So what’s it really like?

Awake or asleep

Probably it largely depends on where you are moving from. I moved here from a small town of 20,000 inhabitants in the north of England, of which I was, and still am, very fond indeed. It was a great place to bring up my kids -- a safe town with easy access to beautiful countryside all around. Antalya by contrast is now reckoned to have a population of approximately 1 million. The difference is that Antalya is always alive. No matter what the time of day or night, there is always something happening -- people out and about, late night shops open, all night restaurants, dogs barking, etc. In sleepy small towns in England, everything shuts down for the night. Life here may be challenging but it is never dull and has the effect of keeping you on your toes. Things change overnight -- shops, banks, cafes and offices come and go in the blink of an eye -- they may be there one day and completely transformed by the next. In the UK, the recession has caused several places to close and these have gradually been replaced by yet more coffee shops -- but these changes happen over months rather than hours and generally, the residents are well aware of new arrivals before they happen by reading all about the earth shattering forthcoming changes in the local paper. Personally I prefer the Turkish way -- it makes life more interesting wondering if the bank where I have deposited my money will still be in the same place or my favorite café will have changed hands yet again, and most of all, I enjoy the feeling that Antalya is very much alive.

Social shenanigans

Making friends in a new place is always hard. In the past, whenever I moved house or town in the UK, I had three small children with me who automatically gave me a whole host of readymade friends of a similar age and stage in life through toddler groups, play groups, school and the round of extracurricular activities my kids deigned to participate in. Of course, many of these “friends” fell by the wayside over the years, but a few have remained firm friends with whom I have regular contact.

Moving here, with only a partner and no children to hide behind was going to be a challenge. Where would I find such an easy source of like-minded people? There was work -- and as I still work at the same crèche six years later -- I have made many very good friends of different nationalities. Before moving here, I was determined to make Turkish friends and not to fall into the trap of recreating a little Britain by socializing only with the expat community. However, one huge drawback to this plan is, of course, the language. Despite my best efforts -- well many hundreds of lessons and some feeble attempts at homework -- my Turkish is still limited. Although I can manage an everyday sort of conversation, anything with any hidden depths leaves me wondering whether “yes or “no” would be appropriate and if it’s possible to get back to the interesting topic of the weather.

Making friends has been a slow and difficult process, probably because I am not a naturally extrovert sort of person. But over the years, I have made friends with a far wider range of people, in terms of age, background and nationality, than I would ever have done had I stayed in the UK. This can only be a positive outcome of my life over here. I now have a circle of friends, both Turkish and from the expat community, who form a valuable part of my life. In many ways it’s much easier to make social arrangements here as the whole process is far more flexible and spontaneous. No need for endless phone calls to book up friends for dinner parties weeks or even months in advance. Here, a phone call in the morning for a BBQ that same day is fine. Better still are breakfast picnics on the beach before the summer sun becomes unbearable.

Tricks of the trade

The first year or so was hard and the first few months particularly so. Trying to fathom how to get the telephone connected, access the Internet, pay an electricity bill, set up a bank account, buy a mobile phone, why the hot water is not working, or how to stop the noise from the secondhand fridge from drowning out the TV -- that is, if you’ve succeeded in getting connected to Digiturk or the like -- can be enough to make the life you had before moving here seem blissfully easy. With the help of friends with a better command of Turkish all these minor but necessary inconveniences get sorted over the months.

Although the bureaucracy involved in setting up a bank account may seem formidable initially -- especially when signing your 52nd piece of incomprehensible regulations -- once it’s up and running with access to Internet banking, it runs quite smoothly. Connecting to the services involved similar amounts of paperwork but all happened eventually. As for repairing faulty household items, nothing could be easier. Every backstreet in Antalya has numerous repair shops, which will send someone round to your house, can always find a solution to the problem and generally don’t charge a fortune for their work -- a far quicker and simpler process than back in the UK.

Food and films

It goes without saying that the ability to eat healthily and cheaply in Antalya is very easy. Everyday there is an open air market somewhere in the city offering a fantastic array of seasonal fresh fruit and veg. Quite different from the expensive and plastic shrink wrapped offerings in English supermarkets. Eating out is rapidly becoming more expensive here, especially if you want to drink alcohol, but it is still possible, especially in the backstreets to find delicious, cheap and relatively healthy fast food. As for films, there is always a smattering of Hollywood blockbusters to be found at the many cinemas around Antalya, but the best time for me is the two weeks in the autumn when the Antalya Altın Portakal Film Festival takes place showing Turkish and foreign films with English subtitles. Other cultural delights include regular concerts at the Antalya Culture Center (AKM) and opera and ballet at the Hasim Iscan Cultural Centre, not to mention the annual opera festival at Aspendos.

Work, weather and wanderlust

As for the rest, work for me has been easy -- I taught infants in the UK and continue to do so here and because of my qualifications and I am able to do so with a work permit. Other friends who are expats work mostly for private colleges and language schools and those with recognized TEFL certificates are also able to work legally. The weather, of course, is a hundred times more exciting than the north of England, where it has a uniformly grey damp feel throughout the year. By contrast, Antalya boasts consistently bright sunshine all year round. When it rains -- it really rains until the roads are more like rivers. When the wind blows or a storm rages, it’s spectacular and churns the sea up and rips branches off the tall palm trees.

And if you do tire of Antalya, it’s easy to escape: In winter, to the mountains for climbing or skiing; in spring and autumn, to the rest of Turkey, via the many cheap internal flights or bus; or even the rest of the world from the airport, which is now conveniently served by a public bus.

What’s it really like to live in Antalya? There is no easy answer -- I guess I have put a positive spin on most things mentioned. I could write about the appalling driving, the disconcertingly complicated hoops to jump through to overcome the paperwork for such things as resident’s permits, or a tapu for a house or buying a car; but overall, the advantages far outweigh these inconveniences.