The Black Man and his Visa

10. September 2007 to June 15, 2008, the day I left China

83 1 10 September 2007 to June 15, 2008, the day I left China was afraid to keep staying in Taiyuan city. I thought about leaving Shanxi Province for another province of China, but many things came to mind. I had roots in Taiyuan already. I had friends. I knew people who could help me in my daily activities. I had jobs in Taiyuan that I found it hard to abandon. It was very hard to find work in China. If I went to another city, I would have to find work afresh, new friends and so on. How was I to find work in a new city? To start from ground level in China is a hell of a problem. It was very difficult to predict what might happen. How was the security situation in other cities? I had no idea. If I didn’t leave Taiyuan, couldn’t I live there quietly without a major incident? In the end, despite all the fear, I decided to stay in Taiyuan city. I thought I should not panic and go to live in places I did not know. My life had become better financially, and I did not want fear about how to make money to take over my life again. I still had all my jobs in Taiyuan, why should I leave? I decided that police or no police, I would stay in Taiyuan. It was already September 2007 and schools reopened. I gave the name of the Taiyuan normal school to the police at Gao Ping and Jin Cheng. They knew I was teaching there. Would the police be coming to the school to find me? I thought that maybe I should abandon work there and continue work with the other schools. However, I was I 84 stubborn again. I thought how very difficult it was to find work and decided I was not going to abandon that job. Therefore, in September 2007, I gathered up my courage and went to work in all the schools where I had obtained jobs. In the meantime, all the money I had with me was 600 000 FCFA ($1200). I sent this money back to Cameroon. The reason I did so was so that, in case the police arrested me and sent me home, when I arrived I would not be completely broke. In short, I would have a bit of money to live on for a few months. By that time, I had succeeded in buying a Toshiba laptop computer. With my laptop, I was able to study my traditional Chinese medicine online without difficulties. This saved me from going to net bars. I also paid all my fees for the course to guarantee that in case the police repatriated me, I could complete my studies while in Cameroon without major problems. By this time, my students had a lot of confidence in me. It was less than two and a half years since I entered China. I had matured and was more experienced in handling the students and their problems. I had no fear whatsoever about losing any of my jobs. By the end of October 2007, I was teaching in four major schools in Taiyuan city. They were the Taiyuan normal college, Taiyuan University, You Shi College and a private middle school. It was the second year those schools confirmed me in the jobs, except for You Shi College which was a new job for me. Although it was a new job, I got it without difficulties because of my experience. In Taiyuan normal school, the students and I became very good friends. They were the very students that tried to reject me a year before. They loved me and could not accept a new teacher in my place. I felt good with them, and I felt as if it was best I spend all my life in China. I got so busy and could study 85 medicine for only an hour or two every day. Aside of these schools where I taught, I also had many private classes. All the students knew I was American. Three of the four schools where I taught were university level schools, and almost all the topics related to European and American culture, politics, and ways of life. We covered famous places in the United States of America and in the United Kingdom, differences between American and British cultures, and...