ein Jahr

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND


Ours began like many great love stories do: he picked me up in a club.

Actually, no, not really. I had actually already met him the weekend before, at an Oktoberfest event held in Hong Kong. A friend told me she had an extra ticket so I obliged.

Did I mention it was also Halloween? The venue was packed when I arrived, with equal amounts of people dressed in lederhosen and typical Halloween costumes. The air stank of beer and body odor. I don’t drink alcohol so the scene was mildly interesting, at best. But then… the atmosphere was gay and the house band, flown in from Germany, played a devilishly rousing set of polka tunes that had me on my feet and shaking my groove thang amongst the mostly danced-challenged crowd. I started to have some fun despite myself.

I was thinking of going home when I spotted them. Three guys dressed as old-school tennis players.

Tall and lean, their average height bordered on giant-dom. They had on unenviably bad wigs, shades, headbands, and embarrassingly too-small kid’s P.E. uniforms doubling as tennis outfits. They were speaking loud, incoherent German. They were giving each other high fives. And practicing tennis swings with imaginary raquets. And also stretching in anticipation of an imaginary tennis match.

I was intrigued. I approached them.

Our meeting was a mess of slurred words (them) and misunderstood accents (me). The three Germans were flanked by two very nice girls, one dressed as a nurse, and the other, Pocahantas. The tennis prodigies were forgotten as Pocahantas and I got to talking and exchanged numbers with the intent of hanging out soon. A new friend.

Days later, Pocahantas and decided to meet up for a much needed night out. I met her at the door of a nightclub. She wafted in, all long legs and high heels and gorgeousness, and started introducing me to the long line of people behind her. No lie, she rolled with a posse 10-people deep. In the midst of the getting-to-know-yous, a glimmer of recognition: wasn’t that one of the tennis dudes from the other night?

When I asked if we already knew each other, he cast his eyes downward in a way that showed me he was mildly embarrassed at me being privy to his Halloween shenanigans. Crazy. I laughed and he bought me a drink. We danced and I furnished my number when asked. Because why not make a new (cute) acquaintance in Hong Kong? Why not?

The rest, as they say, is history. A year later, we laugh at how life is just so funny. In each other we’ve discovered an intense zest for life, and an insatiable love of travel. What luck.

So, Liebling, herzlichen glückwunsch

SHARING IS CARING

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45 Comments

  • That's adorable! so happy for you guys. You make a cute couple 🙂

  • Ok, that was beyong cute. I see more love and endless happiness in your future with your L. (sigh!-so romantic). Thanks of sharing.

  • must have been something in the air that floated over to Korea because I met Matt on the 14th…granted we did actually meet at a club 🙂

  • ahhhh finally! the story! 🙂

    lovely story! & that pic of you two is really nice.

  • Congrats to you and liebling! I met the chef on the 14th in the wee hours of the morning at a bar de nuit. You're definitely not alone! Hope you do something fun to celebrate!!

  • Gosh, I am trying not be a hater but dangggggg lol! Seriously, your blog is basically the blueprint of how I want my life post undergrad to be! You seriously are an inspiration for doing exactly in life what you want without holding anything back for newer and richer experiences! Everytime i'm down about being stuck in the states finishing my degree before I begin my year stint teaching English in S. Korea I read your blog! You are beautiful and so insightful! Keep these blog posts coming because I need distractions rather then studying for finals and writing these absurd papers!

    You two are perfect together! German's have the sexy accents and language!

  • @leah: Love must have been in the air last November, apparently!! How have you been? And WHY have you not been posting! Not fair! I'm missing my dose of reports from Rennes.. Geez! Have you got twitter or FB something?

    @Christelyn: Thanks!! He's sooooo nice as well, it unreal! The german accent is also a winner.. 😉

    @Apenny: Thanks so much for all the compliments! Wow! As for the accents, French is still my favourite, but I agree that the German one is kinda cute.. Though I tend to this of Schwarzenegger when I hear a strong one.. Thankfully Liebling's accent isn't that strong!

  • I am one of the few people that find the French language to be … let me put this nicely "not pleasant to the ears" lol! I have never been a big fan of the French language for some reason and during my brief 3 months stay in Europe I was one of the only students that didn't give to sh*ts about visiting Paris lol! I am all about the those harsh languages such as German, Russian, Polish because for some weird reason I think they sound pretty lol! After I master Korean I want to learn German asap lol! Well, I suppose I should stop babbling now! Awesome post as usual!

  • Congratulations.

    @spinstercompass

    (Does he have a brother? Just saying. 😐 )

  • You two look cute!!! I love your story. I always meet men like when there's no reason to really meet them. I wish you guys many more years 🙂

  • AWWW! That was sooo sweetsie!! You guys are soo cute!! ^_^

  • welldone you guys! I love your story
    i still cant believe i met you guys this summer!

  • You gotta love finding the man of your dreams while traveling! Makes for such a great tale and life.

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