a Kerfuffle erupted

The bureaucracy in Turkey at times astounds me. In Turkey, like most countries, what you see is certainly not what you get. It has taken them almost 5 weeks now to procure a residency permit for us. This is after numerous tea sessions, countless visits by our good ole university representative and at least dozens of phone calls later. I leave the country in two weeks and if I don't have this permit, I can't get back in the country. Minor details ;)  If there is one thing I am grateful for in America it is organizational efficiency. People stand in lines, you generally can accomplish something by the time you leave a government building, and things are labeled, with forms ready for you to fill out and hand it, though arduous they may be. 

But in terms of surprises, and bureaucracy, today our class at University received a big surprise. Our students took a second placement test to put them into appropriate levels in their respective classes. Except I didn't know that we were exchanging classes today. Twenty minutes into my lesson, I hear a knock and all heck breaks loose! Kids are telling me I am their new teacher, and my other students are literally jumping over desks, rushing to the main hall to catch a glimpse at what class they tested into. So twenty minutes into an early Wednesday morning, I found myself teaching a brand new group of students. Back to square one. It was introductions, rules and expectations all over again. I felt like a mother hen who had to let her little chicks go out of the nest a bit too early. Well, hears to fresh starts and sixty-five brand new students one month into the university session. Welcome to Turkey, Sarah hoca. (Sarah hoca=teacher Sarah... the traditional name students use to refer to their professors)