Going Home in a Flood

A while back, after a major rainstorm, I made the mistake of missing the work shuttle. And thus began the epic journey of my way home from work.

It began with the lack of an umbrella, and waving desperately at any taxi that passed by without any luck for 15 minutes while being soaked by the rain. Finally, an approaching taxi began to slow down. Regardless of the fact that there was already a passenger in the front seat, I gladly jumped in the back and told the driver my destination.

"I just have to take him home, and then I can take you," the taxi driver said.

Sure, fine I thought... anything would be better than waiting in the pouring rain. So we continued, in the opposite direction from where I live, slowly in the pouring rain.

Now, I have to explain to you that Shenyang has a terrible drainage system and is not in any way prepared for heavy rains. In fact, a major downpour causes many more traffic issues than a snowstorm, including traffic jams, flooding of roads, and even people drowning.

30 minutes later, I found ourselves approaching some smaller roads where the water level was at least 2 feet high. Before me, people were wading with their bicycles with their pant legs pulled up in a road that had become a shallow river. Just before the river got really deep, the taxi came to a stop, and the passenger in front paid and got out.

To my dismay, however, the driver continue down the flooded street, our taxi transforming into a little boat in the middle of a river.

As the water level approached the bottom of the car window, the ignition went off and the driver had to restart the car. But he was determined and we continued slowly forward.

Suddenly, I heard a loud "TWaaacckkk" and the car came to a stop. The driver got out, and when I looked behind me, I saw the the bumper of the car floating away and the driver going after it.


A few minutes later, he returned, bumper in hand, and tried to fit it in the trunk. The trunk was one of those trunks that you can reach through the rear seat. After trying several times without success, he asked me to help. I looked at him in disbelief when he asked me to hold on to the bumper as he continued to drive, but at that moment, I was farther away from home than when I began, and sitting in a taxi whose bumper just fell off, in the middle of a flood, so I found that I had no other choice.

So I agreed. And slowly, we continued on, eventually making it to higher ground, where he made a few phone calls, stopped in front of an apartment building, and left his car bumper at the front door. Then we continued on towards my apartment, where I found myself, after a cold, wet, and adventurous 2 hour journey, promising myself to never again to miss the work shuttle during a rainstorm.