Istanbul Day 2 - Sabanci University

(I am posting these posts a bit late, so these aren't real time but I'll try to include a post for everyday of the trip.)

Sabanci University

Today was our first chance to use public transportation in Istanbul, which turned out to be very easy. The subway was surprisingly clean, much cleaner than BART at home. The first "leg" was sort of just a little subway that went up and down an underground incline (called a Funicular -- Istanbul is actually pretty hilly, similar to San Francisco) and ran on a cable. From an engineering perspective, it was pretty cool and you could see a big pulley wheel that was part of the system. The subways are air conditioned too, which is a huge plus. As a result though, the doors only open when you press a button rather than stay open at a stop and let all the cool air escape.



We spent the day at Sabanci University's downtown campus. Their downtown campus building is inside of an old bank. After WWI the Sabanci family began buying as much property in Istanbul as possible. This turned out to be a good strategy.

We learned a lot about the Turkish cultural norms, which is a topic I really like. The Turkish culture is typically diffuse, where work and personal life are blended together. But it's in more moderation than in the US where the "mixing" of work and life often results in over-work and loads of stress. Turks have a much more European approach to work-life balance. But as the trip progressed I learned that this isn't so much of a balance, where the two things are separate, but more like the right formula of work and life mixed together.

Turks also have a culture of asking for advice or word-of-mouth recommendations. This is based on their strong relationships both in business and otherwise. But ironically, Turkey is a fairly low trust society among those lacking these relationships. Job titles also go a long way in determining your status in Turkey. In some ways, I feel like we got a pretty biased view of this though because our presenters were people like the Dean, which really represents the upper end of Turkish society.

We walked to lunch on the second floor of a restaurant with the crew from Sabanci. The food was a bit different today, but excellent as usual. Garlic eggplant puree was a big hit even though I hate eggplant.

On the way home, we took the metro again and somehow a few of us got separated from the rest of the group. We got a little lost, but at least got off at the right stop and found our way back to the hotel. Neville and I hit the pool to cool off for a bit and then we went out to a low key dinner.

While walking to dinner, we had to stop and ask a guy which way the restaurant was and I was shocked at his helpfulness. First of all, it was just past sunset and he and his friends had broken their fast (for Ramadan) just a few minutes ago. In fact, they had pulled a folding card table out of their van and were eating on the side of the street. He even went as far as to offer us some of his food. Then he proceeded to walk nearly two blocks with us to show us where he thought the restaurant was. I have to say, that just wouldn't happen in America. The Turks are extremely friendly and helpful.