I had dinner at the "Taiwan Style Rice" restaurant across the street on Friday night around 6:30, which is a confusing name because their rice is just like everyone else's in China. Maybe I've only been eating Taiwan style rice. I'll never know.
Anyway, I brought some flashcards with me to study before my food came, but I forgot to pick them up because I was pulling my wallet out of my pocket as I stood up from the table and paid. I got an ice cream cone or bar of some type and went back to the school to eat it in the main courtyard (actually a basketball courtyard), and realized just as I was about to go back inside that I'd forgotten my flashcards. I was worried they'd throw them away - actually, I was worried they would have thrown them away already - so I walked back to the restaurant right away. It's a 60-second walk, so it's not too annoying or anything.
As I was walking over, right as I got to the corner of the street, I just heard someone shouting, "Hey! Hey!" into the street. I was about 99.9% sure it wasn't me because I really don't know anyone in the area, and anyone that I do know certainly wouldn't shout "Hey!" to me in the street like that. I remember thinking the only way it was possible is if it was someone from maybe Semester at Sea or high school or PSU or something like that who noticed me. I looked around. I noticed Azam walking behind me and to my left, and he also seemed to be unphased by the shouting.
I swear that as soon as I turned my head back around, there was some 20-something Asian girl standing right in front of me. I was sure she must be confused. She said, hello. I said, do you know me? She said, no, how are you? She put her hand out to shake, so I shook her hand and said I was good. As she shook my hand, she leaned in closer and closer, and I realized that quite likely she was trying to kiss me somewhere between my neck and collarbone, though I couldn't figure out where. I backed off as quickly as I could, and also realized that she was crazy.
I tried to take my hand out of the hand shake, but she squeezed and wouldn't let go. She kept talking, but I don't have any idea what she said. I was much more concerned with the things I was saying at that point, which were along the lines of "Let go of me," "Get the f*** away from me," and "What the f*** is wrong with you, leave." I noticed that she had come from a table that included some foreign people (and also her English seemed pretty good actually). I looked to them, maybe for support or something, and they just kind of shook their heads and waved their hands. I had no idea what that meant.
Was she drunk? Was she just crazy? Did they make her do it as a dare? Did they just say, "Oh, any old foreigner, they love Chinese chicks, take your pick?" If that was her mindset, it must have been quite a shock to her when I literally jerked her off my body, getting close to throwing her on the ground, and went into the Taiwan style rice restaurant to pick up my flashcards.
I thought about staying there for a few minutes so that the girl would definitely go away, but I didn't want her to control my actions. I also thought about walking the long way home but, again, didn't want to alter my life because a crazy person existed. So I just walked back.
She saw me again, and came at me again, talking loudly, but I have no idea what she was saying, again. She grabbed my arm/hand, not in an affectionate way but in a way that made me feel like I was being assaulted, and I really, really wanted to get her off at me. I yelled at her again and tugged my arm, but she didn't let go. She held on strong and tried to pull me back. She pulled my arm across her body and I remember it touching her stomach, which wasn't quite fat and wasn't quite thin. I had managed to walk to the big road across from the school at that point, looked out in front of me, saw a few seconds of opening, jerked my arm from her forcefully and darted into the road. I figured she'd have to be absolutely crazy to chase me into the street like that. I also realized that if she continued to chase me in the street, I could hold her in the street in a dangerous position until she had to choose to either run away or die, at which point I'm sure she would choose run away. I didn't really want to do that, but I'm going to be honest, it did cross my mind.
//
I asked Azam if he remembered seeing it happen on Monday when we were at lunch. He said he didn't. I asked anyone else if they knew anything about some girl who did that at Jack's Place. No one said they knew anything. A guy in a restaurant overheard me talking about it and said, "Ah, yeah, being such a chick magnet sure is a curse," and I responded, "No, really, I felt like I was being assaulted."
So that's twice now.
Peace out.
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