{"id":5085,"date":"2011-11-13T14:52:04","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T14:52:04","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T21:00:00","slug":"neslihan-en-brian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/2011\/11\/13\/neslihan-en-brian\/","title":{"rendered":"Neslihan en Brian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" align=\"left\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_8416.jpg\" \/>As you might (or might not) know, I have an <em>honorary<\/em> sister for  quite a long time. Even though her name is Neslihan, I used to call her  Ece but after my daughter was born and was also named Ece, things got a  little bit complicated and we had to switch back to the real name basis  again.<\/p>\n<p>She&#8217;s been my lil&#8217; sister and I&#8217;ve been trying to stand up to being a  big brother for her which basicaly means her knowing that I&#8217;ll be  &#8220;there&#8221; (if not by her side) if and when she needs me and that she can  count on me. Actually, this is quite a dramatic depiction of my  brotherly duties since she has proven -over and over- that she is much  better in the business of taking care of one&#8217;s self than yours truly.  And she&#8217;s not alone, being in the company of dearest and kindest, the  one and only de heer Brian B., a.k.a. Briantje! (and yes, he&#8217;s the  reason I&#8217;m composing this entry in English 8)<\/p>\n<p>Our meeting came through the HiTNet. It was &#8217;97 (or was it &#8217;98?) when a  message flew in to the &#8220;HT.Duzyazi&#8221; forum and we immediately thought it  was coming from a &#8220;fake&#8221;, as we used to call the made-up accounts those days  (and yes, we were being paranoid but then again,everyone had at least  one fake back in those days). I remember Sui checking her &#8220;credentials  of existence&#8221; by referring to the OSYM&#8217;s website where you could get the  results of the university qualifying exam along other things, by simply  entering the name and the year of birth (later, they discovered this  huge loophole and bricked it down). Anyway, it took us some time (and a  couple of meetings (&#8220;summit&#8221; (&#8220;zirve&#8221;) in HiTNeT terminology) to finally  accept her existence. Then, as the years went by, we became confiders.<\/p>\n<p>\n<center><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_0825.jpg\" \/><\/center><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><small>Getting overwhelmed at the Nintje Museum<\/small><\/div>\n<p>\n<em><br \/>\nThen one day&#8230;<\/em> Yeah, then one day, she went to the  Netherlands, to pursuit her academical career as a prospective Ph.D. The  transition was not a bed of roses, and she suffered as she left things  behind. But, as I&#8217;ve told, my little sister is a though one and she  survived and managed to build a life from scratch. During these years of  reconstruction, we fell somewhat apart, with different things  to do piles both on her and my sides, asking for constant attendance (and unfortunately, it is  easier to fall apart when you are countries apart).<\/p>\n<p>and &#8220;then&#8221;, a wonderful thing happened! I was accepted for a postdoc  position in the Netherlands and we would be only two hours of train  ride away from each other (which might be <em>something<\/em> wrt the Dutch standards but a clear <em>nothing at all!&#160; <\/em>in  Turkish family standards)! In her first visit, she introduced me to the  wonderful Dutch sweet Gevulde Speculaas, and in the next visit to the  wonderful sweet Dutch, the &#8220;damat&#8221; Brian.<\/p>\n<p>\n<center><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_9284.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_9285.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_9288.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_9296.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>The fact that it was Brian&#8217;s first visit to Delft when he came to see us was really surprising!<\/small><\/center><br \/>\nBrian is one of the kindest, funniest and geek-cultured guys you can  ever hope to meet. He immediately enchanted all three of us, the Tascis.  We talked about movies, books, visited here and there together and it  has always been such a delicate treat, spending the time with my sister  and Briantje.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" align=\"right\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_4185.jpg\" \/>After two years, we moved to Spain and departing away from them was the  worst part of the whole deal. They came to our visit shortly after but  we just can&#8217;t get enough of them, and after that visit, they also moved  outside the country to California, USA, and now it&#8217;s an ocean  apart.<\/p>\n<p><center><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_5181.jpg\" \/><small><br \/>\nFamily Reunion in Spain<\/small><br \/>\n<\/center><br \/>\nYou know, this thing, when just the fact of being with good people makes you feel good (and <em>this<\/em>  should be the definition of family, IMHO), Neslihan and Brian are the  source of such a thing. We have long before lost the distinction when  they were two different beings: since they complement each other so  perfectly, being the perfect couple within themselves, theirs has become  a symbol of good things and joy. As you can guess, and as I know, they  also have troubles of their own, concerns for the future among other  things (some of which are not very unlike the things we went through with  Bengu in our involving\/informing the parents and afterwards stage), but just as a  reminder: if -almost- all of one&#8217;s troubles are due to the world  outside, then it&#8217;s actually a good thing: you can shut the door and keep  them out! For how long? Should we really care? (Really?..)<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_5213.jpg\" \/><small><br \/>\nFantastic Couple in Bilbao (or is it San Sebastian?)<\/small><\/p>\n<p>\n<\/center> Once again, I&#8217;ve come to observe the futility and the inescapable  failure of trying to write about the ones that are dear to you. This was  supposed to be an ode to my dear dear lil&#8217; sis and Brian, but  unfortunately, the warmth of the heart occuring whenever I&#160;think of them  can&#8217;t be reflected unto the blank page of the editor. My comfort being  that they know what I wanted to say but then hey, this is also what  defines the family.<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_3513.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_3517.jpg\" style=\"border:0px;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>The Voorthuizen Getaway<\/small><\/center><br \/>\nWe will be cherishing the day we spent at Voorthuizen, playing the  Settlers of Catan &amp; Bohnanza, going to some exploring, chatting, cooking together,  having fun. It&#8217;s always having fun with you guys, keep the chins up! (+ Dikke dikke kusjes!)<br \/>\n<center><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"\/blogs\/sururi\/images\/nb_100_3490.jpg\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Dearest Dears<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you might (or might not) know, I have an honorary sister for quite a long time. Even though her name is Neslihan, I used to call her Ece but after my daughter was born and was also named Ece, things got a little bit complicated and we had to switch back to the real &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/2011\/11\/13\/neslihan-en-brian\/\" class=\"more-link\">Okumaya devam et<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Neslihan en Brian&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.emresururi.com\/blogs\/sururi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}