hobbling towards amsterdam

wow, i just write less and less. i think about writing, writing about a lot of things, but its like after thinking about it its 'done' and i just dont bother further.there are the fun things with friends, more existential musings, and interesting things in the world i plan on commenting on.

i had my 7 week check up for the fractured 5th metatarsal. there is slight cloudiness visible in the x-ray, which means NEW BONE forming!!

pretty awesome, cant take these things for granted as not everyone is as lucky. but this means i can start putting more weight on the foot and progress to full weight bearing. with the boot and crutches, but nevertheless. will make our amsterdam holiday in a couple weeks that much easier. i booked the airport wheelchair service from KLM a couple days ago.  i worry a bit about my mobility since we are meeting friends and i dont want to hold people back but i am gonna work on it. yesterday i met a friend in a restaurant some 400-500m away and hobbled there AND BACK. felt so smug. i can do it. but yeah, amsterdam will be a bit of a test.

Guardian made a 'neighbourhood review' of Kadiköy! sheesh! after i left it! i mean i know it is getting better in so many ways, despite the government - its hard to see from afar when you read the bad news etc, but kadiköy is blooming in many ways. it hurt a little bit to read it. anyway, now im here and you cannot be in several places at the same time. i know there are other awesome places in the world, too, not just kadiköy. i have noticed in a trend though, i tend to gravitate towards awesome places. in 1996, moving to helsinki, i soon started to feel that kallio was the place. it took me a few years to get there, but it was the right move. then kadiköy and now brixton. all these cities have other potential areas too, but usually there are a couple really 'up & coming' districts, and i find my way to them.

its clear there are more people in the house now, there is more stuff around, and working from home its kind of...  weird, as im never alone. although, i LOVE our guests and love helping them with flat search and whatnot. it seems that worked out too, their offer was accepted and they are moving next week.

the boxes in the bg are these peoples 'world'. when DHL delivered the boxes (they were not around), i almost got emotional because it reminded me of our move here. we sent boxes to ourselves. its such a big change, im so excited for them but trying to manage expectations as well. Can is starting work at doctors department next week and his gf Burcu should most likely have a job in the same hospital as well. yes, a turkish mafia is forming, little by little. haha.

so turkey's 'e-gov' portal recently added all the family history of all the citizens in the system. (Hurriyet Daily). hardcore! so now people can see their family tree up to the beginning of 19th century. crazy. i was wondering who was keeping the records back then and based on the the people ive talked to, it was probably the ottoman tax officials. surnames in the beginning are a bit hazy on those records as only Ataturk introduced them properly and as compulsory, before that a lot of families would not have them. im glad al-monitor wrote a good, slightly deeper, thing on thing on the turkish genealogy "project". one friend of ours has some bulgarian ancestors so he is considering applying for citizenship there, i dont know if its all countries but i think especially bulgaria is very generous with the descentents of bulgarian citizens. so, i think, go for it. having a EU passport would be great for him and his partner. doctor then... every single one of his ancestors were from the same village all the way from 1832, which was the last recorded date. just like his parents had told him. and that was a kurdish alevi village, double minority. i really wonder when do these tags come off, cos his parents are neither religious nor very kurdish (i dont know how thats measured but they dont speak kurdish or anything... i personally dont think they are kurdish). anyway, doctors parents were the generation that left the village, moved to a big city and so so forth. and its interesting, cos as far as i know, my ancestors are all from one little village too; Sysmä.

below is a photo of a printout from turkish e-devlet (government portal). would have printed out mine but lol i dont have turkish roots. i do have e-edevlet since i was a resident! anyway, the death dates are not visible and i covered first names and such. this oldest only goes down to 1860s. there are locations which are clearly not in turkey, maybe macedonia or other countries. interesting stuff! (this is the record of someone i know who allowed me to print it)

in the left column in says like "mothers mothers mother" or "fathers mothers mother" etc.

enjoying Married at first sight UK now :D
aaaand Bachelor Winter Games. and the usual Shark Tank and whatnot.

i want to see Ricky Gervais live

i always feel a bit odd watching Aussie tv. makes me remember our time there. and because we contemplated whether to move there or here, i guess a part of me thinks of that. not  like questioning the decisoon, but its one of those what if's, nevertheless. and cos its still a plan B for us, if things here dont work out. 

a pixelated tattoo would be cool next.

friday i ubered to 'my' hair salon. i learned they have a nail person as well and so i tried to book my hairdresser and the nails one after another, going there 2 separate times did not sound good. but their schedules did not mesh and so i had to choose my priority which was nails - before they would drop off. anyway, i get there and the nail person is from portugal, i go all, 'oh my hairdresser Silvia' is from Portugal as well! not much later i realise she and the other hairdresser speak portuguese with each other and half of the customers are portuguese. so ive been going to this 'portuguese' salon without realising it - feels dumb. its a good place, good location, good prices and most importantly im happy with Silvia's haircuts and now my nails too. i will definitely return there for nails too. after the nails i got a dry cut from another hairdresser. nice, but i will return to Silvia next time. i hope by then ill be going by bus or walking again...

i hate it when people walk into our house with shoes on. culture and blah blah. friends visiting usually take shoes off (and i ask them if not) but like maintenance people and such... i realise its inconvenient to take em off but its just so disgusting to spread around whatever is on the ground outdoors. a couple times i did ask them to take shoes off and i could see they were a bit miffed. and today a Tesco driver was kind enough to carry eveything upstairs (kitchen) for me, as doctor wasnt home to help me out, but of course the stairs are now covered in sand... gross. but that was the price for him helping me out so fair enough. im not the cleanest person by far, but psychologically, dirt that is created indoors such as dust, is not as bad in my mind as the stuff from outside.

Can is moving to London a week from now. and his girlfriend is following just a bit later. he is starting work at doctors department in march so they will be colleagues again :D :D im very excited about bringing turkey to UK.

'new erotica for feminist' made me giggle. and was a bit of a turn on, too.

Guardian: When feminists insult each other chauvinists cheer. very good, altho a bit 'poetrically' written, piece on an important subject. good to keep in mind. this reminded me i should finish reading the classic Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer. just so i can form my own opinion on it.

brunch with friends in Clapham today.

ollaan päästy jo helmikuuhun

Ylen ulkolinjalla on hyvä Ton Kankkosen tekemä dokkari; Pako Turkista. käsittelee ihmisiä jotka lähtee sieltä nyt/vimeaikoina, etenkin gülenistit mutta myös sellaisiksi syytetyt, journalistit ja muut joiden mielipide eroaa hallituksen linjasta ja joutuvat siksi pelkäämään. tämä sivuaa hyvin sitä miksi me ja monet tutut lähtee myös, ei välttämättä ole akuuttia pelkoa vankilasta mutta kokee joutuneensa mielipiteineen ja muutosten myötä niin ahtaalle että alkaa kiinnostaa elämä jossain missä saa olla oma itsensä. koskee tietysti eritoten vähemmistöjä. vähän pitkän oloinen dokkari ja kestää että pääsee asiaan ja sitten keskittyy ehkä liikaa juuri gülenisteihin. eikä tuossa ehkä ole ollut mahdollisuutta selvittää tai yrittää avata sitä onko gülenistit nyt sitten muka jotain hyviksiä, koaka aina on helpompi vaan jaotella hyvä vs paha, vaikkei elämä ole niin yksinkertaista. muuuutta summa summarum katsomisen arvoinen ja itseäni kosketti turkin kohtalo tuota katsoessa sen verran että silmäkulma kostui.

hesarissa oli joku päästetty mielipidepalstalla ääneen kuiteista. haluaisin nähdä tän tyypin kuittivarannot. ne on varmaan viikkotasolla organisoitu nippuihin ja laatikoihin kirjahyllyyn. sieltä sit voi tarkistaa paljonko maksoi sitruunasta v. 2015 vs nyt. tosin henkilö myönsikin että tämä on ainut tapa hänelle hallita talouttaan, joten hyvä että keinot ovat löytyneet mutta sen uskonnollinen saarnaaminen muille tuskin on tarpeellista. minäkin pidän jonkinlaista löyhää kirjaa menoista ja kuluista, mutta talous pysyy hallinnassa ilman jokaisen kuitin talletustakin. enkä tiedä sitruunan hintaa eikä kiinnosta - ostan jos on tarpeen ja sillä hyvä. 16-18 vuotiaana kun olin muuttanut helsinkiin ni pidin tarkkaa kirjaa sillä tasolla että kirjasin ylös paljonko viikossa meni ruokakauppaan, elokuvalippuihin, letiin ja vaatteisiin tms... eli pakolliset ja hupi jne. sillä oppi perusasiat kai, sen jälkeen en ole kirjannut tarkkaan paitsi muuttojen yhteydessä kun on pitänyt luoda budjettiarvio ja sitten seurata hetki että toteutuuko se jotta voi adjustaa jos tarvii. mutta siihenkään ei tarvii kuitteja säilyttää, kunhan tietää paljonko mihinkin likikeeseen/tarpeeseen kului about.

edelliseen liittyen, aloin nyt tammikuussa tekemään enempi töitä työnantajalleni (teknisesti asiakkaani koska olen self-employed, mutta ei nyt takerruta siihen, fiilis ratkaisee) joten meidän perheen tulotaso nousee ja minä olen vähän kiireisempi. kiireinen kuulostaa kyllä negatiiviselta, olisko parempaa termiä? mutta sanoisin että hyvä näin, jotenkin hyvä next step, vois saada säästöönkin jotain mikä on ollu lontoon kulutasolla vähän haastavaa tähän asti. 

välikommentti: briteissä saa usein maksaa pelkästää siitä ilosta että uusii vuokrasopimuksen. 100 puntaa jotta saamme asua tässä vielä (ainakin) toisen vuoden, jee?