She Never Showed Up.
Love makes us do crazy things, like spend 10 days in a Chinese airport until we have to be hospitalized for exhaustion. The BBC reports 41-year-old Alexander Cirk flew from his native Holland to China to meet a 26-year-old woman he met online two months earlier. Cirk believed his internet girlfriend, known only as Zhang, was going to meet him at Changsha airport. But she wasn't there when he arrived, and she didn't show up over the next 10 days, which Cirk spent living in the airport. Cirk would surely have kept waiting for Zhang except that he had to be taken to the hospital for physical exhaustion, according to Metro. After leaving the hospital, Cirk flew home without ever meeting Zhang IRL.
But Zhang says we shouldn't be too quick to judge her. She says she and Cirk had talked about waiting a year before meeting, so she was caught off guard by his arrival, Shanghaiist reports. She says Cirk had "seemed a little callous towards me," so when he sent her photos of his plane tickets, "I thought it was a joke." In fact, when Cirk arrived at Changsha, Zhan was in another province having cosmetic surgery. She says that's why he wasn't able to reach her. But despite what appears to be an extreme case of miscommunication, Zhang says she is still interested in continuing her relationship with Cirk.
In perhaps the most amusing tidbit from the story, the BBC claims that the hashtag "Foreign man went to Changsha to meet his online girlfriend" has been trending on Chinese social media.
"He must be stupid, why would anyone do this?" asked one user.
"Doesn't he know that everything in China is fake?" said another.
"Perhaps she did go to the airport, saw what he looked like, and promptly turned back around," was a theory proposed by another user.
Others, however, had some sympathy.
"Here's a guy taking a relationship seriously, don't play around with his feelings," the netizen said. "If you don't want him anymore, tell him so he can go home."
"What does this say about Chinese integrity?", asked another.
Love makes us do crazy things, like spend 10 days in a Chinese airport until we have to be hospitalized for exhaustion. The BBC reports 41-year-old Alexander Cirk flew from his native Holland to China to meet a 26-year-old woman he met online two months earlier. Cirk believed his internet girlfriend, known only as Zhang, was going to meet him at Changsha airport. But she wasn't there when he arrived, and she didn't show up over the next 10 days, which Cirk spent living in the airport. Cirk would surely have kept waiting for Zhang except that he had to be taken to the hospital for physical exhaustion, according to Metro. After leaving the hospital, Cirk flew home without ever meeting Zhang IRL.
But Zhang says we shouldn't be too quick to judge her. She says she and Cirk had talked about waiting a year before meeting, so she was caught off guard by his arrival, Shanghaiist reports. She says Cirk had "seemed a little callous towards me," so when he sent her photos of his plane tickets, "I thought it was a joke." In fact, when Cirk arrived at Changsha, Zhan was in another province having cosmetic surgery. She says that's why he wasn't able to reach her. But despite what appears to be an extreme case of miscommunication, Zhang says she is still interested in continuing her relationship with Cirk.
In perhaps the most amusing tidbit from the story, the BBC claims that the hashtag "Foreign man went to Changsha to meet his online girlfriend" has been trending on Chinese social media.
"He must be stupid, why would anyone do this?" asked one user.
"Doesn't he know that everything in China is fake?" said another.
"Perhaps she did go to the airport, saw what he looked like, and promptly turned back around," was a theory proposed by another user.
Others, however, had some sympathy.
"Here's a guy taking a relationship seriously, don't play around with his feelings," the netizen said. "If you don't want him anymore, tell him so he can go home."
"What does this say about Chinese integrity?", asked another.
