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Sometimes, it takes a lot for a man to realize what's right in front of him. Seriously. My name is Adam Alters. I was born in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, and I grew up all over the place. For half my life I lived in the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Nowadays, I find myself in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, of all places. When things didn't go too well during my first two semesters at Virginia Tech, I opted to study elsewhere. I'd only been to Canada a couple of times but I remembered Ontario fondly, especially the City of Toronto. I applied to the University of Toronto but when I couldn't get in, I applied to Carleton University in Ottawa instead. Little did I know that it was an experience which would change my life.

Cultural relativity is an interesting concept. You see, if I seem strange to you, you must remember that you must seem equally strange to me at the very least. In the City of Ottawa, I experienced a lot of culture shock. Black Canadians are nothing like African-Americans, man. In Ottawa I ran into South Africans, Congolese, Cameroonians, Afro-Brazilians, Jamaicans, Haitians, Ethiopians, Somalis and whatever folk from Djibouti call themselves. And they did NOT get along with each other. In America, different minority groups such as the Blacks, the Asians and the Hispanics have long realized that in America, there are really only two groups, the White folks and the rest of us. Minorities in America are united for the most part because they are all in the same shitty boat. Oh, the Asians sometimes like to put on airs, until some racist White guy reminds them that he doesn't consider them his equals. Then they remember they're minorities.

At least, that's how the world worked where I came from. The Mexicans, Chinese and Blacks aren't in love with each other but we try to get along because we all get treated like shit by the Powers That Be, who happen to be White. In America, at least. In Canada, it's another story. Different minority groups shoot down other minority groups and they're all pushing and shoving each other for scraps from the White folks table. I was deeply saddened when I realized this during my first week in the Confederation of Canada. I didn't want to pay an extremely high amount of cash to stay in the dormitories at Carleton University. Instead, I looked for a cheap apartment around the City of Ottawa. I found this two-bedroom apartment in the sector of Vanier, in the East End of Ottawa. A place inhabited mainly by Arabs, Somalis, and a few Hispanics and Asians. Vanier is affectionately known as Minority City in the Ottawa metro area. I thought I'd fit right in since it's a small town full of outsiders. Boy was I wrong!

As a six-foot-three, well-built African-American male, I was used to getting stared at pretty much everywhere I went. However, in Canada I got stared at by both Black folks and everybody else. This was a new thing for me. I took that in stride. I enrolled in the Criminology program at Carleton University. Since I'm an American citizen on a student visa, they're charging me international rates. The funny thing is that paying fifteen hundred dollars per class at Carleton University as an American student in a Canadian school still beats paying forty grand a year as a local student at Virginia Tech. Isn't it lovely how the price of higher education skyrocketed during the Recession? The plan was to get my bachelor's degree in Criminology from Carleton University and return to Virginia in time for the next training period of the Virginia State Police Academy. My father, Lionel Alters, is a retired Virginia State Police Trooper. With him backing me up and an advanced degree, I was a shoe-in. Or so I hoped.

I began my classes at Carleton University in September 2011 on an optimistic note. I was doing alright in Canada. Just three weeks in the country and I found myself a two-bedroom apartment for just five hundred dollars a month, everything included. I had already applied for a work permit and a study permit before I even set foot in Ontario so I had them when I started living in Canada. I got myself a part-time job as a technician for Bell Canada. I'm rated to repair telephone lines, among other things. I went to trade school in Virginia before I opted to study Criminal Justice at Virginia Tech in preparation for a career in law enforcement. My job at Bell Canada paid twenty dollars per hour, which is pretty good considering I'm a foreign worker and a university student to boot. I quickly learned that Canadians envied and disliked everything American. Many of them marvelled at my Virginian accent but I let them wonder about it without telling them too much about myself. I came to Canada for education and work, nothing more.

Of course, things got complicated when I met two very interesting ladies. The first was Lilith Heller, a five-foot-nine, slim young woman with spiky blonde hair, alabaster skin and icy blue eyes. Lilith Heller was born in the City of Houston Texas, but raised in the City of Calgary, Province of Alberta. She'd been living in Canada for nineteen of her twenty three years upon this earth. We met in my Social Deviance class at Carleton University. Lilith seemed to like me but I wasn't about to rush into anything with her. Now, I've dated White women in the past but lately, I find myself craving Black women. I decided to keep Lilith Heller as a friend and focused instead on the luscious Evelyn Haven. This five-foot-six, curvy young woman with light brown skin, curly Black hair and hazel eyes took my breath away when I first ran into her inside the MacOdrum Library of Carleton University. Man, she was hot! And even though she was sitting there with a skinny White guy, I had to go over there and say what's up. Evelyn found my boldness and southern accent charming, and that's how we met.

Over the next few weeks, I became fixated on Evelyn. As we became friendly with each other, I learned a bit more about her. Evelyn was born in the City of Toronto, Province of Ontario, to a White father and Jamaican immigrant mother. I was smitten with Evelyn and set up my seduction game. I asked her out and she said yes. We began going out, and I grew more enthralled with this young lady who was sexy as hell, well-spoken and well-traveled. Growing up in Toronto, she had plenty of American friends. In fact, her father frequently did business in the States prior to divorcing her mother. Her parents divorce was a sore subject with Evelyn. One I learned not to ask about. We got along okay. Nevertheless, I sensed something was amiss. One of Evelyn's friends told me that she didn't normally date Black guys, she mainly dated White guys and Hispanic men. Wow, okay. Well, in my ignorance, I thought I was the Super Cool Brother who won her back for Team Chocolate. As it turns out, something sinister was going on. Evelyn was going out with me to make her ex-boyfriend, a Scottish guy named Glen, jealous. And it worked like a charm. The moment he came crawling back to her, Evelyn dumped me. Just like that, man. Is the bitch cold or what?

I was a wreck after that incident, man. There were tears, I ain't even going to lie. I closed myself off from friends and activities I enjoyed, wallowing in self-pity and solitude. Fortunately, one person refused to give up on me. Lilith Heller. The young White woman from the City of Calgary, Alberta. The redneck gal I overlooked. She came to visit me in my Vanier apartment, and she was there for me. My tall, blue-eyed and spiky-haired White female friend helped me see that I had worth. Being left for a White guy by a Black female made me doubt myself, for real. However, I now realize that Evelyn and I simply weren't meant to be. She's a manipulative, cold bitch who's color-struck just like most Black women in Canada. Worshiping White men as if they're gods. Disgusting. Lilith helped me vent my anger, and she was there for me in my time of need. Slowly, it dawned in my thick skull that she cared for me. As in more than a friend. I asked her out, and she smiled and kissed me before the words fully left my mouth. We began dating in October 2011, and we're still going strong as the year 2012 flourishes. As for Evelyn, news broke out all over Carleton University that Glen the Scotsman dumped her for a Chinese chick and she got arrested for stabbing him in the thigh with scissors. Hmmm. What a lady. I could care less what happens to her. I've got my Lilith and I'm happy. Adam, out.