Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A good but exhausting day

I'm absolutely wrecked tired, so I'll keep this short and to the point.

Got up at 6.30 am. Took Metro to Taksim Square. Met a friend and waited for our driver to pick us up. Went to Security Department office to collect my residence visa. Waited for about an hour or so, so friend could get some paperwork done to get her residence visa.

Went back to Levent, and drank coffee. Talked about politics, world travel, culture, quality of life in various countries, etc. Went to get the service 'bus' to go to college to teach for five consecutive hours.

Taught for five very long hours.

Went to Besiktas for job interview. Had no idea where the school was.

I go into a random shop and say 'pardon' and point to an address on an email from the school. A very nice Turkish man walks me to the language school. This probably takes about 20 minutes and we talk using random words of English and Turkish. I shake his hand and say 'cok iyi!' and 'cok tesekkur ederim' which means 'very good!' and 'thanks very much!' He seems happy to be helpful and I am amazed that a stranger left his cup of tea and friends to walk me all over the place. Turkish people are great.

Had strange meandering 'interview' sort of thing. A teacher at the language school didn't show up for classes. I am asked to 'teach' the class for an hour or so. No preparation. Mental.

I stumble through a conversation class with students I've never met before. We talk about Top 10 Places to Visit in Turkey, and I receive a geography lesson. We also talk about Utopia to fill up time. I survive for about 57 minutes of class and let the students loose.

I am basically given a job and promised an email with a prospective schedule. Lovely. Will start this weekend. Went out to dinner with Richie and a couple of friends, had a drink and now its 12.30am. I have to wake up at 8-9 and plan for a full day of teaching and private lesson.

Not a bad day.

1 comment:

  1. Oh my! You're amazing!!! I would have DIED if I had to teach without any prep like that!!! Congrats on getting the job.

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