Istanbul Adventures: Part 2 - Fast Living, Familiar Bugs

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Alright, where were we?

I really didn’t plan to leave such a huge gap between my first post and this one, but life in Istanbul just moves too fast. Between the endless daily commute, the heavy work grind, and trying to somehow maintain a social life in all this chaos, your batteries just run out before you notice. I finally managed to sit down in front of my screen today. So, what was the topic? Ah, right. The big crossroads and trying to start a completely new life in this giant city.

One thing I quickly realized is that starting a new job makes your whole life accelerate at warp speed. By some weird twist of fate, I ended up at a company that is basically a twin of my old one. Different logo, but exactly the same drama. The technical debt, the infrastructure bottlenecks, the daily weird bugs—it is all so familiar that I almost wanted to ask the servers if we had met somewhere before. Because of this, I didn’t even have an adjustment period. I just dove headfirst into the deep end on day one. Luckily, my team is great. They are solid, down-to-earth people who made things easy for me. We have already gathered around a rakı table twice so far, so really, what more can a man ask for? The work situation is steady for now. We will see what the future brings, but currently, things are running smoothly.

To be completely honest, this city’s chaotic speed is already changing me, and my patience is getting dangerously thin. I have officially become that annoyed guy who gets mad when people walk too slowly in front of him on the sidewalk. And don’t even get me started on the metro escalators. I find myself actually walking up them now. Weren’t we supposed to just stand still and let the machine do the work? Back when I was in Denizli, absolutely nobody was running anywhere. But here? Please, just step to the right and leave the left side open, because I have places to be and urgent servers to patch.

Another strange side effect of settling down here is how distorted my perception of money has become. Istanbul is so expensive that I have completely internalized the crazy prices. I recently went back to visit Denizli and Ankara, and I swear, everything felt like it was on a ninety percent discount. I caught myself staring at price tags thinking it must be a mistake. I still haven’t fully understood how the rest of the country can feel this cheap now, but my wallet definitely enjoyed that short break.

Now, let’s talk about the whole Istanbul hype. For years, I watched all these big events from the outside, just staring at a monitor from another city. Now, they are happening right in my backyard. On the professional side, I attended AWS Community Day recently. Next month, Kubernetes Community Day is on the agenda, and it is already marked in my calendar because I definitely wouldn’t miss it.

I have been keeping quite busy on the cultural side too. I joke that I didn’t just lose my voice at the Şebnem Ferah concert—I actually lost my back because of how old I am getting. Still, it was worth it. I also caught Mesut Can Tomay’s stand-up set, which was genuinely hilarious. The kid completely killed it on stage. To be fair, trying to catch every single event in this city is a death trap for your sanity and your bank account. It is impossible to see everything, but just being able to say “I feel like going tonight” and actually showing up feels like a massive win.

However, I hit a hard wall of reality when I went to KüçükÇiftlik Park. I am officially getting old, my friends. Standing on my feet for hours in a massive crowd just to watch a concert? That is really not my vibe anymore. My back was absolutely screaming at me. Just give me a proper chair, let me sit down, and let me enjoy the music without my knees buckling. The wild days of youth are clearly fading away, and I am all about maximum comfort now.

Still, I am not pulling the brakes just yet. My mind is made up, and that old opera item on my bucket list is definitely getting checked off in Istanbul before this year ends. I am going to sit there in a nice seat, look sophisticated, and finally see what all the fuss is about.

That is all the news for now. Sending you all warm greetings from the crowded squeeze of the M4 Kadıköy metro line and the quiet click-clack of my keyboard. This city never stops moving, and I am just doing my best to keep up with the rhythm.

Personal on Lemmy Hemmingway's Dump

Istanbul Adventures: Part 2 - Fast Living, Familiar Bugs