Translated material
I moved to the USA and I didn't like it
Marina (name changed at the request of the heroine) 32 years old, she was born in Novosibirsk, but six years ago she moved to Istanbul, where she met her future husband. He is a Turk, works as a chef, and at the end of 2023 he was invited to work in a restaurant in Chicago. The couple moved, but a year later they came to the conclusion that the United States did not pull their dreams to their country, and returned to Istanbul. Marina told the "cold" with what difficulties they encountered in the USA.
Over a year of life in America, I realized that it is unsafe, expensive and tasteless. And returned to Turkey, where my husband and I live
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I was born in Novosibirsk, studied at the PR man at the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, and after its completion was engaged in the promotion of restaurants, launching bars and organizing events.
I traveled all my conscious life and always thought that it would be nice to move somewhere. At 24, I first visited Istanbul and fell in love with this city. Since then, she began to go there often and once even organized a small private tour to Istanbul: we did not go to the main attractions, but visited private galleries and workshops.
Thanks to this tour, I met people who developed their businesses in Istanbul, and began to build partnerships with them. One of them offered me a job-to develop a creative space-and I agreed, because I really caught up with this idea. My relatives and friends supported me, but there were those who said that in Turkey I would definitely marry a Turk, I will accept Islam and put on a hijab. This is the same as saying that in Russia everyone only drinks vodka, play a balalaika and go to the bathhouse.
Turks love to hang noodles on their ears, but mine turned out to be different
When I moved, I was 26 years old. I realized that I did everything right: I feel the boundless love of Istanbul, I like my inner state here. We had an emotional Match, which was not with any other city.
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With socialization in Turkey, I never had problems: they always and everywhere have been well received. The Turks love to tell foreigners about their national features, treat them and call on a visit. Therefore, I have many close friends and friends in Istanbul. But so, probably, not everyone.
We met my husband in 2023 through Instagram: I subscribed to him because I saw his profile in the stories of a friend. He is a chef, and I was just looking for a specialist for private gastronomic events, so I wrote to him for business purposes. I did not plan to build relationships then, was focused on myself and my projects. Moreover, the Turks are very dramatic people, and then I did not need any dramas.
As a result, we met with this chef and no longer parted from that day. Usually the Turks can immediately admit love and start hanging noodles on their ears that they want a family and children. But my husband turned out to be different: he did not say any magnificent words and always behaved independently. He seemed very ambitious to me, which is why we had a Match. We got married in December 2023 - then he was invited to work in the United States, and so I could go with him. We planned to do this before the work on work, but the upcoming move became the impetus to accelerate.
I feel endless love for Istanbul, I like my inner state here. We had an emotional magician
I know from friends that many relations with the Turks end in nothing, because their parents oppose marriage with foreigners. And Turkish men often live for a long time%20and%20italy%20 (71%25) with parents, and their opinion is very important for them. I was worried about it too. But my husband turned out to be different: he left the house and began to work at a very young age.
In general, the husband says that his parents love me - perhaps because we do not communicate. They are very conservative and religious. I am respectful of religion, but I do not want to try on it on myself. My husband is also like this: he does not make prayer, does not pray, eats pork and loves fat.
This year was a great mental test
In Chicago, we moved in February 2024. A new restaurant of Mediterranean cuisine opened there, and my husband was supposed to work as a chef. A visa of talents was opened to him, and I have a visa, as I call it, the ketters . We did not really plan to move to America, but since the husband received such an offer, we decided to try.
The first thing I noticed was that Chicago is cleaner and calmer than Istanbul. But, given that 16 million people only officially live in Istanbul, and in Chicago - 2.7 million, this is understandable. Chicago is something between Peter and Novosibirsk. And when I went to New York, it seemed to me that it was Moscow.
The second thing I liked was to easily find housing (but then it turned out that we were just very lucky). Third - in Chicago there are many automated processes. But in fact, the bureaucracy in the United States is worse than in Turkey, and prices there are much higher .
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Over a year of life in the United States, I did not find any way to start earnings there because my visa did not allow me to do this. I could look for a job in Chicago and re -register a working visa, but this is a lottery. Only 65 thousand quotas per year allocated to work visas, which for America is a drop in the sea, so the chance of receiving it was extremely small.
Even working remotely in America is also illegally . We spent a lot of money and time to communicate with lawyers, but no one still told why, when I was ready to pay all taxes, I can not develop my projects in the United States. For me, this year was a great mental test, because all my life I always had some kind of work, but here I was idle.
In general, the legal structure of the United States is good. There are clear laws that I like a systemic person very much. But many of these laws are absurd : for example, it is forbidden to eat food in a burning building or walk the giraffe on a leash.
In the United States, my husband took over all the basic expenses: paid for housing and meals. And on personal expenses I took money from my accumulated. This year I took on all household issues, dealt with documents and bureaucracy. I did some projects simply for myself, creating my online comrade, I went to different challenge events, marketing and other things.
Turkish mentality is closer to me
Finding friends was not difficult, but not among the Americans. Although we lived there for only a year and my husband and I have no great opportunity to socialize, but our other friends who have been living there for years have no American environment.
In America, I liked that on the street you might just have a compliment. Although the culture of the resins of the Tokov is still incomprehensible to me-how to recognize how sincerely they smile at you? American culture seems very formal. Initially, when we rode in the USA, I thought that the Americans are culturally more like Russians and it would be easier for me. But, as it turned out, the Turkish mentality is closer to me with all its emotionality, feelings, songs and dances.
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In English, I began to speak in Istanbul, because it was the only way to communicate with people without the knowledge of Turkish. But, unfortunately, in America my language did not become better, because my environment consisted either of Russian -speaking or other migrants. In the United States, it is generally cool to know Spanish, because most of the service staff speaks precisely on it - some may not know English at all, and if they know, they speak with a tough accent that cannot be understood.
Among the positive points in the USA it is felt that the economy is much more stable and better than in Turkey. There you can afford: for example, buy a car or house. In addition, Chicago has a very beautiful architecture.
But there were more negative sides. I do not consider the United States a safe country. In America, it is officially allowed to own weapons, which means that any moron at a random moment can get a pistol from a pocket and begin to shoot people. And it turns out that you are afraid of everything on the street. The worst thing is that in America, if something happens, passers-by can simply pass by, because everyone for himself.
In addition, homeless people in the United States are often inadequate, under drugs, so I always, when I saw them, crossed the road so as not to contact them. You never know what a person can do to you.
Another important point was medicine. Everything is very bad with her there. My husband and I personally did not encounter doctors, but we heard a lot about this from friends. But we had an extremely negative experience with a veterinarian: he mistakenly made our dog a deadly diagnosis. In addition, for this we gave frantic money. For a year, I spent about five thousand dollars on a dog almost for nothing.
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But the most important thing that was unpleasantly surprised is that the restaurant industry in the United States is very different from European or Turkish. In America, there are no chefs as such. No matter how talented you are a cook, he needs to spend millions of dollars on the promotion of a personal brand, and only in this case you can become famous. If a restaurant is engaged in this, it turns out that popular restaurants are not those where it is tasty, but those that have a lot of money for advertising.
All this was imposed that the chefs in America had very low salaries from migrants who dump. For example, in the state of Illinois, where we lived, the average salary of Su-chef is five to six thousand dollars a month before tax deduction.
It seems to me that if I moved to America at the same age at which I moved to Turkey, it may have been different differently
Because of this, my husband decided that the United States is not a place where you can fully be realized in the profession of a chef. In parallel, he began discussions with investors in Istanbul, who offered him money to open a restaurant in a boutique-hotel in a good area. It would be strange to stay in the USA and work for a penny where they are not put in anything at all. An important factor in our return was that I could not work in the United States.
Everyone is so surprised when I say that I did not like in America. People do not understand at all how possible. We all have an image of America as a country of dreams was tightly sewn in his head. And at some point we realized that outside the United States we have much more opportunities.
I seemed to be pushed into the gerlo of the volcano
We returned to Turkey a month ago. The husband has already held five projects, and recently he signed a contract for the opening of his restaurant with the prospect of the Michelin star. In general, he prepares in Japanese and French technology, but the restaurant will be in the direction of a la Fuzn based on Turkish cuisine, that is, with modern techniques and the addition of interesting tastes and marinades.
It seems to me that if I had moved to America at the same age at which I moved to Turkey, perhaps everything would have turned out differently. Perhaps I would really be kaifala from endless parties, concerts and cheap clothes. But I got there adult and already in a different status - as married. I evaluated medicine, safety, nutrition. In addition, it was easier for me with Turkey, because I knew her very well. And in America I have never been, and I seemed to be pushed into the gerlo of the volcano and told me to deal with this itself.
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I have a lot of acquaintances in my USA who adhere to the same opinion as me. One friend has been living there for 15 years, but still does not plan to stay until old age. He wants to earn money, buy some real estate and leave. Someone is waiting for a passport and immediately leaves to travel without visas.
Food for my husband is an important part of life. In the United States, I really missed Turkish cuisine, always dreamed of returning to Turkey to eat normal food. I didn’t even want Russian food in the same way as Turkish. But the choice of fish and seafood in Chicago was chic - at times better than in Turkey.
Vegetables and fruits in supermarkets in America are all plastic. You can buy farm products, but they will cost a lot of money. If you eat at home, cook for two or three people, then thousands of dollars can take quality products. And in Turkey, I know that I will always have available and high -quality products.
In the USA, in restaurants, all the food that we ate was without frills. If you go to a good establishment, then it will be just normal there. And the minimum check for two but about $ 200 comes out, and you are sitting and thinking: why did I pay so much money?
As a tourist, I would go to the United States more than once. We have a lot of friends there, and I would like to visit New York again, and Chicago too. But for a long time - no.
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Author: Daria Morozova photo: provided by Marina