eHarmony: The Adventure Begins

[This is the first in a series of posts about the adventures of online dating through eHarmony. The posts are obviously not mine--I've just agreed to post them so my friend can stay anonymous. Besides, I've laid out what I think about relationships. Anyways, here's her first post--I'm hoping this is the start of a long (and fun) journey to something substantial. - Mat]

The Beginning

For many reasons, my relationship track record hasn’t been great. I’ve had a tendency to date guys who I thought had a good balance of machissimo and emotional sensitivity – characteristics that I defined through a cultural lens of a first-generation Asian American.  But my vision must have been cloudy, because my balance was off. The ideas of urban westernization, traditional religious values, and the social pressures of a material American lifestyle have left me as dumbfounded as a damsel in distress. [The Disney movies I watched with fervor as a kid didn’t help me understand what a healthy relationship looked like either.] I take at least some responsibility for the failed relationships of course, but in my eternally-optimistic perspective [a.k.a. somewhat cheesy, hopelessly romantic dreams], I believe that there’s someone better out there meant for me.

Enter e-Harmony.

Note: I did not choose this method of trying to meet people myself –instead, it was gifted to me.  I take no credit for this one. Someone who [I want to think] wants to see me happy in a healthy relationship has opened me up to the more progressive world of online dating. So I’m giving it a chance.

This might actually be one of the best things that’s happened to me. No, I haven’t met anyone special just yet – it’s only Day 3. But the extremely long questionnaire that I had to fill out about myself and my relationship preferences has forced me to take a genuine, introspective look into the person I’ve grown to be. And I’ve done a lot of growing up over the past few years – so I’m excited about this new experiment.

I wasn’t very happy when I didn’t get any matches at first (my heart skipped a beat when I thought that I was incompatible on this site that advertises ~230 marriages a day)…but when my first small flood of email notifications came in, I thought…this could be interesting.

Checking to see if I have any new matches is like crack right now. It’s like a renewing Christmas present each time I go to see who’s in my set…but I get disappointed when I unwrap sporting goods and video games. Right now I’ve narrowed my current sights to 2 possibilities.

Hopefully there’s a Swiss-Army knife somewhere in there…