Learning a new language

A new country means new adventure, new places, new people, new experiences and of course, new language. Some of us don't like to get out of our comfort zone and start in a country where they speak the language, some of us like it harder. None of it is easier, however, not knowing the language is a little more challenging. Besides that the exciting adventures, new country means a lot of paperwork and it is not very easy if you don't speak the language.

I've started my PhD in November and knew that I would start a Dutch course (Hasselt University is located in the Flemish part of Belgium). I didn't want to rush for it, but also not keep on postponing it since time flies. I spoke with the international students in my research group to see how and where they were taking the courses. Usually, there are evening classes which are pretty intense but seeing my colleges speak pretty decent Dutch motivated me to start

I was told by my promoter that I was going to teach 2 classes in the Spring semester. I waited for the semester to start since it was my first time teaching and wasn't sure if I'd have enough time for activities like this.

Eventually, in late April, I started a Dutch course in the evenings. It is twice a week and approximately 4 hours each day. Yes, it is intense, but the teachers do their best (thankfully) to make it fun and easy to follow. Now that a few weeks into the language course, I started enjoying it.

There are many proven benefits of learning a new language on the brain, which is another reason to learn a new language. Since I've been attending the course, I feel like my days are more productive and I can concentrate for a longer time. In Turkish, there is a saying that "one language is one person" so the more you know, the more door it opens.

Why continue blogging?

One of my proud achievement (personal satisfaction) last year was to start this blog. Sometimes I write 10 posts lined to publish in a few weeks and sometimes I have no idea what to write for a few weeks. I had major lifestyle changes and I wasn't very sure if it was worth to keep writing. Even though I am very passionate about research and academia, however, full-time PhD takes a good amount of my days. At that point, I realized that I am not writing this blog for someone or for something. It is a choice, a hobby not a job.

I tried to remember what was the main reason I started in the first place. I remembered my influencer. Yes, I am writing this blog for a bigger reason than just keep myself busy. Writing on a daily basis improved my typing speed and concentration.

My biggest dream is to be able to serve both in academia and industry, and as we have more educated peers now, maintaining this balance, in my opinion, is more important. For successfully obtaining both, my priority at the moment is writing, as much as I can.

If you're not sure about something, that you're doing for some time, and not sure if it is worth it, ask yourself these questions;

1. Does it make me happy?

2. Does it serve for a bigger purpose (personal or community)?

3. Will I have a better life if I quit?

4. Why did you start in the first place?

Everyone has different ways of looking at things, and if it just eating better, moving a little more, sleeping a little longer or something as small as reading 5 pages of a book, do it for yourself.

Lecture on Happiness

As a PhD student at Hasselt University, PhD students are part of the doctoral school, which is a mandatory series of lectures, courses etc on personal and technical development. Last week, there was an event named PhDrinks, which invites all the PhD students once a year for some socializing which includes a lecture and a reception. This year the lecture was on "Happiness at work" by the author of World book of happiness Leo Bormans. I am leaving a link of his personal Webpage here if you are interested in knowing more about him and his books.

26 April 2019, Happiness at work, Hasselt University

I highly believe happiness comes from inside, sometimes from small things, sometimes from things that take longer. I personally don't find motivational videos inspiring, and highly believe action can bring happiness or whatever you call it (I am not promoting my University here - which has a logo saying Knowledge in Action, but maybe there is a reason why I ended up here). After an hour of the lecture, I realized that the moments I feel happy, I should just stop for a while and enjoy it. 

After 1 hour of lecture, I felt a lot centred and was very thankful for the work I have and the people I am surrounded with. It reminded me of 1 thing I believe, if you don't like it, change it, if you can't change it, move on with something else!

Structuring a day on a long period time off

I am at a very special phase in my life. I recently married and moving on to a new life soon. I quit my full time job 2 months ago and working freelance for same company. I quit job to have sometime for myself and complete the paper work and necessary steps before I move on to my new life. I roughly counted how long I have until I can start a new job and it looks like I have 60 days to move to my new home and another 90 days until I can start working, which adds up to 150 days approximately. During this time line there are a few things I want to accomplish since I have plenty of time and not sure when I will be such free ever again. From today onward here is how I will be structuring my week day.

- 1 hour studying for a test I like to take for my career - personal goal
- 1 hour working on scientific papers - I have 3 lined up and I would like to submit them all before I start with full time job
- 1 hour for PhD and job applications - this usually takes a lot less but I would like to include writing a proposal and sometime to think about cover letters
- 1 hour of walking - it is very easy to stay in because of laziness
- Keeping track of my days
- Motivate myself - having plenty of time can lead to feeling useless so even if it is a few minutes, I'd like to think about how far I've come.
- Last but not least work for my freelance job - there are days I have to work 8 hours and there are days I do not work at all so this point is unlimited

The reason I wanted to make a simple TO-DO list without tiring and bother myself much is because I believe most precious thing we have is time and unfortunately we cannot store it or go back in time.

Spending a day on a new hobby

As you've already noticed, I am such an engineer and I try to use engineering knowledge in my daily life. This can sometimes be boring, my hobbies are unfortunately only related to that. My mum is an artist and she is very talented, and being her daughter I have no idea how untalented I could be. Now that I have plenty of time for myself I tried to do some (easy) art.

The process was pretty easy. Paint the wood tray with white, until it looks flowless. To make that possible I painted the tray and let it dry for like an hour and repeated this whole day. Second step was sticking the special paper to the tray and painting with transparent coating.

This picture is after 3 times painting.

This picture is at the end of the day when it was almost flawless.

Final product - TAA DAA

So here are a few things I learnt from this day;

1. If you want to use your other side of the brain, there are unlimited options. Start with the easiest and cheapest option. Think about what you always wanted to do and what can be the beginning for the big dream.

2. I did this activity on a Sunday and I was on and off working on a paper. It was so relaxing to coat the tray as I took break every hour. And as I went back to working, I felt completely refreshed.

3. Once it is done, you feel accomplished.

4. You don't have to invest much, just look around and see what you have.

I highly recommend trying a new hobby to feel accomplished and relaxed.

How to use free time wisely

Lately, I have a lot of time for myself since I am working freelance and wrapping up my life to start a new adventure. One struggle with having an unlimited time is that when you have a lot you want to do but you feel like you are not using your time effectively.

Here are some tips helping me to get through the day.

1. List down plans

It can be reading books, writing a paper, taking a test for certification or anything you've been putting off for when you'll have time. Be realistic, if you have limited amount of time off, plan accordingly to not overwhelm yourself, and also to not disappoint yourself. No matter what the reason is you have time off, take it also to enjoy your free time, life can get very tricky once you get busy.

2. Make a list of things you like to on free time

I believe this is as important as writing down your goals. If there are some books you'd like to finish or some serials you'd like watch make a list of these.

3. Define time slots

Now that you have 2 list, one for leisure and one for goals, see how you'd like to shape your day. Try to use a percentage like 40%-60%. 60 % of your time you put to your goals (min) and 40% of your time you can put into leisure.

4. Be flexible

Working throughout the day can be exhausting or you may be disrupted. Allow yourself some time to switch around.

5. Use time wisely

It is very easy to waste time when you have plenty of time. By planning right, and managing your time wisely, it could be a life building time.

They all failed for success

1. "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I've lost almost 300 games.  26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I've failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed." [Michael Jordan]
2. "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear." [Rosa Parks]

3. "If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint", then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." [Vincent Van Gogh]

4. "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." [Plutarch]

5. "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." [Vince Lombardi]

6. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." [Henry Ford]

7. "Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it." [Charles Swindoll]

8. "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." [Eleanor Roosevelt]

9. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." [Napoleon Hill]

10. "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." [Albert Einstein]

Use that failure as a step to major success.