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Deciding to proceed and thinking at the same time ‘I hope that I
am not being monitored’, I entered a site that showed thousands
of pop up ads giving you the chance to meet many singles, while having
the time of your life, gave my mind the vision that China (being even
controlled) and the large population was like a magnet drawn to explore
the world of love and cyber sex chat rooms.
Proceeding to answer the websites questions, I finally logged in and
the thoughts from my mind and the feeling of the unexpected were flowing
faster than the beer at the beer festival.
Searching through the pages and looking at the small picture, I finally
clicked onto an image that caught my eye. I was surprised that the page
opened to the persons profile and not to a page flashing in red saying
‘WARNING, ACCESS DENIED AND YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED FOR ENTERING FORBIDDEN
SIGHTS’. The image filled at least three quarters of the left screen,
while storing smaller images at the top ready for you to click onto. My
eyes were drawn to the main image over and over, while my mind was giving
me fuzzy warm thoughts of what a striking young person; but the real image
was that of a sexy tanned, intelligent looking person with a beautiful
smile posing with confidence. I was hooked like a fish eating the bait
without knowing my fait.
After several minutes of reading the information that was standard in
any personal profile and deleting the pop up ads, I clicked onto the send
a message button and give my small thoughts of me, hoping that the person
receiving the message would respond.
I waited and waited and waited but nothing. Was I not successful or maybe
the message was barred and sent to the unknown area of ‘Big Brother’.
As it was late in the afternoon and time to proceed home, my mind was
racing fast and wanting to be relieved of the uncertainty. Waking up the
next day still wondering about the message from the previous day, I got
ready and before I knew what the time was, I was already signing into
the net.
* * * * *
It wasn’t until lunch time when I finally got my message, as I
was having computer problems even though having computer problems was
nothing out of the norm here in China. Sometimes you would be reading
and surfing the net when quickly the screen pops up with the words ‘server
cannot be found’. Sometimes I would wonder with all the advancements
and technology China has, they still have problems with the internet.
Life is interesting and backed up by the common phrase ‘this is
China’. This is China was definitely the humor way to look at the
situations that arose sometimes.
Opening the webpage and logging in only took a short time. It was quicker
than receiving the residence permit; the power of the net was in full
motion again. Hearing the sound of ding-dong made my ears burn, my eyes
glare at the screen and my heart pound faster and faster. It was like
that of how you feel after eating an hour of hot spicy hotpot. The message
appeared with great news and approval to connect further by using msn
messenger. Feeling excited and knowing that I may have found the person
for my future life sharing, I entered the address into the msn messenger
site and began chatting.
Days and nights had past and things were looking great for me and my
new found friend thanks to the internet. I was relieved that there was
no big brother watching me while being here in China and that my new internet
mate was about to board a plane for sunny Qingdao for the face to face
encounter. Qingdao was putting on a splendor show with the freshness of
air flowing and the abundance of sunshine. I felt as though someone above
was watching and decided that I deserved the attention of what was about
to begin.
The day arrived and even though I had to complete a day of teaching,
the clock ticked away faster and faster. My face was smiling while my
emotions were that of butterflies flying fast and fast around my stomach.
The clear thoughts floated in the air of ‘would the person like
me?’, ‘would I be what they are looking for?’ With a
few hours spare, I decided to rest and take it easy before heading to
the meeting place that was bursting with people and the sun setting. Relaxing
at home and listening to some Chinese music, a moment later the phone
rang with the person on the other end being Jan. She was offering her
support by saying have a great time and don’t worry too much; relax
and you’ll be fine. Taking her advice I proceeded to prepare for
the big encounter.
Arriving by taxi so that I wouldn’t be late, I couldn’t
see my date as there were many Chinese still enjoying the freshness of
the sea air and the warm weather. Messaging was the only way I was going
to be able to view my striking, intelligent, and posing with confidence
person. Turning my head every way and trying to control my feelings of
nervousness, I suddenly noticed my date and I felt that time had just
frozen.
* * * * *
WOW, was the first vision planted from my eyes to my mind and reacting
with a huge smile. Here standing in front of me was not only the picture
version from the net, but the real person smiling and looking more beautiful
than the blue sea behind me. It was visually confirmed that I was hooked.
Minutes later we were chatting while walking along the seashore to the
restaurant that was not only short by, but gave the best sounds and views
of the ocean. The restaurant was full of locals eating on the boardwalk
as though the custom of Italian dining had arrived in communist China
and the toasting between friends was evident.
Gathering at a table, the sound of everyone was becoming less and less
as I focused more to the voice of my date, while being fixated on the
big brown eyes transporting me to another world. We ordered plenty of
local food and beer and didn’t stop talking for ages about all sorts
of things and then all of a sudden the words of are you trustworthy passed
my lips and headed straight to my dates ears. I didn’t know what
to expect and thought that this person who had captured my heart, may
think what sort of question was that.
The evening progressed smoothly and the atmosphere was still abuzz with
the array of Chinese enjoying the cool sea breeze and the laughter of
everyone being happy. I questioned whether the laughter of happiness was
from what people were saying or from the alcohol setting and relaxing
their mind. I was still locked to my date’s eyes and hoped that
it would progress further than just a one off meeting as this person was
very intelligent and also humorous. I knew that my date was also interested
in me, by the way they looked and smiled and with that knowledge we headed
to a bar to begin the night of getting acquainted more.
Having a short rollercoaster ride of the bar scene with dancing thrown
in on the side as the attraction, we headed back to the beach boardwalk
area where the air was fresh and the noise of the waves crashing against
the shore relaxed my spirits and emotions. The black night sky above was
glowing with small lights that reminded me of a Christmas tree except
my present wasn’t wrapped and placed under the tree, but in fact
sitting beside me and chatting and laughing.
With the vision of stars shining brightly while being the eyes that
were witnessing the sight of two new lovers; the night was progressing
smoothly and before long we were both in the second phase of the date
or as we would know in the west ‘second base’. The darkness
of the beach area made it hard for any onlookers on the boardwalk to spot
the foreigner with his new flame and after about thirty minutes which
in turn felt like two hours, I walked my date back to their hotel.
Moments later and hoping into a taxi in the dark morning night, I was
sitting in the back seat area just gazing out the window while my heart
was soothing the emotions and feelings of what had just taken place. My
mind was still frozen in the image of us not worrying about who we were
and where we were too. The timing of passion was right and I knew inside
that this was going to be the one person that I wanted to spend my life
with, even though I had just met them and lost a shirt in the process
that remains a memory of happiness every-time I think about my partner.
Qingdao will always be a place of happiness and warmth in my heart and
I will always acknowledge the people’s friendliness. The biggest
factor I will never forget is that of the power of the net and the quest
of not finding Nemo, but finding my lost white shirt.
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