My name is Amanda Pyeong. I'm five-foot-nine, slender and graceful. Born in the City of Chonju in Korea. On the first day of February 1989 I came into this world. Twenty years later I would move to the City of Ottawa, Canada's Capital, in search of better opportunities. I enrolled at Carleton University, and focused on studying business administration. There were lots of other Asian students there, as well as Arabs, Africans and Hispanics. Carleton University is a very diverse school. It's also the place where I met the love of my life.
At Carleton University, I experienced a world of opportunities. I also saw a very shocking amount of discrimination. The school treats Caucasian students like royalty and sees foreign students as weirdoes. They call us visible minorities and constantly remind us that we don't belong. All the non-White students at Carleton University have felt unwelcome at one time or another. Last year, a Black male student was elected President of the Student Association, only to have his leadership revoked. Canadian schools don't like to see non-White students in leadership positions. And even though many Asians think they're exception, I'm not foolish enough to buy into that.
Racial relations at Carleton University are strange. The school is racist but I see a lot of Black men walking around with White ladies. I also see many, many Asian women with White men. Sometimes I see White men with Black women. Interestingly, Black female friends of mine who have White boyfriends can't stand to see Black men with White women. I find that kind of funny. There are lots of interracial couples around, but the one pairing you never see is a Black/Asian couple. Asian women usually date Asian men or White men. That's how most of the other Asian gals at Carleton University and all over the City of Ottawa seem to feel. Well, without meaning to, I was destined to break the mold. You see, I fell in love with a young Black man from America who was studying at Carleton University.
The first time I laid eyes upon Jericho Henderson, I was smitten. The six-foot-three, lean and athletic young Black man simply took my breath away. He was an international student like me. I had never met a Black man from America before. Sure, I knew about many famous Black American men. Even in Chonju, Korea, we knew about the accomplishments of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Henry Louis Gates, Tiger Woods, U.S. President Barack Obama and Michael Jordan. However, I had never seen an authentic African-American in the flesh. Jericho was a transfer from Howard University in the American capital, Washington D.C. He was studying Criminology at Carleton University, as part of a study abroad program that many American and Canadian universities had. Jericho and I had a Business Ethics Class together. He amazed me with his intelligence, cocky manner and simple magnetism. I've met African students before. They're nothing like Jericho. This handsome Black man from America walked around Carleton University like he owned the place. And the White students were in awe of him. White Canadian students are in awe of anything American. And this handsome African-American stud who drove a bright red Mercedes and called himself "The New Big Man on Campus" simply amazed them. Especially the young White women.
Jericho Henderson seemed quite bored at Carleton University. And I'm not sure I blamed him. Seriously. The school was completely and utterly boring. I just wanted to get through the day without hearing a racist remark made by some White student about minorities. They think they're so fucking clever. I see White guys hanging around Black guys make racist comments about Arabs. I see those same White guys make anti-Black comments when hanging out with Persian students. I think they hate anyone who isn't White. One White guy named Mitchell keeps hitting on me every time he sees me. He's in my Psychology class. I keep telling him off but he won't take no for an answer. I guess since he sees almost every Asian chick in the City of Ottawa walking around with a White man, he thinks we're all genetically designed to fall for him and his ilk. Thanks but no thanks. No White guys for me. Especially fat, ugly racist White guys like Mitchell. He makes Asian jokes all the time, calling us 'chopsticks' and yet he expects Asian girls to bow down to him just because he's White. What a jerk!
I made very few friends at Carleton University. The Asian students hung out in cliques. The Japanese students didn't like the Chinese students. The Korean students didn't like the Vietnamese students. We didn't go out with Asians from different countries or cultures. I guess this surprises you Westerners reading this. To you people, I know we all must look alike. Well, we're not. There are many cultural and linguistic differences between the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and we're damn proud of that. Yeah, I was bored and lonely at Carleton University. My parents were thousands of miles away. I basically had no friends. And I was besieged by legions of racist White guys with a fatal case of Yellow Fever. Other Asian chicks found my aversion to culturally insensitive White guys kind of strange. Whatever. I am proud of myself and my culture. I don't care who you are or how much power you have, I don't compromise for anyone.
I buried myself in my schoolwork, telling myself that I'd have time for dating and romance later. There were several cute Korean guys at Carleton University but most of them already had girlfriends. Atsuto, a handsome Japanese guy I liked told me that his conservative parents simply wouldn't allow him to date a Korean gal like me. When he told me that, I was crushed. I thought he was cute, friendly and modern in his thinking. I was deeply saddened by that. So much that tears unexpectedly came out while I was studying at the library. I couldn't help it. I was heartbroken. There's only so much a gal can take, you know? Men from my own race didn't find me attractive!
I guess I was sobbing pretty loudly because I attracted some unexpected attention. Standing before me was a tall, good-looking young Black man clad in a red silk shirt, Black silk pants and shiny Black shoes. None other than Jericho Henderson, the African-American stud who rocked the Carleton University campus. The one with legions of admirers among the White ladies on campus. Mr. Popular. With concern in his face, he asked me if I was okay. I stared at him, stunned. He was even better-looking up close. I smiled weakly and told Jericho I was okay. He told me he remembered me as an exceptionally bright student from class. He also told me that whoever or whatever caused me pain simply wasn't worth it. I smiled when he said that. I looked at him. It was Friday night. Surely a hot guy like Jericho had plans? Nerds like myself stay in. I don't know anybody in town and Ottawa can be a pretty hostile place for a visibly foreign woman with a shaky command of English and French.
Jericho smiled sadly, and told me he was staying in that Friday night. I pressed him for information. I wanted to know why he wasn't going out. Every time I saw him there was a gushing young Black woman ( or a young White woman) on his arm. He was a truly gifted student and the star of the Carleton University Men's Rugby Squad. Guys with good looks, brains and athletic talent usually didn't lack female company on Friday nights. Nerdy girls like me did. Jericho told me that he'd gotten dumped by Raquel Stephans, his main squeeze. My eyes narrowed. Oh, yeah. I knew Raquel Stephans. The tall, curvy, light-skinned young Black woman from my Management Class. Originally from Toronto, Raquel came to Carleton from a University near Kitchener in Ontario and had an internship with the Foreign Relations Department near downtown Ottawa. I had seen her with Jericho. They were the golden couple on campus. Good-looking, educated, wealthy and Black! Definitely a shocker for the lily-White students of Carleton University. Canadians aren't used to seeing successful people of color. Especially in Ottawa.
Jericho Henderson asked me if he could sit down and I acquiesced. With a sad look on his breathtakingly handsome face, he told me his story. Raquel Stephans wasn't as perfect as she seemed to everyone at Carleton University. She was part of the Christian Student Association and seemed like a conservative-minded, God-fearing person. According to Jericho, she smoked and slept around a lot. With moist eyes Jericho Henderson told me that Raquel dumped him for Hans Gerlach, a Dutch guy who transferred to Canada's Carleton University from Amsterdam's world-famous Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Yeah, Jericho was heartbroken over losing Raquel. And she was parading around campus with Hans Gerlach, calling him her very own Kevin Costner. Jericho felt embarrassed and humiliated. When he finished his story, I smiled at him and squeezed his hand without saying anything. Raquel must be a really foolish woman to ditch a wealthy African-American stud like Jericho for a skinny Dutchman but hey, I guess we all have our preferences. Jericho seemed really tense after telling me that. In fact, he looked like he wanted to go. I wouldn't let him off that easily. I asked him to have coffee with me. He was okay with that. And that's how it all began.