Quinn

I just recently saw the Özdelek Shopping Center when I was on AntRay, and so am looking forward to checking it out. Indeed, I like the Doğu Garajı neighborhood and thereabouts. Everyone we knew was pushing the neighborhood around the 5M Migros in Konyaaltı and so we did see it. But I don't get the appeal, especially compared to various places in Muratpaşa.

Thanks Hobbit, I'll check it out. Sadly, Flashcard Exchange was sold, and the thing I loved about it (and paid for!) was the way it allowed one to use the compartments. Most flashcard programs have such compartments, but they dont "remember" where you are at when you close a session. I've been looking for a replacement, but haven't found any, and have just been making due with the file in Excel. I do a tiny bit of programming as a hobby, and so it's on the backburner as a future project to make an app that would mimic the old Flashcard Exchange but . . . meh. I'd rather keep learning Turkish.

Thanks, IslandGirl! Those are really good tips. Where in Muratpaşa did you live? I'll look to see if I can find a map online of the Tram line. Is there a stop in Çağlayan, do you know? Or how long it would take a bus to go from Çağlayan to the city center?

How far away is Fener, Çağlayan, Şirinyalı and Yeşilbahçe from city center, both in terms of in terms of traffic (do the main roads between this area and city center have heavy traffic during rush hour?) Are there buses from/to this area from/to the city center and if so, how long does it take to get to city center? Do you know the neighborhood name that has the 5M Migros in Konyaaltı?

Yes, it appears perhaps that individuals may have a year reprieve: DEAD LINK That is a bummer about VA pensions, Hobbit. It seems to me vets should be entitled to count on their checks, after their service.

Thank you for your reply, Hobbit. Thanks esp. for the info on superonline. Good to know, esp. because superonline want a 2 year committment/contract that sounds pretty punitive if you cancel. I will check your suggestions out one by one. We have called TTNET at least 5 times, but haven't even gotten a call back, much less a visit from a Real Person. Sigh. But your suggestions give me some positive steps to take. thanks much--

Here's one link, Tatertot. I now can't find the site that quote the 330 day rule though. :-( DEAD LINK Maybe I'll limit my time to less than 35 days if it turns out to be true that you can only spend 35 days back before being forced into the system . . . I'll see if I can find anything else . . .

I just read somewhere that between October 1 and March 2014, everyone (Americans) have to sign up for health insurance under Obamacare, or be fined if you don't. I've done a little research and saw that if you are living abroad, you are exempt, but "living abroad" apparently means living away from the US 330 days a year, and between two vacations--one in the summer, one in the winter--I overstay that. Just wondering how others are dealing with this/making sense of the rules.

Hi all-- So I've had TTNET for over a year now. During the winter, my connectivity was very bad. It seemed like it was a lot, lot worse whenever it rained. Example: some evenings I would be on Skype with family/friends and my line would be dropped as many as a dozen times in a half hour. It was very frustrating. I Turkey for a vacation in the States in June and came back at the end of August. For several weeks, the internet was sheer bliss--not one problem. I forgot all about my former internet problems. Then it rained last week, and it's been hellish since. Didn't have the internet for almost 24 hours. It was extremely spotty for several days after that. It seems much worse than i remember. I mentioned my problems to a friend and she said that she has superonline. She said that she has had only one problem in a couple years, and that they came out right away. Also, it's cheaper. She sent me a link: http://www.superonline.net/kampanya-detay?k=59&d=fiber-hiz-etkisi It is 59TL for a month with a 2 year contract. My husband is wary of the contract. We are not certain that we are going to stay in Izmir for 2 years (i.e. could move to Istanbul or possibly back to the States). It is not entirely clear what the penalty is from breaking it. Does anyone have this service? I did read other threads regarding this and it seems like others have found superoneline to be unsavory or that they just go through TTNET anyway. We have called TTNET three or four times and they haven't come out. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope with them, very, very tired of having such unreliable service. Any thoughts?

Fil! That's fantastic! Congratulations! There is, though, a bit of a difference between you and most of us who are teaching EFL in Turkey. If I remember correctly, you are a bona fide academic with a Ph.d and an impressive set of credentials, teaching in an academic department, not the hazirlik school. That said, maybe it is different in your school; maybe they would hire a dual citizen and consider that person a native. (If this is the case, I'd love to know!) Dilem23 did indicate that she was specifically looking for work in Izmir, and at least in two of the state universities and one of the private universities in Izmir, having dual citizenship is a disadvantage. One private high school also balked; they decided to make me an offer, but I wouldn't be "official," I'd have to hide/not work if the government regulatory body visited, and they would not give references for me as a teacher (but would as a "worker" there) in the future. I haven't pursue leads with other high schools to confirm that dual citizenship is a problem across the board. I think it's important to communicate both the advantages and disadvantages of having/not having Turkish citizenship, especially vis a vis employment opportunities in teaching English, which is such a major source of employment for native speakers. A good friend of mine here in Izmir, American-born with Turkish citizenship, recently gave up his Turkish citizenship, when he met the same walls I did. I'm not quite there yet, but I've considered it. Certainly it would open up my options if indeed what I want to do is teach English at a hazirlik school for a university, especially a state university. This all said, I did get on with a private university last year, Dilem. And other places that are not state schools, (i.e. the high school I mentioned and another private university) while disappointed to hear I had Turkish citizenship, have offered to try to find a work-around for the problem. Of course language schools are also an option, one that will welcome Turkish citizens. So there are opportunities and possibilities. It was just really surprised to find that my citizenship would work against me at all in terms of finding employment.

Actually, I have found it to be a huge disadvantage to have Turkish citizenship in terms of teaching English. Two state universities in Izmir offered me a job and then had to rescind when they found out that I actually have Turkish citizenship (I'm American and got my Turkish citizenship last year through my Turkish husband). Basically, because of the Turkish citizenship, I cannot be considered a native. That means that in order to be hired at a state university, I would have to take the tests all the Turkish teachers have to take in order to get hired there, unless I want to work part-time, which pays very, very, very little. Some private universities may still be willing to hire a person with dual citizenship; also high schools and elementary schools, as well as language schools. In my experience, the best jobs are not advertised. The best way to get a job is to visit schools in person when you are in Izmir. Once living here, you will make friends and meet people and new opportunities will arise. Hope this helps--

Hi everyone! So after a good 8 months here, I have yet to have a decent cup of coffee. Why? Because in my world, this requires real cream, what in the states is called "heavy whipping cream" in its liquid, pre-whipped state. I would settle for what in the states is called "half and half" which is to say, half liquid heavy whipping cream and half whole milk. I have tried many avenues to find this here. What I'm looking for is not kaymak, which is clotted cream. I have tried to explain what I want to the milk manager at Migros who seemed baffled by my request (or maybe he was just baffled by my mangled Turkish!) In the past, people have tried to steer me to Coffee Mate, which is something I totally do not want. I have been told by another American who isn't sure what the name is that cream comes in 250ml bottles, so I've looked for things with that description and ended up buying Kefir, which is not cream either. I don't want "krema" which is whipped cream. Tureng is of no help. When I was at Migros, a Turkish woman who spoke English intervened in the conversation with the milk manager and told me that my Migros doesn't carry it but another store in the next neighborhood might. I'm going to that neighborhood today. If any of you or your Turkish spouses (my husband, too, doesn't know) know the word for "cream" I'd be eternally grateful . . .

Hi everyone! Well yesterday I finally got internet service at home! Yay! And not a minute too soon, either. I know my title sounds a little melodramatic, but I've already ruined some clothes, and my husband left for the States this morning, and so I don't have my go-to translator on hand to explain to the nice people in Migros what I'm looking for. I don't know about product availability/brands in Britain, but in the States we have products specific for stain removal. Two brands that come to mind are Shout! and Easy Wash. They come in spray bottles or bottles with an applicator, and you apply the product right on the stain. In my experience, if I don't do this, stain sometimes don't come out with detergent alone. Last week we got our wash machine and I bought what I thought was detergent and stain remover from the same brand, as one is in a largish bottle and one is smaller with an applicator-like tip. Well, apparently I was wrong, because when I pulled the clothes out of the wash machine, the clothes were two different colors. Yes, I am a grown woman who has (successfully! uneventfully! in several countries!) done laundry since I was 13, and apparently I willingly put bleach on my clothes. I did detect a (slight--not strong) clorox-like smell (and so, thankfully, only ruined a single pair of pants--I thought I would "test" it after I applied a little and was suspicious) but the consistency was like regular liquid detergent, so I thought I was only imagining it. What I bought was: Domestos brand "Ultra Yogun Kivamlı çamaşır suyu". "Temizler %100 hijen saglar" it says. What is this stuff? Is this bleach? The "topnote" of the smell is very pleasant and I don't detect an obvious bleach smell, but then when I touched it and rinsed it off, the smell was definitely Clorox-gibi. Can anyone tell me if stain removal products are available and what the brands are/what it's called? And also the name/brand of a normal detergent? I would love to do some laundry today, but now I'm scared that I'll have a repeat session if I try to buy some detergent without knowing what to look for. Thanks for any and all help--

Hi everyone-- I posted this question as part of another thread, but after a few days there has been no response, so I thought I would try my luck here. My MIL has asked us to bring in a phone for her. That would be okay, but I'm going to be coming over in a few weeks to live in Turkey and my husband will be joining me in February. (He's coming in a few weeks to help set me up, but will be returning to the States after a couple weeks. He'll then come permanently, inshallah, in February.) So if we buy a phone for her (and have to register it in, say, my husband's name) and if I register my phone in mine, that means that we won't be able to do so again for 2 years, and thus my husband will be without his phone when he comes over in Turkey. This wouldn't be so bad if we knew we could bring in other phones in the future. As of right now, I have at least 6 family members or friends lined up to come visit me in Turkey, and I think at least 4 of those are certain to visit. So I could just order the phone I/he wanted from a US website, have it sent to them it the US, and they could bring it over and register it for me. I know it would be in their name. Would that matter? Does one have to prove one is the registered owner of the phone for any reason in the future? Could they register their (my) phone on a tourist visa? Thanks for any help or advice.

Hi everyone--I was wondering if anyone could tell me how big the biggest bed is in Turkey? I tried to research this on my own, but have come up empty-handed. I looked up "bed sizes" in Wiki, and while they have numbers for many nations (including Malaysia) there aren't figures for Turkey. I went to the Turkish IKEA site, but while they say "different sizes available" for SULTAN FLORVAG mattresses, for instance, they don't give the dimensions! (http://www.ikea.com.tr/urundetay/30139741/sultan_florvag_yatak.aspx) I then went to the bed proper, and clicked on the most expensive (thinking that this is also the biggest?) and it was only 160cm, which is 62 inches, which is very slightly bigger than a Queen. Is that as big as it gets, does anyone know? I love my king-size bed, and am hoping to find one in Turkey. But the bedrooms in many of the apartments I've seen seem tiny, so I thought I would also bring a measuring tape when I apartment hunt, to make sure they would fit, or fit the way I would like it to fit (i.e. to be able to get out of either side, preferably with two bed-side tables.)Thanks much for any help--