Due to the covid epidemic, I waited 2 years to come to Istanbul. I was glad when I finally got here. I agreed with my hosting organization about my action plan before I came. My partner was supposed to join me for a few months. In my free time I wanted to travel and relax. That was the plan - more or less. But the first month has already shown that everything is quite different than I expected. The key words in my first month were: flexibility, peace, adaptation and networking.
Already on the first day it turned out that there were problems with the flat in which I was supposed to live. I used my friends network. It turned out that some of my friends have their friends in Istanbul. I made a lot of new contacts and didn't feel lonely. Within two days, I moved to the apartment of one of my new friends. I thought that it would be a temporary solution. But it took me and my hosting organization more than a month to find a suitable flat.The housing market in Istanbul is going through a deep crisis. Rental costs are very high and are increasing every day. In addition, we wanted to rent a fully furnished apartment for only a few months - which is not popular in Istanbul. The city is overcrowded. And in some districts there are so many foreigners that there is no permission to register new ones. Thanks to this situation, at least I got to know Istanbul well and made many new friends.
Pivot at work
If there are constant changes in one field, you hope that at least in other areas it will be more stable. Not necessarily. In the first week of my work, I found out that the manager of the hosting organization who recruited me and with whom I set my tasks, is leaving the organization. The team has been going through various changes for a long time and now another one has appeared. As an HR expert, I came here to help develop HR policies and processes, help the team develop themself,prepare job descriptions, etc. Supporting the team in the process of change was not in my plan. But my plans had to change. In the corporate language (agile methodology) in such situations we say that you need to pivot. You have to change your approach because the current one is not working. So I prepared a new plan that assumed that I was doing some of the things I planned but I have to change my priorities and add a few minor changes.
Back to the basics
Whenever you have an impression that everything around does not go according to plan. Our ideas do not work and your life is a chaos. Then you can stop for a moment and take a step back to the basics. Ask yourself - why am I here, what I wanted to achieve. Look for support and go back to what gives us strength and peace. With my hosting organization, we started with a workshop on mission, vision and value of the organization. We went back to what is most important for the organization. Which way it is going, what it is focusing on. It gives a sense of security and builds engagement. There is chaos around me, but at least I know where and why I'm going. For me my safe place were my friends, family. Before I came to Istanbul I bought a ticket home - I knew that after a month I would be homesick and returning home for the weekend will definitely help me. Warsaw is only a 2 hour flight from Istanbul. And if you buy tickets well in advance, they are not expensive. After a month in Istanbul, I flew home for the weekend - see my partner, dog, friends and family. It also helped that I had many new friends in Istanbul. I went back to Istanbul with new energy.
We know that it's not worth getting too attached to plans (which doesn't mean it's not worth having them). But when nothing goes as planned, it can be difficult. When our expectations are not met, it is easy to give up. Or to pivot our plans and focus on what gives us the sense of safety and peace.
PS My partner did not get permission from the company to work abroad. So he will not be able to come to me with our dog for a few months - as we planned. Another pivot in my Istanbul life.
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