Clearing a hurdle

You don't look so excited...

You must swamped with chores now (add sympathetic frown)

Why aren't you throwing a fancy wedding?

She won't be wearing a wedding dress!? (Gasp!)

You won't be going on a honeymoon?? Are you crazy?

What do you mean you're giving away the TV set once you get married?

WHY AREN'T YOU EXCITED DAMNIT!

The greatest difficulty I faced ever since me and Irene decided to get married has been trying to answer the ridiculous questions thrown at me by narrow-minded people.

For one, I do not believe in making a huge deal out of an bureaucratic procedure. The state wants to keep tabs on who's having sex with who, that's fine by me. But I really think the "ooh"s and "aah"s and the fireworks and the cake and the balloons and six thousand doves released to symbolize our endless love... yeah, I think that's a lot of bullshit.

I want to get married to Irene, I love her, and we would have gotten married eventually. But right now, it's just another hurdle to clear in order to move to Taiwan.

And so far, we're doing great. Wedding date is set, invitations are almost done (hand-made I might add), outfits are already chosen.. and yes.. that's it.

Once we are married, we're going to apply to the Taiwan consulate to start our immigration procedures.. Now, that's something to be excited about.

Turkey: Current State of Affairs

It is a period of civil unrest.

Protesters, secretly organizing through social media, has staged the first massive demonstration against the government.

During clashes, members of the resistance managed to unmask the government's ultimate tool for spreading fear, THE RIOT POLICE, a legion of ruthless officers who can cover an entire city block in tear gas.

Pursued by the government's sinister agents, protesters seek out ways to make their voices heard, as a young couple struggles to leave all the turmoil behind in search of a new hope...

Meet the bloggers: Doruk

Hi there!

I am a 30-year-old internet news editor at CNBC's Turkish affiliate in Istanbul and the proud owner of the silliest hamster ever.

My girlfriend Irene and I decided to move to Taiwan in hopes of building a brighter future for ourselves , as well as having a more fulfilling and meaningful life than the one that is being imposed on us here in Turkey.

We will spend the next year prepping for our exodus from Turkey and our new life in Taiwan and keep posting updates on this blog as we go along.

That's pretty much it for now..

Cheers!

Meet the bloggers : Irene

Hi everyone. Welcome to the blog. Now it's always a bit tough and awkward when you start a blog, it feels a bit intimidating, but as a warm up I'd like to present myself.

My name is Irene. I just turned 25. I live in Istanbul and am pursuing an MA degree. I love knitting, crochet, sewing and DIY. I'm a die hard crafter, but doing an MA actually has caused me to do much less this year (craft-wise). I'm hoping to pick up from where I left after this hiatus called the MA degree.

Moving to Taipei will be my dream come true. I have a lot of hopes of starting anew. The life standards in Istanbul are not stellar and since I'm originally from Taiwan via parents, I think it will be great to be back "home" which I only got to visit as a tourist in my late teens and early twenties. I also crave for adventure. Desperately and terribly. So starting a new life with a huge leap of faith is going to be extremely fun, not to mention that I can't wait to learn more about the culture and food. I can speak fluently but cannot read or write in Mandarin. So that's another thing I want to achieve when I go there.

There is a lot of corruption and political unrest here in Turkey. I am a polyglot and was unable to find a decent job in which I could maintain a middle-class lifestyle alone. So I chose another option. My university gives a reasonable stipend upon which the work-pay ratio is satisfying. Therefore I ended up going to graduate school.

I think you guys will get to know me better as I continue posting things. This blog will enable me to process how things are going, it will reflect and document my mood as well I guess. My boyfriend and I can't wait to leave this place and start a new life full of excitement and adventure as well as important things such as respect, justice, dignity and better life standards.

So that's pretty much it. Welcome to the blog !

-Irene