人在异乡／In foreign lands

已经很久没有这样的感觉了。噢，不要误会，我可不是遇到了什么帥哥，被他电得神魂颠倒。所谓的感觉，就是自己是动物园里的动物或是博物馆内的展览品的感觉。
It’s been a while since I felt this way. Don’t be mistaken. I have not met a Prince Charming to sweep me off my feet yet. The feeling I am talking about is that of being an animal on display in the zoo, or that of an exhibit in a museum.

记得第一次有这样的感觉是第一次到越南工干的时候。或许是因为穿着太不同，又或许是那一头的短发是当地女孩子没有的，走到哪里就有人瞪到哪里，一直被人指指点点的。最离谱的是一次站着等人，居然有当地人上前用手指挫我，像是在摸博物馆里的展览品一样。第二次到越南，因为负责采访足球赛，当地记者看到居然有女生采访足球赛觉得很新鲜，结果原本去那里做采访的我，最后被人采访，还被拍照，登在当地的报纸上。
The first time I had this kind of feeling was the first time I was in Vietnam for work. It may be the clothes that I wore, or it may be the head of short hair which is unseen of for Vietnamese girls, I got stared at wherever I went. The most ridiculous incident was when I was waiting for someone in the street one day, one of the locals actually came up to me and poke me in the arm, as if she was examining some exhibit. The second time I was in Vietnam, it was pretty much the same. Worse still, when the local reporters “discovered” that a girl was covering a football tournament, they got so fascinated that they interviewed me, took pictures of me and published it in the local papers.

这次旅行又有这样的感觉了。没有上报那么夸张，不过也差不多了。一路上，在旅舍或是在火车上碰到了很多人，大家问来问去都是同样的问题，你从哪里来，要去哪里，要走多久等。当人们知道我居然辞掉我热爱的工作去浪迹天涯时，除了惊讶、敬佩，就是羡慕了。在横跨西伯利亚时碰到的俄罗斯人最夸张，明明大家语言不通，但却死命抓住我问问题。搞清楚我的流浪计划后，其中一个居然跪下来拜我。然后拿出俄罗斯钱，要和我交换新币，还要我在钱币上签名。后来因为我的新币早已经被其他人换了七七八八，他就改而要求与我合照。
The feelings have resurfaced during this trip. Not as exaggerating as appearing in the local papers, but almost there. On the road, you will naturally meet lots of people. Be it in the hostels or trains, people are always curious about where you come from, where you heading to, how long you will be travelling etc. Whenever I tell people that I have quitted a job that I loved just so that I can roam the world, I get expressions of surprises, respect and of course, envy. The most exaggerated response I had, got to be the bunch of Russians I met on the Trans-Siberia train. It’s obvious that we have a language barrier, yet they kept “interrogating” me. When they finally understood my travel plans, one of the immediately knelt down and bowed to me. Then they wanted to exchange Singapore dollar bill with me, and insisted that I give them my autograph (signed on the bill). When I finally got them to understand that I’ve run out of Singapore bills (because everybody wants a piece of it for keepsake!), they made me take pictures with them instead.

爱沙尼亚、拉托维亚和立陶宛这三个波罗的海国家是比较少亚洲游客会到的地方，相信很多亚洲人连这三个国家在哪里都不知道，因此在这个地区碰到的亚洲人屈指可数，也就所以走到哪里就被瞪到哪里。立陶宛情况最“严重”，住在同个旅舍的似乎没有看过亚洲人，一直抓着我问长问短，不然就是热情地送上吃的。有人居然在凌晨两点给我送上棉花糖吃，真是有够夸张！走在街上就成了大家的焦点，甚至有几次被坐在户外咖啡座的人拉住问问题，或是听到他们惊叹（看到“外星人”）的声音。还有陌生人拉着我，要我坐下来与他们喝咖啡。
The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are not high on most Asian tourists must-visit list. As such, you don’t really see a lot of Asians in this region. During the time I was in the Baltic States, I met less than 10 Asians. Naturally, I got stared at whenever I went. The situation was “worst” in Lithuania. People staying in the same hostel seemed not to have seen Asians before, taking every opportunity to talk to me or offer me help or food. I got a big cotton candy (the fluffy floss type) from one of them at two in the morning! Walking on the streets, you get gawked at every second. Or else you will hear someone sitting by one of the outdoor cafes going, “Hey, you!” or you will have people simply making you sit down and join them for coffee.

走完东欧就要奔向非洲了，这种感觉应该不会消失，只会越来越强吧？　　～伟
After Eastern Europe, it will be Africa. Guess this feeling will not fade, but will just get stronger.　　～wei