the British Chinese


(For November 14)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a Taiwanese who was somewhat British. I say that because he's been living in London for almost a decade. He dresses like them, knows a lot about the country and London especially, and this is what I found most amusing: his accent is a mix of chinese and British. I swear!

Before I actually met him I only knew him as the love of Daisy's life. I'd once talked to him via Skype but I don't really consider that as a meeting. He taught me funny sounding Phukien words like Mayo-la (I don't know if i spelled it correctly) which means I don't want, and she she which means thank you. I've got to be the worst student on the planet because he had to repeat it like 10 times before I pronounced it correctly and remembered what it meant.

Lucas, that's his name in English. I wonder why he picked that though, but it beats the hell out of Leo which is my korean friend's english name. Lucas and Daisy's love story is quite something. Two people from the east who met and fell in love in the west. But what makes it even more remarkable is the fact that they were 3 oceans and I don't know how many seas apart for a year and 3 months and still they're together. If they keep this going for another 9 months, I actually might convert into an LDR believer.

The British Chinese actually Taiwanese Lucas has a flare for exotic hairstyles. I saw a picture of him once with dreadlocks, then I saw him with really short hair and then during our meeting he was sporting a type of hairstyle that was thicker on the left side and on the back was a tiny tail. And after a few hours and a trip to Bench fix salon in Serendra he had Deither-style hair which suited him and made him more handsome.

I once wondered what he did to reel my friend in, what he did that made her endure those long months of separation, of dateless nights and innumerable thirdwheeling escapades, of actually having a boy friend and yet not being able to hold him. By the time we took our third picture I understood it perfectly. It wasn't something he did, rather something that he constantly does and an incredible capability that he always puts into motion. It's that ability to love someone for her entirety, meaning all the other people she loves and values. He brought gifts from London for Daisy's friends, gave me 2 lion bars and some English tea encased in a cute bus designed canister. Whenever you take a group picture he'd always extend his arm to reach for the person at the other end. And my personal favorite moment of that night, he asked me where my boyfriend was. When I told him I didn't have one he remarked, "Are you serious? What's wrong with the people here?"

This British Chinese is perhaps the sweetest man that I know. And that genuine kind of sweetness doesn't come very often.

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