Learning to Embrace My Asian Identity
A complex relationship is finally turning in the right direction
Last year, I ran a marathon in Minnesota, a state I’ve never been to, and stayed at a hostel with dozens of people I did not know. I chatted with some people, but I was on my own without my spouse and without any friends.
I thought it would be a weekend where I flew into Minnesota, ran a marathon, and then went home, almost like a business trip. But I made some friends I vibed with very well, and I surprised myself and learned a lot about myself in the process.
The morning of the race, people were waking up and making noise at this hostel at a very early hour. I woke up around 4 a.m. and saw a group of four guys in the hostel who seemed like really good friends getting ready to walk to the start line of the marathon. I asked if I could join them, and they graciously let me join their crew.
Oh yeah, they all happened to be Asian guys, like me.
We conversed about running since most of us were in Minnesota for the first time just to run a marathon. I thought they all knew each other from the same city, but it turns out only two of them knew each other before that weekend. They were, by and large, strangers who just got along very well. They met the night before. When the race…
