Expatriate lifestyle – How a Bad Day Turns Into a Great One!

I woke up this morning feeling a bit down and I want to share with you how a bad day turns into a great one! Our expatriate lifestyle is much different from the one we can lead at home, so here I’m sharing a day in the life of an expat woman in Turkey, but really it could be any other country.

Today I had a long walk with my boy. We went from our home all the way to the city centre. In Ankara, actually, there are many “centres”, as they do exist in other Turkish big cities. In Istanbul, it would be hard to understand what the city centre really is, as Istanbul in my personal view is more like a country. Its population is twice as big as Serbia, so… you understand what I mean when I say it’s more like a country..or two countries together.

Let’s continue with my day

So… today I went for a walk. I felt lonely and I wanted to clear my head and go back on track, as I know for sure things are not as black as they may seem at the moment, but sometimes we lose the right point of view and start to drown ourselves in some pessimistic thoughts. While we walked (actually my boy was on his bicycle, as usual :)), many different thoughts were running through my mind and heart.

At the beginning of the walk, I felt so sad and very lonely. Few friends that I had here recently left the country and others just didn’t have time to meet, as today’s life is so busy for everyone. Sure, I had my husband at home, thank God, but he cannot replace all the people I miss in my life. I started to miss my family strongly, as well as my friends back home. I was thinking how I can change this situation I’m in and how I can make it better.

Simit break in a bakery shop

My son and I decided to stop for a simit break on the way. Just a note, for people who are not familiar with simit. It is one of the favourite Turkish fast foods that you can find everywhere in any Turkish city. It is a favourite snack among adults, but kids are crazy about it. It is a round pastry, covered with sesame. It’s tasty, sometimes crunchy and it can differ sometimes from city to city. In some cities, like Izmir, they call it gevrek and some people would say they like simit more from Istanbul, for example, but for me, there is no such a big difference. It is tasty everywhere and everytime, as long as I’m concerned 🙂

So my son and I stopped at this nice place for a simit break. After we got our food, the waiter came and brought two chocolate lokum as a present, to eat after we finish simit. That deed alone kicked a bit my mood. I was thinking how I love Turkish hospitality and how great it is when someone just gives you something nice, something you didn’t ask for. My son was so happy, he almost instantly dropped his simit and started eating chocolate lokum.

Then…after few minutes I started to get some messages on my phone. One of my old friends made a viber group where he collected all the amazing friends that I missed so much. I was just so completely overwhelmed. I felt like A Hand from the sky directly was doing this. Reading the messages from my friends kicked my mood to the Sun. I was not alone…the actual situation didn’t change, I was still in the same place with my son, and no one else was around, but the situation in my heart changed. It opened and started receiving impulses from around. I started noticing things and people around me. I laughed with a waiter, started looking at other people having their lunch, people leaving and coming to the bakery shop with their own stories and lives.

Online presence of my friends alone reminded me that actually, I was never alone, just my mind was trying to trick me and throw me in those bad waters of self-pitying. I lost the perspective and now I was on the good track again.

After the simit break, we continued our walk. When reached our aim we stopped to wait for a bus home and that’s when real magic happened, but that is not the end of the surprises for the day. My son was running after pigeons, together with other kids. There is this place in Ankara that reminds me of so many other places in the world.

Square in Dubrovnik, a park in Belgrade and they are all very dear to my heart as they remind of my home and my family that I missed today especially. I had that image in my mind, my brother and me as kids on a Main Square in Dubrovnik, playing with pigeons and my mother is taking a photo of us. For us, at that moment life felt so easy, light and full of wonders which are yet to be discovered. We were kids, happy and protected under the loving arms of our parents.

My son and I finished our journey for the day and we went home.

One more surprise was waiting for me

A few days prior to this one a friend of mine told me to keep that evening for her, I was to help her something in her home. I was still not in the best mood, but I was happy that I will spend few more hours outside of home. So in the evening my husband dropped me off and I see my friend standing at the half opened the door like she is trying to hide something behind her… I come up, she opens the door and there was HUGE surprise for me! Many of my friends were waiting in the room!!! My friend organised Baby Shower surprise party for me!

I was completely confused first 10 minutes, I hugged all the friends that were there, some of who I haven’t seen in months and some I just saw last night 🙂 It was an amazing surprise! One more punch in the face of loneliness! Yes! From the beginning my heart was right! It knew! It just knew that I must fight against going deeper to dark thoughts and that I should look for answers.

We sat for few hours, had amazing food that my friends made, enjoyed and relaxed. Then they gave me the cutest and best presents in the world! It was such a big surprise again! I was opening one present after another and I was thinking, no need for all these presents, this evening is the biggest gift to me and my family. Because of this evening, my children will have a mother who believes more in the truth that in the end, everything will be ok, which will give us big power as a family.

Nothing can beat faith and I’m so thankful my friends helped me understand that! As for the presents, I can’t wait to use them on our baby when it comes and many other things they gave us that will make our life easier. I hope I will get a chance to give this kind of happiness to others in need.

Thank God for connecting me with all these amazing people in this foreign country. Never stop believing that in and everything will turn out for the best!

Did you have similar experiences as an expat or in your home country? How other people helped you go back on track and made you stronger for what is to come?

Share your thoughts in the comment box bellow or contact me directly.  I would love to hear from you!

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