When I lived in Korea I wrote a Day in the Life blog about a typical 24 hours in the expat life. Since I love me some lists, I thought I'd give'r another go. Here's my version of Istanbul, by numbers.
Number of minarets (tall, turret-like spires) on your average Istanbul mosque: 2
Number of minarets I count on my morning commute in a bored car game played with myself : 28
Hours spent on a daily commute: 1.5
Celebrities I resemble physically, according to my students: Robin from How I Met Your Mother, Hannah Montana, pre-pubescent Hermione from the Harry Potter films
Cups of tea consumed: 2
Cups of tea consumed by an average Turk: 5, apparently!
Variations on the command "be quiet" that I've learned in Turkish: 3 (ranging from pleading to crass)
Variations that I've used in the classroom: 3 (the crass one was an accident)
Portions of white carbs in the school cafeteria lunch: 3
English songs that are the object of my students' obsession: two this week; Aqua's Barbie Girl and Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling
Number of days it took me to learn never to mention football in class: 2
Average duration of classwide cheering/booing when I mention a local football team: 30 seconds
Number of fruits I didn't expect to see in Turkey: 2; persimmon (I thought that was East Asian) and okra (I thought that was cajun!)
Best street food ever: baked potatoes the size of a rugby ball, stuffed with butter and salad
Number of Istanbul institutions named "Bum": 2; an electronics shop and a bakery. Hehehehe....
People on my street with whom I'm on a small-talk basis: 7
Number of Turkish words in my small-talk vocabulary: pitiful
Most underrated form of Turkish art: illuminated book bindings. Seriously. I'd hang them on my walls.
Preferred speed of taxi drivers: Formula 1
Number of cats in my apartment building's backyard: 7
Number of roosters: 1
Sweet. You should submit this to the Traveler's Notebook: http://thetravelersnotebook.com/categroy/by-the-numbers/
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