On the Birthday of My Wife

Today is my wife’s birthday. It’s the 5th birthday of her that she and I spend together. Since 2017 when we got to know each other, there have been times we are together and we are separate. So it’s lucky we’ve been spending every birthday of her and mine beside each other.

 

경북 안동에서

She is a Filipina. She and I met at the cafeteria of PNU in 2017. At that time, we were both graduate students from different departments. After graduation, she flew back to the Philippines in March of 2019. Far away from each other, we visited each other every three months. And finally, we flew back to the Philippines in October of 2019. During my short visit there with her, we got married in January of 2020.

 

프로포즈하는 나. 내 와이프의 자매들이 도와주었다.

In mid-January when she and I were very busy preparing for a wedding, the Taal Volcano erupted. Ash from the volcanic eruption even reached where we lived, Metro Manila. So it was uncertain for my parents to attend our wedding. And more fundamentally, so was it if we could hold a wedding ceremony outdoors. Fortunately, yet, a hazardous explosive eruption didn’t happen so we were able to pursue our wedding.

 

결혼식 장면. 결혼식은 필리핀 Antipolo에 있는 Mount Purro Nature Reserve에서 2020년 1월 26일에 열렸다.

Another catastrophe awaited us though. That was the global pandemic named Covid-19. But it hit the Philippines in March after our wedding. What I want to emphasize is that our wedding was successfully held despite these external threats.

But this is only one side of the story. She and I lacked time and budget for the wedding. There was insufficient time because of my short stay in the Philippines. The insufficient budget also because I set a strict limit on the wedding budget. So it must have been very challenging for her to manage the wedding preparation. Even worse, I was a foreigner so there were just a few things I can do.

She made it, anyway. And that’s one of the reasons why I cried during my vow. When I first saw her during the wedding ceremony, it came to my mind how hard she had prepared for the wedding and how much stressed she had been. Her tremendous efforts and the beautiful results out of it overwhelmed me. Sadly, I failed to give my gratitude to her during the wedding so I want to thank her sincerely here in this post.

 

After three months of separation again, we finally started to live together in South Korea. It’s been about twenty-two months since our wedding day. Although the environment is new and harsh sometimes, she has been pursuing her goals rejecting to be swept by the tide. Having been busy in daily lives, we feel the time goes by so quickly this year. Both of us work five days a week, eight hours a day, and a daily lunchbox needs to be packed since there is no cafeteria in our workplaces. She has to take Korean language classes every weekend. In this routine, our everyday lives require too much time and effort. I am proud that she and I have been going through these together. I am more proud of her for trying hard to adjust to a foreign setting and being successful.

 

제주도에서

 

눈이 내린 날 함께 만든 눈사람

Sometimes I am sorry for her because she has to live here because of me. So I am responsible for her adjusting, living, and pursuing her dreams here. But I am not sure if I have been responsible enough. From time to time, I ask myself, “Would I have endured this life alone without her?” Maybe no. Maybe I would have found a different way of living. One thing is sure that it gives me a great deal of strength to live with her.

 

서울 창덕궁 후원에서

It’s high time to reflect on myself and make a resolution as a husband on her birthday. I want to be a supportive partner on her way to dreams. I want to be a humble listener to her. I want to be a not shameful husband to her. I want to be a home for her where she can feel at ease.

Looking forward to having new adventures with her!

 

In case she might read this post, I want to write sincerely to her, “I love you!”

 

필리핀에서