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The next morning our escort failed to show again. As time passed I began to
worry. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk to the students.
By midday, starving and fuming mad, I decided to break out. I crossed the court-
yard and strode into the police station. On the stairs I ran into the policewoman
who had been assigned the task of escort. When she saw me, she looked as if to
say, 'Not you again!' Five minutes later Xiao Wei came running into the building.
Then we all walked back to the hotel.
After packing our bikes, we set off through the congested traffic. Behind us the
policewoman struggled to keep up on her own bike. I turned to see her chubby face
reddening as she panted heavily. In front of us two officers on motorbikes led the
way with Xiao Wei. It was a windy day and dust clouds rushed through the town,
scattering litter. I had attached the video camera to my bike with hose clamps and
discreetly pressed the record button. Part way down the main street I stopped to
adjust the angle of the camera. When I looked up again Chris and the motorbikes
were nowhere to be seen, and the policewoman had fallen hopelessly behind. Be-
fore a crowd could gather, I took off.
'Bloody hell, I've lost the escort,' I muttered, chuckling.
Everyone was looking concerned when I eventually arrived at the school gates.
From there, under close guard, we cycled across a large square and came to a halt
next to some classrooms that looked like rows of army barracks.
Before going any further, Xiao Wei translated the orders from the police. 'You
are to tell the children how to study English and something about your homeland.
Okay, then, you are welcome. Go in.'
Putting my foot into the classroom was like stepping onto a trigger. There was
a hysterical shouting and wild cheering. It was overwhelming, deafening, consum-
ing. I turned to face the students with a triumphant smile; I just couldn't help it.
A sea of faces. Boys, girls, just faces from wall to wall. There were probably
over 100 students squeezed into a tiny room, all staring wide-eyed. More children
were climbing through an open window and somersaulting onto what seemed a
mass of humanity. Suddenly, the expensive fine we had copped seemed irrelevant.
Everything took on a slow, dreamlike quality. Chris followed and the jubilation
continued. A surging mass of students from outside almost knocked the police off
their feet and through the door.
'Hello, I am …' I started, but more cheering washed over me.
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