There is no doubt that every nation has some customs or tradition that foreigners find curious, funny, strange, ... Here are some turkish customs that I find interesting or typically turkish:
- (Tons of) Shoes in front of flat: Generally before entering a turkish flat you must put down your shoes. It's (almost) forbidden to enter a turkish flat wearing shoes. So it should not surprise you that hallways in a block of flat are full with shoes.
- Çay (Tea): Turkish people drinks çay all the time and everywhere. Even tough turkish coffee is more known than çay outside Turkey, turkish çay is defenitely a winner in Turkey.
- Food ...about it I could write a lot, but here just the most obvious: they love to eat bread with all meals and in their free time they can eat a lot of salty sunflower seeds (so don't get surprised when you see a small pile of it's rests next to bench in a park).
- Have you tasted any main dish with does NOT contain TOMATO or any of its products? :)
- The rice is served one a small plate, there is one seperate plate for meat or potatoe, one for salad...
- Has someone seen the knife?? :)
- Even though there are some stereotypes about position of women in a muslim society, mums are defenitely the big boss at home.
- Many times a foreign woman can realise that she is the only woman on a street full with men.
- Turkish people don't eat soup, they drink it, as well as they drink cigarettes.
- The price of beer is probably one of the highest in Europe (tax over 50%) but beer companies do manage to survive. Still you seem odd if you order your beer with food...it should be drank after it or on a special occasion.
- Can you imagine a wedding celebration without alcohol? Well it is possible in Turkey.
- Security guards are everywhere: at the entrance to university campus, shopping centre, aiport...
- Typicall turkish breakfast is very abundant meal which consists of a lot of different things, among them honey with cheese. It lasts few hours and it usually finishes with something sweet and turkish coffe.
- Never argue about football or politics. It can become a neverending story (or a bad ending story).
- Never, really never, say a bad thing about Atatürk! Remember: because of an insulting video about him, youtube was banned in Turkey for almost 4 years.
- If Turkish says that food you will about to eat is not spicy it probably is... for you, not for them. When it's spicy also for them you will not be able to taste the food's real taste...not even to feel your lips or tongue.
- When you hear a word which contains -allah- it can mean literally everyting: if a persons says it to you, he/she can be angry for you, happy for you, whises you all the best or all the worst...
To be continued...
Labels: Football, Foreigner in Turkey, Living in Turkey, Nogomet, Politics, Politika, Turčija, Turkey, Zanimivo :), Življenje v Turčiji
