[국제커플] 어떻게 만났나요? ❤ 한국인 남편과의 첫만남, 첫인상, 첫데이트, 장거리연애 | How we met | Q&A | 자연스러운 일상 영어 대화

He's kind of cute. Dude, ask me out. You know how to shoot a gun, son? I get a lot of comments from people saying that even though they study grammar and vocabulary and they watch lots of TV series in English, they still struggle with normal everyday conversation. So my husband and I decided that we would show you what a normal everyday conversation looks like. So today we are going to tell the story and have a conversation about how we met.

How did we meet?

We met in Hong Kong.

Damn, Hong Kong.

Yes, the good old days.

I went there 2012.

Time flies. So we were both exchange students there. He was just there longer and I came halfway. So our school had a ton of foreign exchange students and like the group was very close. Like, we all partied together, got to know each other. I think you put in the group chat or something like, hey guys, if anyone wants to go to the horse races—

I was very outgoing.

Yeah, I didn't know who he was at this point, but there was a group of us going to the horse races, and I was with another friend, and I remember seeing Hung. We both were like, yeah, he's kind of cute. He looked so So different back then. So we went to the horse races and then we went to the bar after.

In Hong Kong, there's a night called Ladies Night. It's all free for you guys, so we go with them and drink together.

I think we have a picture together from that first night that we met. So we didn't talk much at the horse races, but once we started drinking more, we started talking. And then who made the first move? I think I made the first move. What was your first impression of me?

Oh yeah, yeah. Wow, she's a pretty girl. Really. Then I remember a lot of many dudes there, like my guy friends. Wow, she's cute, she's pretty.

Really?

Beautiful. There were like a couple guys. I thought you were a little bit cold.

Really?

Yeah, when you're not talking.

I've never gotten that in my life. I'm shocked.

Wow. But then she's very outgoing. It's talk, and she's very kind. I saw you are trying to talk to everybody. There's always group of people kind of stick together and then not letting shy people in their group, but then you always bring more quiet friends into the group and then trying to involve them. She has a pretty personality too.

After the night of the horse races, we hung out a lot, and even one-on-one we would message each other. We just clicked. Instantly. And one of— actually, one of my favorite memories of you when we first started hanging out is I felt like you would always make excuses to come see me. Oh, it would be the silliest thing. Like, I'd be like, oh, my pencil broke, and you're like, oh, I'll bring you one, hang on. Every day he would have some excuse to come see me.

I tried to make a move, you know.

I liked it. I knew what he was doing, but it was really cute. But then I got impatient because you weren't asking me out on a date.

I wasn't?

No, you didn't ask me out on a date.

I mean, in Korea, there's not such a thing as asking somebody on a date. We message, meet, and have dinner. In America, I guess there's very official dates. She was like, "Yo, ask me on a date!" What? We did it yesterday.

Maybe I'm old school in that way. I just think it's romantic to say, "Oh, can I take you out on a date?

Can I take you out for dinner?" Literally said like, "Dude, ask me out!" Because we already go to the The canteen, the restaurant together, we eat together, we go to class together.

The canteen? The student cafeteria? A date? This is exactly why I was like, hey, get it together, ask me out on a date. So he did, he took me out on a date. Do you remember our first date?

Victoria Peak?

Yes!

I didn't really lead very good.

Actually, these are my favorite kinds of dates. I think it's super cute when you can tell the guy is trying really hard and then everything goes horribly. For me, it's funny and I enjoy it more. So we went to Victoria's Peak because I had never been there yet, and it's super famous in Hong Kong. And yeah, we got there, and then first I think we got kind of lost.

I lost.

Yeah, Hong got lost. And then second, there was so much fog and rain. It was rainy, and we were sharing an umbrella. You couldn't see the view at all. And then we were like, we're a little bit hungry, so we bought some french fries. They were cheese fries, so they were so soggy, and they didn't have fork or anything, so it was like us eating it so messily with our hands. What is happening here? This is a really interesting first date, but it was a really great memory for me.

It was horrible for me. Everything I prepared failed every single time. I was sweating. She's not going to have a date with me again. That's what I thought.

I loved it.

And then we started travel a lot.

We did.

I don't really travel. I like staying in dorm.

So we traveled a lot together in Hong Kong with groups, and we made a lot of memories. A lot of our friends were starting to think we were a little bit of a couple, but I was like, no, we're just friends. Actually, we both were saying that at the time. No, we're just friends, even though we spent so much time together. But you asked me a couple of times to be your girlfriend.

She rejected all the time.

I kept saying no because I was so scared.

3?

I really liked him, but the distance really freaked me out. So we were like, just friends, just friends. And then we said our goodbyes in Hong Kong. It was a very emotional goodbye. You did something really sweet for me. I don't know if you remember.

I made a video.

He made a video and put it on a flash drive, and he said like, watch this on the flight home. I cried so hard. My heart was like so broken.

We were young.

We were young.

You were 20 years old.

I was 20.

Wow.

You promised me that you would come and see me, and then literally like 2 weeks later, he came to the US. He booked a flight right away and came to the US.

That was my first time visiting US.

Yeah, his first time, and he came to my tiny town in Michigan. So he met my family right away, like before we were even officially dating.

They were so sweet though. I loved your mom and your dad. They're really kind to me. And it was funny that where she's from is very small town. And I was the only Asian guy in the whole town.

They all knew who he was. They were like, "Oh, there's one Korean guy? That must be Callie's boyfriend." Everyone knows each other's business.

Your population is like 3,000 people. I also remember your dad meeting me for the first time.

Okay.

I was nervous. And then we had to stay at his house. He said, "Oh, you went to military?" I said, "Yes, sir." And then, "You know how to shoot a gun, man, right?" You know how to shoot a gun, son? And then he showed me. This is America. This is like movie.

And even after he left, we were still just friends.

Yeah, we're just talking on the Kakao call.

We were on the phone one day and we got in a fight. So we got in a bad argument, hung up the phone, and then I was just like, this is like so stupid. Friends don't fight like this. And I thought about what I want, and then I called him and we apologized and made up. And then basically I told him this, and we either have to, you know, take a step back or we take a step forward. So I was hoping that you'd take a step forward with me and be my boyfriend, make it official.

See, she asked.

I did. It was my turn. You asked many times before.

I think I was in the KTX station, and then when you asked me, can't do too much in the public. KTX station.

Um, that was when we officially became boyfriend-girlfriend, and we did long distance for about a year. How was long distance for you?

It's a little hard. I mean, one good thing about being apart, America and Korea, because our time difference is almost exact opposite. When we call, if I'm morning, you're night, and vice versa. That's no problem. But it's just physically, we don't really being together, it's hard.

At the time it was really hard. Looking back, I think it was good timing because I was in my last year of college, so I had a lot keeping me busy.

And I actually got a really good job, high salary.

I was like, oh, like, he's kind of settled.

And then suddenly something happened. We originally wanted to move to New York, and then I applied couple internship in New York, and this company didn't really reply to me at first. It was like, oh my God, I failed. And then suddenly, suddenly, while I'm working at my European company, at that time I was really bored. I got out of work at 5 PM. One day I got an email, "If you are still looking for a job, let us know." Is it—

was it in that voice too?

Yes.

"If you're still looking for a job." The CEO, Mike.

Thank you, Mike. And then the internship was $9 per hour in New York City.

Yeah, so I think it was always in the back of our head that we still both wanted to move to New York. I thought that's a way for us to be together because that's what we had in common. He wanted to live in New York. I wanted to live in New York. Like, that's the way that this is going to work. And then when you talked about the internship and then I was like, so are you going to have a roommate?

No, no, no. You are missing some of the parts here.

Why? Okay.

I had a serious debate whether I go for New York, new career, but shitty money.

Okay.

And then my good career, guaranteed money in Korea. Basically, she was saying, I'm going to break up with you if you're not taking this job.

No way! I would never say that harshly.

But similar though. You're saying like, "You gotta do this!

Come to New York!" I miss the old me.

I just take it as like, if you don't come in, we're done. I said, "I gotta take this job." Wow, good job. I really want to like keep this relationship like moving forward. I was young and then I want to do more like challenge, new experience, and New York You weren't ready to settle down. Yeah, one of my dream cities. I was living in my Goshiwon and I was like, "Let's go!" That's crazy.

And then I was like, "All right, let's do this!" We both decided to go to New York. And I remember thinking, I don't know anybody in New York. I don't have any money. I don't have a job. And Hong's kind of the same. So we were in a similar position and we decided to move in together.

We didn't have any other choice besides moving in together, to be honest, because New York rent is really expensive. It's more than what I was making.

We were on the phone and I was kind of like hinting around it. I was like, are you gonna have a roommate? And then he's like, no. Well, have you ever thought about living together?

Like, yeah, maybe I was nonchalant.

Gosh, it's crazy to think about. We decided to move to a new city together after being long distance and not even seeing each other in person for—

and then moving in right away as roommate.

My family and friends thought I was a little bit crazy, I'm not gonna lie.

We were bold.

We were so bold.

Damn.

I think there was something must have been pulling us.

I think we are in very adventurous mode.

Yeah, that's basically the story of how we met. We'll save New York and living together for next episode because I think we have some interesting stories about that as well. Cultural differences of having a home together, fighting a lot.

Oh, we fought a lot.

See, I don't remember this. I remember the So stay tuned for that. If you liked this video, please like the video, subscribe to our channel, leave a comment with any questions you have, and we will try to answer it in future episodes.

We will be back with more fun stories.

All right, bye everyone!

Have a great day!

Bye!