September 28, 2009

Aaaah! Insane! I love this university! :D

I’m telling you, if you ever get the chance to study in Turkey, come to Boğaziçi University (pronounced Boasitschi—after about five beers, the pronunciation is almost accent-free)! Not only because it’s the best university in Turkey but also because it offers such a wide range of extracurricular activities. :-) (I am not getting paid for this advertisement.)

This morning, as I was walking across campus with two other Erasmus students (somehow, our collective subconscious always leads us to each other), the student activity clubs were setting up their stands. There are so many cool things to do! Half an hour later, I had already signed up for the Music Club, Photography Club, and the Archery Team. But honestly, there are so many other clubs I’m interested in. Rudy (a Dutch girl) had to bring me back down to earth because I was already considering joining the paragliding club or maybe taking violin lessons…

I haven’t actually learned anything today. I was supposed to have pottery class, but by the time my roommate finally helped me find the studio, I realized that apparently only Erasmus students take the first few classes seriously. No Turkish students in sight. And no professor either. She did eventually show up and immediately asked if we spoke Turkish (so much for classes being in English). Somehow, with a mix of hand gestures and broken explanations, she told us she wanted to wait for the other students to arrive before starting the class. They’ll be coming next week. Why? She couldn’t tell us. Also, the class will apparently be taught mostly in Turkish. Oh well, whatever. :-)

My other class today was Advanced Organic Chemistry. It’s actually a master’s course, but I’m taking it just so I can have some chemistry courses. But the professor is really good, and I can’t wait for the course to start because he focuses on understanding rather than memorization… Yeah! (For example, he’ll teach us name reactions but deliberately won’t tell us their names because he considers them unimportant.) At first, I thought he’d kick me out for not having enough prior knowledge… but he said that what matters to him most is interest—and I definitely have plenty of that! :-)

I’m such a hopeless nerd. :D

Life is addictive – give me more of these drugs! (Don’t worry, Mom, I don’t do drugs, it’s just a saying.)