About

On the way out

My name is Alex Kantrowitz and I’m a 21 year old senior at Cornell University. Well, “At” is probably not the best way to put it, but so begins our story…

I decided to go to Istanbul on July, 3 2008. That was the official date at least. The truth is I had already been on my way and just needed some time to figure it all out. Within me there has always been a constant pressure against the status quo, a perpetual desire to move on and adjust and then do it all over again. I’ve been victim to a disease always proclaiming the grass is greener (it often has been) and to a great sense of adventure pushing me to explore new worlds.

The process has generally worked to my benefit but often comes with a price. As is to be expected after my prior admission, great experiences, for me, are often cut short due to the limited time I spend in each phase. I’d love to talk more about that but for the purposes of the about page I’ll move on.

What matters here is that decision to go- to leave the comfort of Cornell and head over to a world foreign and unknown. Like I said, I had already been on my way, but what helped me figure it out? I believe the answer lies in the latest phase of my get-up-and-go mentality, a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana in the spring of 2008.

In my first ever visit to the South, I was stung by the bug again. Upon returning to the cold and often unhappy Cornell campus from the warm and often jovial southern reaches of the United States, I told myself that what I needed was a change. Being that I had already voted for Barack Obama (I’ll make my political prejudices known off the bat) and was still feeling a bit down on my current situation, I checked to see if another semester abroad could fit into my schedule (I had already done two in Israel in 2005-2006).

When I found out that it was possible, I settled on Istanbul as the right place for me. Istanbul’s Bogacizi University had everything I was looking for (in order)- cheap tuition ($3000), English classes, non-Euro currency and a wild new culture ready to be taken in.

And so, as I write this just a few days before I’m scheduled to fly I’d like to lay out the purposes for this Blog:

1. To inform- I’d like use this space as a window into the great civilization I will encounter and use it as a place to observe, muse and report back from the streets of Istanbul.
2. To record- Travels and other unique experiences from the country and others I may travel to.
3. To correspond- With family members and friends regarding where I am and what I’m doing.
4. To display- Photographs and video taken over the course of the semester.
5. To explain- Opinion columns I will be writing over the course of the semester for the Cornell Daily Sun. I will use this space to solicit feedback on those columns and to explain how I came to the conclusions I did.
6. To answer- The question I’ve been getting the most since I’ve decided to go “What exactly is in Turkey?”

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and, of course, feel free to send me your feedback to amk83@cornell.edu. Let the games begin!