What's life like in Turkey?

Question

What will seem weird to an American?

What laws are different than in America?

What are the attitudes on sins such as smoking, drinking and s*x?

Finally is it safe for an American to live there?

Also, hows the standard of living, ie cleanliness, bathrooms, modern conveniences, food?

Thanks! and don't worry I can control my debauchery if I must.

Answer 1

Being an American im sure you can afford a holiday to turkey.

Take a trip and find out.

Finding things out for yourself is the only true freedom a person really has.use that freedom.make up your own mind.

Answer 2

hi my friend,

i would like to recommend to you some links !

*Who Are the Turks?

by Justin & Carolyn McCarthy

http://www.ataturk.com/content/view/28/6...

*http://www.alpalper.com/kitap/kitap.html

*http://www.anikya.com/eng/anasayfa.asp

*http://www.lesartsturcs.org/index.html

*http://www.pasabahcemagazalari.com/Store...

*http://www.goldenhorn-rotary.com/ercu/ER...

*http://turkish.homestead.com/

Answer 3

standard of living: The standard of living in Turkey, especially in big cities, are so high that I am a Turk living outside Turkey and I miss my comfortable life style in there. But of course this depends which city in Turkey you are talking about.

The food is heavenly.

You can drink, smoke and do whatever you want. Nobody cares. Turks drink a lot, btw. And we are especially proud of our Rakı.

There are lots of Americans living in Turkey.  

If you are planning moving toTurkey, if you mention where in Turkey, then we can give you more specific answers.

Answer 4

I have traveled to turkiye only twice ( so far) but got two good views of turkiye from the American view,  so i think, that some things are different, but they are not insurmountable. Lots of Turks will try to speak English, with a little understanding, a lot of sign language, and Your effort to learn a little bit of the language before you go.  Your communication is possible,  the bathrooms, well the first time that i seen the * elephant feet*  well ....  i will leave that to your imagination or your first experience, ..  LOL  i would not want to take that away from anyone.   OMG>   but  now i will say for me, the lack of hot water 24/7  in even hotels was a bit * strange* but i got use to planning my shower during the day, so i was sure to have hot water.    

I never felt, unsafe,   i did not stay in the big towns though,  i went to kas and then to the mountains, so i was in villages, and the people were curious,  and wanted to try out their English....  LOL   that was funny.   A  lot of the school kids, came up and wanted to make conversations, so i talked with them, they were so happy to try their English.   LOL  

but relax and enjoy .

Answer 5

In Turkey smoking, drinking, and s*x are not sins.. Well it depends on where you go. If you go to Istanbul smoking is quite normal half of my relatives there smoke. But conservative muslims don't like smoking. My dads side of the family is conservative and his brother and his wife smoke and the wife is also closed which confuses me but it's their life.  

Drinking is normal in Turkey. Some conservatives think it is a sin. Most Turkish people say they are muslim and even pray anddon't eat port but  still drink. Another interesting thing I found out when a couple of friends bought beer there is that they don't check your ID.

s*x is .... a complicated subject in Turkey. Many men in Istanbul do not wait till marriage and usually go to brothels for it. But if you go to other parts of Turkey like the east many of them are virgins waiting till marriage. Girls in Istanbul are usually virgins but it is not hard to find one that isn't. Girls in the East and South usually come from a conservative family so they know to wait till marriage and if she doesn't the family usually gets very mad and sometimes even disown them, kill them, beat them, etc... Its sad but true.

Living in Turkey is usually nice, clean. Bathrooms are like normal American bathrooms, sometimes they are on the floor but that is usually in villages.

Turkey is just like America .. There are supermarkets (Migros..etc..), malls.

Food is really good there and there are a lot of choices. If you are not used to Turkish food there are American restaurants there like Patso Burger, Pizza Hutt, TGI Fridays, KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, etc.. But if you ask me I would stick to the Turkish food you will get addicted to it.

Some tips for your trip there:

- You will find everything there cheaper especially at the daily markets so don't go shopping in America for you trip.

- Get an Enlish-Turkish dictionary.. Many Turks know ok enlgish but only basics like (hello, ok, yes, no, what is your name, how old are you, etc...)

- Get an air conditioner for your appartment if it does not have one. Summers there are extremely hot.

- You will see many men holding hands, hugging, etc.. this is normal there. It is a sign of showing friendship. They are not g*y.

- When you go to Turkey you should try Baklava (a Turkish dessert), you won't regret it.

-visit historical places such as Hagia Sophia, Yerebatan Bisilica, Dolmabahce Palace, Kiz Kulesi, Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque. They are all in Istanbul.

- Do not eat food being sold on the street, it can cause you to get sick since you are not yet used to it and are not immune to everything. After a couple of 2-4 you can slowly start eating whatever you want.

-Do not drink the tap water. You may get sick from drinking it since you are not immune to it. Many locals don't drink the tap water since it is not the cleanest but it is still safe.

-Do not drive there. The traffic is really bad and you must be and expert at driving there to not get into an accident. It is usual for people to run red lights there.

- Locals don't wear seat belts most of the time. It is against the law not to but the police never cares. You might want to tho.

- Do not show all the money you have when buying something, it might attract pick-pocketers.

- Store keepers might try to rip you of since you are foreign so watch out.

- Watch how much the taxi driver charges you, they might try to rip you off.

- The kids on the streets with big white trash bins are called gypsies (Cingenes). Do not give them weird looks or make fun of them they will probably pick a fight with you if you do.

- visit the princes islands. They are seven small islands really close to Istanbul. The best is Buyuk Ada. you get to ride horse cars there.

Theres a lot more to say but these are probably the most important.

Answer 6

The laws in Turkey are fairly the same and smoking, drinking, and s*x are all fine w/ the Turks, well, except s*x, depending on the situation.

Yes, it's safe for an American.  Many American tourists have come to Turkey and have been welcomed very warmly.

The bathrooms there are more likely to be western style toilets.  We do have the Eastern European style, but really most people don't have a preference.  In actuality, the eastern style is actually more sanitary in my opinion, but the western is definitely more convenient I suppose.

The food there is great!  If you ever get the chance, have doner kebab..

I guess something different you might find there is that many people--mostly the elders--like to wash their hands and feet in public fountains outside of mosques.  This is only normal and is part of their ritual with praying, so don't think that the all the elderly have gone mad or anything, it's only typical.

Answer 7

I am an American that's been living in Turkey for over 1 year...

What will seem weird to an American?

-You will notice that the men are extremely touchy feely.  Men will walk around holding hands, etc. as a heterosexual sign of friendship

What laws are different than in America?

-There is a law against saying something against "Turkishness."  Some journalist have been in trouble for this.

-There is a ban on headscarves in the universities

-YOUTUBE is blocked by the government!

-Most laws are designed to fit closely to Europe, as they are trying to join the EU

What are the attitudes on sins such as smoking, drinking and s*x?

-If you are American, you will most likely be hanging out with secular or "lightly Muslim" people.    Smoking, drinking and s*x is hardly a sin.  These are the 3 favorites of many Turks!

Finally is it safe for an American to live there?

It is safe, but be very careful where you chose to live.  Stay in the nicer areas of the big cities like Izmir, Istanbul or Ankara.  Avoid living in small villages in the east of Turkey.  Safety issues won't really arise because you are "American"... but there are just the general safety problems of big cities like Istanbul with dangerous areas

Also, hows the standard of living, ie cleanliness, bathrooms, modern conveniences, food?

You can have basically the same standard of living as in the US in the big cities like Istanbul.  Just expect to pay a little more for it than in the US.  (If you want to cheap out, expect a lower standard of living with lower quality foods and a not-so-nice apartment)

Answer 8

you have to visit and live in

Turkey and experience yourself. nothing i can write here can be enough or right.

Finally is it safe for an American to live there?

yes its safe. Turkey is not Iraq. What are you afraid of? how old are you?