Student Life In Istanbul
By Ozi on Wednesday, November 14 2007, 13:03 - Permalink
CONTRIBUTED BY Dudu BAL ÖZBEK
SUTDENT life in Istanbul is not so different from the student life in a European city actually.However, for the ones who are curious, we can give some brief information about what can be done here….
There are both private and public universities in Turkey and nearly 20 of them are here in Istanbul. Private universities’ tutions vary from 4.00 euros to 25.000 euros a year. Ofcourse, it changes according to the major you are going to study. These private or foundation universities started to be found nearly 15 years ago after a change in the laws. Before that, there were only public universities and you didn’t have to pay for the university education. In many of these private universities today, language of instruction is English and they welcome international students from different countries. The facilities and the staff can be better in those universities but they are expensive for many Turkish students with avarage income.
Students in Istanbul are very lucky in terms of the cultural activities, concerts or night life. Taksim is an attractive area for the university students in this sense. Babylon for example, attracts the students and the music lovers with its artistic structure and the quality concerts. Students can find different options on Istiklal Street in Taksim. You can listen to jazz,blues or Turkish classical music, pop, or folk music in different clubs. There are student discounts for nearly every cultural activity in Istanbul.
TAKSIM- BEYOGLU IS THE HEART OF NIGHT LIFE
Taksim-Beyoğlu is the heart of entertainment and cultural activities and many students love to spend time there. It also attracts many tourists or the foreigners living in Istanbul. There are both cheap and expensive restaurants and you can have fun in the cafes or clubs. But although Istanbul is realtively safe compared to many other European cities, it is not as safe as it was in the past. For example, many people these days do not prefer to go there especially to entertain on the New Year’s Eve because of the vulgars or thieves walking around. So, you should watch your bags or wallet when you are walking in Taksim especially at night.
FESTIVALS FOR YOUTH
Students can also attend some international festivals here.The most reputable ones are Istanbul International Music Festival, International Film Festival and Istanbul Jazz Festival. Thanks to these festivals, Turkish students have the opportunity to see good films or listen to famous bands from all over the world just in their city.
As to the traffic, it is really terrible though. The local government is trying to put some plans into effect but the traffic is still a big problem in the city. Although public transportation was not so effective until recent years, there have been some improvements lately. It’s possible to use the subway, public buses or the ferries for transportation. Many universities have service buses, too.
Despite some problems, I can say that Istanbul is an excellent city to live and to study….. Just to give you some more information about life here, I want to refer to what a foreigner wrote about life in Turkey. He has a humorous way of writing and it can give you a better understanding with the eye of a foreigner…. You can find the whole text of Pierre Flener’s in “user.it.uu.se/~pierref/travel/turkey.diary.html”… Enjoy it!!!
YOU WILL GET ON THE "DOLMUŞ"
…….All over the Middle East (and probably all over the non-Western world) you will soon discover the concept of "collective taxi": it's usually a spacious car, if not actually a minibus, that operates on a fixed route within a city, or between two adjacent cities, just like a bus, and often on the same route as buses.
The differences with a bus are, besides the slightly higher fares, that a collective taxi leaves its terminal as soon as it is filled (rather than on some schedule), and that you can stop it literally anywhere in order to board (the driver only stops if space is available) or leave, rather than just at designated stops. Moreover, on a given route, you'll usually see about one collective taxi per minute! They are called "collectivo" in Central- and South-America, "servis" in certain Arabic countries, but I prefer the Turkish designation, "dolmuS" (pronounced dolmush), because of its extreme accuracy: it means, yes!, "stuffed"! Indeed, "dolmuS" drivers are independent, and like to set Guiness records for number_of_passengers_per_seat on every ride. Figuring out "dolmuS" routes is not easy to newcomers, but just asking the locals will make you familiar with the routes you will need. A "dolmuS" is a one-person enterprise, so rides become a very social event: a passenger up front acts as volunteer cashier when new passengers board and reach their money through to him with the mention of their destination; a lookup table indicates the fare, and he uses the driver's cash-box to obtain the change and reach it back to these new passengers! Everybody cooperates in these money transfers, and Turks are quite amused to see a foreigner (a) board a "dolmuS" (upper-class Turks don't take a "dolmuS") and (b) know what to do, and do it well. All this now means that the driver can actually concentrate on the driving (makes sense, no?), and usually he will hate to use his brakes except for picking up or dropping off new passengers: "dolmuS" drivers are infamous for their reckless driving... But this only implementation disadvantage notwithstanding, I believe that collective taxis are a very reasonable and ecological solution to traffic-congested cities, and that they could/should be implemented in Western countries as well.
……Every second Turk will say he is a businessman, when you ask him. This is of course to be understood in broad terms, because even the (illegal) lighter-fuel seller on the sidewalk considers himself a businessman. However, I would also say that the average Turk is a very "bad" businessman! Let me explain: most businesses are small, one-person or one-family affairs, set up in small quarters, and they are happy that way. Just like in Ottoman times (and in medieval Europe), the shop next door usually sells/produces exactly the same things: as long as you know what part of (the old) town specializes in what, this is a buyer's paradise, as you just need to "play the competition" to get good prices. Now, expansion or merging or buying up the neighbor's shop doesn't seem to come to their mind: everybody is fiercely independent, and wants to be his own and the only boss. 
And they don't have a sense of competition: how many times did I walk into a grocery, say, to ask for oranges, say, that the grocer said he ran out of oranges, but that his neighbor had some, and that he would walk over with me to the neighbor's shop, for a chat! Back home (in Europe), the grocer would praise his bananas instead, and not even mention his neighbor. This is why I put "bad" between quotes above: I infinitely prefer Turkish businessmen to the greedy ones back home! As an additional "quirk" of Turkish businessmen, I must add that they are absolute wrap-o-maniacs: somehow they only consider things sold when they are wrapped up in (news)paper, and they won't hear you when you insist on not having it wrapped up, even if it's just a postcard or a pen.