BY CÜNEYT YILMAZ (ECON/IV)
cuneyt_y@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Howdy y'all!
I'm sure you've missed turning over your newspaper's second page and finding me welcoming you with that nice smile on my face. To tell you the truth, I've missed those eager eyes of yours, too. But there's no need for misery, not anymore, because that very picture of me is hanging up there once again after a long while. Where have I been all this time? Good question. To shorten into a sentence what could otherwise take a couple of pages to explain: I was an exchange student in Portugal.
Yes, I was just like one of those exchange students on our campus who speak at least a few decibels louder than the rest because - let's face it - English is a language spoken loud; who dress in a (worryingly) summery way, ignoring the fact that Ankara is so cold you barely need a refrigerator; and who, unlike Turkish girls, are natural blondes. I'm talking about the ones who party the most but still pass every course -- the ones we probably hate because all they do is push up what we may call the "curve." I was one of them, except with less tendency (or should I say, less self-confidence, peer pressure or some other mental distortion) to talk loud in English, and with more clothes on because I've got an immune system that's prone to the slightest breeze. Plus I'm not a blond anyway (not even a fake one).
But no, don't worry, this won't turn out to be one of those columns where I brag about how this whole experience has changed me and I am so not the same guy anymore -- which is kind of true when you come to think of it because now I am last year's Cüneyt minus a few thousand liras. Instead, I want this to be an ode to that beautiful country Portugal and its amazing people, plus the rest of Europe that we got the chance to Interrail through.
Located on the very western edge of Europe, occupying the area between the Atlantic Ocean and Spain, it sure does cost a lot to fly to Portugal. Once you get there, though, you realize it's worth every single cent. Its people, half of whom are named João, have a very simple yet successful motto of their own: Don't hurry, be happy -- which probably has to do with the perfect combination of sea and sun they have. If not, then it's definitely the low wine prices that make them the amazing people they are.
The weather is also very different from that of Ankara. Like when your Mayfest was ruined by that rainstorm last year, we were probably swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, if not putting sunscreen lotion on each other's backs, or maybe even surfing in the case of those of us who had the guts to do it, which I certainly didn't. Considering the two-hour time difference between the two countries, we might even have been having a rather unique kind of fish, namely bacalhau, for which there are said to be a thousand recipes, not to mention the Pastéis de Belém that would follow the lunch.
And then there's the nightlife. I'm not exactly a partygoer myself, but it's said that - quoting other exchange students verbatim - "Bairro Alto rocks." (Bairro Alto is where the nightlife in Portugal's capital, Lisboa, takes place.) But the most amazing part of everything I've been talking about here is how it all happens beside the Atlantic, in the midst of medieval castles, but surrounded by a contemporary scene, among the carefree spirits of the Portuguese. I'm talking about sheer joy, comrades, sheer joy!
So, here we are. More than six hundred words already, yet there's been no mention of Interrail, or a million other things about Portugal. Thus the Interrail will need to have a separate column of its own. Lucky Interrail! For now, I have just one more thing to say, which is that my fellow columnist Kardelen had a point last year in writing, "If there's even the slightest possibility that you can go on exchange, stop reading, drop everything right now. Do it." If not for anything else, do it to go and meet the nicest people on earth (Portuguese people, that is). True, you might be your mother's one and only child; but Skype will be more than enough to solve that problem. I know, a long-distance relationship is the last thing you're looking for, but don't be afraid of losing your girlfriend. Even if you do, and this may sound harsh, but there are plenty of them all over Europe (and I can vouch from experience that Finnish girls are beautiful). Or, if you're thinking you can't afford all this, don't panic, the European Union has already got your back. Just don't miss this chance. Go study abroad!
Abraço!