I met my wife [Carina]in Japan 20 years ago.
At that time I was not looking for any relationship. My job entailed a great deal of travel
and just didn't provide any realistic opportunity for relationships.
A friend of mine happened to mention that she knew a lady who could speak English very well and was also fluent in Japanese. I was told maybe she was Japanese or
from Taiwan or Korea and that she could help me improve my Japanese and at the same time provide some conversation in English.
At that time I was really struggling with the language and starting to miss being able to communicate in English.
My Japanese friend told me 'this lady' [Carina] owned a jazz themed restaurant and that we should go for a dinner and introductions would be made.
I know this will sound so corny, but... the moment I looked into Carina's eyes something happened to me!
I can tell you I went to her place every night for about a week.
It was more a pub resto than anything, but a very friendly place and of course the
usual karaoke.
When it was time for me to leave to Japan I can still clearly remember the sadness I felt.
I knew something strange had happened to me. I just could not get her out of my head.
I would miss her so much... and what were these emotions. Why did I keep thinking about her??
My life was destined never to be the same!
I courted Carina for 5 years until she finally said YES.
Most of the time this was a long distance relationship, as I was still travelling a lot, but we got to spend time time together every couple of months or so [so not too difficult]
I learned early on that she was actually from the Philippines. I new nothing about Philippines as I had never been there [no business for me there]. It would be 3 or 4 years before I made my first visit.
Her real name is Carlina, but this cannot be pronounced in Japan and ends up as Carina. [the name by which she is still known as today]
Anyway, after my rambling, I just wanted to say that I didn't look for FILIPINA it just happened that way.
As far as I knew Carina could have been from Japan, Taiwan or Korea.
