A Stranger in Bilecik

I returned from Izmir today, and traversed tiredly to my favorite restaurant after dropping off my bags in the flat. Not long into meal, a foreigner stumbled in, found a seat, and began to graze. To my great surprise, he was a native English speaker from Australia. I learned this overhearing the Turkish waiter ask where he was from in broken, fragmented English. "Vare.. eh hey hey .. vare are you frohm?," he had asked. "Australia," the Australian replied.

I finished my dish, payed, and walked over to introduce myself. It's truly a novelty finding a native English speaker in Bilecik. I was shocked, and only then realized how fantastically bizarre it is for anyone in Bilecik to encounter me. I respect the townspeoples caution now, and realize the looks, perpetual wide-eyed stares, prolonged gazes in my direction are simply a natural reaction. After all, my reaction was quite similar. As I approached, I considered giving the gentleman a swift poke, just to see what would happen. "What will English-speaker man do?," I thought to myself. I refrained from doing so and instead struck up a little conversation about what had brought him to the area. Turns out, he's a business man looking to buy marble and stone. Bilecik is just the place for this. My route to school every day is littered with massive industrial factories producing granite, marble, porcelain, and aluminum. For his sake, I hope it's cheap but of high quality.

The gentleman also told me he'd been here 20 years ago on a backpacking trip. I was astonished and he laughed at my expression. He was reminded, he said, of just how "developing" Turkey is upon visiting Bilecik. Beyond the limits of cosmopolitan super-cities like Istanbul, Izmir, and Bursa, smaller towns still reflect a lifestyle without many of the modern amenities we in the US (and Australia) are so accustomed to. I told him I can't wait to come back after 20 years.

As weird as it was to run across a native English speaker, I was very happy to have met him. We talked a bit about yoga and solitude and Turkey. I admired his openness and his charm. He possessed a certain sense of self he claimed to have acquired through yoga. I'm acquiring that same sense in different ways, and I'm so grateful for that.