A friend sent me this poem about Istanbul by Yahya Kemal Beyatlı. Although I love being home, back in the States, the words below could have been written by me: (photo by me)
Category: muddled
Sea Legs
Before coming back to the States, I read several articles about ‘repatriation’ or ‘reverse culture shock’. The gist being that it can be harder to come back home then move to an entirely new country. As happens, I believed that this wouldn’t apply to me so much because I wanted to go home; I wanted to be back in America so for me there would be little to no culture shock. And as happens, I was kinda wrong. To say that I am happy to be back in San Diego is an understatement. This morning I went to breakfast with…
After London…
Final project: Concept Board and Sample Board for my ‘Interior Design: The Essentials’ course through the KLC School of Design: As an overall introduction to interior design, this course fit the bill. With Monday dedicated to the Concept Board, the Design Process, Lighting, the next four days were equally jam packed with information: Tuesday: Developing a Scheme, Textiles and Trimmings, and Color and Texture Each section was followed by a workshop or task. With Textiles and Trimmings, we worked in small groups to identify the (many) different types of fabrics – I didn’t do so hot on this one but…
Designing London
When I was in Dubai, I took a free, online course called, ‘The Power of Colour’. The course is through futurelearn.com but the school that created the course is the KLC School of Design in London. With the colour course, I found myself dead tired some days but still completing each weekly challenge(s). To this day, I refer to the course and I take my colour wheel with me in my carry-on luggage. #geekalert. After the course finished, I received a few emails about upcoming workshops and certificate programs. Great courses but I was in the UAE. So when my…
Moving On
As I was sitting in my ceramics studio last week, trying to make rose petals for my new art project, I realized that during the past few months just about everything in my life was up in the air. During the time from March until September, I had all of the below going on (in no particular order): Skin cancer (knock on wood, all clear) Heavy trauma to both knees after a huge fall down some stairs #clutzforlife Looking for a new job with frequent interviews, paperwork, forms, etc. Packing up an apartment I had lived in and loved for…
Scratching the Surface
For the past four years, I was a California girl living in Istanbul. Come August when I fly off to my new destination, it will be difficult for me not to miss my beloved city by the water. So I thought it might be nice to put a small collection of some videos together as a tribute to my time in Istanbul. This compilation does not come close in demonstrating everything I experienced or felt in this charming city, but if I thought too hard and spent too much time, I would never finish. Istanbul was an experience of a lifetime and as such,…
An Open Letter to Men’s Soccer
Dear men’s soccer/futbol players, I have been watching several of the games in both the UEFA Euro and the CUPA America tournaments recently and I played this beautiful game for many years. I am writing to remind you of a few insights that some of you may have forgotten. As you are playing a fast paced game, you are going to get hurt. Crazy, right? However you will, so stop rolling around on the ground. Get up, dust yourself off, and play. You will get fouled (some intentional, some not). Get up, dust yourself off, and play. Calls might not…
Speaking in Whispers
Recently, I read an article about how being an expat changes people. While living abroad, people tend to become better listeners and to take a step back. When you don’t speak the language and aren’t with the people that know you the best, I think this seems normal enough. And in many cases, you are just hoping for the best. You hope people are being fair and kind because you have no idea what they are saying. I will give you an example. When I first arrived in China, I took a taxi home at night and to make a…
Beauty and Geometric Art
Within Istanbul there is so much design and beauty. When I first arrived, I fell in love with the geometric design patterns. So when I saw an advert for a workshop regarding Islamic Geometric Design (IGD), I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to learn more about this form of art. Eric Broug, the instructor, is quite an interesting person in and of himself. He is Dutch and when he was at University, he studied Middle Eastern politics. He realized it wasn’t his passion, quit, worked in a bookshop, and then started studying IGD. Now he lives in England with…
Treat Yourself
When shopping, I do like to get the most bang for my buck. Translation: I love a good sale. Recently I went to a Banana Republic outlet and got the cutest coat and most fantastic wide-leg pants in the world. However, they were just a tad too big so I took these items to my favorite tailor in San Diego, Ayaka. I used to watch a program called ‘What Not to Wear’ and one piece of advice that always stuck with me was to have a good tailor. It makes all of the difference in the world! A piece of…
traveling with claire 