Travel the world even if you are poor - A girl backpacking around the world

Author: Huang Ailin (Malaysia)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: After leaving Datun, I took a bus alone to Andong to meet a friend. Before heading to Andong, I didn’t call Zhi Xian to notify her in advance because I thought, “I can call when I get to the station.” When I arrived in Andong, it was already getting dark. So, I found a public phone nearby and called Zhi Xian to let her know I had arrived. The call connected quickly, but a middle-aged woman answered on the other end. I thought it might be Zhi Xian’s mother. In the phone call, I clearly said Zhi Xian’s name, but she didn’t answer for a long time. Later, her mother said a lot of things, but I didn’t understand a word of it. In the end, I had to hang up the phone. Unable to find Zhi Xian and with it getting dark, standing in front of the phone booth, I really didn’t know what to do. My heart grew more and more anxious. Later, I saw a few middle school students in school uniforms walking toward me. So, I went up to them for help. Fortunately, they could understand me, so I asked them to call Zhi Xian and tell her that I had arrived in Andong. One of the girls made the call, while the others chattered like they were discussing something big. After hanging up, the girl told me, “Zhi Xian isn’t home right now. Her mother said she might come back very late. Besides, there are no buses going to that small town anymore, so you might as well look for her tomorrow.” Hearing this answer, I was stunned. What? Andong was still some distance from Zhi Xian’s house! Since there were no more buses to the small town, it seemed I would have to stay in Andong for the night and look for Zhi Xian the next day. Korean expenses aren’t cheap, and I just wanted to find a place to sleep. So, I asked the students if they knew of any cheap inns. They discussed it for a while, but in the end, they all shook their heads and said they didn’t know. At that moment, I was a bit angry with myself. If I had notified Zhi Xian before leaving, this wouldn’t have happened. Besides, the money I had would have to be used carefully, and staying in a hotel would be too expensive.
Next, they started discussing again, as if they were trying to think of a solution. Suddenly, one of the girls said, “If you don’t mind, you can stay at my house for the night, and I’ll look for your friend in the morning.” Someone was willing to take me in—what a relief! How could I possibly refuse? Without thinking, I nodded and agreed. Honestly, going home with a stranger on the street was a first for me. Although she was a stranger, I wasn’t the least bit scared and even felt quite at ease going with her. This might have been because she was a middle school student and a girl. After deciding to go with one of the girls, the others went home. The kind girl even helped me carry a small bag as we walked back to her house, chatting along the way. On the way, she told me, “There are only an old grandmother and two younger siblings at home.” After about half an hour, we arrived at her house. As soon as we walked in, all eyes in the room turned to me, the stranger. My face immediately flushed, and I felt embarrassed. After all, I was just a stranger I’d met on the street. The girl explained the whole situation to her grandmother, and I felt more at ease. The kind girl even offered me dinner. On a small table, we sat on the ground and ate our meal. Although it was just a simple home-cooked meal, at that moment, I felt like a poor little wild cat who had been taken in by a kind person, and my heart was filled with gratitude.
After dinner, I went to the girl’s room to rest for a while, while she called Zhi Xian’s house to leave a message. Since the girl’s English wasn’t very good, she pulled out an English-Korean dictionary to communicate with me. She flipped through the dictionary while trying to talk to me. We communicated through the dictionary and body language, occasionally nodding or shaking our heads to talk. The girl said that the next day was her school’s graduation ceremony, and she wanted to invite me to attend. She also said that after the ceremony, she would take me to the bus station to catch a bus to Zhi Xian’s town. Thinking that I wasn’t in a rush to get to Zhi Xian’s house the next day, I readily agreed.
When I agreed to attend her graduation ceremony, a happy smile appeared on the girl’s face. While we were chatting, Zhi Xian contacted the girl and asked her to take a taxi to her house. So, the girl and her brother took me to the taxi stand nearby. Before parting, I asked the girl for her contact information. After saying goodbye, I got into the taxi.
In the car, I had no conversation with the driver, just sitting quietly in the back seat. The car drove through rural roads, with only jungle on both sides and no streetlights—pitch black. I actually didn’t know where I was at that moment, and with the driver occasionally glancing at me in the rearview mirror, my suspicious mind worried that he might do something wrong. My imaginative mind even imagined myself as the heroine in a movie who was murdered by the driver. The more I thought, the more anxious I felt.
Just then, the driver suddenly handed me his phone, shocking me! Before I could figure out what was going on, the phone was right in front of me. Taking the phone, a little girl’s voice came through. After talking, I learned that the girl on the other end was the driver’s daughter. The driver’s daughter told me, “My father wants me to speak more English, and since I’m a foreigner, he arranged this call.” So, this father also wanted his child to learn English well. The driver drove the car, while I chatted with his daughter in the back seat. At first, her voice sounded a bit nervous, but later, we ended up chatting for a full twenty minutes. When I handed the phone back to the driver, I saw a hint of satisfaction on his face.
The car drove through countless small roads, and in the darkness, I began to see some houses and small shops around. The driver parked the car on the side of the road, and I looked out the window to see someone walking toward the car. The familiar figure gradually got closer, and when I realized it was Zhi Xian, I was so excited that I quickly got out of the car. Grabbing my bag, I got into Zhi Xian’s car and asked her to take me to her house. On the way, I told Zhi Xian the whole story, and she found it funny too, saying that I was quite lucky!