# Any information about Kutahya?



## cdouillet (May 7, 2013)

Hello everyone!
My husband and I have just been offered positions at Dumlupinar University in Kutahya. We are now considering whether or not to accept the offer (which is find attractive from a financial point of view). Does anyone live in Kutahya who could share with us their experience? We would be moving with our two children (ages 3 and 5), so we are also interested in hearing about the experience of expat families living there. Are there a lot of expats there? Are there a lot of family-friendly activities in Kutahya? Is your experience generally positive? Where do your children go to school?, etc.
Thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Catherine


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

Kutahya is not really an expat town.


It is rural and might be a cultural shock to live there. Best take a recon trip before you are committed.


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## cdouillet (May 7, 2013)

Thank you for your response and advice. I am taking a trip there next week. We'll see... I have been to Istanbul years ago and I loved it, but this might be indeed quite different...


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## belgarath (Jul 15, 2011)

Just a warning - Turkish Airlines may go on strike next week. 
Please share your experience.


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## Ozysanj (Feb 3, 2013)

Hi Catherine,
turkey is going through some rough time right now.I wondered how did you get on with your trip?
If you got the chance to visit I'm sure you have seen it for yourself but without knowing any details,I would just not recommend this kind of move.
I don't think there would be many expats there and I'm sure locals would welcome you with a warm heart.kutahya is a city,but it's a small place in the end and I think the city and the opportunities wouldn't be able to meet the needs of a growing family as yours.
Best wishes though.


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## cdouillet (May 7, 2013)

Ozysanj said:


> Hi Catherine,
> turkey is going through some rough time right now.I wondered how did you get on with your trip?
> If you got the chance to visit I'm sure you have seen it for yourself but without knowing any details,I would just not recommend this kind of move.
> I don't think there would be many expats there and I'm sure locals would welcome you with a warm heart.kutahya is a city,but it's a small place in the end and I think the city and the opportunities wouldn't be able to meet the needs of a growing family as yours.
> Best wishes though.


Thanks for your response! Yes, I went there for a few days, but we decided to reject the offer. There were too many things that we did not like: the university campus was 15 km from the town of Kutaya, so it was a double isolation (while nice and modern, the campus was really in a desert and felt really empty and lifeless; there wouldn't have been much for us to do in the town of Kutaya either, other than the brand new mall); also, the contract was not as nice as what they had mentioned during the Skype interview: the salaries were smaller than what they had mentioned and the supposedly "free" accommodation was actually not free and quite smaller than what they had described during the interview. Also, the teaching workload was just enormous, MUCH MUCH more than what we normally teach in the US, which would have meant much less family time, so overall, there was no incentive for us to take this leap. The decision was easy. I really enjoyed my trip there and spending 24 hours in Istanbul was just lovely! But, unfortunately, Kutaya just did not work for us.


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## AmericanJoe (Jan 2, 2015)

*Expat at Dumlupinar University*

Hi Catherine
I am glad that you took the initiative to visit Kutahya and decided to reject their offer. I came here with my wife in summer of 2014. We both had accepted teaching positions at Dumlupinar University. It was the biggest mistake of our life. I wish I had read this forum before. You are absolutely right that Dumlupinar University lies to you in everything.
At our interview we were also promised housing and medical insurance with no mention of that we will be paying premiums out of our pay. First off, on reaching here we were told that faculty housing is not available and will not be in the near future. We were housed in free faculty guesthouse but were later handed a bill for almost 1000 TL for a three week stay. The university staff made a feeble attempt to find us private housing. In the end we had to find an apartment by ourselves. We were told that we would each receive 300TL in lieu of no faculty housing but found out later that this payment was included in our salary and that there would be no extra payments.
We were promised medical insurance but we ended up paying about 500 TL each monthly and even at that our insurance was not active for six months. So, we could not get any medical care or had to pay out of our pocket,
We were promised a yearly contract renewal and we had this in writing. However, when we went to sign our renewal we were surprised to find it to be only for six-months. NO EXPLANATIONS. None of our emails to dean and others have been replied to yet.
About 40% of our salary is deducted in various forms of tax deductions including social security which we will never collect. Annual airfares back to USA were promised but suddenly are not authorized any more.
We are writing this to warn anyone thinking of coming to Dumlupinar University. Do yourself a big favor: PLEASE DO NOT COME.


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