etiquette

Walking into a Turkish carpet shop for the first time can be overwhelming: carpets stacked to the ceiling, tea arriving before you sit, and a thousand patterns competing for your attention.

If you have never been to Turkey, prepare for a surprise: tea will appear in your life within minutes of arrival, and it will never stop appearing.

Turkish humor can seem like a locked door to visitors: the wordplay is untranslatable, the references are local, and the punchlines arrive with perfect timing that text cannot capture.

If you travel in Turkey, you will quickly notice that older people are treated with a courtesy that may be stronger than what you are used to at home.

Turkish names can look puzzling at first, with their dotted letters, unfamiliar sounds, and meanings hidden inside everyday words.

As a visitor to Turkey, you will meet the nazar, the blue glass evil eye bead, within your first hour in the country. It hangs from rearview mirrors, dangles in shop windows, and sits pinned to babies.

You are sitting at the end of a Turkish meal, and the coffee arrives in a small cup, strong and dark. Then comes the surprise: turn the cup over, and the grounds will tell your fortune.

If you spend any time in Turkey, you will probably be invited to a wedding. Turkish weddings are the great celebrations of social life, and foreigners are welcomed into them with open arms.

You will meet the Turkish word misafirperverlik early in your visit, and you will meet its practice even earlier.

Gender roles in Turkey are a common source of confusion for foreign visitors.

Family is the first thing you will notice about Turkish society, and the last thing you will fully understand.

Turkish hospitality is famous, but for many foreign visitors it comes as a genuine surprise.