Living in Marmaris

Hey do any of u ladies live in Marmaris or intend on moving there soon?? xx

Hi Karaboga,

Ruby has a house out in Marmaris, and spends about half the year there. She'll be online tonight and will give you lots of advice, I'm sure.

I did live in Turkey on and off for 2 years, but that was in Fethiye, so I can't really help as regards Marmaris.

Have you you lived out in Turkey before?

Strawbs

Hey.. Yh I lived in Marmaris for 3 seasons before but we always came home in the winter. And because we only stayed the seasons we never really settled if u know what i mean, like made our house really homely etc because i knew we were always going home.. But this time we wont be... eekkkkk

Hello Karaboga

I have just replied to your other post and then seen this thread.

I do spend a lot of time in Marmaris, but I dont really have much involvement with ex pats as I find them more trouble then their fake friendships are worth i.e. my house is bigger than yours, Ive got a swimming pool and a daily maid service and all the bull that goes with it according to how much Efes they have consumed.

Also, I dont have little children (thankfully ), been there, done that etc. I do take my little grandson with me sometimes when he is not in school and I will be going back over there in August with him, but I really cannot give you advice about mum's and children groups.

There is a large ex pat community in Armutalan, and I am sure once you are settled over there, you will soon find friends in a similar situation to yourself. Do your children speak any Turkish? How old are they? If they are young, then they will adopt to their new life and surroundings, its when they are older that they have difficulty in adapting. Good luck to you and your family and I am sorry I could not offer you much in the way of advice.

Ruby

Good advice Ruby i find keep yourself to yourself best .xx

Hi Ruby. Thanks for the reply. When I stayed over there before I used to have a handful of friends because of all the fakeness as u mentioned. But I'm thinking now that I have the children it would be nice to meet others in my situation
My children are 9 6 and 2. They speak some Turkish, they understand a lot more than they speak to be honest. I have enrolled them into a Turkish school for Saturdays as of September, so I'm hoping they can learn more before we get there. x

Hi Zeynep

Always best to keep well away from ex pats, if in the UK you would not even entertain a friendship with these people, the only common dominator is the fact that they live in a foreign country and you just happen to originate from the same country.

Hello Karaboga

It must be a worry for you having a 5 and 9 year old locating to Turkey. Your little 2 year old will adapt very quickly, but the older two will probably encounter problems, especially the 9 year old as he/she will have formed friendship groups here, also I understand you will send them to Turkish school in September but they will pick up a better understanding of the language once they are living in Turkey on a permanent basis.

My advice is to keep some sort of safety net back here in the UK in case you go over and then change your mind and want to come back.

I recall an English couple with a child about 8/9 moving to Marmaris. They stayed about a year but could not settle for various reasons, the main one being their child was so unsettled, mind you they did spoil the child, gave into his every whim, maybe if they had put a little more effort into it they could have made it work. It really all depends on everyone's individual circumstances.

Good luck to you all and keep us updated.

Ruby

Hey... Thanks for the reply. Yh my main worry is my eldest. She is not having the best of times at school right now, so I'm not taking her away from an extremely happy place to be honest. She has about 5 cousins in Marmaris that can hopefully help her when she goes to school there. I'm sending them to Turkish school here on a saturday mainly so they can grasp what Turkish classes are like with no one speaking English. If that makes sense lol.
Sorry if some of my words are spelt icorrectly, Emre (my son) ripped off half the keys off the laptop. grrr... Take Care x

Hiya Karaboga

My belief is that good parenting is down to instinct. You have obviously put a lot of time, thought and discussion with your husband about this move. Also you say your daughter is having an unhappy experience at school, my guess is she is being bullied. As a parent, and especially a mother (no offence to fathers intended) you have to weigh up the pros and cons and you have obviously done that and with 5 cousins to protect her in Marmaris she should be off to a flying start. They will soon pick up the language when they are living out there, so would not worry too much on that aspect either.

Only concern I would have is your little one Emre having to do the army. Is your middle child a boy or girl? I know everyone says in years to come the army will be abolished, I dont think it will, but if you do remain in Turkey he will consider it as the 'norm' anyway by the time comes for him.

Dont worry about the keys on your keyboard, my little grandson does the same all the time, they can have a house full of toys, but they love wrecking your things lol. My grandson has broken up from school for the holidays today (PD day tomorrow) so he is like a box of frogs all excited and jumping all over the place, I've come back to my home to get a bit of peace from the mayhem

Its lovely being a Nan, you have the best of both worlds but when the kids get too much, just up and leave

Ruby

Yh that's what my mum says lol. My middle child is a girl. But yh the army thing scares me When I move there can I just get residency for like 5 years without citizenship just to make sure we have definately settled??
My eldest is not being bullied as such but not making friends and sits on her own and breaks and lunches and hates school really She would move right now she says, but I just got offered a place on the TEFL course today to start in Oct so I want to do that first x

Hello Karaboga

So its little Emre that is your worry. I really do not know the answer to your question about just getting residency without the children having Kimliks, not sure if they are having State education if they need a Kimlik.

If I were you I would have a look on the Turkish Embassy Website, London. Their website is very informative and they do have an English and a Turkish version. If you want to know more, ask your husband to phone them as they can get very funny if the UK spouse makes the phone call, usually telling them to get their Turkish partner to call. It would be great if you could just get a five year citizenship (the prices went down in April, it was previously 1,000 TL for just one year, now I understand from my friend that its 1,000TL for five years, but best to check it out as you know how things change all the time!)

If you do settle, Emre will definitely need a Kimlik to be able to work

As for your eldest child, its horrible when they are not happy at school, school is supposed to be the happiest years of their lives, so as I said before, with 5 cousins to take care of her she will be in safe hands and will probably settle very quickly.

Thats great news that you have been offered a place on the TEFL course, many congratulations to you, keep us updated on how you are getting on.

If you find out the information about citizenship/kimlik, please post and let us know as I am sure other members would benefit from this information.

Have a lovely weekend.

Ruby

Hey... Yeah i was thinking about schools. I would rather they did not have Citizenship until we are 100% sure that we will stay there long term.. I will have a look and update everyone. The one thing I can't find is if I can contact potential employers (schools) like now, I know it's a year away but I would like to know if I stand a chance. I wouldn't mind if it was just me and Harun but have to think about the kids :)x

For some strange reason the Turkish Embassy website is not displaying the pages when I click on the links, I will try again later x

Hi Karaboga

Perhaps I should have used the word 'residency' rather than citizenship. My friend and her daughter have residency in Turkey, thats how I know about the cost going down in April.

Are you planning on sending your children to school in Marmaris, if so, do you know which one? Will it be the one that your children's cousins go to and is it a State school?

If you let me know the name of the school, I will be going out there in August and I will make a couple of enquiries for you. I know there is a school near to the Bazaar, and another near to Migros. If I can help you in any way whilst I am over there just let me know as I will be out there for a few weeks.

Perhaps the Turkish Embassy Web has a little glitch, keep trying

Ruby

Hey, I think it is called Kenan something or other that they go to lol.. The girls will be 7 and 10 when we go there, the eldest will turn 11 in the October, so I'm not even sure they will go to the same school. It would be fantastic if you could find out aything for me I have just found an email address for the Kenan one and was wondering if I should email them to see what my job prospects could look like. Do you think I should write the email in Turkish?? x

Hello Karaboga

I would email both in Turkish and English, then they get the best of both worlds

I will make enquiries whilst I am in Marmaris for you and PM them back to you in September. Are they State schools that your children will attend? I think the school near to the bazaar is called Ataturk, so am wondering if the Kenan school is the one near to Turk Telecom main office. Anyway, let me know the address if you can and I will try to help you.

Ruby

Hey yh I think that it is called Ataturk, but I think it's a high school. I just looked at that Kenan one and the address says Beldibe, so that can't be where the kids go, shows how much I listen to Harun lol... That would be really helpful if u get any info and they will be attending state schools. Thanks x

Hi Karaboga

I will find out what I can about state education for 7 and 11 year old children. Do you roughly know what area you will be living i.e. Icmeler, Marmaris? I should still be in Marmaris when the schools open, so will try and get a prospectus (if such a document exists) and I will bring it back and send it on to you.

Hopefully Emre can get away with residency until he reaches school age, but I am sure you will have to get the school age children a Kimlik if being educated in a State school. Dont take my word for this information, as I really am not sure of the requirements, best to check out the Turkish Web and get your husband to give them a call to clarify about Residency and Kimliks.

Ruby

Hey.. Oh I hadn't thought about that, they don't start until they r 7 do they, so if it is only needed for school then that would possibly be a way to do it, that will give me about 4 years
I would much prefer to live in Icmeler I think, but if it means we are closer to the school etc then we will live in Marmaris, I don't really wanna drive out there, it scares me lol... I wonder if they will have a prospectus lol..
Harun is going to call soon (don't know if that's soon in our time or Turkish time lol) We will see Thanks for all your help x

Hi Karaboga

I will get back to you with info regarding State schools in September.

I have heard via other sites that some ex pats follow the British Curriculum online in Turkey due to the poor education State system in Turkey. Maybe that is something you may want to also consider.

Know where you are coming from with UK/Turkish time and I am not referring to the 2 hour time difference

Its best your husband calls the Turkish Embassy on a weekday morning.

Ruby

I was thinking of following the curriculum online as an evening thing as well as the daytime school. The main reason I will send them to school is social reasons really. I have spoken to their teachers here in England and the schools they are at now are more than happy to send work for the first year which is great. Yasmin is on the gifted and talented register for literacy and numeracy so I wouldn't like her to fall behind on anything really.
And yh Turkish time pisses me off!!! lol