Housewarming

What is one of the first things you want to do after moving into a new place? Invite your friends to celebrate with you, of course. However, doing this a month after moving to a new city posed a conundrum. The majority of my friends are not in Istanbul, and everyone that I know here I've known for less than 6 weeks.

No matter! It was, actually, the best way to enter a new city. Both Ed and I invited people from our classes (Turkish and English language and english teaching certification), the Fulbright program and anyone else whom we happened to meet. This was a little scary, because we encouraged them to bring friends and had no idea what that open invitation meant in Turkey. Fortunately, it meant that we had a great crew of people from countries including the U.S., Turkey, Holland, Germany and Greece. Most people came knowing a handful of people at best, and the ensuing evening was a bit like a freshman orientation.

Hopefully this will lead to having more friends in Istanbul...