My name is Marina, I am 33, and now I live in Belgium. I came from Russia, from a Siberian city called Omsk.
My destiny was like that of most Russian women: I graduated from college, worked as a psychologist with a very small salary, then I got married, divorced, and started the endless search for my "other half". I had no kids from the first marriage, as it was very brief.
Russia probably does not need young, intelligent and pretty women, especially those approaching 30 and older. When I nearly gave up my search, one acquaintance advised me to place my ad in the Internet to meet foreign men and she recommended a girl, who had her own agency for correspondence with foreigners. She was approached by girls who had no computers at home.
Of course, I did not have one either, which was one reason for the difficulty I had with corresponding. I was 29 when I started writing letters, and I got a lot of responses. I had a meeting with a Swedish guy, but there was no chemistry between us, plus my English was very scarce.
The experience taught me a good lesson - I decided to put a sound effort into learning English. I took evening courses, like everyone else - the school knowledge turned out to be nothing when I faced the real challenge of communicating in the language. Independent studies were still less than enough.
Lucs parents and his sister were really nice and friendly to me. After this meeting in Belgium our relationship became even stronger. In August he came to Omsk to meet my parents - and he asked them for my hand.
I also think that a positive influence in our relationship was that we were both disappointed in our previous encounters: his meeting with the girl from my city and my meeting with the Swedish guy. It got us together and attached more value to our relationship, because we realized that while another people do not need us, we need each other.
We filed a fiancйe visa, and when it was almost open and it was made possible for me to come to Belgium in another two weeks, Luk couldnt wait anymore and again came to Omsk on Christmas Eve. We registered our marriage on the 1st of February 2002 in Belgium, and when my parents came to visit me, we got married in an Orthodox church.
I find it fascinating that my birthday, July the 21st, coincides with the day the creation of Belgium is celebrated. It is a national holiday and the whole country has a great time with festivals and salutes. It is like I was born for Belgium and my beloved Luk.
All in all, I was disappointed in life and I lost my faith in love - and then I found love and happiness with a worthy partner. Now I could say that my day has come.
Presented by Anastasia Affiliate " Eva "(Omsk)
Marina and Luc |
