Izmir & Turkish culture

Note: This is all from my perspective and I speak very generally in this post. Many things are general ideas about the population as a whole, and obviously not everyone is like this.

I have been in Izmir for a month and I have come to realize that Izmir is truly a place of its own; it is probably the most liberal city in Turkey. While Istanbul is very cosmopolitan and liberal, there is still a large population of conservative people and women who cover their heads. Izmir however is much more liberal as a whole. It is completely acceptable to wear shorts and short dresses/skirts in Izmir, while it is still somewhat looked down upon in Istanbul. Generally in Turkey you can easily tell who are tourists because they wear shorts, but everyone in Izmir wears shorts. I think it is because it is just too hot to wear pants. Don't get me wrong, there are still a lot of women who covered from head to toe, but there is a large population who wear shorts. Also, women and men are treated more as equals here and girls can go out in the evenings. I can't say anything about Istanbul, but in Samsun girls are typically not allowed to go out in the evenings. 

The way that people act on buses is also different in Izmir than in the rest of Turkey. Typically if there is an empty seat open next to a female, only another female will sit there and a man will remain standing. The same is true for an empty seat next to a male, where typically a male will sit and a woman will remain standing. This is beginning to change with young people, but this is generally the case for Turkey. However, this is not the case in Izmir. While women do sit next to women and men sit next to men, many women sit down next to men and vice-versa. This gender separation was something that amazed me when I was first living in Samsun and I saw it every day when I rode the bus home from school. I am now amazed how in Izmir gender separation on public transportation is not something people think about much. Istanbul and Ankara are the same as Samsun, where the genders are separate. 


Living in Samsun, a conservative city was a great learning experience. At times I thought I wouldn't be able to last, but I learned so much about the Turkish culture by living there and I am very fortunate for that. Also, almost no one spoke English, which is the real reason why my Turkish is as good as it is. Sometimes I feel like Izmir and Samsun are two completely different countries because of the differences, but in fact they are just two cities in the same country. I feel very lucky to have experienced both lifestyles.

Now I am going to talk a little bit about Turkish cleanliness, a concept which I still don't quite understand. Turks are very clean. I mean EXTREMELY clean, almost to the extent that it is unhealthy, for many women at least. However, there are some ideas and practices that I don't understand. They take off their shoes when they walk in the house, they do not place bags/backpacks on the ground, they do not sit on the ground outside, have special slippers several times for the bathroom. However, they all eat salad from the same plate, and double dipping is completely acceptable. If any of you read my blog while I was in Samsun you may remember my post about how Turks believe you can get sick, but for those of you who didn't read it I will list a few. If you go outside with wet hair, if you sit close to the air conditioning, if you don't wear your slippers, you can get sick. In fact I have heard several times that if I don't wear my slippers I will be infertile. I don't believe these things, and I definitely don't believe that I will get sick from the air conditioning. I do however believe in little things called bacteria and I believe that you can get sick from those. It is hard for me to understand how I can get sick from not wearing my slippers, but how if everyone eats from the same bowl of jelly in the morning it doesn't even occur to them that bacteria can be transferred. There are other things about the cleanliness that I don't understand, but nothing else is coming to mind at the moment. If I think of anything later I will write another post.

One thing that I find very interesting is how people underestimate how much I know about Turkish culture. This is my 4th time living with a Turkish host family and added together I have spent about 14 months in Turkey. Every time I say/do something very Turkish I am applauded and people look at me surprised, and I mean small things like taking my shoes off before going into a house or saying çok yaşa (the equivalent to bless you) when someone sneezes. I completely understand the fact that I am American and that most Americans would not know these things about the Turkish culture, but these are things that you learn during your first week in Turkey. I may be exaggerating a little, but to me saying bless you when someone sneezes is pretty normal.I have come to realize however that being in Turkey and meeting new people boosts my confidence tremendously. Constantly hearing phrases like "Wow, you're Turkish is fantastic!" or "I am amazed by how much Turkish you know" can make one feel great about themselves. Being in Izmir is great for my self-confidence :)

Sorry this post was a little all over the place, but I wasn't really sure what to write about.  I wish I could find more to say about the Turkish culture, but it seems so normal to me now that I don't really think of how different it is. I hope I didn't bore you! :)