Araz Gholami

Blog Thoughts, Articles, Memories, and Events

A Practical Guide to Preparing for Migration

before migrating, work and live in iran. migration itself is hard. don’t let the challenges of living alone for the first time add to the difficulties of migration. learn and master the language(s) of your destination country, especially their street-level slang. learn as much as possible, ev... Read All

June 12, 2019, Istanbul

A few days ago i returned to istanbul, and after some rest and recuperation, i finally started working at my new job. during the time i was job hunting, my main goal was to choose the best and most stable option possible, while avoiding repetition of past misfortunes. everything at the new company s... Read All

May 29, 2019, Mehrabad Airport, Tehran

I’ve lost count of how many times i’ve had issues with my workplace, but here’s the short and tense version: i lost my job again, and once more i applied for other positions. this time, however, i was very selective, i rejected almost all of the 10-15 interviews i attended, determined that this woul... Read All

What the heck is wrong with you people?

A) my roommate, after much whining about having brought all their savings from iran, refuses to contribute to living expenses. they decide to leave and use the remaining money (which they claimed was their only life savings) to buy clothes and return to iran. i decide to be more careful from now on.... Read All

Lessons Learned After One Year of Living Alone

if you have access to your parents, go kiss their hands and feet right now, then continue reading this post. life is exactly as it is. no magical event or miracle will happen unless through your own optimal, real, and correct effort (not to be confused with overwork). your bed is the most imp... Read All

May 8, 2019, Istanbul

Loneliness is a strange phenomenon. you can suppress its cries for a long time, but like a weed breaking through asphalt and waving at you from the middle of the road, it occasionally appears and reminds you that no matter how much you struggle or blend in with others, you are still alone. just a mo... Read All

How to Relieve Ear Pressure After a Flight

Ear blockage after a change in air pressure is normal and something most of us have experienced to some extent. my recent experience, however, left me grounded with pain for a couple of hours, so i decided to share the methods i tried here. hopefully, someone else facing this issue can resolve it qu... Read All

April 19, 2019, Beloved Tabriz

Finally, after four months of waiting and a terrifying experience of losing everything (except my persistence) in ankara, i managed to make another trip to iran. to cover two days of leave, i had to work through all holidays of the previous two weeks, arriving in tabriz completely exhausted, both ph... Read All

April 14, 2019, Istanbul

A few days ago, i was sitting in a café near my workplace, planning a trip a few days ahead, when a persian song playing caught my attention. hearing such a song in iranian cafés is normal, but here it was impossible to imagine that someone randomly added it to the playlist at that hour. following t... Read All

Julian Assange Arrested

Julian assange, the founder of wikileaks and one of the few people you could truly trust, was arrested after seven years due to the unforgivable betrayal of ecuador’s new government under false pretenses. the risk of extradition to the u.s. and facing a fate similar to ross ulbricht (founder of silk... Read All

False Nostalgia

1) the bus moves slowly. a few stops remain until my workplace. the ringtone of a fellow passenger’s nokia, resembling my mother’s ringtone, makes me get off right there. 2) it’s april 2 on the solar calendar. while wandering around my neighborhood, i enter a forested, mountainous area. the smell... Read All

So what? (2)

From a life perspective, people can be divided into two groups: the resigned and the inquisitive. a vast majority rush through life chasing things they themselves know have no real value, while a very small number constantly question everything, seeking to understand the reasons and meaning to the b... Read All