Tekdemir

I was born in Istanbul, and except for the five years I stayed in Los Angeles, I’ve always lived in this city. During my college years, “crossing the bridge” was an everyday matter. Every morning I would take the bus and the ferry to go to school on the European side – every evening I would come back home on the Asian side of the city. For someone like me and many other people living in this city, living in-between two continents –or two identities– is not something to be marveled at everyday (especially if the congested traffic on the bridge is beyond the limits of one’s endurance). Being on the threshold –literally and figuratively– is part of our natural cycle: something that inevitably, almost effortlessly shapes us. One needs to step out of that natural cycle and ponder over what exactly it is that constitutes one’s identity. Yes, one needs to travel. For me, that crucial step was to ‘hit west’ –as far as possible. After receiving both my B.A. and M.A. in English from Bosphorus University, I left Istanbul in 2003 to pursue my PhD in English at the University of Southern California. When I first moved to L.A., I was intimidated by the sprawling city, the speedy traffic on the freeways and felt homesick all the time. I missed the streetsellers (particularly the ones Hardy refers to), the aromatic smell of Turkish tea, my mom’s delicious meatballs, rainy weather, and so much more. The most shocking thing, however, was the lack of pedestrian traffic in the streets: Nobody walks in L.A. Every night, I sadly watched the city turn into a ghost town with deserted streets over which helicopters hovered all night long. Over time, I started to appreciate certain things: the palm trees, the Pacific Ocean, California sunshine (I still think a little rain would not hurt), the vibrant culture and diverse population of the city, my professors’ profound knowledge, my students’ enthusiasm to learn, my university’s facilities and its amazing libraries in which I stayed up many nights. By the time I was done with graduate school, I came to realize that I felt quite at home in L.A. and was sad to leave the city although I was also very excited to be returning to Istanbul. I am now back home after five years and I will start teaching Turkish students in a couple of days. It will be an exciting semester and I am looking forward to it!