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Istanbul, a destination long longed for
Flying to Istanbul was a big hit song in Japan about when I was in elementary school.
Whenever I heard
the song playing, I thought I'd visit Istanbul someday, though
I had no idea what the lyrics really meant. Then, in December
of 1999, over 20 years after that, my dream of going to Istanbul finally
came true. (That's a bit overstated, isn't it? These days,
anyone can go if there's enough time and money.)
Never dreamed of going
there on business!
I call myself a consultant in city planning and development for
developing countries. Consequently, most of my job sites are
basically either in remote areas of such countries, where infrastructure
is less or not developed, or in their capital, where there are government
offices with information and resources readily available. Istanbul is a big city with a population of over 10 million, equipped with
infrastructure as developed as any advanced nation, and not a
capital. Therefore, I thought I'd never get a chance to visit
Istanbul on business as long as I was in the consulting business. Yet,
the chance became a reality. I thought of myself very lucky for
being able to go to a place I'd wanted to go for a long time, with
somebody else's money (not a good expression, I admit).
No time to visit any tourist
spot!
I stayed in Istanbul for about 15 days but didn't have time to go visit
tourist spots for leisurely sightseeing. It was plain that legacies
of perishing past glory like Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Suleymaniye
Mosque, etc. very much contributed to the beautiful outlook of this
contemporary city. This should be readily recognizable to anyone, no matter how
aesthetically inept he/she might be. I wasn't able to take time to
see these places while I was at work there. However, I became
totally hooked on the charm of the views given rise by structures of ancient heritage,
as I thoroughly explored the city by car. Well, this time I was
on business, so be it. But the next time, I will come as a tourist
and am going to take time to appreciate them.
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Fun of on-site study that can't be experienced in
sightseeing
Of course, there are things I did that regular sightseers can't
experience; going to Istanbul Municipal Hall, meeting with city officials
regarding various socio-economic conditions, and conducting research on
the city's population at the district level, district borders,
administration, organization, finance, and such. (Most people, even
city officials, didn't know exactly where the district borders were.)
This research was much more interesting than visiting tourist spots.
As for information gathering, I did it not from books written by
unknowledgeable specialists or journalists but directly from the source by
interviewing the inside, key person, and checking it myself. Thus, it was the latest and reliable (though I felt a little uneasy about
the information that my interpreter didn't seem quite sure of what he was
telling me about). Each piece of information was fresh and, as if
water soaked into desert sand, absorbed into my head. The
interpreter who accompanied my group was also inspired. Through
this, he came to
know a lot more about his hometown, like its population, district division
and other socio-economic conditions, etc. Though
he was born and grew up in Istanbul, he probably found this experience
more interesting than he had imagined. (I wonder if they don't teach those
subjects in social studies at school.)
Will book information make an Istanbul expert?
Since Istanbul is relatively well known, it is easy to obtain various
information about it while in Japan from books like travel guides and
technical books on city planning and architecture. I certainly did
extensive research that way before my departure. However, I didn't
know until I arrived there that a lot of such literature information was
not necessarily reliable at all. For starters, the last
syllable -bul of Istanbul is pronounced short as "búl,"
not "bú:l" (the point which the interpreter also pointed
out.) Moreover, information including the exact administrative
districts, their area, and the notion of city zoning, differs between
books and the given explanations are generally vague. It's
precarious that you don't know which information from which book to
believe.
Information can be dangerous.
Even misinformation may start passing as correct
with no one noticing it and get out of control.
(Trans.:
TS)
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