Knock! Knock! Knock!

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It was so loud. I thought the door was about to be broken down. My heart began beating so fast that I could feel it out of my chest. I couldn’t even be sure whether I was still asleep or not. I could only make out a single question. 

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“Who is this?”

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“Open the door!”

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I could hardly repeat it again.

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“Who is this?”

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“Open the door for God’s sake! This is Ali.”

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Ali was the guy from a school in Adana whom I had met in London about a week ago. This was the first time that I was leaving home alone to go abroad and he was the first person I had met upon arrival. We were all here for a two week student exchange program between the UK and Türkiye. We had passed some exams in Türkiye to be a part of this program. He was a short, black haired boy whose parents were very successful doctors in a hospital in Adana.

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I unlocked the door.

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“What is going on man? You are late. What is wrong with you?” he said.

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“I think I forgot to turn on the alarm at night. What time is it?”

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“We have only ten minutes left to be at class for the first session. Hurry man, hurry!”

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In just five minutes I had washed my face, brushed my teeth and had my jeans and shirt on. Ali was pulling me out of the room while I was still trying to grab my books.

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We ran at Usain Bolt’s speed. Rushed down the stairs, passed the whole garden and finally we were at the class.

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“Nine-zero-zero. Give me a high five man, just in time!”

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With a big smile we celebrated our great success. Suddenly we realized that there was something wrong. We faced each other sitting on the chair with doubtful eyes.

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“What is going on here?” said Ali.

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“Where are all these people? There is not a single person in the room. Not even a teacher!” I said.

 

“They might be late.”

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“All of them?”

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“Perhaps they changed the venue of the exam. Could they be on another floor?”

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With that we ran across the whole stairs, corridors and the full garden. There was no one.

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After that I looked at my watch to see exactly how late everybody was. I could not believe what I saw. I started laughing.

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“Ali!” I exclaimed.

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“What?”

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“Ali what time is it?”

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“It is nine man, it is nine.”

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“No, it is not Ali. It is eight.”

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“Are you kidding me? Look.” He was trying to show me his watch.

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“Today is the 30th of October. Time zones are updated almost all around the world with some exceptions. Guess which is definitely not one of them?”

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We shouted at the same time

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“Türkiye!!”

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We spent the whole next hour with jokes and smiles, enjoying ourselves.