I have never been good at playing the damsel in distress. I am not the type to sit still, looking pretty and letting others speak for me. Call me straightforward. A strong independent woman. A type of commanding ENTJ personality. Call it what you want, but I am not someone to hide my thoughts or opinions.
I am used to a table surrounded by men who think they are God's gift to Earth. I am a graduate student in software and biomedical engineering. I am an old hockey player. I am sure my voice is heard, especially in situations where people assume I have nothing to contribute.
The idea of anyone telling me what to do is probably the most disgusting thing I can imagine.
Then, I moved to Hong Kong, as a Chinese Canadian girl who couldn't speak Cantonese and had the most basic Mandarin. And then I met a white man from the U.S. who could speak and read Mandarin.
At that moment, I inadvertently became everything I had ever feared: a damsel in distress with a white knight in shining armor in Hong Kong.
I wish I could say that I taught the 外國人 (foreigner) everything he knows. When I first met this friend, he told me that he...