Our Story
Chapter I: How it all began
From Seoul to San Francisco
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Our story began under the most unexpected circumstances - during the midst of the pandemic in Seoul, South Korea (well, kind of). Shawn was in Seattle, preparing for a move to San Francisco while Karina was in Cúcuta, Colombia. Tinder Passport came along and allowed both of us to set our locations to anywhere in the world. As fate would have it, we both changed our locations to Seoul…and matched!
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We then braved the challenges of a long-distance relationship in a world where travel restrictions and uncertainties became the norm. After months of Facetimes, Netflix Parties, and late night calls, we put each other’s catfishing fears to rest when Karina flew to San Francisco for the holidays. We ended up squeezing 6 months worth of a relationship into 6 weeks by having our first in-person dates, taking our first trips together, Karina visiting Boston (and seeing snow for the first time), and meeting Shawn’s family and friends.
Chapter II: Closing the distance
A cross-continental Covid courtship
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For the next couple of years, we took advantage of one of the silver linings of the pandemic by “working” remotely in San Francisco and Cúcuta (and everywhere in-between). We turned our regularly-scheduled meetups into vacations across the US, Colombia, and even Mexico and Costa Rica. We were fortunate to have our friends join us for some of these trips, and each trip ended with our friends all agreeing that Karina was way out of Shawn’s league.
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During this time, we recognized our shared passions for traveling, learning each other’s cultures, trying new food, and most importantly, spending time with Bodhi. Karina has discovered her love for KBBQ and phở while Shawn has tried to improve on his high school Spanish but has somehow gotten worse. Through it all, we’ve agreed that fusing our Colombian and Vietnamese cultures have brought about amazing results.
Chapter III: And the rest is history
She said “yes!/sí!”
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As fun as our trips were - the highs leading up to and the joy during - they were equally agonizing when they ended. We knew remote dating could only last so long, and so Shawn traveled to Cúcuta twice in late 2021. The first time, he asked Karina’s parents for permission (read: completely relied on the Google Translate app to speak and listen). The second time, Shawn got on one knee and Karina said yes!
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Now three years after meeting, we're best friends, finally living under the same roof, sharing parenting duties for Bodhi, and ready to make it official. The first time we traveled to Cartagena we were dating, the second time we were engaged, and now the next time, we will be married in front of our families and friends!
