Around the World in 80 Minutes

Last night I attended my first speed dating event, put on by an organization that either does great diversity marketing or simply happens to be in a city full of transplants looking to meet new people. I didn’t have my passport but seemingly went around the world in 80 minutes nonetheless.

In just over an hour, I met men from Venezuela, Poland, Nigeria, Pakistan, Mongolia and more! Unfortunately, I contracted proverbial travelers’ diarrhea from the nauseating conversations that transpired.

When the Colombian architect sat down, his first comment was, “You’re hot.” He proceeded to stare at my chest and tell me that I should date him. “Go out with me,” he urged. Maybe if I were into creepers, I’d give him my blueprints.

The American IT technician’s lead-off question was, “What’s your favorite movie?” After I told him, I returned the question. He stared blankly at his bottle of hard cider for a moment before looking back at me and saying, “I think I’ve had too much to drink. I can’t think of any movie titles.” I hope his AppleScript is better than his AppleSip.

The gentleman from India really liked my earrings. And my dress. And my shoes. In fact, I think he was too busy admiring the contents of my closet to bother coming out of his, so to speak.

I don’t know much of anything about the Mongolian man because I couldn’t understand his english.

The Project Manager from Pakistan was actually very intelligent and well spoken, but I was not physically attracted to him. We share a love of ballroom dancing, but he also talked a lot about yoga and meditation, so I got the impression he practiced Buddhism, and marrying a fellow Christian is important to me. Apparently the reservations were not mutual because he made a beeline for me as soon as the event was over.

“In case it wasn’t obvious,” he smiled at me, which made his oversized ears lift a bit, “I really like you a lot and would love to get to know you better.” He looked so hopeful that I hated to crush his spirits, but the attraction just wasn’t there for me. His nose made made him look like Dr. Gru from Despicable Me, so I imagined him speaking in a Hungarian accent, and that made me feel better.

I figured he would appreciate having a viable reason for being let down, so I explained that my Christian faith is important to me. His response, surprisingly, was that he considers himself Christian. When he dated a Catholic girl, he went to Mass with her, and he recently dated a Baptist and attended services with her. This Pakistani claimed that he didn’t discriminate and “would be happy to raise [his] children in a Christian home” if that’s what I wanted. He didn’t understand that I want a man who has an intrinsic desire to have a relationship with Jesus Christ rather than someone who just follows his woman wherever she wants to go.

Interestingly, it was the Filipino who caught my attention. He had one of those smiles that lights up a room, and he just finished residency and works as a physician at a nearby hospital. We had great personality chemistry, and he made me laugh nonstop during our allotted five minutes together. His name – Victor – was the only one I circled on my feedback form. I’ll know in three days if he was entranced by me as I was by him. I’m hoping it’s “blue skies ahead” for our cross-cultural romance!

Authentically Aurora