You Know You're An Exchange Student in Turkey When . . . .

          After so long living here, I have thought of a few ways to know you are an exchange student in Turkey. So in honor of my 9 month anniversary here in Turkey which passed last Friday, here is my list.

1. You speak fluent Turklizce and sentences like "We are just going to gez around" and "Let's kaç!" make total sense to you.
2. You feel weird if you haven't had at least a few cups of tea on any given day.
3. Same goes for pieces of bread.
4. You have developed a bit of an obsession with buying the silk scarves they sell at the bazaar. (I've already bought 6 and have no intention of stopping.)
5. You justify every purchase you make with, "Well, it's only $7 so it's ok." (The exchange rate is amazing for us right now)
6. You have realized that class is a completely acceptable time to do pretty much anything, including naps, gossiping, and catching up on the latest episodes of your favorite TV show.
7. You have accepted the fact that your host mom is never going to allow you to sleep with your hair wet. (Turkish people think you will get sick)
8. It's not weird to you to wear shoes around the house, but you never wear the ones you wore outside.
9. As soon as you get home, you change into sweatpants and t-shirts and you love it.
10. Yogurt on literally everything is normal to you.
11. You never go to the bathroom when you are out because you are too cheap to pay for them.
12. You have accepted that you will never get a drink with ice in it, but it still always makes you a little sad to pour your lukewarm water into a glass without ice.
13. You have mastered the art of crossing the street and not getting run over.
14. You never go more than a week without eating döner or pide.
15. It no longer weirds you out to see pictures and statues of Atatürk literally everywhere.
16. Going to the bazaar is one of your favorite ways to spend an afternoon.
17. You no longer get offended when the first thing people comment on is how much weight you've gained.
18. Your arms are way tanner than your legs because you are always wearing long pants.
19. You get really angry when English words don't follow vowel harmony.

20. You still have no idea what most of the food you are eating is because you don't know the English words for all the ingredients. 

21. You are a master of your city's bus system. 

22. Your social media is more in Turkish than it is in English
23. You can tell what time it is based on how many calls to prayer you have heard that day.
24. You are an expert at mentally converting between kilos and pounds, kilometers and miles, and Celsius and Fahrenheit.
25. You have found at least one little Turkish village that you are seriously considering running away to.
26. You can no longer remember what a city without mosques and minarets sticking up everywhere looks like.
27. The thought of leaving Turkey makes you want to cry.
28. But you know you will be back again soon because Turkey is your home now too!