I woke up to the bright, glaring sun shining painfully in my eyes. My head was beating like a drum, with tremendous pain surging through my head at each thump. I squinted my eyes, cuffing my hand and putting it to my forehead to keep the blinding sun from blocking my view. I stumbled up onto my feet as I looked around to see where I was. I scanned the scene, looking for something familiar, but I recognized nothing. I was alone in a foreign territory. I had never seen anything like it before.

Where was I? What happened? I had so many questions, but there was no one with me to answer them.

I was in a small gap with huge buildings surrounding me. There was no grass anywhere, no mountains, or anything to do with nature for that matter. Only one single bird resting upon a wire that stretched from one building to the other.

I was confused, hungry, and tired. I could hear the roar of voices behind me, but they sounded unfamiliar. I followed them, and they led me to the beginning of the dark alley where I stood looking out at the landscape. My jaw dropped. I was completely shocked at what I was seeing.

 I looked around and there were tons of buildings, all of which seemed to stretch above the clouds. People roamed around in what seemed like one huge never ending crowd. Many of them getting in these large machines, which moved them along from place to place, while they just sat inside comfortably.

I stepped out onto the solid ground, and approached a stranger. She was standing alone and appeared to be waiting for something. She looked completely different from the people where I came from. She had long, curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"Ni hao, qing ni gaosu wo wo sai nali?" I said, as she gave me a confused look.

"I'm sorry, but I only speak English.." she replied, and  turned around, walking the other way.

What did she say?

I didn't understand a word she said. And why did she just walk away and leave me standing here?

I scanned the crowd for a face similiar to the people I saw at home, and in no time I found one.

It was a short, slim man who looked like he was around his twenties. He was walking my way, so I stepped infront of him, getting his attention. He looked down at me and said, "Excuse me?"

"Ni neng lijie wo ma?" I asked, hoping he understood.

"Eh.." he said, raising an eyebrow. "The only Chinese I know is 'ni hao'. I'm sorry."

"Ni hao!!" I said back, wondering why he answered me speaking in both my native language and his foriegn tongue. I was excited because I thought he actually understood me.

He shook his head and walked gave me a sympathetic look. Noticing I was young and alone, he grabbed me by my arm and led me to a small shop.

"Wait here, I'm going to go try and find someone who can speak Chinese." he told me, holding his hands out infront of him as he tried to get me to understand what he wanted me to do.

As soon as he left the shop, I was shocked. I didn't understand anything of what he had said or motioned to me. I immediantly walked out of the building, joining the crowd and walking around listening for someone to say something that I understood as it started to rain..

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Incase you don't understand, here's what the Chinese means :)

*Ni hao, qing ni gaosu wo wo sai nali? - Hello, can you tell me where I am?

*Ni neng lijie wo ma? - Can you understand me?

*Ni hao! - Hello!