An Erasmus experience between Europe and Asia

In 2009, while studying chemistry at a university in Germany, I was presented with the opportunity to spend a semester abroad. The options were limited: a long waitlist for the UK, a few universities in France and Spain, and then... Turkey! I initially hesitated, concerned about language barriers, as I wanted to focus on my chemistry studies. But when I discovered that the exchange university in Istanbul, Bogazici University, taught everything in English, my worries vanished. Without a second thought, I signed up, and just half an hour later, it was confirmed—I would be spending the next six months beside the Bosporus. Here’s how that experience unfolded.