0 - The End

Well, it had to end eventually. My last few days in Istanbul were great, although sad. I was able to say goodbye to most of my friends, and see some more of the city. The weather was awesome, and the city seemed to be doing it's best to show off before I left.

Since returning to Canada, I've got a much different perspective on things. The reverse culture shock is interesting. I now know what a Canadian/British Columbian accent sounds like. I'm also surprised at how poorly the average person dresses, how loud North Americans are, and how friendly and polite most Canadians are. It's really strange, I feel like a foreigner.

The one thing I really appreciate is the complete lack of traffic. There are no traffic jams on Vancouver Island, and it doesn't take you and hour and a half to get across town! But besides that, I really miss the energy of Istanbul. It's really quiet here. Nobody's yelling at you to buy a simit, and you can't hear any animated conversations in foreign languages...

One day (hopefully soon), I will return to Turkey to explore more, and visit Istanbul again. Until then I'll just be that annoying guy who starts all his conversation topics with "when I was living in Istanbul...".