Arcadia England

One of the highlights of this semester is surely going to be our student adventure to Istanbul.

Recently east really did meet west when students from two of Arcadia’s academic centres came together in a city steeped in history and culture - Istanbul, Turkey. There was a lot of excitement and anticipation ahead of our departure from London and Istanbul did not disappoint.

What made this excursion particularly special was joining up with the Arcadia Istanbul centre and spending time with our fellow Arcadia students studying there. Yes we saw all the key sights, but led by our experienced local Arcadia staff, we also got to experience places that aren't listed in the guide books. From the amazing turkish food, to sampling Boza and seeing parts of Istanbul that we never would have discovered on Googlemaps. It was the local knowledge of Resident Director, Alper Camci and the Arcadia students studying in Istanbul that made our visit so fantastic.

What made this excursion particularly special was joining up with the Arcadia Istanbul centre and spending time with our fellow Arcadia students studying there.

Why we did it

Istanbul as a possible destination for London/UK Arcadia students was an idea our Director, Peter Leuner suggested soon after he joined us. We generally offer as much exposure to other sights and destinations in Britain, so why venture abroad? And why Istanbul? His response: “we’d like to take “learn everywhere” literally and help our students to explore destinations they would not usually get to themselves… to visit one of the world’s great cities, a modern muslim country, a location where east really does meet west and a culture with layer upon layer of history - with the added bonus of an Arcadia program with a knowledgeable and supportive Resident Director!” And we’re going to do something similar in spring 2016 when, joining our Scotland and Ireland programs, we are planning a weekend in Dublin to coincide with the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising that brought an independent Ireland a step closer. This will also be supported by our Dublin Center staff.

And why Istanbul? His response: “we’d like to take “learn everywhere” literally and help our students to explore destinations they would not usually get to themselves…

What we did

Arriving in Istanbul late afternoon, our first experience of the city was driving through the town at dusk. With the streets lit up by turkish lanterns and the bus whirring to climb the steep, narrow streets - it was an incredible first taste of what the city had in store.

Over the next few days we explored most of the city on foot (covering nearly ten miles in one day!) But before you could even start to think about whether your feet hurt there would be another beautiful mosque on the horizon, a market stall calling you in or a kitten in a shoe to distract you (yes that happened, Istanbul is a cat lover's dream!)

Visiting sites such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Suleymaniye Mosque students learnt lots about Istanbul’s rich history and the influence this still has on their culture today.
There was also lots of fun to be had haggling at the Grand Bizarre and a (rather breezy) afternoon spent on a Bosphorus boat tour.

What the students had to say

“I would say that my personal highlight of the trip was having the opportunity to see a culture completely different from my own. It was absolutely incredible to see the prominence of religion in society, and how it is wholly engrained in the culture and well, regular lives of Turkish citizens.”

“This trip enhanced my study abroad experience by moving me out of my comfort zone. I went into the trip without really knowing anyone else in the trip and Istanbul is a city where finding someone who I could communicate with was a lot harder than any of the other major European cities I had visited. Getting out of my comfort zone is something I have a hard time doing and this trip left me with no choice.”

“My personal highlights of the Istanbul trip are the same as the highlights for my study abroad trip in general. The first highlight was meeting people who I otherwise would not have met, this includes students from other Arcadia programs and locals (though I only met a few) who have had vastly different experiences from my own. Aside from the people, my favourite part of the trip was being surrounded by history that is of critical importance to the development of the rest of the world whether that be through the Hagia Sophia creating a new standard for architecture or the code of Justinian for justice systems. The history in Istanbul is rich and being there was an experience that I won't soon forget.”

The history in Istanbul is rich and being there was an experience that I won't soon forget.