What Attracted You to Your Mate? Pub’d on WWAM BAM!

WWAM BAM! recently published a group post titled What Attracted You to Your Mate? and I contributed to the piece. Here’s my excerpt:

When I first met Jun, I was nursing a major heartbreak. I had just broken up with someone and spent much of my days in the office – the place where we both worked – in a melancholy funk.

To cheer me up, a mutual friend invited us both back to her hometown in Zhejiang Province for the weekend. That’s when I really got to know Jun. He kept making me laugh during the whole trip, to the point that I couldn’t help smiling (and even flirting) in his presence. I also discovered he was the kind of guy who really cared about your problems. When I finally opened up about my failed relationship, he listened in a way that made me feel heard and understood.

We exchanged numbers after that weekend and soon became close friends in the office. I would dig for any possible excuse just to visit him in the adjacent department – collaborating on a translation, editing some work for a client. I couldn’t wait for that moment when he would pull out the chair beside him and invite me to sit down in a prim British accent, as if I were a long lost Western princess arriving for a visit to his palace.

In fact, whenever I think about our courtship, I have to say I never felt more cherished by a man before. After all, this is a guy who cared so much for me he would accompany me the entire evening after work, from the gym to my apartment door. A man who would text me every evening without fail just to say “good night.”

It’s no wonder, then, that when he finally asked me out for an official date, it was perhaps the most romantic evening I had ever had. A candlelit dinner for two at a cozy vegetarian restaurant, followed by a walk under the stars beside the West Lake (and a lakeside kiss on a bench).

From that moment on, my heart would never be broken again by another man. And I would cherish him forevermore.

You can read the full post, which includes more love stories, at WWAM BAM! And if you like it, share it!

6 Replies to “What Attracted You to Your Mate? Pub’d on WWAM BAM!”

  1. Did you set out to make me melt? I mean, really? lol. I am so glad that things went well for you!

    It reminds me of the Asian-American guy I dated a few years ago, a guy who (though he doesn’t know it) really treated me well. And until then, I had only noticed Asian guys, especially in college, and Asian-American guys but never met any who seemed interested in me.

  2. Okay, I have a romantic story. Lol. I was my husband’s English tutor. We sat countless hours at his dining room table “studying”. We did study a lot. We also talked. We talked until he became my best friend. We talked until dawn many times at that table. Kong would tell me about China and I was mesmerized. When he spoke Chinese, I felt like he had keys to a secret world. He would look directly at me when he spoke. One day he said to me, “too much eye contact with you is like I will start on fire”. My very blue eyes overwhelmed him, but his nearly black eyes held me captive. I was in constant awe of his intelligence and his unwavering gentleness. He was suffering. A vicious divorce had weakened him and the death of my father and brother had me devastated. We became inseparable and we began to lean on each other. We fell in love despite our country of birth. An unbreakable friendship evolved into an unbreakable marriage. I am grateful every single day for meeting my Chinese student turned best friend turned amazing husband. My life truly became full after I met my handsome student Kong. ❤️

    1. Aw, Julie, what a touching comment! When are you going to share your love story here — after reading that, I’m dying to know the full story, and I’m sure others would want to read it too!

  3. Jocelyn, I am actually working on it. I have a couple articles about Kong and I and Chinese American marital life in the United States I am planning on sending to you.

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