I received a phone call yesterday from a fellow expat, whom
I have never met. He asked me if we would hold an Obama fund raiser at our
house. This is my first election as I became an American a few years ago. And
what an exciting election this is. I agreed to do it and he asked me if we
could meet as he did not want to discuss it over the phone and via email.

When we met he explained that last month he had scheduled a
fund raiser and somehow information about the event got on the blogs and it
grew so big that the

Washington Post carried an item about it. Before too long
the PSB, public security bureau came knocking on his door. They were not upset about the Obama event at
all as this guy had expected. They were more concerned about a large gathering of foreigners for political reasons.

So now he will have a series of small gatherings that are
all done very quietly and appear to be strictly social. No speakers, no
banners, no lapel pins even.

Just some Americans coming together to talk about politics. We really do have to be careful. In the 7 years we have been here we have only
had 2 visits from the PSB and they can be rather intimidating.

The first time my name was on an email list and the email
was critical of the government. First
they called me and asked me to come to their office for a chat.

I ignored the request and a week later they came to my
apartment and invited themselves in they showed me the email and asked me a few
questions and

I said I had no idea how my name got on the email. When I asked
them how they got the email they were not too pleased.

The last time was a month ago. They came into our office and
asked us for our passports. When I said that mine was at home, they officer
became very angry and showed me a little book turned to a well worn page which
stated that all foreigners are required to carry their passports at all times.

None of us had our passports, only copies. We were all
herded into the conference room and questioned. After about two hours they
ordered us to come to the PSB the next morning at 8:00 am with our passports.

While they were in our office none of them spoke English and
claimed not to know how. We pretended not to know Chinese, they were not happy
with us.

One of our colleagues tried to chat them up, but it seemed
to anger them further.

The next morning at the PSB office we were in the elevator
with a group of officers, my colleague again tried to chat them up. Thinking
that they did not speak English I said could you please shut the f**k up. Suddenly
everyone in the elevator burst out in laughter. You can imagine my embracement
however it helped smooth the way. A quick glance at my passport and I was on my
way.