a Kebap (yes, a "p") and then came back to my room. Assuming that those reading this know me, guess what the first thing I did was: rearrange. The bed was using up too much space - moved it to a difft wall, switched the desk to the other side of the room, and then connected to the internet. So here I am. Installment #1 of Jesse in Turkey. It's been almost a week since I left, so I've been sitting here on my ass learning Turkish and exploring Istanbul a bit.

I also decided to join the (American) football team and cook my own food. More details to come!