The Story: A Love That Gave Me Wings and The City That Tried to Cage Me
As the ocean waves rushed to the shore, the feelings in my heart crashed against my soul, begging to be set free. On one beautifully sunny day, I finally gathered my courage and poured my heart out to her in the most sincere declaration of love.
I bared the feelings I knew she had already sensed, holding tightly to the hope that she felt the exact same way. She had become so deeply intertwined with my spirit that I could physically feel her emotions. I just knew she would open up to me.
When she finally said “yes,” tears of pure joy filled my eyes. In that exact moment, I rightly crowned myself the happiest man in the world. Every love melody ever written played in my heart. It felt as though two silver wings had sprouted from my shoulders, and together, my beloved and I soared as high as the oxygen would let us—taking a deep breath, and getting used to our breathtaking new altitude.
It felt like God had listened to my deepest desire and granted it completely. From that day on, our hearts were bound by fiery, passionate confessions. Time stopped ticking in its usual rhythm; it lost all its mundane meaning and opened up into a beautiful, new fourth dimension.
To bridge the gap between us, I knew I had to improve my English. I eagerly joined conversational classes, and with everything I learned, I began to slowly teach my baby girl. Soon enough, the walls of our language barrier crumbled to dust.
The Anchor Keeping Me Grounded
While my love story was just blossoming, my daily life was a relentless struggle. My brother and I had recently left our aunt’s house for personal reasons, moving into a rented home in the same city. The clock was ticking—I only had one month to find a job to keep us afloat.
Day after day, I walked into new schools for interviews, and day after day, I returned to our rented house empty-handed and exhausted. But the crushing disappointment would instantly melt away the moment I saw my love’s face on the screen. She was my anchor. Her presence alone gave me the courage to repeat my daily mantra: “Never give up.”
Then, one day, a glimmer of hope appeared. A headmaster called me in for an interview. The school happened to be located in the home of my older brother’s son-in-law, just on the outskirts of the city. My relatives urged me to take it, assuring me it was a respectable school with a good salary, thanks to the connections between the director and our family.
The 20 Toxic Rules
However, the moment I looked at the teacher’s diary, my hope turned into sheer disbelief. There was a list of 20 strict rules—and at least 18 of them were entirely designed to unfairly dock a teacher’s daily pay.
Here are just a few of the absurd traps they set for their staff:
- Rule 1: A penalty if you carry a cell phone into the classroom.
- Rule 2: A penalty if you step out of the classroom for any reason.
- Rule 3: A penalty if you are caught talking to other teachers.
- Rule 4: A penalty for being even slightly late.
- Rule 5: A penalty for violating an incredibly strict dress code.
- Rule 6: A penalty if a student leaves the classroom without your explicit permission.
The ultimate goal of this institution was glaringly obvious: find any excuse possible to reduce their teachers’ wages.
I instantly saw right through their manipulative trap. Without hesitation, I refused to work under such degrading and toxic conditions.
I was completely drained from giving interviews in a city where it felt like people had nothing to offer but lies and exploitation. The job hunt had morphed from a professional pursuit into pure mental torture. Disgusted by the behavior and deceit of the people in that town, I made a final, unwavering decision: it was time to pack my bags and leave that city for good.
