Quoting Melnikaite:

Quoting aenigma x:

I In the UK it is very much an equal partership where you agree on your shared goals, whether you want children and who will take care of them (many of my friends husbands are house-husbands and take care of the house and children - unheard of in Turkey as far as I am aware!!!)
In Turkey (while I hate to generalise) I think there are certain things which would "expected" of you.

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Quoting Melnikaite:

torally agree wiz u Aenigma. Just a sample. I asekde A female turkish friend of mine: Are you gonna buy a new digi-cam? The girl replies( they r just engaged not married): My husband says we dont need it now...The couple is abt 30 years old.

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Quoting juliacernat:

"I feel like I have to change my personality to be accepted here. I just want to be myself.” I was listening to my European friend complaining that yet again her bubbly personality had got her into difficulties with strangers. What had upset her most was that her Turkish girlfriends weren’t sympathetic to her plight. Laughter liberates and laughter uplifts. When we learn to laugh at our mistakes, and learn from them, nothing is too difficult. Many of our bookstore customers express how frustrating it is to learn the language. If they have time I share with them some of the mistakes I have made while learning Turkish. One example is: I wanted to get out of the dolmuş in Şişli and I meant to say the standard phrase, “İnecek var!” (Literally: There is a person who wants to get out.) Instead, to the bewilderment of the driver and my fellow passengers I called out, “İnek var!” (There is a cow!)
Have you noticed that Turkish people usually do not tend to shout or talk loudly in public like some nationalities?

A group of friends in a tea-house or restaurant will enjoy sharing a good joke, sometimes at each other’s expense. Turks will enjoy a comedy program on TV, pulling the leg of a friend, or sharing a joke on their cell phone. But uproarious laughter is not commonly seen in public: e.g., in shopping malls, on the ferry, walking down the street.
This is hard for many foreigners who are used to smiling when they walk down the street or having a good laugh anywhere when something funny strikes them.
It is important to make some adjustments in life to fit in to our new culture: This may include being a bit more serious when walking down the street. Tip: to avoid unwanted attention, it is best not to smile and not speak in a loud voice. Watch what Turks do; particularly if you are a woman, watch how Turkish women behave. This may be very important to help you avoid a problem. For example, a woman walking down the street smiling, especially if she is alone, may unwittingly send the wrong signals to the opposite sex.
It is important to laugh in certain settings:
If jokes are being told and have been translated from one language to another, if at all possible, try to laugh at the punch line, even if the Turkish joke hasn’t “made it” when told in English!
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Laugh when you make mistakes. When in another culture, we are learners.
When a situation arises, and it is out of your control, try to see the humor.
The other day, I had an appointment at a school. I arrived at the school on time but I could not get pass the security gate because there had been an electric cut and the gate would not go up so vehicles could pass. School buses were lined up inside the parking lot, with children to be taken to other campuses, and could not get out. Cars began to line up behind me needing to go in to the parking lot. Not to be any later, some children who were brought by their drivers or parents, just jumped out of the cars and ran towards the school building. Yes, there is lots of modern technology around, but electricity is still the power supply and needed.
Instead of fuming or getting frustrated, try to find the humor!"

by Charlotte McPherson, "Laughter- not in public", Today`s Zaman, 05.01.2006

Quoting susie k:

That's why you have to be careful who you make friends with, those Turkish girls should try to understand, any girls I am friends with, will FIRST laugh with me when I tell them and then aftewards explain why I shouldn't have done it!