Do You Belive in Love at First Sight? How I Met My BAE

“Is it a difficult one to write?” I asked myself when I saw this challenge. “No, it is going to be an easy one. I am in.” My partner and I have been in a relationship for more than 3 years so I have plenty of things to talk about.

But when I finally find some time to write about it, I don’t know where to start. Should I just tell you about our special moments or how we met and became a couple? Or might be that difficult year when we were living together in Auckland. “Oh no, actually that’s part was boring. I studied and he worked. Not a lot to talk about”. So what I am going to write about this topic then?

Oh, do you believe in love at first sight? Well, I don’t because I didn’t fell in love immediately when I saw my partner. However, he said the minute he saw me, he immediately felt attracted to my smile. So because I want to dedicate this post to him, let me share with you our story from that very first moment.

It was on the evening of 20 January 2018 in Queenstown in a multiple-tenant house located in Frankton, Queenstown. That day, Gus arrived at the house to live in a male-only room while I had been staying in another female-only room with my friend since the day before.

The place is crowded. I could count around 20 people living there at that time. There were two bathrooms plus a toilet. It was crazy, I know. So when I saw a guy standing in the middle of the house, with all his stuff, I thought: “great, this guy is leaving the place soon. That would make my life here easier.” I wouldn’t know this guy would have been staying with me since that moment.

We had a little chat with each other in the common areas of the house. Then at dinner time, my friend and I were having dinner outside on the deck, Gus asked to join us and we said yes. He talked to my friends about books that I didn’t know so I think it was best to leave them together and I would clear up our dishes.

Around 10 minutes later, I saw him in the kitchen and tried to make conversation with me. I had some fun guessing his age. Later that evening, Gus asked me to go for a walk with him around the neighbourhood. As I just moved to that place too, I thought that would be nice.

After that first walk, we met several more times in the house. I could see his face lighten up every time he saw me. I think that was cute and started to have feelings for him. Despite the crowded house, we met often in the evening to walk around the nearby Kawarau Falls Scenic Reserve and we also visited other locations such as Lake Hayes, Arrowtown and Bob's Cove when we both had a day off from our jobs. Thus, we became closer and eventually, we fell in love with each other in just one week.

You might ask “That’s it, that’s how you guys felt in love, boring”. I know, sometimes, when thinking back, I didn’t think that loving someone can be that easy. If you are a fan of love dramas, you would have thought of more things that happened before two people officially falling in love. But for our situation, we both feel it was just right.

I have to say it had never been easy for me in relationships before. I only dated three people (I was 27 back then) so I didn’t really know what love means. I come from a culture where I am told “you shouldn’t get too close to a man when you are in a relationship, everything has to wait until you marry him”. So I am grateful when my partner said he understands these matters and we would take things slow if I want to.

Little by little, while we were playing the game of love, I came to know how sweet, tender and kind he is. In our culture, we don’t show our love in front of people. We don’t hug or kiss in public areas. However, where my partner comes from – Argentina – they love to do that. At first, I didn’t like it and felt shy. But now I realise it’s a great way to communicate with people by using the gesture of love. Whenever I met Latin people, we will hug each other to say Hi. I love it.

However, there are also many things that we don’t agree with, given that we came from two different cultures. And sometimes it was easy to freak me out. I am a person with a lot of worrying. But in every circumstance, my partner always reassures me that “We came from different cultural backgrounds but things can be translated and understood. Distances between our families might be long but we can always travel them. Disagreements may occur but they can be abridged and discussed. Any problem can be solved. There is nothing that love cannot endure and overcome.” He is so sweet, isn’t he?

That’s when I realised I feel happy and calm to be around him. For some reason, I sometimes find myself wearing the “mask” in front of other people to hide my feelings. But when I am with my partner, I am just myself.

_{To my love: I have no idea what true love is, until I met you. I love you not only for what you are, but also for what I am when I am with you. You are my teacher, my healer and myself"}

Thank you for reading my story today.