What Colors the Steel Sky Blue

It is amazing how once a difficult decision is made, it seems to execute by itself. It felt the same with the New York City move. Next thing I know I was called a "sodder" in the office which was affectionately coined office terminology for the likes me that were going to New York. Yes it was true, affectionate or not, I was sodding off, getting the hell out of the horrible project that was draining the life out of me.

There were 15 of us total and I was the last one to move because of my late decision and many project transitioning tasks.

The movers were scheduled, tickets were bought, items were packed, things were given away and soon all traces of my life in the US evaporated from sight right before my eyes. Now I was a nomad, no longer owning a place to call home in Austin and not yet found a new one in New York.

I was intimidated, I was shaken, I was bothered. For me having my own place is the most important thing in the world. Being without one felt like being a slug without a shell, I had nowhere to hide, and I felt exposed, very exposed.

My parents LOVED the move to New York. They hated the long flights they had to take to get to Texas. They figured with me being in New York, we would see each other more often and perhaps get a chance to mend some of the relationship issues that had run amuck in the past couple of years.

Now you're thinking all of this is happening too fast or perhaps you want me to get to the New York bit already. There is so much I need to relate to you before we get to the New York part. I would like to relate this information in a way that does not interfere with the flow of events. So here is a bit of detail we could just glaze over but I think it is important for your understanding of what's going on in my head currently.

As you know I am from Turkey, and being a male Turkish citizen I am required to do mandatory military service some time after graduation from a highschool. The usual duration of the military service is 18 months. You can be assigned to any of the camps in Turkey which means you can get stuck in the worst parts of Turkey in the coldest months of the year. Military service within these parameters is quite difficult and taxing. It really is what makes a man, a man in Turkey. I have never seen anyone come back from military service quite the same.

If a Turkish citizen attends a college be it in Turkey or outside, the military service requirement is postponed until their graduation. Getting a higher ed degree also has it perks in terms of the military service. Citizens with higher ed degrees qualify to do their service in either 8 months as grunt or 18 months as an officer --better living quarters, less hardship, more responsibility, and possibly better treatment. These are great but my generation in my family is a bunch of wussies. We were brought up in quite nice accomodations and we never lacked the basic amenities. Some of us never even camped once. So you can imagine the horror in our minds when we think of ourselves in military service.

Luckily for us, there is a further clause in the law. It applies to Turkish citizens who have been and are currently working abroad. It requires at least three years of continuous employment and a payment of $5000.00 and the service lasts only 4 weeks. As you can guess I started planning for this long time ago.

At the time the New York move came up, I had already accrued both the employment time and the cash to participate in this special kind of militart service. So I decided to pack up in Austin, fly to Turkey, do my service and then fly right back to New York. It was one of the best plans I made.

Military service was not what I expected, or I was tougher than I thought. Most guys in the service were a bunch of whiners and it was suprising to find myself supporting other people. I never thought I would be the strong and calm kind but here I was doing it.