Welcome to the second interview in my Adjusting to Expat Life series.  I’ll be running two interviews a week over the course of six weeks, writing about my own experiences adjusting to expat life in Peru, and rounding up the best expat resources on the web.

Interview #2:  A Canadian in Istanbul

Canadian film producer and screenwriter Joe Tuck also runs travel blog Hello, Pineapple? He’s currently living in Istanbul with his Turkish wife, and was kind enough to answer some questions on the transition.

How long have you lived in Turkey?

The past 6 months but overall about a year.

What made you choose to move there?

It’s a beautiful city, the food is amazing, the people are passionate and caring.

How do you make a living?

Because of the internet I am able to do my work (Film Producer, Screenwriter) anywhere.

Have you lived abroad in other countries before? Where? Was it easier or harder to feel at home?

No, but I have traveled for years at a time.

Are you part of a close-knit expat community, or are you closer to locals?

Closer with locals (Friends and family of my wife)

How much longer do you plan to stay?

The plan is have a homebase here for five years.

Do you think about your adopted country as home, or as somewhere you happen to live, at the moment?

Somewhere I happen to live.

What were the greatest differences you noticed when you first arrived?

• Traffic
• The people
• the city itself is stunning.
• quality of the food
• politics is very serious here

What are the greatest differences you notice now?

• remarkably efficient for a town of 20,000,000
• the more settled I get the more I notice the similarities and am comforted

To what level did you speak the language when you arrived?

Beginner

How did the language difference affect you?

It is at times very frustrating. It makes it difficult to be independent.

Do you have a local partner? How does or doesn’t that help you
integrate?

Yes, my wife is Turkish and her family lives here.  I definitely get the local experience but like I said, it can be a crutch when things need to be dealt with and I don’t have the language. Otherwise, my life is twice as good.

Have you taken out or would you consider taking out citizenship? Would you lose your home country citizenship?

I would get citizenship here. I would not lose my home country citizenship. If I did lose my citizenship by getting a Turkish passport I would NOT become a turkish citizen.

If you don’t have citizenship, what are your feelings on living in a country where you have no political voice? Is having a political voice important to you?

It’s not my business to meddle in the affairs of others.  I can listen to all sides objectively. Having a political voice in my country of origin is enough.

Was there a moment when you suddenly realised the extent to which you had integrated? To which you hadn’t?

I think I still have a lot of work to do, but, when my friends and family visit they do mention how well I have acclimated.

What advice would you have for ‘newbie’ expats? What do you wish you had known before moving to your new home?

Stay positive. Have a sense of humour.

What do I wish I had known?  Hmmmm. I wish I had known earlier that I could do something like this.

I love that final answer!  As much as I’ve talked about how tough it is at times, I think ultimately expat life, like long-term travel, is something many people put in the too-hard box, when really it’s an incredibly rewarding experience within all of our capabilities.  It’s nice to be reminded of that.

The next interview will be up on Friday, with Andy of Grounded Traveler.  Andy’s post, Doubt while living abroad, was a fairly key factor in my decision to focus on expat life for a while.  He made me realise how important it is to examine the experience, instead of hoping the doubts will go away.