Take Away :( :(

I don't believe how three months just flew by. Until now, I still refuse to believe that I will be leaving this Monday to get back to the usual university life. Thanks to my friends who pump me up by reminding me how fun university life is and it's one of those times that one will always refer to.

Let's get back to the question. What will I take away from this wonderful experience?
First of all, this wonderful experience widely differs from my volunteer and AIESEC experience abroad. Being here for a period of three months as an intern, working with professionals made it different and unique. This experience allowed me to utilize the skills that university bestowed upon me. This experience also consisted of the wonderful people I met, who I will possibly meet in the future. I will take back with me the professionalism I gained and the contacts. That is something all of us will take back but there is something else also in a more personal level that I will take back with me.
I will miss miss Istanbul (for sure). It may be a concrete jungle initially and everything may seem to be falling apart and coming together at the same time. That didn’t make sense to me either, but its a funny feeling to have when everyone appears to be incredulous that I chose Turkey. I felt like a local here, sometimes I never felt foreign at all. But there were times when I felt like an outsider. Let's say, politics among flatmate's male friends is always brought up during dinner. I may have a better understanding of some issues that other people are going off about,my opinion is always that of an outsider's! I guess it's human nature to be defensive when you’re being faced with an outsider’s perspective on something you inherently consider your own. Apart from that, my flatmate is convinced I'm Turkish. That hospitality and openness is surely something I will always take back and cherish forever which I will not find atleast for the next 4 years.
At the beginning, I also thought that my culture would really dominate in my experience. Fortunately, that didn't happen! Except when I'm singing and dancing to Bollywood hits like main talli ho gayi which translates to I'm drunk but the song from Singh is King- Jee Karda is even better! VVOT Fun! Haha!
(Simrith, are you on the floor right now?)

Now, I'm wrapping up this experience and ready to go back to Toronto. Back to school! I doubt if I will have the strength to look back and after university, there is one big black of unknown. All I can do right now is keep breathing....