One Year Later....

In the middle of September last year, I made a post on a site online asking someone to help me learn Korean, and in exchange, I'd help them with their English. Many people responded (over 20 in the end). Most of them lost interest after a few short emails. Some people set up times to meet, but backed out later. A few I actually met in person. One was just looking for a boyfriend, and never actually wanted to speak in Korean (only in English), so that was over quick. One didn't talk at all, so that didn't get too far. Another went fine for a few meetings, but then I offended her because I said Korea has gay people, they just aren't open about it like in the US, so she didn't want to meet anymore.

And then there was the last one. We met in front of my university, and then headed off to a temple (since we were both interested in Buddhism). Our plan was to practice English and Korean for an hour, but we ended up talking for nearly 5. It was very cordial that first time, but I already knew I liked this girl even after our first meeting (funny, because I wasn't looking for a girlfriend at the time, just a language exchange). After talking for several hours, we walked back down from the temple and headed home, but I knew that this wasn't going to be all business. I wrote about her when I got home: "I feel like my insides are made of oatmeal," I said.

It took some convincing, but eventually we went on a real date. It took a LOT of convincing, but eventually she agreed to be my girlfriend. And a few months later, it took no convincing to get her to agree to get married.

That was one year ago. The temple was Beomeosa, and Hye Sook and I went back there for our one year anniversary. Who would have guessed in one short year that that girl from the language exchange would now be my wife?

She even still helps me with my Korean.

R