Unpacking our life

Today, Kristen came over and helped me unpack our stuff. Men aren't really helpful with this kind of thing, at least my man isn't, so I can quite comfortably say that she was the first person to actually help me with packing/unpacking in the past two years that I moved to our new apartment and then to the US. I feel so much better now, though, and the room looks so beautiful with grandma's furniture and our things. When you take everything out and put them into drawers and baskets and boxes, it really doesn't look like it filled 7 suitcases, 5+ carry-on luggage, and three big boxes. Oh well. They are all here now safe and sound and we are settled into our new home - that we will live in for at least 4 months. It's also so great to have a friend here. Kristen's a great gal and we hit it off pretty quickly when I first visited here in 2007, and it's been that way ever since. I can't wait to be her little helper when she does her baking projects for the cafe section they're launching at the restaurant.

PAL

Paul A. Lanquist's art is so much along the lines of what I consider practical, beautiful, everyday art. The ones above were my fridge magnets at our apartment and they made me really happy. Now I see a lot of his prints and posters around because he is from this area, and I hope to get and frame posters of him one day. He signs his work as PAL. These retro-style drawings are just so cool!

Life here

We finally moved out to the ranch. It is snowy here but warm inside the house, and I have a lot to do so I like the comfort of being inside. Internet problems followed us for a while (a side effect of mercury retrograde, I have to assume) but it seems to have worked out for now. The water tastes different and Americans love ice. Their refrigerators are also colder and they store so much in the pantry, fridge and the house - I guess it is to reduce those trips to the store, which takes time here. What else? The twins are adorable and I think they are warming up to me. Grandma Joyce is reading Atlas Shrugged and I love that she can't put it aside. There is an easier way of doing for everything, they even have little handles to hold the corn from each side - and the corn is sweet, and they rub them with butter before eating. They find my Turkish breakfast funny - which I was able to get together by bringing my own cheese from Turkey and buying Italian olive oil from here (they didn't have a Turkish one). I also brought Turkish coffee, dried red pepper, leblebi and hibiscus jam. Oh, and a huge thing of pine honey. I have my own little Turkey here, at least until my supplies run out. Doug's grandparents are so connected it's unbelievable. They both have their own computers where they watch antiques on eBay and exchange forwards with their friends and families. Grandpa Glenn was showing me the video of an 80 year-old lady doing salsa yesterday. I can't wait to make Turkish meals for everyone and get funny reactions. So far it has been a good experience where I'm also a part of a family rather than just a girl trying to make it in a foreign country. I think I'm very lucky in that sense. So far so good.

Next episode: The Yunkers' restaurant and just how great Kristen and Aaron are.

new world

I’m in the Pacific Northwest right now. There are all these nice houses and big trees. The air is so clean, somewhat crisp but not as cold as I expected. We are finally in the US. Our flight didn’t take longer than it was supposed to, but our belongings were certainly heavier and more than they should have been. It doesn’t feel so different for me to be here, for now, just some differences here and there but they neither surprise nor shock me. I’m kind of observing and sort of participating in the life here. But I like it so far; I like having the opportunity to have this experience. American Life. We’ll see what you got to offer me.

Last week

Officially entering my last week in here, Istanbul, Turkey, my country, where I went to college, lived in 5 different dorm rooms and 3 apartments, lived for 10 years, and where I thought I might be living my whole life. Apparently, that wasn't the case. But then I also I always thought I would have an unhappy and boring marriage, and I have the opposite (I have a thing for worst case scenarios). Even though I've always loved it here, or it was bearable for some reason or the other, I also wanted a change. I wanted to experience something different and foreign, counter-intuitive almost. And now it's happening. And instead of questioning or doubting it, I'm embracing it. It's a good feeling.

vampire

we just watched 'twilight'. cute guy, but what is that movie all about? seriously.

a dark post

after seeing 'kiss kiss bang bang', i've been thinking and researching about 'incest'. it creates curiosity in me in that it is extremely unimaginable to me, and could not happen around me in a million years, but it does happen to a lot of people, and i want to know why. unfortunately, the limited research that has been done on the subject is not available free. i'm previewing this book called 'father-daughter incest' by judith lewis herman on google books. and look what freud had to say about the subject:
Almost all of my women patients told me that they had been seduced by their father. I was driven to recognize in the end that these reports were untrue and so came to understand that the hysterical symptoms are derived from phantasies and not from real occurences. . . It was only later that I was able to recognize this phantasy of being seduced by the father the expression of the typical Oedipus complex in women.
-Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures of Psychanalysis

it's outrageous that Freud chalked it up to female fantasies after encountering so many cases, since he couldn't put the blame on all those respectable fathers. god knows what i'll find about what men are capable of doing, as i research.

the move

it's raining outside, i'm sheltered, and i feel thankful. we had a long day of moving and very little sleep last night. we had to give away so much of our stuff that we couldn't have afforded to keep. but all in all, we are over with it, and we are so lucky to have friends that helped us through it all. we have to live out of the luggage for a while, and my organizing capabilities will find a way to keep what we need the most within our reach. and so a big overseas move is going to have happened, and they will live happily ever after.