We all know how devastating moving to a new country can be. You wonder how you will settle in, what the people will be like, and if you will be able to survive your new reality. Like everyone, I had these concerns before travelling to Türkiye. What was more worrisome was the fact that I travelled shortly after the lockdown had ended, during a period when everyone was more concerned about staying safe than making new acquaintances.
I had heard of the hospitality of Turks, but I didn’t expect much given the time and global health situation. I believed everyone would keep their distance and mind their own business. However, I was pleasantly surprised upon my arrival. Right from the airport, I witnessed such great kindness that I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.
My first encounter was with a check-in officer. I was to take a connecting flight after landing at the airport to another city and somehow booked it at a wrong airport. Amidst my distress and fatigue, this check-in officer made it his sole responsibility to ensure that I found my way to the right airport in time to catch my connecting flight. He helped me get WiFi so I could contact my family, he proffered some solutions, and directed me to the bus station where I could get a connecting bus to the right airport.
After making it to the right airport, I realized I had missed my flight and had to wait several hours for the next available one. While waiting, I was approached by an elderly couple who tried to have a conversation with me, but I was too tired and stressed to piece together the few Turkish phrases I had been learning prior to travelling. They however sat beside me and after a while, the man stood up and soon returned with çay and acma for his wife and me.
I was blown away by their kindness, as they smiled at me and offered me the meal, which I received with gratitude. I have since become a lover of çay and acma.
Still at the airport, nearing minutes before boarding the plane, I was greeted with warm smiles. A few women approached me to compliment my hair and tried to ask about my nationality. I tried my best to answer with my limited Turkish vocabulary at the time, but they remained patient with me and appreciated my efforts to speak Turkish.
These airport encounters eased my fears about being in a new country. After getting settled in my apartment, my neighbors were kind enough to show me important stores in the neighborhood. Your experience might have been similar to mine or even the exact opposite. But what I am driving at is that kindness is a language that is understood by all. Regardless of where we are coming from, what we look like or sound like, an act of kindness can unite us in ways we never imagined.
These experiences taught me that kindness doesn’t have to be transactional. The person receiving it may not be able to reciprocate for whatever reason. And even when people haven’t been the kindest to us, we can sow a seed of kindness anyway. You never know when or how you may reap it in the future.
We must also remember that as human beings, we all have different perceptions about life and the world. Some people are more open-minded, others aren’t. Based on personality, some people are extroverted and others are introverts. All these and more play a role in how people might respond to people they don’t know.
As much as it’s easy to want to recollect some unpleasant experiences I have had, I choose to focus on the positives. We have all had bad experiences, and while it shouldn’t be swept under the carpet, we shouldn’t let them define us or our outlook on life. I am not always the kindest person in every situation. So rather than letting those negative moments weigh me down, I choose to extend the same grace I extend to myself when I am not the kindest.
Looking back, it’s these small, unexpected acts of kindness that truly shaped my time in Türkiye. Whether it was the shopkeeper who refused to let me pay for my tea, the stranger who walked me to my destination just to make sure I wouldn’t get lost, or the warm smiles that greeted me at every corner, each gesture carried a generosity that felt both effortless and deeply meaningful.
It reminded me that kindness isn’t grand or complicated. It’s in the simple moments, the ones you don’t expect but never forget. And maybe, just maybe, it’s those moments that make a place feel like home, even when you’re far from your own.
