Turkish Class-Day 1

I almost quit Turkish class before I even began, even though the day started out with such promise. I got up extra early, eating a good breakfast and carefully picked out my 1st day of school outfit (an outfit I'd later regret in the intense heat of the classroom). Tim showed me a map of where the school was, explained the route the taxi driver would take, and made sure I had plenty of money. I left the house extra early and the cab driver had no problem getting me to the TOMER building. TOMER is the name of the language school.
I got there extra early because I needed to pay and do a bit more registration. That's what the lady on the phone had told me. I had pre-registered by email and phone. The lady said it was all taken care of. The thing is, in Turkey you never know if you've really gotten a correct answer or know if the conversation you've just had was understood by the other party. This lady convinced me there would be no problem.
I went into the building and followed the international masses up the concrete spiral staircase to the 2nd floor (though in the States we'd say it was the 3rd floor-it's tricky because you always walk up one more flight than you think you'll have to) to the registration area. I was still in good spirits and expecting things to go smoothly as I waited in line. I need to emphasize the word "I" because I quickly learned that others did not seem to think waiting in line was important and proceeded to cut in front of me. This is when I was thinking, "Where I come from, we form lines." But, as previously mentioned I did not say anything that was running through my head. I was slightly irritated as I got up to the receptionist. She let out a fast chain of Turkish words and looked to me as if I should understand. I put out my hands, smiled, and shrugged my shoulders. She let out more Turkish words. This wasn't working. I started using single words, hoping to spark some level of understanding, "Katherine Redden"-nothing, "pre-application,"-nothing, "Level 1" (as in I don't speak Turkish-that's why I'm here!!!!!!!!!!!!)-nothing. In the middle of this communication, she left to go fix herself some tea, as me and a bunch of other 1st day students waited. I was starting to get frustrated and hot. Who's bright idea was it to wear a blanket of wool for a dress today? She came back from getting her tea and motioned me to step aside and wait. That was about the time I was contemplating quitting. I thought, "If this is how they run a business, than I don't want to take classes here." Before I could do anything, though, a tiny little Turkish man appeared, apprarently an "english" speaker. I was hopeful, but quickly realized he spoke about 3 words more than the receptionist. When I tried to tell him that I had registered on-line, he ushered me to a computer because he thought I wanted to check e-mail. We finally went back to the receptionist and I just handed her my passport (for the 2nd time, let me point out). All the sudden she found me in the system (before, she checked and seemed to find nothing). I filled out some paperwork (which included writing down my mother and father's surnames-no idea why, but it's standard policy here) and then it was time to pay. The website clearly said US dollars would be accepted. So Tim had gotten dollars out on the base the day before. Of course dollars weren't accepted. Why? Because everything on the webiste was WRONG! The older man standing next to me and eavesdropping on this whole proceeding said, "Dollars yok." "Yeah, I got that, buddy. Thanks for the help," I thought. So, I used my credit card and then she motioned for me to go upstairs and get 2 photocopies of my passport. I gave her a look like, "Are you kidding me????" I pointed to the clock, that now showed that it was 9:00, time for my class to start. It didn't matter. Apparently, I had to get these photocopies if I wanted entrance into the class. So, I turned around was really angry. I start to walk out of the room. Now, in Turkey there are little ledges on the floor in doorways. One minute you're walking on flat ground, the next you're walking through a doorway over a huge step that comes out of nowhere. So, not realizing this particularly frustrating feature about my new country of residence, I completely didn't see it (because really, why would you build a step in the middle of the floor?). So, my shoe caught on the edge of it and I went flying and landed on my hands and knees. (To this day, I do not know who in my class saw that happen and I really don't want to know.) When I picked myself up off the floor, I couldn't bring myself to look down at my knees. I was really afraid there were holes in each of the knees of my tights (thankfully, there were not). I walked up 3 more flights of stairs, got the copies, walked back down and handed them to the receptionist. She finally gave me my entrance card and receipt. I turned to walk out the door and the eavesdropping man made a gesture like, "Watch out for the step." That just bugged me even more.
So, I climbed 4 flights of stairs (I didn't want to wait for the elevator and I don't trust them here) and walked into my class, huffing and puffing, and trying to put on a smile. Everyone was stonefaced, except one Filipino lady who smiled at me and then a German. I looked for a seat and there were no more chairs. Nobody got up to help me, so I went next store and got my own chair. After me, 2 more Polish girls came in and no one helped them, so I showed them where some chairs were.
About 9:10 our teacher walked in and started rattling off Turkish. Oh...so there would be no English at all. This was how it was going to be. Oh shoot, I'm in trouble. I'm "skeered." Things improved though (at least socially), because we all moved to a bigger classroom. When we picked our new seats, I sat by the German and Filipino girls. They have become very good friends and I have actually enjoyed class because of them.
I have many more stories about my adventures in Turkish class, but I will save those because my husband says that I have abandoned him for the blog. I think he's ready to eat dinner:)
More stories to come soon. I have come along way since my first day in class. I'm glad I didn't walk out the door that first day because I would have missed out on some really wonderful experiences both with this new language and new international friends.