Well, quite simply, my visa expired and I became an illegal immigrant. It was pointed out rather politely at the police station while I was applying for my residence visa. I was told "you should leave Turkey immediately". I left the next day for Sakiz (the closest Greek island to Izmir).
It wasn't entirely my fault. Through a series of bad communication, I had made assumptions about the state of my visa application that turned out to be completely false. I paid the price.
The price was 162YTL and the knowledge that had I left it just 5 more days, I wouldn't have been able to return to Turkey for a good few months. Here's a picture of me 'eating the fine' (as they say here).
Sakiz isn't that different than Samos. Better shopping perhaps. I was only there for 5 hours so I can't give a detailed description. It pissed down, I looked at Christmas decorations, I bought Ouzo and came back.
Thank Christ they let me back in. Another 3 months at least.
7 comments:
Opa! Hooray! Mazel tov!
How's the teaching going?
Hey Jill, it's going really well. I feel like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable, finally finding my purpose in life. Though I wear a white coat and he had a rather cool poncho.
Great to see your writing again. It's always a highlight, keep up the good work. What's life like in a Turkish school?
Also, can't believe they've given you white coat. Remember the last time? Lucky he can live on just one kidney.
Hello Billfredo;I've just found your blog,and it is a really funny blog.And a little note:In Turkish ''I love you'' and ''I like you'' are not the same.
Love(n):Aşk
Love(v):Sevmek
Like(v):Hoşlanmak
I love you:''Seni seviyorum'' or ''Sana aşığım''.
I like you:Senden hoşlanıyorum
Keep on blogging.
Yes, you're absolutely right but wouldn't you say that people generally say "seni seviyorum" in place of "I love you"? Much like the French "je t'aime". Literally it means "I like you" though, you're right.
If you wanted to tell someone you like them, you'd probably have to throw in the words "my friend" to avoid any misunderstanding.
Hi Bill.Seni seviyorum has a unisex feel we can say it to anyone and anything but ''Senden hoşlanıyorum(I like you)''and ''Sana aşığım(I'm in love with you'' sentences can not be said to your friends.I've never heard of anyone to say these sentences to their friends.This can be really awkward.
The part about Chios that I found irritating is how the ferry boat brings you into port about 30 minutes before all the shops close for the siesta! It is like a very well-equipped ghost town. I wandered around there for hours trying to find something to do other than drink very VERY expensive cold coffee, which always looked better than it tasted.
On one visit, I went up to the monastery on the hill.. where the priest showed me the very spot where thousands of Greeks were murdered by the Turks. The other members of the tour stared at the stained stone floor silently and with the appropriate glumness and then, after a polite moment of sobriety, we moved on. The monastery provided such a refreshing refuge from the heat, it was hard to find the absolutely correct expression of horror and repulsion.
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