Furkan is one of the volunteers who came to Romania as a volunteer with EVS programme. He came here  for seeking and expanding his knowledge of life. Since he arrived he has done all he likes: Football, singing, dancing, learning languages, discovering the city, travelling, make hitch-hiking….Summarizing, he likes to say that he is “learning the learning itself”.

He studied Sociology in Istanbul and thanks to this he could travel as Erasmus exchange to Czech Republic, where he could observe a different world….

 

You were studying for 6 months in Czech   Republic, how was it?

Incredible! Czech Republic formed and occupied important part of my life for a while.  It was not postpone something.  I can’t tell it was focused hundred percent to Sociology and University. Free time and travelling was stronger.  Because all students know that Erasmus courses we’ve taken is not that hard. Also lectures are so soft to us.   Nevertheless, I spoke Czech; I studied some of courses in Czech language and some courses in English.  My University was so multi-cultural, if I tell you how many nationality I met in one semester in Masaryk not to mentioning even Erasmus friend of mine. I talk about permanent students. So look, Germany, Norway, Kamerun, Ghana, Poland, Turkey, Sweden, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Russia. . This is so far   what I remembered. It was great university.

What were aspects of sociology that most interested to you here?

Inter-cultural exchanging .  A Society in the eyes of foreign student and researcher was  the most interesting.  Why? simply. Imagine that you’re in a society whose you don’t know its values at all and its background and how people acts out in community. That is so interesting.  As I was just observing in Turkey about closed Institutions, In Czech Republic, all society from Bus to Trains, Hospitals, bus-stops, shops were fields where I could have observed something .

Did you see lots of differences between the Turkish and Czech  university plans?

 

Yes I did.  Website of Masaryk University was so different.  The number of students who study in Class is smaller.  As I was Erasmus student, I was not going to University every day as I was going to my Turkish University.  Exams were so different. Also during first 7-10 days I had got countless quiz regarding to entrance of Sociology and this small quiz were also affecting your year-end marks in semester.  Adding to this, I was doing many presentations every week. It was compulsory for me.

As a Turkish citizen, what were the most important social differences that did you find in Brno?

–          Czech People doesn’t scream out to sell their products in open -air bazaar as Turkish people do.

–          Czech People (couples, girls/boys) easily were making love in bus, train, subway etc. , even some point public sex. Because after I learnt that a lot Czech girls do this public sex for money. In Turkey, to make love in public is not general attitude.

–          In terms of Human respect and Human rights Czech people developed more than Turkey obviously.  One thing that made me confused. While subway or train or bus stops and passengers try to ride in, people were making one line and nobody was trying to force someone front of them.  It was so in Harmony.

–          Czech people are drinking beer instead of water, Coca Cola and fruit juices.