My first day at school

So, I've been in school a few weeks now, but I have to tell you about my first day.

Though school technically begins on September 14th, I was told that I didn't need to come to school until the 28th of September because students would be gone for Bayram, the celebration marking the end of Ramazan. So on Thursday, September 24th, I wasn't planning on going into the office, I was just planning on spending my time preparing for the following week.

Of course, that was MY plan. Turkey had other plans for me. At 11:00am, I got a phone call in my room. It was one of my colleagues, Mehmet Uysal.

"Jennie!" he said, "I am here!"

"Uh...where is here?"

"Here at the office! I will come over now [to my guest house] and take you to lunch!" He teaches German and has a robust Turkish/German accent and pronunciation when he talks. You should pronounce each "w" word with as if it began with a "v" to get the full effect.

What could I say? I asked him to come at 11:30, so I actually had a few minutes to get ready, and so he picked me up then. I walked out into my guesthouse waiting room and he stood there, dressed in a nice black button-up shirt and pants.

"You have class today," he said with a nod. "At 1:20."

"WHAT?"

I shook my head and denied it, but he insisted. "Some students came by my office today, and they vere looking for you. I told them you vould be there at 1:20."

1:20pm! That was in two hours and we were going to a lunch I knew would take forever because I'd be introduced to ten million people and we'd walk at a snail's pace to and from the department building. I knew I needed a bit of time to prep in my office and look through some books I had there. Mehmet said I shouldn't worry, of course (one should never worry in Turkey). All I had to do was just chat a little, introduce myself, etc...but I wanted to be more professional, you know? I wanted to make a good impression.

So, we ate lunch, slowly, slowly...then walked back to the department...slowly, slowly...I met a few people, slowly, slowly...and then suddenly it was almost 1pm. I ran in a panic to my office, only to discover that my things were EVERYWHERE. My office had been opened up and shoved out into the courtyard. There was a man inside the empty white room holding a bucket, wiping down the walls without a care in the world.

"Uh...what happened?" I asked my supervisor as he sipped tea in his office.

"Oh, they're just painting your office. Should only take a few minutes."

I laughed. Nothing takes a few minutes in Turkey. I ran around, trying to find my desk (they were painting a couple people's offices, so the courtyard was full of desks and shelves and chairs). I finally found my book and leafed through a couple pages in a hurry. Then I ran to my class room and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

One student showed up. He sat across from me in a desk. I smiled. We made small talk. I dismissed him after ten minutes and told him I'd see him in two weeks, because I'd be gone the next week for an orientation in Ankara. I sat and stared at my empty classroom and sighed.

And that was my first day of class.