MY CELTA Experience; Episode-1

If I say that I had a dream to have CELTA certificate, it would certainly be a lie. The chance just came out of nowhere and I found myself packing up for Istanbul, since CELTA is not offered in Pakistan.

The most hateful task for me is always carrying the luggage and I had to do that in order to reach from Sabiha Gokcin Airport to Yeni Bosna in Istanbul. It took almost the same time that I spent from Islamabad to Istanbul. After having a wonderful dinner at Aksaray I managed to reach the house where I was destined to stay for the next one month. 

For the next two days I was free to dream, sleep, eat and relax without knowing the intensity of next one month's workload. I recommend every prospective candidate of CELTA to go through other participants experiences (though it may become the reason of your running away even before the start).

The venue of my training was Fatih Koleci Coban Cesme Bahcelievler. I decided to rely on my GPRS and was happy to know that it was about 1.8 KM from my residence. On first day I decided to walk to the place and managed to reach there after a walk of 15 minutes or so. On asking about the program there, the guards on the gate seemed ignorant about any such event there. Then one of them called some responsible person who gave me  the news that gave me a big shock. My CELTA course was not being arranged there but in another branch of the same college and that was bit far away. No buses or mini bus/train go to that locality. Only way is to find a taxi and try to explain the address in Turkish language. Here again the same angel (the guard) came to help me. He called a taxi driver, who could reach there after 15 minutes and during that time I was just thinking that on very first day of my course I'm late. No one should rely on technology and human factor is always more important then machines. 

To make long things short, the taxi arrived and dropped me at huge building of Fatih Koleci where Ms. Zeynep received me and directed me to a small conference hall where I was advised to sit and wait. I had decided that I will not give my full introduction to anyone and would pose that I was only a new teacher working in Turkish School in Pakistan. Then entered four to five gentlemen among whom I knew only one who hugged me and welcomed me. After that he introduced me in such words that made me think that he had been talking about someone else. 

Others included my course and group mates, Hasan, Issak, Muhammed and Seyf with whom I could survive few of my most difficult but fruitful days of my life. 

See you soon with next episode of my blog.