How I met the Love of my Life // Storytime

A while back I wrote about what it's like dating outside your own culture. A friend recently asked me if I had written about how I met Quang, and I realised that I hadn't, but I think it's a story worth sharing!

There are two sides to every story, and both Quang and I have two different experiences of how we met. Here you can read about both of them...

Quangs side:

I first saw her at the hostel, and I asked my friend, "Wow, who's that girl?"
"She is staying here, but don't try anything because her dad is a detective." he joked.
I couldn't get her image out of my head. 

Not long after, I saw my friend's photo on Facebook with the same girl. They were moving to an apartment together (as friends), and I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to go over there and talk to her.

But I didn't have the guts to go and see her, because I was busy and didn't really know her well enough. 

I then saw another Vietnamese friend tag her in a photo of them out together, and I was like 'Whaaaaaat???'. I asked him "Is that girl named Millie?" and he said yes.

It was this conversation that lead to our 'accidental meeting' on September 9th, 2015. This was the day I asked my friends if I could come with them because I wanted to meet Millie.

She was surprised when I told her that I already knew her name.

We both acted cool, but really we were both into each other. When the night ended, I told her to message me if she wanted to hang out again, but it seemed like she didn't really care.

I was surprised when a few days later she had found me on Facebook and had messaged me. She said that she didn't know what to have for lunch, and I told her I would take her out and immediately got ready and started going to her house. When I got to her apartment, I messaged her to ask what number floor her room was and she said "Oh, you're not actually coming are you?"

I realised that she was joking about me coming over but I had made the effort to go all the way to her house already.

I thought to myself 'Should I leave now or take a risk and go to her room?'. I chose to go to her room and it was a decision I will never regret because look where we are now. 

Millie's side:

When I look back on how Quang and I met, all signs lead to the fact that we were most definitely supposed to meet at one stage in this crazy life. We were lucky enough to meet at a time that worked for both of us.

When I first moved to Hanoi I became best friends with this guy. We moved into an apartment together, and he told me one day that he wanted to set me up with a Vietnamese friend of his.

Having just moved to a new city and not planning on staying too long, I declined his invitation.

At the same time as this, I had made some Vietnamese friends who I would often go drinking with.

One night they told me that someone new was going to be coming with us tonight. When I got to meet him, I said "Hey, I'm Millie," and he said "I know, I'm Quang".

I was so surprised when I realised who he was because I had felt an instant spark between us. I spotted the friend who tried to set us up and ran over to him and told him that I had finally met Quang.

That night was full of unapologetic stares caught between the two of us, and ended in me going to bed like a giggly little girl.

The next day I has begged my friend to invite him over to our house so that we could meet again without me having to message him the next day but after days of waiting for my fiend to ask him, I caved and messaged Quang.

From our first date at a terrible Bun Cha restaurant to this very day, I have been in love with this man and known that something was supposed to happen between us.

I couldn't be more happy with the man I'm going to spend my life with.



Thanks for reading!
-Millie Burns


Check out my last posts: 

The Sunday Art Project // Week One

Tranquil Cafe // The Best Cafe in Hanoi