Part One

August 2, 2024
Mr. Joy, the director of the school where I was supposed to be teaching English for one year in Diyarbakir, Turkey picked me up from the airport on July 20th and brought me to the school-provided accommodations. Much to my chagrin, Mr. Joy himself appeared to be living in the same apartment, sleeping in the room next to mine, and sharing the same kitchen and bathroom.

During the interview process, you can bet your boots I had asked many questions about the offer which included accommodations in “a shared flat”. I asked if I could speak to the teacher with whom I’d be sharing and even mentioned my hesitation about this aspect of the offer, given that as far back as I can remember, I’ve always preferred to live alone.

Mr. Joy had reassured me, “There is no other teacher,” implying I would have the entire place to myself. I assumed that in a Muslim country, I wouldn’t be sharing a flat with a male, especially not my direct supervisor. 🚩

I expressed my discomfort about the living situation at dinner on July 21, after the first night. I even paid for our dinner (to his annoyance) and made it clear that it was because “it remains to be determined if I will be your employee or not.” Despite this, he stayed in the apartment for a second night. Maybe he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Who knows?

The next day, he summoned me to his spare office in the abandoned school building (attached to the apartment). His institute has relocated to a different part of town. He offered me a glass of Cola without ice and demanded I present my original documents and sign his contract immediately. I requested he wait until the end of the week, as there were so many 🚩🚩🚩 with him, his institute, and the apartment, and an old friend was coming from Ankara with some fellow English teachers from Istanbul to scope out the situation.

My friend Stacey has been teaching English in Turkey for several years, and her timing couldn’t have been better. Mr. Joy, however, reacted very negatively to my request. He insisted he couldn’t wait and admitted he was worried my friends would dissuade me. He said if I didn’t sign the contract RIGHT NOW, I’d be in breach of it. Fine.

He claimed the reason he needed me to sign the documents ASAP was because he was concerned about the potential fine of ~$1723 from Turkish authorities for employing a foreigner without a work permit. He showed no concern for the investment I made, packing up my 2-bedroom apartment in Chicago in a hurry, leaving behind a new and promising relationship, great friends, supportive communities, and two stable jobs with reputable employers (Fitzgerald’s and Erie House), to start at his academy in July, the worst time to visit Diyarbakir due to the excessive heat.

When I reached for what I thought was a hand towel in the bathroom, and it turned out to be a pair of his baby blue boxer shorts, that was the last straw. I left on July 22, while he was away from the apartment, leaving a note and an email explaining my departure.

He responded to my email but he didn’t change his mind or unreasonable demands.

I never taught one class for his academy nor accepted one lira from him.

There are limited options on AirBnB in the city of Diyarbakir, so I was lucky to come across one nearby, with a female teacher as the host…