Feathered Dino

"I was born as a Turkish child on a snowy November midnight in Germany. Even back then, it was clear that I wouldn’t belong to any one place. I wasn’t German because I was born in Germany, nor was I a Turk simply because of my heritage. Before I even became an adult, I had lived on three continents, in four different countries, and about seven cities. This journey didn’t tie me to any culture, didn’t provide a consistent education, and didn’t offer me a stable career path. Friends, for me, were never constants in life; they felt like short-term relationships that changed over time. With all these changes, no one has remained in my life for long, and I haven't remained in anyone else's for long either.

I’m writing these lines from my home in San Diego, California. Yet, the book you are about to read was written while I was living in Guangzhou, China, and I edited it in Istanbul. By the time you get your hands on this English version, there's a high chance that I’ll have moved to Japan. This time, I believe it will be my final move because I think I’ve come to understand myself better. I know what I want or perhaps more importantly, what I don’t want. I know the kind of life, environment, culture, relationships, and even the season I want to experience.

Looking back, I realize that every escape I made was because of a group of people who exhausted me. Now, I don’t want to be tired anymore. A friend here once told me that the Japanese, because of their upbringing, may not be genuinely respectful but act politely out of habit. I responded, ‘I prefer their insincere respect over the intentional disrespect I see here. Why is that so hard to understand?’ As a good Turkish poet once said, ‘Life is short, birds are flying.’ Enjoy the journey."