BELLSPIRATION CLUB - Burak Gün: Living abroad for months is important for a young person to question their perspectives! (Part 3/4)

1) Dear Burak, would you share with us more about your international experiences?

With pleasure! So far I’ve attended many things abroad: from conferences to language schools, workshops to student exchanges, international projects to cultural events… Particularly my experiences in Bordeaux (2017) and Geneva (2019-2020) were quite fruitful. I mean, seminars or workshops for a few days or a week are good, but living in a country for months is actually way more important for a young person to question their perspectives and improve them with what they learn(t) throughout their stay abroad. These two were indeed important milestones for my life! Bordeaux was my first non-touristic stay abroad, and I studied French there — just 10 months after starting to learn French. It was quite a challenge because my level was barely enough (B2) to survive over there, I thought. However, I even handled the situation when I was hospitalized there (it’s fine now, I just got stitched up a bit, and now have a tiny scar next to my eye as a souvenir from there), so apparently it was enough! But still, the weeks over there made me an adult person I think (back then I was 19).  I used to travel alone before that experience too, but after this one, my all-alone trips are multiplied and basically I visited most of the Western Balkans and Western Europe alone throughout the following years, it kinda encouraged me, you know… I had quite nice memories after it too, especially in Slovenia, Montenegro, and Serbia, but another experience, this time in Geneva, and longer (around 10 months), was I think the most important experience I’ve ever had abroad. During this academic year, as an exchange student, I managed to build a life from zero over there,  standing on my feet, creating new circles and a brand new life basically… That was hard, especially in a country like Switzerland (a great country, but in terms of budget and paper stuff, it is a challenging one), but I think I nailed it, despite the Wuhan virus stroking our lives in Spring 2020. I made many friends, learnt plenty of things, completed the 3rd year of my Bachelor with success there, travelled a lot… Doing all these on my own, without any financial or any other help, in a city where I had no more than 5 contacts before my arrival, is I think a salient turning point of my life.

2) Hobbies! What hobbies does Burak enjoy? Could you tell us more about collecting and basketball that you like to do?

Sure! As you’ve just said, I am a philatelist and numismatist, or more like an enthusiast of these two. I have been collecting stamps and coins & paper money for almost 6 years now. Actually, I am very into the activity of collecting itself, as well as putting things in order, but especially for money and stamps. As a student of IR, but more a geography aficionado from my very childhood, I have always been into learning things about different countries all around the world. Having my very first atlas at the age of 6, I always wanted to discover the countries and regions I saw in it one day… I am making this dream real step by step. Although I have only visited less than twenty countries so far, I have stamps, notes, and coins from more than a hundred countries, and I think this is something quite nice! I bring them from my travels, sometimes my friends bring them, or I buy some precious ones in specific shops for collectors. So far I think I created a worth-checking collection, which encourages me to travel more and expand it. 

As for basketball, I used to be a professional basketball player until 2015, and enjoyed being one! However, my studies intensified after then, and I had to focus on my studies more, so I just kept playing only with friends occasionally. But watching basketball is still a thing that I could never quit doing — for consecutive years, I had season tickets for my fav club (Fenerbahce Istanbul), basically until I left for studying in Switzerland. Crossed from Europe to Asia once or twice a week for years, and never regretted it! Attending games is a thing that I started at the age of 6, and even did it during my exchange abroad — travelled to Milan for a weekend from Geneva (it’s only 5 hours by train tho) just to watch an away game of my club! During these times, I really miss being in arenas and having this atmosphere.  Still watching every game on TV or online, but terribly miss being there in person. Let’s just cross our fingers that this awful period will be over soon!

3) Traveling! You have traveled a lot? What country or city made the biggest impression on you? Why?

Well, both yes and no… I’ve seen 17 countries so far, only in one continent (well, apart from the Asian part of my country),  but I visited some of them several times (i.e. France, 7 or 8 times), and many regions there (like around 15 cities all around France, or all the Swiss cantons), so yes, I think I travelled more than an average 23 y.o. person, but I know that it could be way more. Still have plenty of destinations to go, waiting for this virus thing to be over… As for your last question, I think I already answered it by mentioning BDX and GVA in the previous question, but I may tell another experience I had, which also impressed me: my trip to Montenegro and Serbia in 2018. I decided to visit these two countries during my winter holidays for two weeks, and I wanted it to be more than a regular tourist tour. Hence, I visited around fifteen cities in total — from Montenegro coastline to Niš, from Čačak to Subotica… It was a very interesting experience, especially in small cities. Not that I don’t like Belgrade or Novi Sad, but I think the time I had in small towns was way more interesting. In some museums for example, especially when I was the only visitor, I had the civil servants over there accompanying me during my tour, translating descriptions and captions that were only in Serbian, helping me with the tour and giving me some insides, some information that I couldn’t find on the walls or internet in English. That was tremendously kind imho, I appreciated it a lot back then, and still have a smile while recalling these moments! I used to study Western Balkans then (actually I still do, but to a lesser extent), so my trip was for 50% for academic purposes, 50% touristic at the beginning, but at the end, I think it was more a touristic experience. At some point, I just dropped research ideas and enjoyed my visits, and met local folks, shared their lives for few days with them: playing basketball with kids in Kraljevo, attending prayers with local people in Novi Pazar, or playing backgammon with elder people in Budva — I think these were more interesting than taking notes about political issues after all! Whenever I think of this trip, I have a huge smile on my face and a great desire to return there and visit these places again. 

4) Follow Burak:

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/bgsurm

IG: https://www.instagram.com/burakgun23/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/burakgun/

Twitter: twitter.com/burakguncp