For goodness sake. Organising a wedding is so hard. And to make matters more complex I am an Australian, I live in Istanbul, I will marry a Turk who lives in Istanbul, but who's family is from Ankara-where the wedding will take place, all my family and friends are in Aus, the UK and the US so people are coming from all parts of the world and I am trying to organise every aspect of their attendance in a country who's language I do not speak. Gooood.
Not the mention the extreme amount of thick, sticky Turkish red tape that wraps itself around our impending marriage which requires me to submit to various medical tests; visits to the Australian Embassy to see the Consul General and to no less, pay them some money; a visit to the Istanbul Governor-for his signature; registration with my local area/council; a visit to the Ankara Municipality to ask their permission to marry in their town and find some 'official' person who will marry us and of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without various legal documents, of course, translated into Turkish and notarised at the notary office. All in my spare time. I think I need a holiday.
On top of this I wake up in the night worrying about how people will cope dealing with the lack of English speaking Turks, their anxiety of getting ripped off by taxi drivers, shop keepers and carpet sellers (and the actual reality of it). Now Turkey is a developed country by many peoples standards, but when you are a tourist and look like a tourist, you can sometimes be taken advantage of. It has even happened to me and I look like the next Turk on the street. So, no doubt I will have tales from folks about their experience at 'this shop' or 'in the taxi' and so on.
It's all part of the experience, isn't it?
Not the mention the extreme amount of thick, sticky Turkish red tape that wraps itself around our impending marriage which requires me to submit to various medical tests; visits to the Australian Embassy to see the Consul General and to no less, pay them some money; a visit to the Istanbul Governor-for his signature; registration with my local area/council; a visit to the Ankara Municipality to ask their permission to marry in their town and find some 'official' person who will marry us and of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without various legal documents, of course, translated into Turkish and notarised at the notary office. All in my spare time. I think I need a holiday.
On top of this I wake up in the night worrying about how people will cope dealing with the lack of English speaking Turks, their anxiety of getting ripped off by taxi drivers, shop keepers and carpet sellers (and the actual reality of it). Now Turkey is a developed country by many peoples standards, but when you are a tourist and look like a tourist, you can sometimes be taken advantage of. It has even happened to me and I look like the next Turk on the street. So, no doubt I will have tales from folks about their experience at 'this shop' or 'in the taxi' and so on.
It's all part of the experience, isn't it?
3 comments:
oh oids, well written, but its not that bad!! Things will come together. Yes, yours is a bit more complicated and people may have some stories to tell, but it is a part of the experience and all are looking forward to it!!
Hey OIds, your blog looks fab and love all the photos. Keep the entries coming! V xoxo
Renai,
I visited your blog today for the first time. I read all your posts. Enjoyed reading your experiences and looking at the lovely pictures. Sounds like you have settled into Istanbul well. Congratulations and good luck with the wedding arrangements.
Cheers
:)
Post a Comment