Merhaba!š¹š·
Oct 9, 2021
Welcome to a piece of my mind. I canāt wait to share my thoughts and reflections while being abroad in Turkeyš¹š·
Merhaba! (Hello!)
Moving to a foreign country, not knowing a whole lot about the culture, people, language, etc. was so scaryš£ The first 3 days I cried no lieš lol but it was just culture shock and the fact I couldnāt hop on a quick flight to go home. The time difference between my family and I is 8 hours, so I couldnāt just hit them up whenever like I wanted to. I spent so much time on the phone the first 2 weeks because I missed my people and really wanted to speak Englishš
There was so much adjusting I had to do (and still need to do). BUT Iām here, Iām in it, and came to accept that this was going to be a year of stretching. I honestly didnāt have many goals coming over here. Really the only things I knew is that I wanted to grow (spiritually, personally, emotionally, and with basketball) and I wanted to return to the States different than how I departed. Before I left the States I finished a 40 Day Devotional focused on getting closer to God and spending intentional time with Him. It was a complete reset for me not just for where I was, but for my life. James 4:8 says āDraw near to God, and He will draw near to you.ā and I can attest thatās the Truth. Since being here I started a new devotional, 100 Days of Bible Promises, that I absolutely love! Itās helped me to reflect and remember what He says and His faithfulness in the midst of so much uncertainty. Highly recommend!
This first month has been both challenging and rewarding at the same time. The aforementioned adjustments speak for themselves, but Iāve learned so much about myself too. For example, I knew I liked learning (those who know my academic history can attestš), but I didnāt realize how much I REALLY enjoyed learning new things. My teammates, (a bit about them in a minute) laugh at me cause Iām always asking questions, reading, and trying to learn Turkish. Iām determined to be somewhat fluent by the time I leave. Also, I didnāt realize how much time I spent/gave to other people close to me vs. me being by myself. Itās literally just me and the God til my people wake up, which is like 3pm or 4pm my time some days. Both the time difference and my own personal growth have shown me how to be alone and how thatās enough.
Whatās nice is having some of my close friends and former teammates playing overseas as well. So, I can talk to them more frequently and hear about how their experience is going. Some of them have been pros for years, so theyāve given me a lot of advice about how itās been and what they wouldāve done differently. One of the biggest topics weāve discussed is the importance of the environment you go into and who youāre around.
These girls are hilarious and have made this transition so much smoother than what it couldāve beenšš¾ Everyone is super nice and wants to help me out, which isnāt always the case from some of the stories Iāve heard. Our team chemistry/energy is very positive and upbeat, which you can tell on the court. We have a lot to work on as our season begins tomorrow (Oct. 10), but Iām confident weāll have a good season and continue to get better. Iām truly blessed to be in the situation Iām inšš¾ More on my basketball experience here in the next post!
Thatās all I have for now, more coming soon though. Thanks for reading, Iām excited to invite you along my journey! š„°
