Turkish Eccentricities

• there aren't ever any schedules- everything is more of a guesstimate
• Turks are obsessed with their cars, but most especially their windshields, which are stopped and clean numerous times (6x) on a normal road trip-- buses too
• you cannot order a piece of dessert, you order by the amount of money you want to spend. For example, you say, I want 1TL worth of baklava
• people are offended if you wear seat belts in their car
• Everyone lives with their parents until they get married, it is very much the norm, and not the exception
• It seems every upper-middle class family in Ankara owns a golden retriever (no other dogs are seen except golden retrievers) 
• talking on modes of public transportation is highly frowned upon. In fact, I usually am shhshhed
• chai (tea that is) is basically a requirement- drinking six glasses a day is a normal thing
• everyone has a "teze" an "aunt" to watch over them, scold them, and of course, cook for them 
• vanilla extract is a powder, and called vanilla sugar
• Christmas is celebrated as New Years (on Jan. 1- the Turks say they are celebrating Christmas, trees and all
• in Turkish, "to sit" is "to live/reside"
• water is delivered to your door in gallon jugs because we don't drink the tap water
• sometimes our water is brown, like mud brown. it is very gross
• city wide power outages are common and occur frequently. No on seems to be bothered or unnerved by them
• all men have murses (man-purses) to carry their cell phones, cigarettes and wallets

Well this list is certainly not exhaustive. But one of the most beautiful things about a culture are the small differences you find, that are nearly imperceptible, but speak volumes louder than words. The Turkish culture is one of the most beautiful I have encountered, and the people here are endlessly charitable and helpful. But, from time to time, I can't help noticing our differences, though small they may be.