I want an Asian boyfriend (Part 1)

Jung Woo Sung/
Athenas Goddess of War

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with one of my blog readers.  A charming and interesting young lady.  She spoke kindly and told me she enjoyed my blog. But, caught me off guard when she lowered her voice and in a cute tone said: “ Saaaaaandraaa, I want an Asian boyfriend, how can I get one?” I grabbed my throat like I had just swallowed something hard. I saw an image of myself camping in front of Jung Woo Sung’s house, waiting for him to show up to his door asking me to take him to his Puerto Rican girlfriend. In the meantime, I assured her my goal is to serve as a liason (at least a very small one) between both cultures, and if this means finding her a boyfriend, well, so be it! Once our conversation is over I felt this weird sense of commitment towards her, mostly when she reminded me that the local product “is way too bad”. OMG, the misfortunes of being a single Latina!, I wanna' help!

Any similarity with the photo below
is purely coincidence

I analyzed what we spoke and could not help comparing her cute confession with a drawing my little girl gave me a few months ago. My daughter handed it over saying:  “Look, Mom, here’s your Korean/Chinese/Japanese, or whatever, boyfriend!”, looking at me with big shinny eyes and a huge smile of innocent complacency (subliminal message). And I thought: is this just a childish request -highlighted by the fantasy of the dramas and Anime- or is it genuine? Better yet, using business terms: what is the viability of such venture? We all know anything is possible, this obviously is hard (very!), yet, doable!

First thing to do it to get organized and well informed. Look into the data and measure the probability. In this case: can I help my reader to find an Asian boyfriend? Truth is, this is just an experiment, there is no pressure of dead-lines or signed contracts. And, it actually is a win-win situation: she finds love and I get a genuine love story –and photos- for my blog! So, I made up my mind to find out a little more about this trend and measure the probability of this venture.

But first, I have to toss in some parameters (the variables in every equation) before starting:

1. When referring to Asian, we cannot be limited to a few regions (I know, I know, ya’ll want K-pop stars!), Asia consists of 48 countries.
2.  The general population in some of these countries is rapidly declining. Mostly in South Korea and Japan, there is less people, meaning, less men obviously!
3. Traditionally, many of these countries do not embrace interracial marriages. Well, they are more lenient with Asian women than with men. This rejection goes to an extent of denying to officially register the foreigner in the family; or simply making your married life miserable. Luckily, the newer generations are more receptive. Unfortunately, your Asian boyfriend might think your heritage is cool, but your future mother-in-law doesn't!
4. Language can be the biggest obstacle of communication between two persons, seconded by culture. Simple things like greetings and expressions can be misinterpreted causing tensions in a relationship. For example, it is natural among some Asian men to kiss or hold hands, what will your Latino dad say about this?. In short: you need to assimilate the language, the culture and a lot of tolerance.
5.  In America, the Asian population is not very big (Latinos lead in this category). And, apparently, Asian Americans assimilate well with Latinos, probably because we share the experience of being a minority in the US. I have also read many comments of SAM (single Asian men) venting out their frustration of having to compete with white men to get an Asian girlfriend, and that white women don’t want them (?). Well, Latinas can fill in this void.
6. Supposedly, they are shy. I know this is a risky generalization, since not ALL Asian are alike, but their image is definitely different. I consider them more serious -well, they surely aren't hanging out the car window whistling and yelling "mamacita" to women) 
7. They like Latinas, and this, I dare to say for a fact. 

So, with these general references I'll start researching for the population data and bring the details in my next blog. In the meantime, here’s a message to my dear reader -you know who you are;)-
Hold on a little! I’ll dive into this subject looking for more information and probably, bring up some good options. Don’t be discouraged, ok?