How a baboon is associated with a job seeker...

I'm watching Nat Geo Wild laying down on my sofa, doing one of the most relaxing things I can do after a looong day. 


I see some baby baboons trying to swim across the river with the help of other adult baboons. Then the camera focuses on a baby baboon doesn't get any help from other adult baboons. He has to swim alone in the wild river where full of hospitable(!) crocodiles are. The baby is aware of the danger and looks around with fearful eyes while trying to swim across the river. You can't imagine how lovely it is in spite of the horror in his eyes. Now I want to jump into the screen (btw thanks to HD broadcast!) and save him from the horible river. Seems interesting... 


While I'm thinking about the possible reasons, the narrator breaks the silence and explains: The adult baboons doesn't help that baby as all his relatives have already died. Can you believe the rest of the group doesn't help the baby because he has no relatives alive!? Does the story sound familiar to you???  

I know it doesn't sound a happy story, but this is real life! Now I'm curious, what did you think when you read about the documentary above? Somehow it's reminded me desperate job seekers have to fight alone against the wild business world full of educated crocodiles!

MILANO, MILANO...

Anyway... Now I have to get up prepare my suitcase as I'm leaving to Milano in two days. It's gonna be a huge show called "Host" and I know it's gonna be sooo tiring at the end of the day...

It's interesting but though I lived in Turin and Rome (I do love both cities btw!) somehow I have a little bit prejudice about Milan which is not that good. I must confess I've been to Milan only twice (without visiting the city- it's ironic!) once at the airport, the second one was te train station experience when I was going to Switzerland! So how come and I have this stupid prejudice before visiting a city!!!??? Would it be a "Berlusconi affect"? :) :) :) Oh Mio Dio! I guess I've just created a new word for Psychology jargon! If I modify it properly yes I can! "Berlusconiphobia" :) Anyway just kidding! It wouldn't be fair if I associate a city with the owner of its football club.

I should head out now to prepare my suitcase..

Wish you all a great week!

G.N.B. 

HE HYPNOTIZED ME on WEDNESDAY NIGHT!

(A Mario Frangoulis Experience)  

To start at the beginning: Though I never tried hypnosis when I was studying at university (people think that the first thing a psychology student learn is how to hypnotize J ) now I know what people feel when hypnosis puts a person in a hypnotic state.

Yes, I waited him sitting for one hour and a half, and I never complained. At the end of 1.5 hour I was in trance (that I wished it would have been the deepest one that would never make me up) in each second of yesterday night. Yes, finally, I was in Mario Frangoulis’ concert...

I had contemplated to go to listen to him in Greece and knowing that I never get fed up of listening to his songs, hopefully I will do that (You may think that I’m crazy (and I am), I can do that even this summer!) The thing I felt yesterday night I was so thirsty and drank only a glass of water, but still felt so thirsty. So I may go to Athens (most probably he would give the concert in Acropolis) just to listen to his concert for a couple of hours.

The songs had already been listened so many times before I went to his concert, and only 2 or 3 Greek songs were so new to me. But the funniest thing I did was trying to hear the Greek words I was familiar with J When he said “spitia”which means homes, I was like “Oh he’s singing about homeeees!” Hahaha J or when he said “dendro”which means tree, I was proud of myself as I understood couple of words finally. Btw some words in Greek are really no need to learn as in psychology jargon we use a lot of them a lot such as “dendrit” in brain, or the term “oedipus ”complex etc...

His voice is great but I don’t listen to him because of his splendid voice . He’s from Corfu (one of my dream islands in Ionian Sea) but I am not fan of him because of this too. He sings well-chosen fantastic songs such as Vincero’ Perdero’, Notte di Luce, Hijo de la Luna, but some other singers sing them too and I am not really fan of them. He’s well-educated, but this could be the strangest reason to listen to a singer J Or because of he has always been very much loved? No no no... Because he adds certain elegance when he sings? No, he is not the only elegant person I’ve ever met.

The thing I’ve learned in this life is honesty, grace and generosity of spirit are essential ingredients to the well-lived life worth living. The reason I appreciate him a lot is he represents a best of “humanity” for me which is rare to meet in such a chaotic, materialistic and, capitalist life. If you listen to the interviews which have been done with some other popular singers have known him well, you will understand what I really mean.

These are what I listened from some interviews:

“... he is very generous, very beautiful both appearance and the heart, of course he has a great voice but I think the most special thing is he is very beautiful human being.” Lara Fabian

“... I adore him I think he has a great character, and such a beautiful voice... a timeless voice!” Justin Hayward

As I observed him singing in his concerts and the TV programs and in his interviews, I didn’t need any of these praises to adore him indeed. The reason I published the thought above is I would like to draw your attention to the order of their praises: both are in the same order. When I heard others’ thoughts about Mario, the outstanding feature of his character was that of humanity: his honesty and loyalty in his life, and finally passion. Mario is just not a good looking 21st century tenor, but he’s the best combination of the great features above: a role model for both current and next generations. I now don’t know what caused Mario to be that good combination. Maybe because he was born in the heart of the Africa and saw the poor and the rich, lived north and the south, or maybe he was sent to Greece by his mother when he was only four. Whatever the reason is, it seems life has made him mature and I totally adore this final Mario! When I watch him I feel like I look at a mirror, that’s why I love him…

I have a very strong wish, from the bottom of my heart: I want so much all very dear people in my life, and whoever deserves, to have “a Mario” in their life, that sincerely smiling, that honest, that successful, that beautiful, that passionate, and that loyal.

Thanking him once again for making us live a fantastic night I must confess I already feel so excited for the next concert!

Before I finish I would recommend you to listen to his song that I might have listened to a thousand times http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfIDo6Bnjz4 .

With my very best wishes...

Gül

When he leaves me speechless...

"How does a part of the world leave the world?
How does wetness leave water?

Dont' try to put out fire by throwing on
more fire! Don't wash a wound with blood.

No matter how fast you run, your shadow
keeps up. Sometimes it's in front!

Only full overhead sun diminishes your shadow.
But that shadow has been serving you.

What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is
your candle. Your boundaries are your quest.

I could explain this, but it will break the
glass cover on your heart, and there's no
fixing that.

You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.

When from that tree feathers and wings sprout on you,
be quieter than a dove. Don't even open your mouth for
even a coo."

Mevlana Rumi

"A lover asked his beloved,
Do you love yourself more
than you love me?

The beloved replied,
I have died to myself
and I live for you.

I've disappeared from myself
and my attributes.
I am present only for you.

I have forgotten all my learnings,
but from knowing you
I have become a scholar.

I have lost all my strength,
but from your power
I am able.

If I love myself
I love you.
If I love you
I love myself."

Mevlana Rumi

When he talks, he silences me.. And I feel the peace somewhere deep inside at that moment.

Do not interpret my silence as refusal; silence gives consent.

He is my SUN.. Lightens my way in the dark. 

One more reason to be thankful to God.. 

Gül Nur Bilek

Nur in One of the Wonders of Istanbul: Princes' Islands!

Buyuk Ada
I fell in love with this beautiful villa, please see the phaeton:)

Dear friends, in 2010 summer I had a chance to see the Princes' Islands. As I had always heard about them, I wanted to go and visit the islands as soon as I got the chance. One is called Büyük Ada (the largest and the most famous one), which is translated as “large island” to English. As you can easily understand “ada” means “island”. Uff, I’m really sorry, somehow I can not stop the teacher inside J If one of your parents is a teacher, you always have him/her inside of you, even if you never want, and that means you always love to share the info with the people around. Uff, too much talk, that’s enough! Let me show you a photo of lovely Büyük Ada.

 

Unique Cultural Synthesis of Byzantine, Ottoman, Turkish and Western Cultures

I LOVED THIS PHOTO! Not taken by me. Buyuk Ada in Autumn.
But I'll go (inşallah) back there to take autumn photos next year..

The tour of the island is one of the greatest joys! If you go to Büyük Ada you should try phaeton which takes you all over the island. One of the best things of the island is motor vehicles are not permitted on the island, so people walk or rent a bicycle or horse-drawn carriage, even ride a donkey! :)

But if I prefered to to see the island by walking till I got exhausted, thanks God I found one phaeton around on the way back. Don't worry it's very easy, you can see them anywhere around.   

Another awesome villa :)



Buyuk Ada is famous for its splendid villas. GOD GRANT ME ONE Pleasee! (I wrote it in pink to make my wish seem lovelier, you think it works?)
Here's the another photo! Each of the houses is very beautiful. I was impressed so much that while I was leaving the island I found myself thinking of how I could manage to settle down on the island.


HOW TO GO TO THE ISLANDS?

Taken from my helicopter :)
Hehe, just kidding! Of course not!
Coz I left mine in Istanbul :))

That's easy! You just take a ferry or fast passenger ferry (sea bus) from different piers of the city, Istanbul, and after half an hour sea travel you arrive at the first island.
If you wanna go to Büyük Ada which is the biggest one, you have to complete 1 hour sea travel, because Buyuk Ada is the last island.


 SEA TRIP WITH LJVELY DOLPHINS

You'll definitely love the trip accompanied by friendly dolphins!

In my first trip to the islands I totally focused on the sea to see a group of dolphin. Well, could I? Yes I diiiiiidd!!! It was great to see them jumping out of the water.

To be honest, this is not taken by me :) But what could I do?
I couldn't manage to take a photo of them as I didn't waste
my time preparing the camera while fantastic dolphins were
 jumping out of the water!:)

Btw, you can also see them if you look at the Bosphorus carefully! Ahaha, it sounds like "You can even see the Smurfs if you become a good kid" Anyone who never watched The Smurfs? I was totally a fan of them, I can still watch it. Uff, too much talk again!

From 6th Century: AYA YORGI CHURCH & MONASTERY

No worries, I'm not gonna tell you the history of the church:) 

But the question is: If you are a Middle Eastern, a European or an Asian it's ok, you may skip reading the details when you see something from the 6th century; what if you are an American? 



One of my American friends had his holiday in the Aegean costs of Turkey this summer. You should have seen his face when he saw historical structures from the 5th century B.C. I guess the reason is it's a bit (!) earlier than landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas :) God I really talk too much! Somebody should stop me, please!

What I would like to tell about is Aya Yorgi Church and Monastery which has been on the top of the hill on the Buyuk Ada. There is also a very nice restaurant where you can eat or drink.

Suddenly I found myself praying in the church with a great peace inside. As a muslim, I must confess that I can pray anywhere reminds me God; and also anywhere to remember God.  

Every 23rd of April, on the day of St. George, thousands of Greeks and Turks come to Aya Yorgi Church and a great celebration takes place in Buyuk Ada. 

INSALLAH ?

Means "If God wants/let me" in Islam. And I know that it is writen also in the Bible.

What I want to tell is whenever I said "I'm gonna do this/go there etc..." I could never managed to to do it. And I also know that, as Robbie said, "I sit and talk to God, and he just laughes at my plans." So, insallah I would like to see 23rd of April celebrations this year in Buyuk Ada. So, what do you think, is "inşallah" enough to make my wish come true, or should I write it in pink? I think I have been taught the answer very well.

You can ride a donkey to climb on the top of the hill to get to the Aya Yorgi Church :)

 Finally, let me show you a very interesting trash can! I guess the people in Buyuk Ada are so gentile that they even take care of the empty water bottles and do anything they can for their convinience :) Please see the swing made for the empty bottles!

The photos are great, but believe me the atmosphere in Buyuk Ada is much greater. Yet, if you still would like to see more photos click on the link below:

http://www.google.com.tr/images?hl=tr&biw=1006&bih=421&q=b%C3%BCy%C3%BCk+ada&rlz=1R2ADBF_enTR400&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=NQAiTdGgKI-38gOMvJGLBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQsAQwAA 

My dear friends, thank you very much for the feedbacks!

I love you all :)

G.N.B.

Nur in China!!! UNIVERSIADE & The World's Biggest Ice Sculpture Festival :)

When it comes to make an introductory sentence here, I feel myself just like Ted Mosby and remember his first sentence each time he starts to tell a story of how he he met his soul mate and got married. We almost all know that famous sentence, don't we?

"Kids, this is the story of how..."



Very kind Chinese volunteers welcomed us at the Beijing Airport



Nooo, I'm definitely not gonna use such a childish word that'll make you feel like a kid :) Yet, I can borrow a part of his famous sentence, right? So...

This is How My Fantastic Story BEGAN in China!

Date:13 February '09

Time: 21:30

I was pretty excited not only for I would go go China but also I would spend my 23rd St. Valentine's Day by flying! It was Awesome!

The plane was supposed to take off at 23:30 and I was so ready to celebrate St. Valentine's Day in an airplane on the way to China.

In fact, I expected some small surprises in the plane for the guests (as I worked in the hospitality sector, I am used to call costumers as "guest") during our flight. However, unfortunately all we were serviced were nuts, any kind of beverage, and a super food menue, but not something special for St. Valentine :(

The important thing Turkish Airlines had to learn from this, was they needed to get such crazy expectations of such crazy guests like me.

The important thing that I had to learn was that I should have decreased my expectations in the life and been happier girl! (Could I manage to do this? Of course I didn't :) )

Finally I was in the plane and opened my diary to write about my first observations of my long journey, but guess what happened?

While I was trying to open the head piece of my pen, something happened and some ink from the pen dropped on my new Lacoste shirt I just had worn! ( I skip this story for now but I'll go back to this subject again! )

After 20-hour flight finally we we got manage to land at the Harbin Airport in China! 



God! I would eat her!!! Chinese babies and kids are really so sweet!!!
BTW, if you go to Mc Donald's in China they don't sell mayonnaise, I tried really hard to tell what mayonnaise is and finally I made them understand it showing a little mayonnaise between the two hamburger breads from the picture on the wall because nobody could speak English there!

 And.. This is How I Was About to Die within my first 5 Minutes

(An Izmirian in Siberia)

Place: Harbin Airport, China

As I thought I didn't need my gloves to weat because our bus seemed to me only 1 minute away by walking from where we were.

I can tell you many other mistakes that I've done so far but this time it almost costed my life!

Why nobody warned me about the temperature outside???

GOD it was - 20 degree!

P.S. It was +16 degree one day ago when I left from Izmir.

When some friends from Turkish Ski Federation helped me to get in the bus half of my body was totally frozen, I was able to move my hands and fingers after 35-minute hand masaage. GOD! Even my brain was about to get frozen!

AWESOME ICE SCULPTURE FESTIVAL

The enterance of fantastic Ice sculptures

DID YOU KNOW THAT? Harbin Ice Festival provides the visitors each year a whole new world of ice and snow. The best collections of ice artworks are exhibited.

Though I attempted to visit Ice Sculptures in Harbin City twice, I only managed to visit it once because of the freezing cold!


I wore THREE snow gloves, 4 wool socks and guess how many snow clothes on me.. And I was finally ready to see fantastic Ice Sculptures!

First you ascend these stairs to go to Acropolis, then you take a sled to ski between these ice columns.

Have you ever seen a camel in -25 degree? I have :)

I highly recommend you to click on the link below and see amazing photos of the ice sculptures:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=harbin+ice+sculpture+festival&rlz=1R2ADBF_enTR400&wrapid=tljp129141415307840&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=7Wv5TIiTAYPA8QPLt5TECQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QsAQwAg&biw=1006&bih=421

That's the hotel I stayed, 33rd floor :)

 And in this photo you can see Harbin City.

Don't let the sun trick you, it's -15 degree!!!

See people are skiing on the frozen river :) But as soon as I was taken this photo I ran into our car. Couldn't wait outside even for 2 mins!
The girl next to me is our assistant Dora, she was very friendly and helpful to us!
She even bargained with Chinese sellers for me! :)
Dora WE LOVE YOU!

BTW Hope you are not curious about the name of this frozen river in Harbin, because I couldn't keep in mind even a single Chinese name. The only 3 things I could keep in mind are "sheshe (thank you), gambei (cheers),  nihao (hello)"

Time to Tell About Friends & Colleagues

Caroline & me :) my kuzu

I have a sister in my extended family (the bigger heart you have the more siblings you have in your extended family, it's directly proportional) She's Caroline. Don't let her name trick you, she loves Turkey and can speak Turkish very well! 

Some nights before we sleep we used to have some fun  in Harbin :) I used to speak Turkish English ( bikoz ay vaz veri gud et Törkiş İngiliş) and as she is a Belgian she used to speak French English :) We were really good at this game and we enjoyed really a lot, at least we were falling asleep with funny smiles on our faces :) Try it with your friends, it's so fun!!!

I already used to call her (my dear Caroline) kuzu (sheep) in Turkish, but one day when I was in a shopping mall in Harbin I saw a kuzu (it was a lovely Chinese sheep, see the photo below) and since then I've been calling her as Çinli kuzu (Chinese Sheep) :))

In this photo, Turkish University Sports Federation Kemal Tamer, mayor of Edmonton Stephen Mandel, Ed Zemrau and Canadian Olympic Committee Staff.

 

Me and Caro in the Banquet of Canada.

One of the most beautiful banquets I attended.

Canadians are really so kind and gentle.

I would have worked with the Canadian Olympic Committee if Canada could have won Universiade 2015 bid. It's destiny!

 My great China story hasn't ended here... I'm gonna share more about my visit to China... But now it's time to get some sleep! :)





This video rocked US!!!: Double Rainbow

Have you watched "double rainbow" video yet? If not, just google it or click here and watch if you are not able to watch it from the link below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


IMPORTANT: Please watch it twice!!! You know what? Because, while you are watching it second time you are totally focusing on a different thing of his reaction. At least I did so.


Now I assume you already watched it.


1) Why this man cried when he saw the double rainbow?


2) What would you do if you saw a double rainbow?


3) What did you feel when you watched the video?


I have to tell that his reaction to the double rainbow impressed me really a lot! For me, it's kind of miracle and a visual show God presented us as a gift. NOW! Imagine yourself: Would you get surprised and  react to a double rainbow just like this man??? .... (thinking process)

Well, why wouldn't you? Could it be because we almost all are about to loose our pure nature we had when we were a child and become so unreactive even to an awesome natural visual show? What's happening to us and we are becoming so unreactive to the miracles we see everyday?

Is it challenging city life or horrible rush hours in the way back home or our financial problems or a very heartbreaking, our sad sad love story that change our mood totally into negative???

I don't wanna keep this unreactiveness anymore.. I don't wanna be one of the crowd. I don't want my heartbreaking story to prevent me from praying and mentioning God's name.  

I WANT TO OPEN MY EYES... I WANT TO SAY "THANK YOU" EVERY SINGLE MOMENT IN THE REST OF MY LIFE FOR ALL GOD GIVES ME. and I AM VERY THANKFUL FOR MY DEAR FRIENDS who have supported me a lot since I started to write my blog... Thank you dear Resul, Dave, Ebru, Rebecca and Sara :)

NOW... :) A very special thanks to very dear Sara, Jason and their beautiful doughter Madeline, handsome son Alex and my little Romeo Benjamin for showing us "Double Rainbow" video and singing it's awesome song together and making our day!

I love you all...

GNB

Oh I'm so excited!!!

(Oh I'm breaking fresh ground in my life!!! This is what I have always wanted for many years, finally I'm achieving it!)

My dear friend, dost or a visiter wishes a new life,

Thank you for coming and visiting me. With you, I'll feel not alone, so sharing here will courage me more.

What you are gonna see will be many interesting and real stories of me that you'll be inspired by. (I wish the same for me when I sometimes feel a looser)

Why do I write? As long as I lived so far, I noticed something incredibly weird that is human being "forget" even who s/he is.
So... I'm gonna write to remind myself the things I sometimes forget...

Moreover, in my culture people so often forget to enjoy and have fun in their life. I wanna enjoy and see you enjoy from the life you live.

Finally, I'm not a person who knows everything and as you will see I'll never claim&proof something's true or not.. We're now here to (be) inspire(d) and from the anything we're gonna share :)

Never hesitate to give me feedback that will courage us more to share... :)

Thank you very much for being with me...

Love you!

G.N.B.