I collapsed on the soft welcoming bed of my hotel room. Going to the hotel I checked in was too much of a headache. I had to deal with the language barrier between me and the world. I’m not much of a talker but not being able to have a proper conversation with anyone was really bothering me. I had to show the taxi driver a picture of the hotel I stayed in just so we could get into an understanding.

Going around Beijing would have to wait. Right now I just wanted to stay motionless on the warm sheets, burrowing my face on the soft pillow.

Just as the silence of the room was lulling me to sleep, the ringtone of my phone brought me back to reality.

I groaned. Even stuffing the other pillow over my head was not enough to muffle the noise. I reached for my backpack near my foot and navigated through the stuff inside without looking. My lotion, my music player, aha my phone.

Without bothering to look at the caller ID I answered the phone “Hello?” I said with a groggy voice.

“Bo mi! Finally you answered!” I had to distance the phone from my ears because of Sun Mi’s vigorous loud voice.

“Isn’t this call expensive?” I asked.

“I wanted to check if you’re still alive,” She chimed her beautiful laughter through the phone. Sun Mi is a very gorgeous lady. She’s everyone’s ideal type. Tall, fair skinned and a likable personality. The fact that she’s as unruly as a boy wouldn’t even cross your mind if you didn’t know her personally.

“Where are you?” She added.

“Hotel,”

“What?!” She screamed. I scrunched my face. I’m surprised I haven’t gone deaf through the years I’ve been with her. “If you just wanted to lazy around in a hotel, you could’ve just booked yourself one here in Seoul,”

“I’m just taking a rest sheesh,” I laughed.

From the other end of the line, a male muffled voice was talking. Sun Mi talked back but I couldn’t understand her hushed voice. It seemed like she was trying not to give the phone to the man. Before I got to ask who he was, Sun Mi cut the call.

Here I am again back to talking to no one. Speaking to someone without trying to make yourself sound understandable really is something to miss when you go to a foreign country with a foreign language.

I sighed and swung my legs off the edge of the bed.

The sun was shining beautifully down on the streets six floors below where my room was. A beautiful view of Beijing on my window seemed like it was just printed paper pasted on my window. It was like Korea in a way that it’s not. Looking at it like this made me want to stare at it the whole day.

But Sun Mi was right. What’s the use of being here if I’d just stare through transparent glass. I slipped my feet in my brown wedges, grabbed my camera on the bed side desk then stuffed it with the rest of my gadgets in my vintage rucksack and left my room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the view of the from above was spectacular, the view from below was nothing far of it. I had my camera on hand at all times, taking pictures of things to post in my photography blog. Suddenly the worry of getting lost and not understanding a single voice around me disappeared. As a kid I preferred being in my own world. Now, it really did seem like I was in a different planet from everyone.

I didn’t know where I was going and just followed the sidewalk. Tall skyscrapers peered down at me as I looked up at them. It was cold in Korea but in China it’s just pleasantly warm. I let my DSLR camera hang on my neck as I walked down the road.

I roamed my eyes around. There were a lot of stores that sold herb that I passed by. All my walking led me to a less populated part of the city. It was much quieter than from the main road and only taxis passed by.

When I looked to my right, I saw a stall selling something that caught my attention. I immediately crossed the road and approached the aged lady selling the patbingsoo.

“Wah patbingsoo,” I exclaimed in excitement. (A/N: Patbingsoo - Korean dessert made of shaved ice, milk and other toppings like ice cream with fruits)

“Oh are you Korean?” She said with an accent.

“Wah,” I gasped. “Yes. Are you?” The old lady nodded.

She readied for me my patbingsoo. I admit I stared at it like a child who was going to taste it for the first time. I’m addicted to Patbingsoo; I buy one whenever I have the chance. The old lady handed me the patbingsoo on a small plastic bowl but when I handed her money, she didn’t accept it.

“For free,” She smiled.

I bowed and bid my goodbye to the kind old lady then went back on my aimless journey down the road, feasting on my delicious patbingsoo. She added some spices in her patbingsoo mixing it with the taste of China. I ate it up like a little kid, smiling giddily after each bite.

When I passed by a narrow road, I heard men talking. Out of curiosity I stopped in my tracks and looked to my right.

There were three or four grown men surrounding a probably younger one. He gave the old men a deep scary glare making you want to not ever come along his path. They were talking to one another in Mandarin and even though I can’t understand a single thing, I’m pretty sure they were mad at the boy in the middle.

Walking closer and hiding behind a stack of boxes I caught some of the words they said like “kid” , “who do you think you are”. But the guy in the middle didn’t even blink. Suddenly one of the men with a black leather jacket slammed the creepy eyed guy to the wall.

“Four against one. How manly,” I commented, when the creepy glare guy was about to be punched, with my normal voice assuming that they wouldn’t understand me.

Unexpectedly the four grown men looked at my direction. “Who’s that?” One with a black mustache suddenly shouted with a booming voice. My eyes widened realizing the grown men were Koreans! “Who said that?! Show yourself,” he shouted.

Oh no what have I gotten myself into. I bit my lip and stayed as quiet as possible behind the tower of boxes. My heartbeat was going crazy with fear. I hoped that people would pass by and save me but no one would probably go through an eerie place like this; with the sun’s light blocked by the abandoned buildings.

Footsteps echoed closer and closer to me. What am I going to do what am I going to do. My hands trembled and some piece of banana from the patbingsoo fell on the floor. A mouse appeared from the sewers at the scent of fresh food. The one thing that frightens me the most are mice so I couldn’t help but squeal and step back.

The tower of boxes toppled over and I was exposed. Their widened eyes were all on me; I even met eyes with the intimidating surprised ones of the creepy glare guy.

“What did you say abou…” The bearded man took my wrist so reflexively I shoved my patbingsoo to his white shirt. Again I only realized the consequences of my action after his face scrunched in anger.

Suddenly something grabbed my other wrist and whirled me to run.

“Catch them!”

I looked behind me and saw two men following closely behind us. I whipped my head to the man who was holding my wrist tightly as we ran to safety, it was the creepy glare guy.