Dipity
Ramadan (or Ramazan in Turkish) was always very special for me in Germany. I had rarely dinner at home and was always with friends. We had iftar (the Ramadan dinner) together, prayed and read Qur'a...
I was sitting here and preparing lessons for my Second Life tonight when some neighbours started playing extremely loud music. I had the feeling I was sitting right next to the loud speakers. I don...
Yesterday morning, I woke up to a chorus of muezzins calling to prayer (azan or adhan) in canon. This was so beautiful. Now, you will say, what is so unusual about that? Don't you have muezzins' ca...
Yesterday morning, I woke up to a chorus of muezzins calling to prayer (azan or adhan) in canon. This was so beautiful. Now, you will say, what is so unusual about that? Don't you have muezzins' ca...
Last year I visited London and saw the Buckingham Palace but the Queen was unfortunately not at home. Today, the Queen visited my city together with her husband, Prince Phillip. Bursa has been prep...
What's so special about this picture? It's a special market for villagers, mostly from the small mountain villages around Bursa, where they sell their produce. So, if you are looking for produce th...
Today, my mom and I went for a city walk. We plan to go for such walks more or less regularly to explore the city's old and new face. There is so much to see and discover that it amazes me.Pınarbaş...
A han was an Ottoman or Seljuk inn. In Bursa there are many historic hans. None of them, of course, is used as a hotel anymore. Most of them have been lovingly restored and are used as shops, cafés...
SourceAnatolium is the name of the new shopping mall and entertainment complex that is being built in Bursa. It's going to be the largest one in Bursa and some of the buildings will be build in typ...
Pictures taken by Carrie Akkelle ( canmom ) - http://www.flickr.comThanks Carrie!23 April is a national holiday in Turkey - it's Children's Festival and marks the day of the opening of the first ...
Because there is often the misconception that non-Muslims cannot build their churches and synagogues in Turkey, I wanted to share some information with you. There have always been churches and syna...
I went to an ELT (English Language Teaching) seminar on Saturday. The venue was a private primary school. It felt good to be in a school again — as teacher :-). In Turkey, I rather avoid schools as...
I learned that today, 6 April, is the anniversary of Bursa's conquest. It was conquered in 1324 CE by Orhan, son of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire after whom the Empire was named. Bursa w...
Today was a beautiful, warm and sunny spring day. Perfect day for a visit of the Botanical Garden! The last time I was there was in 2001. That was also my first time there. I knew where it was but ...
A picture from a traditional hamam. This one is for men. What else did you expect? :-)Today, my mom and I went to a traditional Turkish bath or hamam (from Arabic) in a historic domed building, and...
When my sister called me the other day and asked if I wanted milk from the local milkman who had his own cows, I was dumbfounded. Fresh milk from cows in the city? I knew they existed when I was a ...
Today, I managed to go to the new City Square and do some window shopping in the mall.The mall consists of three huge eight-storey buildings of which four are below ground including the car park. W...
In Germany, we had to recycle everything! It was almost too much. We had three different dust bins plus a plastic bag for plastic, metals, etc. Then there were glass containers, clothes containers,...
Hi everybody I'm an English teacher. I was born in Turkey and spent my first five years in Bursa. Then I moved abroad and only visited during holidays. Now, I moved back. Bursa has changed a lot si...
Saturday was a day of openings. I was torn between the three fairs I wanted to visit and the opening of the City Square. I decided to go to the fair. After all, I reasoned, the Square would be the...
(Source: www.yenişafak.com.tr)One of the ugliest places near the centre of Bursa was the "Santral Garaj". Turkish is a phonetic language; so, with a little bit of imagination and knowledge of Frenc...
One of my "biggest" concerns when I decided to move to Turkey was how to live without the famous German bread varieties, especially the wholemeal bread. In Germany, I almost never ate white bread, ...
As a Muslim, I pray my five daily prayers (sala'at or namaz). Before, I had to print out the times and had to look them up every day as there was obviously no call to prayer. Some people I know hav...
One of my all-time favourite snacks is Milchschnitte. My mom and my sister also like it a lot. So, it was the only thing that they asked me to bring when I visited them in Turkey. A few weeks ago, ...
I don't really watch TV anymore. But today it was turned on (I need to improve my Turkish). Suddenly, I saw a product that was familiar to me - Frosch washing liquid (German readers will know it). ...
What is home? Am I at home now? How does being at home feel?My mom, relatives and neighbours tell me that I am at home now.I don't know. Is home where your family is or where you were born?Did I co...
One of my negative experiences in Turkey has been with customer service. I am used to the generous customer rights in Germany, where it is absolutely no problem to bring a product that you've purch...
This weekend, I am planning to visit a fair in Bursa, actually three fairs in one place:Bilişim fuarı - an IT and electronics fairKitap fuarı - a book fairEğitim fuarı - an education fair.Here is a...
If there is something that I cannot complain about in Turkey, that's food. Fresh tasty fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices at affordable prices. The Turkish cuisine is excellent and there is such a...
Rediscovering Bursa
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