Dancing with Africans

I drove up to Portland, OR from Berkeley, California on a whim. I had just gotten out of a stormy relationship and needed to get away from my ex and all our friends. Even though I had a Bachelor's in Cognitive Science, I could not find work in my field immediately. My Chinese parents called and texted me all the time, worried sick that I had not set myself up for success after college, but I had saved up money from working as a canvasser in Berkeley and did not intend to die in the streets.

My trusty Camry got me to Portland in the rainy wintertime, and I lived out of my car and out of youth hostels for a while, until I found an apartment to share with a cool local dude who worked an administrative job with the city.

My first job there was selling promotional bags of makeup door-to-door. Our account manager drove us to various neighborhoods around Portland, so we could pitch these little bags of makeup to secretaries, cashiers, and retail workers around plazas and offices. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but we didn't want you to miss out on this promo!"

I started to pick up on the culture around Portland. People tended to be fiercely proud of their liberal attitudes and appreciation of art and foreign cultures.

A member of my sales team really made an impression on me. He went by Kage and he spoke with a South African dialect. A heck of a salesman, he taught me the importance of smiling and being friendly when making a pitch. "When they have it in their hands, you should say things like, 'It's such a good deal, isn't it?'" he told me. I went with Kage through a primarily Black neighborhood once and we pitched the makeup to barbers and stylists. He made lots of sales that day.

On the weekends, we went drinking together, and became friends outside of work. Kage's family had been in South Africa for generations, and he had experienced all sorts of challenges growing up as a young Black man in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He took me to some dance clubs around Portland that he knew somewhat well. There I met people from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Sudan. I met girls he knew, and some White dudes he had met, and other Africans that he had gotten close to. I met his girlfriend from Swaziland. Together at a local Planet Fitness we met an Ethiopian gent as well, who came over to my apartment later to hear me play some guitar.

Everywhere Kage went, he could spot an African immigrant from a mile off just from their mannerisms and their style. Many Africans love to wear their very, very best formal clothes out in public, even if the event is just going out with friends. What better excuse does one need to dress up? Who else does one need to impress more than one's friends? African philosophy dawned on me like this.

His friends never once made me feel excluded or different. A couple of times we played ping pong together, something Chinese that many Africans really enjoy. Kage's friends became my friends, and they gave me gifts for my birthday, bought me drinks when I pulled up, and invited me to a rap concert with them one time, even getting me a free ticket because one of their dads helped to host the event.

My new friends had all sorts of fun and different dialects and accents which they brought from home. No lie! Girls just loved listening to the gents talk, oh!

Many of the gents had just moved here from Africa, but some had lived here there a while, in East Portland. Our group included some Oregon-born Black Americans, whom I had more in common with, having grown up here in the States. I attended an African film screening with a couple of these new friends to learn more about pan-African culture. Together, we shared a lively fascination with African immigrant lifestyle.

Kage would invite me almost every weekend to come dance and drink with the clique in downtown Portland. When I felt up to it, I would hit the dance floor with all the moves I've learned from YouTube. From the Africans, I learned that you must dance with your head and your neck, looking this way and that, and bobbing in time with the beat. I saw moves I've never heard of, all sorts of ways to flash and twist your limbs and your hips. Moves with masculine energy, and moves with feminine energy. It all made me realize how much fun there is to be had when such a big group emanates love and acceptance.

I learned their slang, and started saying things like "qio, no ways!", "land well", "don't hurt it", or "leaving nake" (which means sobering up). I learned how to use daps and well-timed fist-bumps to affirm friendship and camaraderie as well. I had a great time and even though I came from a Chinese-American background and came from a completely different world.

Time passed by and I changed jobs and career plans. I moved back down to Southern California after a couple of years, and now only talk to the boys on social media every once in a while.

I will never forget what a great time I had in Portland though, and how the gents made that possible for me being a newcomer in a strange and crazy city. Even today, when I go out to bars or clubs I secretly hope to run into a group of Africans having a good time, just so I can learn a few more dance moves. You can never dance too much in this life!