Thursday, June 13, 2019

Chinese Kidnapping

Red and I have stated many times that we are much happier in Vietnam than we ever were in China. But we have been gone long enough that we often forget how awful some of it was.

This morning, I stumbled upon on old Twitter thread where I live-tweeted the time I thought I was being kidnapped. It all came back to me. One of the most confusing moments I had while living in Beijing.


The school where I worked had put me in a van to be taken to the Entry-Exit Bureau to get my papers completed. Halfway there, I found myself in the middle of a road rage situation. Remember, I did not speak Chinese and couldn't even communicate with my driver.


As has been my experience in most of this part of the world, there is not much accommodation made for other drivers. People stop and sometimes even park right in the middle of busy roads. I didn't know why we had stopped but was very concerned that he had not pulled to the shoulder. We were fully blocking a lane of traffic.


Why? My driver was clearly in the wrong.


I was debating whether I would be safer staying in the vehicle or getting out and standing on the shoulder. However, the lack of ability to communicate often made me give people the benefit of the doubt and just go along with whatever was happening.


OK. I guess I am getting out.


They were both ushering me to the second car. "What is happening? Oh, how I wish I could ask some questions!"


I probably should have been texting my wife in case she never saw me again or texting my school to ask questions, but all I could think about was "This has the potential to become disastrous. I better keep tweeting so there is a record of the events."


 I just resigned myself to the fact that I was along for the ride now. Come what may.


Um…thank you. I guess.


I never did learn what that was all about.


Probably something could be learned here. But it's been over two years since this event and I haven't been kidnapped a second time. So, I think I'm good.
From the brain of at 1:23 PM
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

6 comments:

  1. RedJune 13, 2019 at 3:02 PM

    Wow. I don't remember this at all. At least here, if some random dude tries to offer you a ride on his motorbike the biggest worry is what he's going to charge you at the end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brett MinorJune 13, 2019 at 3:04 PM

      I had a motorbike ride offer about a week ago. It was 2 a.m. I was only a block from home. He seemed insulted.

      Delete
  2. Donna B. McNicolJune 14, 2019 at 12:08 AM

    The first part of that was so reminiscent of taxis in Ecuador. If there was an accident, both drivers would jump out and start arguing (in Spanish way too advanced as well as way too fast for us to understand anything). A crowd would approach and if one driver was definitely in the wrong, he would often take off. We learned to drop our $1-$2 on the front seat and get out as soon as this happened. Glad you were okay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brett MinorJune 17, 2019 at 9:46 AM

      This constant confusion is part of why I love international travel. It is very humbling.

      Delete
  3. Liz A.June 14, 2019 at 6:55 AM

    Apparently part of the conversation was about how you needed to get someplace. But weird that he stopped in the middle of traffic. Did the car break down?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brett MinorJune 17, 2019 at 9:45 AM

      I'm still not sure what the conversation was about, but it was not a breakdown. The original car pulled away before we did.

      Delete

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! I wrote this for you.

If you would like to leave a comment, but do not have a Google account just click on the COMMENT AS: dropdown box and choose Name/URL or Anonymous.

But if you choose Anonymous, please let me know who you are unless you really do not want me to know.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)