Taipei - A Taiwan woman has become the envy of many lonely
hearts after a newspaper reported how she flew halfway around the
world to Iraq's Kurdistan to find a man she met on the internet, a
news report said Saturday.
Hsu Chia-hua, 32, a former assistant to a lawmaker, flew to Iraq
to meet Zanst, a 28-year-old Kurd, in August 2008, the United Daily
News reported.
It said Zanst, a social worker in the Kurdistan autonomous region,
will come to Taiwan to marry Hsu in April.
Hsu returned to Taipei in October 2008, but her adventure was not
publicized until the lawmaker Hsiao Bi-khim recently wrote about it
in her blog. Hundreds of Taiwanese read about Hsu's story and left
messages on Hsiao's blog to express admiration for her.
According to the News, Hsu and Zanst dated on the internet for
several months, chatting through Skype every day. In August, she
decided to go to Iraq to find him.
Her friends tried to talk her out of it, warning that the flight
was too long and costly, or that the man could be a cheat, but Hsu
was undeterred.
'If it does not work out, at least I won't have regrets,' the
paper quoted her saying.
So Hsu took 3,000 US dollars with her and flew 11,779 kilometres
to go to Kurdistan.
She had to change flights in Bangkok, Cairo, Damascus and Amman to
fly to Kurdistan. She was stuck in a Damascus hotel for 20 days
waiting for an entry permit from the Kurdistan autonomous region's
government.
Hsu stayed at Zanst's home for 40 days and got along well him and
his parents, the report said. On the day of her departure, Zanst wept
all the way as he drove her to the airport.
Hsu is making arrangements for their wedding in Taiwan in April.
Zanst will teach Arabic in Taiwan, if he adapts to life in Taiwan,
the newspaper said.
Hsu admitted she took a risk to go to Iraq to meet her date.
'Not everyone can find true love. If you have a lover, please
treasure your moments together. If you have not found true love, then
chase it,' the News quoted her as saying.
USA
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