Elhamdulillah I've arrived in Melbourne safe and sound on October 12th after a 33 hour journey! I flew with Malaysia Airlines and I have to say they rock! The seats were awesome, the crew was awesome and the food was rather good. I landed in Malaysia after an 12.5 hour flight. I had a 13 hour lay over in the airport before I had to catch the next plane. They have an hotel right inside the airport, Airside Transit Hotel. I booked a room for 9 hours and slept 8 hours there. The hotel was great as well. Large comfy bed, TV, bathroom with a bathtub! I killed rest of the time eating and walking around the airport. Then I caught my next flight to Melbourne. After 7 hour flight (and lots of fun with the "select" TV built into the back of each screen) I landed in Melbourne 7 AM in the morning. Everything went smoothly with immigration and customs. I went through a large metal door and BAM there was ACA waiting for me. I had a hard time letting go of hugging him so I could have a look at his face. My in laws are incredible! ACA says he never seen his mom prepare breakfast like this! We went over to their house for breakfast then we came home. I've been asked what I was most looking forward to. This was before the wedding etc. I said "landing in Melbourne, going to our house, and closing the door" And I can confirm that was the best part of this entire journey. Finally arriving home. ACA went back to work on Wednesday. I've been on cleaning organizing mode for the past three days. Mom would have been proud! After writing this entry I will go clean the stove. I think the renters before us never cleaned the darned thing. My hand got stuck on the knob when I tried to turn on the stove! I cooked our first dinner yesterday. My attempt at cooking was sabotaged by the afore mentioned stove. You have to push a button to ignite the burners. However the electricity to the button is provided by a battery. While trying to get the battery to work so I can use another burner the burner that was working went out. This was the burner the pasta was boiling (what you didn't think I would be making lobster thermidor on my first cooking attempt!). So I was stuck with a pan of half boiled pasta and a stove that won't light up! Thankfully ACA bought a lighter on his way home from work so we were able to cook the rest of the meal. I did manage to burn my finger on the lighter of course.The evil stove, with it's companion "Baroness the oven" kelebek }{
Posted at 4:25 PM
Monday, October 08, 2007
tow goodbye to Istanbul, again
I have received my spouse visa, finally. I bought my ticket, and ins I will be leaving on Wednesday to go to Melbourne and start my new life with my beloved husband. As the day of my departure comes nearer I've been feeling a mixture of feelings. I am incredibly happy that finally that the thing I've been waiting for all summer has arrived. I am elated that I can finally start my married life. I am nervous about moving to a strange new country (for the second time in my life). I am feeling guilty for leaving my grandmother when she finally had a member of her family back with her. I am saddened that I will be leaving the city that I've reconnected with so many old friends. I am sick of packing, repacking, looking for companies to ship the rest of my stuff. I am anxious about going on a journey so far away by myself. I am giddy at the thought of seeing a koala. I am looking forward to having the eid (bayram, Ramadan holiday) breakfast with my in-laws and driving to our home. I am so excited at the though of ACA's and my home. Bu Istanbul'a ilk elvada degisim degil tabii. 9 kusur sene once bunu bir daha yapmistim, Amerika'ya gitmeden once. O zaman 14 yasindaydim ve bu tasinmanin hayatimi nasil degisterecegini, ve bu sehre tekrar 9 sene gelemiyecegimi bilimiyordum. Istanbul'dan ayrilmadan bir kac ay once yazdigim bir yaziyi buraya koyuyorum.
Ayrilik vakti geliyor Ist Hayatimdaki bir cok sey gibi senide arkamda birakip gidecegim. Temmuzda 14 yillik bir hayati gerekide birakacagim. Istanbul hakkinda cok yazip cizerler, benim edebiyat yapmaya hic niyetim yok, zaten bana gitmez. Hayatimda hic bir zaman sana bir tepeden bakmadim, kaldirimlarinda yagmur yagarken dolasip serserilik yapmadim, sokaklarini akilli uslu bir kiz gibi adimlamadim. Eyup'te oturuyorum Piyer Loti'nin yolunu bile bilmem. Sen beni bilmezsin; senin sokalarinda az top oynamadim, az arkadas kaybetmedim. Hayatim hep senin icinde gecti. Ama gonlumce seni dolasamadim, dolasamayacagim. Sulari sicratarak yurumek artik bana gore degil, salincaklarin bende ki hatirlarini sen nereden bileceksin, kumdan yaptigim kalelerin bozulmasina ne kadar kizdigimida bilemeyeceksin. Ama benim tum hayatim burada, senin icinde gecti, umutlarim senin icinde basladi, senin icinde birer birer yok oldular. Sevdilerim senin icinde kayboldular. niye bu kadar buyuksun ki sanki? Senin sinirlarini kim cizip "bu sinirlar icindeki yerler 'Istanbul' olacak" dedi bilmiyorum, ama benim sinirlarimi cizenler yine senin icindeler. Hayatimda nefret ettigim, sevdigim, kactigim, kendime yakin hissettigim her sey ve herkes senin icinde bir yere dagilmislar. Kolaysa bir araya topla. Kocamansin iste, insanlar senin icinde birer birer yok oluyorlar, ne buyuk bir girdapsin sen!.. Evet Istanbul, herseyinle hic degismeden kal. Seni geldigimde ayni bulmak isterim. Ama tabii kide biliyorum ki "giden 'benlerin' yerinide de doldurakcalar." Lutfen beni icinde kaybolmus bir yetiskin olarak degil, olmak istedigim gibi "guclu, mutlu" bir cocuk olarak hairla... Bir gun geri gelebilmek umuduyla
The evil stove, with it's companion "Baroness the oven"
