My Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for Teaching in Istanbul: Fernando Ortega, ESADA
Fernando Ortega, Interior Design coordinator at ESADA
Erasmus+ Staff Mobility for Teaching at BIRUNI UNIVERSITY in Istanbul (Turkey), from May 1st to May 5th 2023
Hi everyone! My name is Fernando Ortega and I’m going to tell you about my Erasmus adventure in Istanbul.
This was my second Training mobility. Two years ago I visited Prague, in Czech Republic, and this time I was lucky to visit Istanbul, in Turkey, from May 1st to May 5th 2023. What amazing city!
My first impression of the city was chaotic! Lots of people on the street, traffic, noise, etc. but soon you realize that is normal and you begin to fall in love with one of the largest and most intercultural cities in the word. From the very beginning you can feel the importance of the city from ancient times, with its impressive monuments to the present day, with modern buildings and skyscrapers
My Erasmus agreement was made with “Biruni University” (https://www.biruni.edu.tr/en/). This university with more than 10,000 students specializes in technical degrees, offering a degree in interior design, my specialty.
My first contact with the university was through Pr. Tuba Terrece, who coordinated the Erasmus program at this university. From the first moment we had a good connection and the weeks before the trip, we were organizing the different activities that we could do with the students during my stay.
First, they organized a sketching workshop called "Galata: Coincidences, Spaces, Layers" in which, through urban sketching, we walked the streets of the famous Galata neighborhood. It was my first contact with the students and the experience was very good. During the workshop, we visited the main monuments of Galata, enjoyed a lunch, tasted typical products of the city and met the rest of my classmates who, besides Tuba, accompanied me in the experience.
In addition to this workshop, we organized a workshop called "Istanbul in Granada". This workshop was held in the classrooms, so I had the opportunity to see first hand their facilities. The workshop consisted in the creation of an ephemeral exhibition pavilion to show the city of Istanbul to the people of Granada. But before starting the second workshop, I had the opportunity to present ESADA and show our city and our facilities to the students, inviting them to come and visit us.
Many students participated in the workshop "Istanbul in Granada", which took place over two days. At the beginning the students were working on a project idea and later they were developing it until a final presentation of the project. They did it in teams and I was supervising the work, giving my opinion and helping them with everything they needed.
The result was very good, and at the end, all the students made great presentations.
In addition to the workshops, I met many colleagues and teachers and I had the opportunity to see how they worked with the students, how they approached the projects and how they taught the classes. They have a similar working methodology which made me adapt perfectly to their classes.
Outside of working hours, colleagues showed me many places in the city. In addition to the tourist sites, they were showing me many local and trendy places, which go unnoticed for a tourist. Museums, restaurants, stores... I don't think I missed a single neighborhood in the city! In addition, they were recommending me to try the best dishes of Turkish gastronomy. It makes me hungry just thinking about it! I tried different types of kebab, street food, teas, sweets.... I really enjoyed the company of Tuba and the rest of the teachers. The people are very friendly and from the first moment they made me feel like I was at home.
Without a doubt, my trip to Istanbul has been an unforgettable experience. I am very grateful for the way I have been treated at Biruni University and Thanks once again to ESADA for this new opportunity.
I hope to see my friends from Turkey again soon and I hope to repeat my Erasmus experience in the future to get to know more about European Cities!
