Some Stranger Hugged Me...

... just because I'm a "Chinaman" earlier just now.

No kidding.

I was walking by myself when suddenly a bloke called after me. He muttered some stuff to me which I didn't really understand. I stared at him, bewildered, and gave him a blur "huh?". The first words that came out of his mouth which I actually understood was something like "you're a Chinaman!"

I stammered. "Uh, yeah?"

"Oh, I love you!" he exclaimed and gave me a big bear hug, leaving me totally astounded.

Trust me, I stutter all the time when I talk to local Englishmen. Push me in front of a stranger who hugs me just because I'm a Chinese and my jibber-jabber makes as much sense as Chip and Dale impersonating Donald Duck.

Brought up in Malaysia as a rather conservative Asian, I have to say I was a little paranoid. I don't even remember the last time I hugged my parents. We didn't even share as much as a handshake before I flew here to UK. Add with the many suspicious characters with hidden agendas in Malaysia, giving a free hug to a random chap on the street is probably a free pass for a night in jail.

But this is UK, over 7000 miles away from Malaysia. Things could be different here.

"Oh, what an honour! You're a handsome young man!" He commented in his smooth English accent when we broke apart.

Oh one more thing. I've had fantasies of people complimenting my looks (which, as many of you know, isn't that great, hence the fantasies). However wild my imagination was, none of my fantasies looked like this.

"Um, you too, sir!" I stammered. Flattery is a strong suit of the English, and I figured the right thing to do was to return a positive comment as well.

He chuckled, eyes scanning on me while I smiled stupidly. After receiving one more platonic (I hope) "I love you", I bid farewell to the stranger and left.

A considerable distance away, I looked back, and, after making sure he was out of sight, I gasped "Holy Crap! What the hell just happened?"

I checked my pockets -- all my possessions were still with me and I found no (further) surprises.

It took a few seconds for me to accept the fact that the stranger probably meant nothing else, other than to have the honour of having a 30-second chat with a Chinese (why though?). Besides, it was far too early to be drunk. I sniggered to myself and thought, boy, I love England!

All the best to England in the up-coming FIFA game!

PS. To the person who hugged me: if you're reading this (that's probably even more unlikely than getting another free hug from yet another stranger), thanks a lot for the surprise! You just made my day ;-)