Evime Dönüyorum

I never claimed to be very good at keeping up with things- my diaries are almost always left half blank, forgotten on a shelf somewhere; my stories end without barely beginning; my videos remain as choppy clips; and my blog, well, my blog doesn't get updated too frequently.

And now... it's done... And now... I'm going home?

Well, that certainly sounds strange. I'm going home, I'm going home, I'm going home. Evime dönüyorum? How terrifically odd! I feel like I already am home, it feels like normal, it's what I'm always doing. I sit on my bed and writewritewrite about... well about nothing in particular. This isn't much change from the usual. Except that tomorrow I'll be stepping aboard a plane... to home?

How can I think of 'home' as home? For the past year Turkey has been my home. I've sat up late laughing with my family and watching movies and reading books and it all feels like normal. Except it's been another language, another culture, another country. I am so impressed that life becomes lifelike no matter where I am. A very wise woman told me that the surroundings and the people aren't what make your life your life, it's you that makes it yours. And I'll stick with that wholeheartedly.

I want to thank all the people without whom this year couldn't be possible- my Rotarians in both America and Türkiye, my amazing host families (all four of them!), my amazing exchange student friends (my Rotary family, my lovely YFUers, and the new found AFSers, as well as the summer exchange students I just met), the people from school who took me in and befriended me, my parents who helped me to get started, and my wonderful American friends who supported me when times got tough.

Türkiye'yi çok seviyorum! Herkese çok teşekkürler! Sizi çok özleyeceğim ama gene döneceğim ve buluşacağız! <3