FINLAND: FILIPINO CHAT LOVE STORY

I was working as a graphic designer in Philippines, chatting kept me awake during the wee hours while working on a sideline when I met a random guy on the Internet. I was not very interested because the guy sounded boring and there seemed to be nothing to talk about. He said he is a principal and a teacher in Finland, which immediately gave me pictures on my mind about boring-looking Caucasian educators employed in schools. We did not see each other ‘live’ right away in that chat after exchanging introductions since I was actually working on something then. So all we had was each other’s email.

I had been casually chatting and meeting guys for some years before, so I thought that this was just like the others. After chatting with this guy that first time, we never got the chance to chat again. We exchanged emails instead, talking about ourselves. Finally, he sent me a photo, which I thought could actually be a lie and not actually him, because all I had was that one photo. The photo showed a man with a kind-looking stare, and I said to myself that he looks good, handsome actually, and could even look younger minus the beard. As for my photo, he already had seen me in my profile picture the day we first met in chat, and he said that he found me cute (blush).

Our emailing continued and it got more serious than I had imagined. One day he said he wanted to travel to the Philippines and meet me in person! I was stunned, and asked myself, “Is he for real?” I wrote back happily but not eagerly, I told him that I was delighted to finally meet him in person. So after 3 months of emailing he finally showed up and we actually met! I think it is the sweetest thing a guy could ever do to a girl, risking his life meeting someone he barely knows, traveling to the other part of the world, with a different weather, food, culture, etc. At the same time, I could also have been a murderer, which, luckily for him, I am not. I too was lucky that he is not some European psycho. During that week he was in the Philippines, he agreed to meet my family and I got positive feedback about him from my family, who found him a good and respectable man.

After another 3 months, I visited Finland and married this email-guy, the Swedish national who claimed to work here in Finland as principal and teacher, which I later was able to confirm to be actually true. I returned back to Philippines after being a tourist for 3 months. In 2007, a year after the visit, I became a resident of the Republic of Finland. I traveled 9,159.97 kilometers to live in my new home, Finland. Sweden is a neighboring country of Finland. According to my teacher-husband, 200 years ago, Finland used to be a part of Sweden. He wanted some change that is why he’s working and living here in Finland.

Back home in the Philippines, I was a senior graphic designer in a small company. I studied at the University of Santo Tomas majoring in Fine Arts. I was in my fourth year already but unfortunately did not finish my degree. I was living in my older siblings’ home, and we have pets which are like our babies. We are not rich but I can say we are happy being together, living simply. All these I left behind for the man of my dreams (who did not seem so boring in person after all), and for that big dream to go abroad, which almost all Filipinos dream of. I have actually never really been abroad before I moved here to Finland, so everything really is new to me, even being on a plane for the first time. I do not regret every single bit of those exciting new experiences from meeting him in chat. Now my husband and I are living happily in our home in Finland with 2 kids: a 3yr-old and 6 month-old baby, and 2 fat cats.