ESL Blogs

I know that I am one of those who feel unlucky about anything. We always complain about how unlucky we are. If the weather is sunny, when we go out, it suddenly starts to rain heavily. But, I also know that I am extremely lucky to have great friends whom I believe would do anything for me. I thank God for giving me great friends in all those rainy days in both offline and online life. Offline life? Yes. You read it right.

Offline life is completely a part of your real life. Maybe, you are not aware of this, but by sharing your ideas/ culture/ knowledge with others and learning theirs, with the relationships you form, you are changed. And, that’s simply the reality of real life. All over the internet, you see people making this distinction between online life and real life, as if reality is something happens offline, and online is not real simply like it doesn’t belong to them. It was disappointing when I, for the first time, saw “I.R.L.” which means “In Real Life”. Those people who make this distinction don’t count the things they do online. Let’s leave the reality of they can be influenced by the things online, but what about the time they spend online? Can they stop it and then continue their ‘real life’?

My offline life is intertwined with my online life, and both are all the same for me. It’s same when I form my relationships online and offline. My best online friends are the ones who call me every day even though there is nothing to talk to, yet we stare at the window; it feels homey to know that they are there. Junko-chan is one of them. I really don’t know how we find so many topics to talk to everyday. We've become so close that she's considered part of my life and I am considered part of hers. The best part of this friendship is that we manage to hang onto it no matter how far away we are from each other, no matter we’re born in different cultures, no matter how different we both are.

Now, as most of you know, she, Junko-chan visited Istanbul (of course the main reason was to visit me) a few months ago. I was really happy when I heard the news. I knew we would meet someday, but I couldn’t imagine it would be so early. It seems she was more curious than me. I wanted her to come in the summer, but she said she wanted to see her dear friend as soon as possible. lol

Now, I am neither going to tell you tales about friendship to let you understand the true meaning of friendship nor the story of what we did during our meeting. My tales will be boring and you may fall asleep, and our story is very private that I can’t share. (This part is supposed to be funny, so just laugh and go on.) :P

Friendship is a multi-faceted relationship. You all know it very well that friends cry together, share happiness, empathize each other's agony and so on. For me, I want to have those times which would be cherished for the lifetime, like funny memories that bring a broad smile on our face. After all, what are friends for, if we can't pull their legs, laugh uproariously and get away with it!

Lastly, just for your information, we enjoyed the trip very much. I wish the weather was better so that we could enjoy it more. On the first day, we were freezing and on the last day, it rained a lot. We sent cards to MyEC friends. Actually, sending cards and making “hand tower” were Junko-chan’s ideas. She is really thoughtful. I sincerely want to thank those who trusted us and gave their addresses. Also, while we were going to Princes’ Islands, she took a poster and two flags (Turkey & Japan) out of her bag, which was surprising for me, too.

There are many friends I want to thank. But, each name deserves to be mentioned in one blog. I am lucky to have all of you. :)

Thanks for your time…

You can see Junko-chan’s album of Trip to Istanbul here.