Field Report
First Name
Christoph
Name
Höfer
Host University
Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
Why Istanbul/Turkey?
There were several reasons for me to spend my semester abroad in Istanbul. I have travelled a lot
around Europe before, but never went to Turkey. I didn’t really want to leave Europe but also
wanted to experience a very different culture and language. When Yeditepe University became a
partner university of FH Köln, my choice was final. The university (a private one, with 17,000
students) looked very impressive, too.
Preparations
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For studying in Turkey, you need a student visa. You can request it easily at the Turkish
consulate in Hürth near Cologne (address: Luxemburger Str. 285 50354 Hürth). You do not
need an appointment; just bring the necessary documents and 2 hours of waiting time.
The student visa costs 60€. In Istanbul you have to request a resident permit in addition to
the visa, which again costs about 60€ and requires some bureaucratic steps, including 2
travels to the general police station. Some students ignored all this processes and entered
with a tourist visa, which is valid for 3 months. Therefore they had to leave Turkey during
the semester to renew it. If you plan to travel during your semester anyway, you should
choose this way. [Comment from CUAS Coordinator: CUAS students must show their visa
to Ms. Schmidt prior to leaving for Turkey, as for legal reasons it is not possible to study at
Yeditepe University with only a tourist visa if you are studying at Yeditepe through means
of the cooperation agreement between CUAS and Yeditepe.]
There are cheap flights to Istanbul from Cologne and Düsseldorf with Pegasus Airlines or
Sunexpress. As the University is on the Asian side you should choose Sabiha Gökcen
Airport as your destination. From there you can easily reach Kadiköy Bus and Ferry Station
by shuttle or normal bus. A ride on the shuttle Bus costs about 8TL, the normal bus about
4TL.
For the first nights I booked a room at a hostel, because it is quite difficult to find a private
accommodation before arrival. There is a nice and cheap hostel in Kadiköy:
www.hushhostelistanbul.com
The university has its own dorms, but the campus is quite far away from the centre, most
students I know chose to find a private accommodation in Kadiköy. It’s a very nice and
young district with lots of bars, restaurants and shops, directly at the Bosporus. There are
several ways to find a room, for example through Craig List: www.craiglist.com Other
possibilities are Facebook groups like “We love Istanbul” or “Erasmustanbul”. Yeditepe
University has also a group of students that take care of the Erasmus students, called
“Yeditepe Yiss”, and are very helpful with everything you need. If you follow all these
options, you can find a nice and cheap room within a few days.
Before my arrival in Istanbul I opened an account at DKB Bank. It is free of charge and you
can also pick up money free of charge at nearly every cash machine in Istanbul.
For the winter semester you should consider that from September till November the
weather is really warm in Istanbul, but December till February is as cold as in Germany. So
you should plan your luggage accordingly.
Even if Yeditepe University has its own medical centre, you need a foreign health
insurance.
People, Culture, Traffic, communication and nightlife:
People in Istanbul are very friendly and helpful. Even if you rarely find people who speak good
English, they always try to help you out or just look for someone who speaks at least a little
English. At the university I attended a Turkish course. The language is really not easy and I can
recommend attending an intensive course in addition, which are offered by several schools in
Istanbul. The ability to speak some basic words and sentences is always useful and people
respond even friendlier when you do. The city itself is absolutely amazing, always busy and really
different to what we are used. The traffic seems to be a huge chaos but after a while you see that
there is kind of a system behind the chaos. You always have to be careful because cars and busses
are not very considerate of people crossing the street. Also cross-walks are not respected as we
are used to from German traffic. The streets are always full of cars and people, but you get used to
it after a short while.
The central districts like Kadiköy, Göztepe and Moda on the Asian part as well as Taksim, Beyogly,
Eminönü and Besiktas on the European Side are very safe districts and very western-oriented. In
Kadiköy, for example, I also felt very safe during the night. Of course like in every big city, women
should not necessarily walk around alone by night, but normally there are always people on the
streets. Also the Police is very present all the time and everywhere. You should always carry your
passport, because it might happen that they want to see it on occasion, without any reason.
The transportation system in Istanbul is quite confusing. To reach the university, there are two
buses from Kadiköy Ferry station, number 19 and 19F. As there is always lots of traffic, it takes
about 50 minutes (a normal time for a commute within Istanbul). There are also buses (No.110 to
Taksim) and ferries to reach the European side, where the main touristic sights like Hagia Sofia
and Blue Mosque are, as well as the party areas Taksim and Beyoglu. During the night the easiest
and fastest way to change the continent is by Dolmus. This are shared Taxis and a trip costs only
5,5TL (2,2€). Crossing the Bosporus Bridge by night was one of the highlights, it’s quite an
amazing view. In general, the transportation system in Istanbul is very cheap, especially with your
student transportation card. You can also buy a student museum card at the Blue Mosque.
Crossing the Bosporus by ferry is amazing, too.
For communication you should buy a prepaid card for your cell phone. There are three main
providers: Vodafone, Turkcell and Avea. All of them have their pros and cons, so it doesn’t really
make a difference which one you choose. If you want to use your German cell phone, you have to
register it at one of the big shops, otherwise it will be blocked after a month or less. Another
option is to buy a cheap cell phone at one of the small electronic shops and use that.
As an ERASMUS Student the nightlife is also very important, and Istanbul has a never ending offer
to enjoy at the fullest. In Kadiköy there are many nice bars with great atmosphere. In Taksim and
Beyogly you find many small clubs and dance bars. People in Istanbul really know how to enjoy
life; they love dancing and are very communicative. There are many places where you find a very
mixed party crowd of Turkish and international students like Eski Beyrut, Araf or Beat Club.
Yeditepe University
The university campus is huge and impressive. There is a social building with several restaurants,
indoor and outdoor pools, billiard tables as well as a basketball and football court. Aside from the
academic stuff you learn a lot about the system, the people’s behaviour and the culture during
every lesson. The professors are very well educated, friendly and very helpful. I always felt very
welcome. The bathrooms are very clean and modern, and the classrooms are also well equipped.
Overall I had a great time in an amazing city. I met students from all over the world and also made
many Turkish friends during the time. I can absolutely recommend Istanbul and Yeditepe
University for a semester abroad!
Important links:
http://istanbul.en.craigslist.com.tr/
www.hushhostelistanbul.com/en/default.aspx
Facebook Groups:
www.facebook.com/groups/weloveistanbul/
www.facebook.com/groups/265780930116102/
www.facebook.com/yeditepe.yiss