As soon as I exit the Taksim metro station and begin my walk to the event location, I begin to panic. Why am I doing this? I could be home on my couch watching Breaking Bad. While speed dating seemed to me a great idea in theory when I pitched the idea for read article article, I am not so sure now. When I enter the restaurant, Istanbul feel instantly more at ease.
At the bar, drink in hand, I begin chatting with another speed dater the entire place has been rented out for the eventand we have a nice conversation. Yasemen Aydin, owner and operator of First Sight, warmly greets me, and shortly after that, she gathers the daters and begins to give instructions, in English and then Turkish. We have been assigned name tags and numbers. Women will sit at a table with their number and men will move clockwise from one table to the next at approximately 4 minute intervals.
At the end of the night, we will hand our sheets back to Yasemen, who will notify us the next day by email of any potential matches. We all take our assigned seats and begin. After 4 minutes, Yasemen rings a little bell and I have just enough time to scribble down some notes before my next prospect arrives.
We continue like this for about 40 minutes and then have a much needed minute break. We start up again and 40 minutes later, it is finished. We are free to hang out and mingle, but I choose to leave.
An introvert by nature, all of the talking has left me exhausted, yet socially stimulated and happy. After eight years of networking at speed dating events in the US, she returned to Istanbul where she began First Dating.
At first, she just invited friends and friends of friends, soon expanding to a more public audience. Every person selected must meet her strict criteria and usually comes referenced from https://search-by-image.info/irish-matchmaking-festival.php former dating. Since February3 couples have married after meeting at her speed dating events and including her work in the US, she has seen over 30 marriages and 17 engagements.
So, I guess it works. Although she says speed dating has been hard to catch on in Istanbul, dating has seen it progress a lot in a short time. Honestly, I agree with her.
Looking for Love at First Sight Speed Dating in Istanbul
We all rely so heavily on the internet to meet our social needs. Speed dating is a crash this web page in dating You get a pretty good shot at meeting at least one person you like, or even making a good business connection.
Just think how many hours it would take you to meet 20 pre-screened candidates personally in Istanbul, how many metro rides and istanbul busses you would avoid, how much you check this out save on wine, dinners and coffee! I say go for speed. Details here. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign in.
Event Rules
Forgot your password? Get help. Password recovery. Living Abroad Blues: Coping with Loneliness. Practices of Mindfulness in Turkey. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here.
You have entered an incorrect email address! We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Speed, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie Settings Accept All. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, here cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent.
You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The cookie is used istanbul store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". The cookies is used to store speed user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the dating in the category "Performance". It does not store any personal data. Functional Functional. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance Performance. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Analytics Analytics. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website.
These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Advertisement Advertisement. Advertisement "istanbul" are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns.
Speed cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Others Others. Other uncategorized cookies are dating that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for speed cookies in the category "Functional".
The cookie is set istanbul the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies.