Good News: The day we arrive in Brussels is the last day of the Belgium Beer Festival.
Bad News: The day we arrive in Brussels is the LAST day of the Belgium Beer Festival.
Regardless, we are very excited for our first vacation while living abroad. The plan is as follows -
Days 1, 2, 3 stay in Amsterdam. I should probably say "night 1" in Amsterdam, because day 1 is going to be spent in Brussels absorbing, literally, as much of the beer festival as we can.
Day 4 stay in Bruges, Belgium (Venice of the North)
Day 5, 6 Brussels, Belgium

You may be wondering why we are so excited to make it to Belgium for the beer... or maybe you're not! The truth is beer options in Turkey are slim-pickings. Due to strict import laws on alcohol in Turkey, the average Joe has only a handful of options when purchasing beer: Efes, Efes dark, Tuborg (whatever that is...), and Miller Geniune Draft (this sells for a woping $12/6pck.) I didn't buy Miller for $6 in the US; I am sure not going to spend twice the amount on that crap now. The Efes is pretty good for light beer, but that doesn't mean we're not going to jump at the chance to spend a day soaking up some good old Belgium beer.

Apart from planning our upcoming trip we have both been preparing for the student's arrival and the beginning of the school year. I am especially feeling the pressure because I am teaching Hazirlik Listening and Conversation (8th grade or the Prep. year), 9th grade, 10th grade and 11th grade. That is a lot of planning!!!! Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers as we prepare for even more changes in our lives.

We took our camera with us on a walk around the TEVITOL campus. You'll see the outside of our apartment (Lojman), school buildings, ships on the Marmara Sea, paths around campus and Eric picking figs from one of the many trees on campus. Enjoy!

IKEA Experience

In an effort to make our apartment feel more "homey' and stock up on essentials, Eric and I rode with two other teachers to an IKEA outside of Instanbul. First of all, I have never been to an IKEA, but I had heard great things. The rumors are true... it was AMAZING! Anything and everything you could ever need exists in this wonderland of household out-fittings.
Our main mission: bedding
Trying to find sheets, comforters, etc. in another language might be the most confusing experience ever. First of all, beds are measures in centimeters over here. Does anyone know how many centimeters their mattress is in their bedroom? I sure as heck didn't. Then, sheets are sold separately (once you decipher what is actually in the package), and fitted sheets come in tons of colors while a top sheet only comes in white. Also, the fitted sheet and top sheet are two different sizes for the same bed! Eric and I nearly lost our minds and patience looking for bedding for both our queen-ish and twin-ish sized beds.

In other news, our first school break is September 4-12. Yesterday we booked tickets for Brussels, Belgium. Our plan is to get a Benelux pass and see Belgium, Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Luxembourg. So excited!!!
PS - Keep an eye out for our exclusive Cribs Tour coming soon.

Kermit Surprise!

After a couple of days of dehydration/traveling/adjusting/nerves sickness, it was so perfect to find a stow-away Kermit in one of my bags. Yea, that's right I'm just now finished unpacking.
Thanks Family!

These were taken from the upstairs balcony of the dorm we are hosting.

It begins

We arrived yesterday afternoon with no problems at all - undoubtedly due to all the prayers from friends and family. We were picked up by a graduate student of TEVITOL, Umran, who is now studying at a University in Istanbul. Luckily the van was HUGE so there was plenty of room for our 9 bags.
First impression of Turkey - HOT! We traveled with no AC during the hour and half ride to the school to discover that there is no AC in our apartment. Don't worry it won't be this hot for too much longer, and the breeze off the sea at night are very refreshing.
Back to our arrival... The road took us around Istanbul and there were buildings and buildings as far as we could see in all directions. Umran pointed out his school and a new soccer stadium that was being built. His English was very good and it turns out that he studied abroad in Fort Collins, Colorado during his Junior year of High School.
After arriving we placed our bags in the apartment and were then taken to meet the principal/headmaster. He showed us around the school and pointed out the various other buildings. The campus is beautiful. There are multiple buildings and paths with little benches sprinkled throughout. I'll try to post some pictures sometime soon.
Today was a little rough for me. We were supposed to go into Gebze to apply for my residency, but I was not feeling well and spent most of the day between the bathroom and the bed. I woke up from a short nap feeling weak but, thankfully, much better. We went for a short walk and watched the boats crossing the sea while enjoying the breeze.
Hopefully tomorrow is better. The rest of the teachers will be arriving because meetings will start on Thursday.

Girls Trip

To celebrate completing my master's degree, Wendy's success at work, Kelly's almost completion of work at the water park, Wendy's first time to Disney World, and my approaching departure to Turkey, the girls set off for a "girl's trip" to Orlando, Florida.
We visited every little section of every single park that Disney World had to offer and spent a full day exploring Universal Studios - including Hogwarts - to experience the most exhausting and equally exhilarating vacation I could have imagined. "Dueling Dragons" and "Towers of Terror" thrilled us just enough to make it through hour long lines and endure the WORST that Disney tourists had to offer.
Here is a video that shares just a taste of what our trip had to offer.