Hi everyone, Merhaba! Because I’m writing to you from wonderful, colourful, and very sunny Turkey!
I bought my plane ticket back in January, just to be sure because my 11-year-old student was really waiting for me to come. And who am I not to make a boy happy with my visit? He asked almost every week when I would come to see him, and then he told me how he would introduce me to his friends, and how excited they would be about an English teacher from Russia.
So three months passed, and I found myself in Istanbul, in a huge airport.
A driver was waiting for me, specially sent from the city of Bursa (my final destination on the Turkish route).
According to the plan, he was supposed to meet me in the arrivals area with a sign, but he was late because of traffic jams. So we had to text each other on the go, in Turkish. I was translating everything using a translator.
What was especially funny that when he sent me a photo of his location, and through the translator I realized that I was supposed to find him myself in one of the biggest airports in the world. I wrote to him in Turkish: "Do I have to find you? I am from Russia, I don't know this airport. Then I'll have to show your photo to everyone and ask for directions." I am polite and well-mannered, but I can also stand up for myself.
I was extremely surprised, but then, when we finally met (he found me), I found out that he had never been to that airport before. At least that’s what he told me. And by the time I arrived, I had already been there several times. Not everyone loves traveling as much as I do.
By the way, he printed the sign wrong as he missed a letter in my last name, but it was funny. I like that! ))
I believe he parked the car as far away as possible, and we just kept walking and walking and walking. It was under the scorching sun. My driver was dragging a 19 kg suitcase, and I was carrying a 6 kg backpack. I felt like we were going to walk all the way to Bursa on foot. 😂 It seemed like there was no end to our walking journey.
Örden (that was my driver's name) didn't speak English, so I couldn't really ask much. When we finally got to the car, he wiped the sweat off his face and said how tired he was and how hot it was. Yes, we Siberian girls leaving for a month aren't used to traveling light. Haha
Although, out of 25 kg of luggage, I think about 8 kg were gifts.
It was kind of a "BIG trip," so I wanted to give something to everyone who was so dear to my heart.
The trip was wonderful. I was picked up in a very comfortable car with a panoramic roof. The driver Örden was a very nice, friendly young man. And maybe it's a good thing he didn't speak English. It was nice to go without talking. He played music (American, then Turkish). I liked everything about it. Outside the window, there was nice green grass, a perfectly clear blue sky, lots of sunlight, nature. The feeling that I had entered paradise stayed with me the whole time. I was just sitting there, smiling. I also kept taking pictures of the sun. At some point, I imagined the driver thinking to himself: "Yeahhh, I guess they don't have any sun where she's from, because this girl is smiling like that and filming His Yellow Majesty." 😂 Of course, I didn't really care what anyone thought of me. I was just feeling huge joy, here and now. Oh, I'll probably read this again later and be jealous of myself.
I was that much happy that at some point I thought: "Should I move to Turkey?😂" Typical Natasha. It seems like everything in this life happens just because I want it to. That's not really true of course. But I think this mindset helps me rather than the opposite.
I was feeling a lot of excitement and joy about meeting my student knowing that he had no idea at all. And that was indescribable. He opened the door and was completely shocked. He couldn't say anything especially since just a week earlier we had video called. I was in Russia. Emotions like that are worth any effort and any expense I think. It's priceless. And how great that Kerem's parents (that's my student's name) managed to keep my visit a secret. I would really love to show a photo of the meeting but I respect my friends' personal boundaries (my student and his parents) so their photos won't be here.
After leaving my things at the house we immediately went to a restaurant for dinner. I was talking about Bursa. Actually it was a neighborhood called Mudanya. I would like to divide this article into topics rather than follow strict chronology. So let’s start.,
MEETING WITH MY STUDENT
My Turkish student is a very emotional boy so our meeting was incredible. I'm glad that a family friend (=driver) recorded it as a memory. I posted it in my stories (but not here).
Many of my friends and Instagram followers commented the stories saying I was the best teacher, the teacher of the year and so on.
That is of course very nice. But it's far from the truth. What I mean is it's just a connection of souls and personalities. The boy really responds to me and my teaching method. But that doesn't mean I (as a teacher) would be right for everyone who wants to learn a language. And by the way even talking about my Turkish boy when he introduced me to his friends he said: "This is Natalie my English teacher from Russia. She is the most positive person I have ever met!" Then he added that he doesn't even see me as a teacher that I am more like a friend and a speaker. But in Kerem's case I would say I am the listener because usually he talks for 55 minutes of the lesson and I talk for the remaining 5 minutes))
FOOD IN TURKEY
I don't remember the name of the first restaurant we went to. Sadly. It was not far from my friends' house.
I loved it when my friend Sinan asked me: "Natalia I hope you like meat?" If only he knew how much of a meat soul I am. I feel like little hearts started flying around me right after his question. I only mentioned that I don't like köfte.
And speaking of that I have a funny story number 1547 from my past life)). It happened in Cheltenham. I lived with a Turkish family for a whole year. I was too shy to say that I didn’t like köfte (it's a meatball or a cutlet, but to me it has too many spices. It is spicy and not tasty in my opinion only). And I choked down those meatballs. Sometimes I swallowed them almost without chewing. And I remember there was even a time when the family told me: "Natasha today we have a special dinner! Köfte! Very delicious!" and I thought: "oh come on not these meatballs again"))))
But my 2010 version and my 2026 version are different. Now in most cases if I don't like something I will say that I don't like it and I'm not going to eat it. And thank God! Because swallowing without chewing is not exactly a pleasure.
So we are in the restaurant. They brought us a salad, yogurt, hummus with beef bacon and various meze. They also set up a grill with charcoal and my friend Sinan was cooking fresh meat. So basically it was one of those restaurants where you cook it yourself))
I think I've been to a place like that only a couple of times. Both in South Korea. It's a popular thing there.
But back to Turkey. It was very tasty and there was a lot of food and also quite oily. We ate Turkish sausage, lamb (different parts) and something else. It seemed like the meat never ended. My vegetarian friends please forgive me for this paragraph.
In general Turkish hospitality knows no bounds. It's in their blood to feed a guest until they are completely full. I had the feeling that they were fattening me up like it was my last meal. And this happened again at every single meal.
Also I really appreciated the care from the boy's mother - Melike. When she found out that I like to drink a lot of water she put a some water in my room where they had me stay. I was touched and said it was like service at the best hotel.
What amazed me about Turkish restaurants (good ones and we mostly went to those) is that when you arrive you give your car keys to a special person (a valet) who parks your car. And when you leave he also brings your car back and gives you the keys. I had only seen that in movies and I think in a couple of restaurants in Dubai. As much as I have traveled I don't remember such a system. My friends said it's common in Turkey nothing special. I don't know maybe it's time for me to switch from eating belyash in the subway passage to something more decent in Russia! 😂
At the restaurant (I’m already talking about another one) I was offered to choose some meze from the display case. Who knew that those were just the appetizers?!
And then separately they brought fish. Sinan got lake fish for himself to try and for the rest of us he got sea fish because he wasn't sure the lake fish would be good. I sat there thinking what a caring person! He wanted everyone to be happy. He let us try the lake fish. In the end it was absolutely incredible so tender it melted in your mouth. And very tasty. Although the sea fish was also great. And this is coming from someone who prefers meat. But that restaurant was top notch. And the view of the lake was nice. I found a photo online:
What's also funny is that the whole restaurant was chatting, all the tables were lively talking about something and only we were sitting silently extremely hungry eating our dinner. I mentioned this to my friends and we laughed.
If you ever get a chance to visit Lake Iznik here is the restaurant with amazing fish.
A funny thing happened with us at another place on another day. It was at a cafe by the waterfront on my last day with my friends where we went just to have a drink or two. I'm writing this and thinking why am I always talking about food and drinks)))
Anyway when the waiter came to take our order he brought several tangerines and one orange. And he asked if we wanted orange juice. That's when I learned a new word "portakal" (“orange” in Turkish). This was a very happy visit to the cafe for me because on my third day in Turkey I could already understand some of what the waiter was saying and what my friends were answering. I should mention that I studied this language a bit 16 years ago and slowly I was remembering some things. But still it feels so good! You're only been in the country for a couple of days and you already feel progress in a foreign language! Ah if only it were the same with Chinese. With Chinese I can barely even distinguish words. But here I can catch things in conversation. In short I was happy. But I didn't understand everything and then I laughed with my friends. The waiter left and I said: "Why did he show us tangerines? Did he forget the word for “orange juice” in Turkish?"
We were all surprised and then we started imagining that now he would bring a coffee tree and offer us coffee, then bring a cow and offer us milk...What can I say? Just give us a reason and we’ll laugh straight away.
For my last evening the original plan was kokoreç. My friends told me about it on the day I arrived. The worst part is that I remembered the word "cockroach" and honestly I wasn't excited to try this Turkish dish)))
Then I looked it up online and found out what it was. Kokoreç is a legendary street food made of lamb offal (heart, lungs, kidneys) tightly wrapped in thin intestines and roasted on a spit. It's a spicy fatty dish with a rich flavor that is finely chopped with vegetables and served in crispy bread (as a sandwich) or on a plate. I can't say I was very excited about this.
And then I remembered when I was in Florence everyone recommended that I try a sandwich with intestines (I don't remember which animal). I don't think I went for it. I enjoyed Florentine steak instead.
When I was planning to visit Scotland my wonderful student-friend recommended some dish to me and again it was intestines. I haven't made it to Scotland yet.
And now Turkey and history repeats itself. Maybe there is something to these intestines and one day I will have to try them. I thought it would happen in Turkey. But my time there was limited and so was the number of meals I could have. Also I was worried about eating this street food (and yes my friends said it's popular street food and you need to know the right places for it to be as hygienic as possible and being locals they knew where to go). I was worried because of my broken front tooth. It cost me a lot in September 2025 and left me with some psychological trauma. I have a fear of losing my front tooth and I try not to bite into anything too hard or tear anything with my teeth. And if those intestines came in a bread roll I would have had to tear into it. So I explained the situation in advance and said that I even need to eat street food with a knife and fork.
I don't know what made us change the plan but in the end we went to try Iskender kebap. I had some concerns about this too. But all of them disappeared when they brought us that famous kebap. Bursa is considered the birthplace of this dish and of course my friends knew the best place to try it.
Here is how the internet describes it: a famous Turkish dish from the Bursa province consisting of thinly sliced grilled lamb (or beef) laid over pieces of lavash/pide and topped with melted butter. It is served with yogurt and roasted peppers. The dish is known for being very filling and for the combination of hot meat with cool yogurt.
The photo above was taken from the internet. Don't forget that under the meat there is also lavash/pide. And all of it is literally poured with butter on top.
It was very tasty and very oily. I don't even want to think about how many calories I ate during my 3 days in Turkey. How I still fit into my clothes I have no idea.
I didn't really take photos of the food even though I really wanted to. But I felt like it would be very awkward to do that in front of my friends. So I didn't.
But I did manage to take a photo of a homemade breakfast or at least part of it. Later they added even more dishes and little plates:
“THIS IS MY COMPUTER"
This was one of the funniest moments which probably won't be as funny just from reading it. But I'll try to tell it anyway. On my first evening the family decided to show me their house. It's big and beautiful with lots of little details designer touches and even stylistic things that aren't visible to the eye but they told me about them. But the really funny part was when my 11-year-old student started showing his room and it sounded like this: "This is my bed. This is my window. These are my books my toy cars..." And then he said "This is my laptop" while pointing at it and we all burst out laughing. After that we kept quoting "This is my laptop" many times. It was just so funny how he presented his room naming every object and pointing his finger at it. Like they teach English in elementary school: "this is a table, this is a pen..."
In his defense he said: "Oh come on guys. It's just that I'm very excited and emotional because Natalie is here." That was actually sweet and incredibly cute. I absolutely love Kerem and the way he is. That’s actually why I’m not afraid to share such stories here because Kerem is a very open-minded, kind and friendly person.
Let me also show you some views from my friends' house:
MY TURKISH STUDENT (KEREM) helped me do my lessons one day. I really love it when I can have a lesson with a native speaker or a foreigner because my students got used to me and my pronunciation. In today's world it's incredibly important to hear and understand different accents since English is an international language and it sounds different from person to person. And I always want to give my students the best. Plus my foreign friends are usually happy to talk to my students as well. So everyone is satisfied and happy (I'd like to believe that).
TRIP TO LAKE IZNIK
After the lessons we went to Lake Iznik to a town or rather a village with the same name. By the way you've already heard about it if you didn't skip the part about food.
The lake located in Bursa province is one of the largest in the region with a length of about 32 km a width of up to 10 km and a maximum depth of about 80 m. Its area is about 300 km².
The drive took about an hour. While we were driving it was quite cloudy and rainy but as soon as we reached our destination the sun came out and the weather was wonderful. I should mention that long before my trip (and right before it) I kept checking the weather and rain was forecast for every single day of my visit to Bursa. And my student told me that April is their rainy season. How wonderful that Bursa ignored the weather forecast and gave me sunbaths))) Even when it did rain it was ALWAYS while I was inside the car. As soon as I stepped out of the car it was warm and sunny. Just a miracle just a fairy tale! Thank you Turkey so much!
On this trip we visited a mosque, a museum, a lakeside cafe and a restaurant. We also went into a couple of small shops.
I'll just share some photos of what we saw and visited:
It was funny when my friend Sinan said to me: "Natasha let's buy you a souvenir like a magnet or maybe you want some dishes, paintings?" and his son replied: "Dad she doesn't like any of that stuff. She doesn't need it."
Good boy. He knows me very well)))
Another funny moment was when we just arrived in Iznik and saw that the city center was decorated with many Turkish flags and Sinan said it was in honor of my arrival. Honestly everything was working out so wonderfully that I wouldn't have been surprised if it really was true))) it was nice.
At the museum I was surprised by a sign at the ticket booth. It said that the ticket price was 3 euros and payment was only in Turkish liras in cash. I just stood there looking at it and couldn't understand. If payment is in liras why are you writing about euros? The thing is that there was no price in liras. So apparently the person had to calculate it themselves or the price changed every day depending on the exchange rate. Anyway it was kind of strange. Maybe I misunderstood.
Also that morning before our little trip I opened my bag, looked at my passport and thought: "Why do I need my passport with me? What can happen? I'm with a friend he will handle everything!" So I took my passport out of my bag. And the first thing Sinan asked when buying museum tickets was: "Natalie do you have an ID?" Oh come on)) really? 😂 but he did handle everything even without my passport.
After the walk we went to the fish restaurant. Lake Iznik was so big that we were going from one side to the other side for about 50 minutes or so. By car. The view was beautiful but my eyes were closing. I was already very tired by that point. I wrote about the restaurant earlier in the food section.
A WALK ALONG THE WATERFRONT + CITY MOSQUES
On my last day in Mudanya we had a beautiful tasty long slow breakfast. I had one lesson with one of my lovely students and my dear Kerem. Then we went for a walk along the waterfront.
The photo above with the conversation is one of the stories I posted on social media. I decided to share it here too.
It was again warm, very sunny and wonderful. We kept meeting street cats and dogs basking in the rays of the golden sun. Sometimes it was very sad to look at them. I worried that they lived without a home, without food maybe... but from what I understood people feed them regularly. I hope so.
That day we also visited a couple of mosques. Sinan told me some stories about their rulers, tombs, monuments and so on. I remember we visited a local landmark the Green Mosque. It is famous for its elegant decoration: the facade is made of white marble and the interior is decorated with green and turquoise faiencе, tiles, carvings and calligraphy.
I looked at its blue exterior and asked my friend why the mosque was blue but called Green. He laughed and said that he asked the same question as a child. From what I understood from him it was because the neighborhood was called Green. But I found different information online. So it's a mystery shrouded in darkness)
Either way let me share a few photos from the mosques and tombs we visited that day:
KEREM'S QUESTIONS
Throughout my Turkish trip Kerem kept asking me interesting, sometimes strange questions (usually when he was bored or just wanted to chat). All the questions were in English as he has a good level of the language.
Let me share a couple of his questions (I do hope he won’t mind that):
- Natalie imagine that you were reincarnated as a tree and you will live for 2000 years but you kept your memory from this life and you can also talk. What would you do?
- What would happen if everyone lost oxygen for 5 seconds?
There were also quite extraordinary questions. At some point I gave up, couldn't take it anymore and asked where he got them from. It turned out mostly from YouTube. Thank you YouTube 😂
By the way we also talked about condensed milk. I told him the name in English (condensed milk) and surprisingly he understood right away what I meant. I was extremely impressed as probably none of my students know these words. He explained that he knew it from a cooking video. I think this boy at 11 years old knows more than I do at 30+))
LANGUAGES
Then one evening we talked about languages and how difficult they were. I explained that nouns in Russian have a gender for example "table" is masculine, "car" is feminine, "sea" is neuter and that Italian and French nouns also have gender which can be different from Russian. And you have to memorize it. In Turkish there are no genders at all. Everything and everyone has one single gender. And by the way this explains why Turkish people often might say "he" about a girl or "she" about a man. In any language they are learning. I've noticed this many times. It's very interesting to observe and make these conclusions. Just like Russians have trouble with articles in English because we don't have them in our language. I also shocked them with vowel changes in similar words in Russian language. Since they don't know Russian I told them it's like the word "work" sometimes being "wark" or "werk". They listened to me with their eyes getting wider and wider. I know how to scare people))
SCENTED CANDLE
Another funny thing happened when we were sitting and talking at my friends' house late in the evening. They were drinking tea, I was watching them (I don't usually drink tea, I prefer water).
So I suddenly remembered the "Caramel Popcorn" candle that I wrote about in my previous article when I was in Moscow (though the article was in Russian only). I brought them the candle and they were delighted with the smell, especially the boy. He reacted with wide eyes tons of emotions and said how “delicious” it was! It really is very delicious if we talk about its smell. And then I thought about my student (the CEO of the production company) and asked how popular candles were in Turkey. The very next moment several candles appeared on the table.
KID ANIMATOR IS BACK IN ACTION
One evening Kerem invited his neighbors (Turkish girl and a boy aged 12 and 10). We played Uno.
I played this game in Italy when I worked as a kid animator and head of an animation team. I really loved the game but this was a new version very complicated and it seemed like it would never end. After an hour passed realizing we would probably never finish I suggested changing the rules and we finished about 10 minutes later. I think I came second out of four. The kids spoke a mix of Turkish and English. It was great. I love playing with kids when I have the energy and don't feel sleepy. When it came to hide and seek my energy left me and I refused to seek or hide leaving the three of them to play.
THE BEST COUNTRY TO LIVE IN
Being an emotional girl coming to my friends after seeing the sun, the sea, the green grass I declared that Turkey was the best country and I was ready to live there))) Of course that was said in a burst of emotions and feelings. The next day Kerem started reasoning that he thinks Turkey is the best country to live in. I understand that you shouldn't argue with an 11-year-old about this. But I can be so difficult in this way why would I give in? I didn't agree. He asked what I thought about it and I answered something like this:
"I think anyone's opinion is subjective. Some people care about service, some care about having an ocean or a beach nearby, while others care about infrastructure, business opportunities and so on. Turkey probably can't be the best country to live in given its economic situation. And Russia's economy isn't at its best either. Besides probably any country can be good if you have your health, your loved ones and money. Or it can be bad if you don't have those things. Again I can't judge for sure. How can I draw conclusions when I've visited just over 30 countries and lived in only 7 or 8 of them. And how can you, Kerem, who has barely been anywhere claim that Turkey is the best? Do you have anything to compare it to?"
Just the other day I came across the stories of a millionaire (or billionaire), a very wealthy woman. She travels a lot and life brought her to America. She allows herself the best hotels and restaurants and openly says how much she spends on things. Then she posted a story saying that from all the many countries she has been to, she understands that Russia is the best for living. That by many parameters it's the top.
But again that's just a personal opinion. Maybe another person needs summer all year round to be completely happy, not service or accessibility. Then for them Russia wouldn't seem like paradise on Earth. Thankfully the boy listened to my reasoning and agreed. I wouldn't want to argue with Kerem, but alas I can. Anyway, we always have very interesting discussions with him!
TIME TO MOVE ON
On my last day in the morning a driver and family friend took me to a hotel near the airport where I was flying from. I booked it this way on purpose because on April 7th I needed to be at the airport at 6 am and I thought it would be convenient to stay in a building next door so I could just walk to the airport in the morning. So I recommend it. A good hotel, clean, quiet and comfortable. 150 meters from the airport.
At the end of my Turkish journey I found myself thinking again about how wonderfully everything works out. I feel like the Universe loves me so much and I hope it continues this way. I am ready to receive the care of this magical kind World ❤️
ON THE PLANE
I'm flying on a plane and there is a Turkish woman sitting next to me. She is coughing a lot throughout the whole flight. It's a deep cough with breathing problems. And I'm thinking: isn't it strange that out of the whole plane her seat ended up right next to mine? And I am so tuned into joy and the light of this World so why did I get such a seatmate?
It's time for some analysis 😅. Either this is about my worries. I am flying to a place where I have a fear of going through passport control (and visa control). I believe that fear brings nothing good into our lives. And I want to remind you my friends of this. There seems to be no connection: visa, passport control and a coughing woman. But when you are not in harmony, when you are in stress or fear, just think how many "wonderful" things you can attract! Oh dear. Just the other day someone told me I should buy plane tickets as soon as possible. They might run out or become very expensive because of the political and "fuel" situation in the world. For a moment I gave in to fear but then I immediately remembered that the ENTIRE WAY the Universe was with me. Why would it suddenly abandon me when it's time to buy tickets? That's strange... and why do I take other people's fears so easily and make them my own. Why? Don't I have enough of my own? Although I fully understand that all this advice comes from love and great care for me. I appreciate the care but I try very hard not to give in to other people's fears and I tell myself that this is their world and their reality. My World will take care of me. And if not then I need this lesson and it will help me with something important on my path.
Now the second reason (why I attracted this seatmate on the plane). I am so confident in my strong immune system that maybe the World was thinking where to put this lady and decided to place her next to someone who is less "worried about it." It's quite possible that ANY other passenger would start stressing out that they will get sick, maybe even complain or attack the woman for going out in public with such a cough. But here I am a gentle soul Miss AntiVirus))) Well I hope that this cough will be just an unimportant drop in the ocean of positivity that is my blog. And to the lady I wish health and please just rest at home)))
Spoiler (since I am posting this article some time later): I am absolutely healthy and happy. The virus turned out to be weaker than my harmonious state. But still somehow I attracted that woman into my life))
Everyone teşekkür ederim (thank you) for "visiting" magical Turkey with me. And now we move on to the next adventure...